Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Beer - American as Apple Pie and Chevrolet!

Ameri-CAN.

As in... copper can. As in the copper beer can that my sister and brother-in-law found in the basement at their home in Oregon. This particular copper beer can of Hop Gold True Lager came from the Star Brewery in Vancouver, WA. The date stamped on the top reads April 28, 1939.

I did a little research on the Internet and found this can (in really good shape) going for $1,750. Sadly, the can they found wasn't nearly as nice, but still... it's a wonderful piece of Americana. Beer has had a tremendous impact on the development of this country, more of which I'll get into later. There was a time (several actually) where beer was an everyday drink, consumed by kids and adults like.

I found very little information on Star Brewery on the web, other then they restarted operation in 1933 (immediately after prohibition ended). If anyone has any solid info about Star, please let me know!

I love Oregon. Do you know that it's the only state in the Union that has an entire month legislatively dedicated to craft beer and microbreweries. The entire month is full of craft beer related events. Sadly, I won't be here for any of them! So last night we improvised and had a mini-beerfest here at the lake house. Haymaker Pale Ale from Bridgeport Brewing (in Portland) is unequivocally a fantastic beer. For a more refined review of this beer, check out Jason's Alstrom's review over on Beeradvocate. If you can suck a few bottles down, I highly recommend you do so on this most American of holidays. Enjoy!