suds series vol 5

Readers of SCBC know that I love me a good microbrew. What better way to continue our series than with some old fashioned head-to-head (or maybe crown-to-crown) action via microbrews from our respective cities?

Schlafly and Six Row, I'm pitting you against Sprecher and Lakefront.

I have written about Sprecher here, here and here. Clearly they are a popular topic of conversation in the Lauren Walles household. They have a crap-ton of different types of bottle caps that are excellent for collecting. And did I mention that their root beer is delicious, so creamy and smooth. My only complaint is that it's rare to find Sprecher in my neighborhood.

Schlafly, you are harder to find in NYC than Fitz's, and that's tough to do. I have not been to your brewery, but according to your website, you have a BBQ Shrimp Po Boy, which I can only imagine is delicious and goes well with beer. My friends in St. Louis swear by Schlafly and have turned me on to the tastiness of their beer. Thanks to them, I have a lovely collection of Schlafly bottle caps, and I'm hoping to tour the brewery the next time I visit St. Louis in December.

Lakefront, oh man. I had a delicious Lakefront brew in Milwaukee in the Public Market, and I'm still thinking about it. Such a great experience: beautiful Germanic architecture, amazing food stands in the market, tons of Wisconsin cheese, and a full-bodied Lakefront. Heaven. The bottle cap rocks, too -- it comes complete with a frosty beer mug! Really, it doesn't get better than that.

And finally, Six Row, your beers are tasty, your logo is really clever, and your menu looks amazing.  Can I come have some mac n' cheese? I admit that I have not seen your bottle cap. What gives? Do you have one? Is it the 6 with the wheat? This could tip the scales one way or another.

Hmmm, this is the toughest of them all. Honestly, this should be a tie; I'm a fan of all these microbrews. But if I were forced to choose, I'd go with Schlafly. The brews are varied and interesting, folks in St. Louis seem to love it, and, most importantly, the bottle caps are way cool, which is an important criteria here at Super Cool Bottle Caps. 

So let's say that this was an extra inning contest that St. Louis barely squeaks out.

And so, with that, I announce the winner of the best-of-5 Suds Series 2011......

ST LOUIS!!!!!!! 

St Louis 3

Miller 2

I hope you enjoyed this little experiment, and next week, we will be back to our regularly scheduled bottle cap posts. Have a great weekend everyone. Watch some baseball, and of course, drink something tasty. 

suds series vol 3

Today is my favorite blog post of the series so far. We get to look at the advertising campaigns of Budweiser and Miller and see if we can figure out who has done it better over the years.

Miller, you have one of the best ad campaigns in history (according to Advertising Age) with your "Great Taste, Less Filling" one-liner.
You also have the Wiener Dog Drag Racing Commercial, which I remember from my childhood:

But honestly, it's the ONLY campaign I remember from Miller. Readers, you may feel otherwise, but I have never been as impressed with the ad campaign for Miller as I have been for Budweiser.

Budweiser has, among other things: the frogs. Who doesn't remember Bud-Weis-Errrrrrr?

Sure, there was the irritating Wassup commercial:

But I think ultimately, one of the best ad campaigns in recent memory was actually radio commercials that aired in the Midwest. Real Men of Genius. Below, my favorite of the series, Mr. Rolling Cooler Cooler Roller. You have to listen to the guy singing in the background, and his asides, to get the full effect.

Miller's radio campaign that can compare just isn't as funny, although you can tell that they're trying.

Budweiser also had the ULTIMATE ad campaign going for many years during the Superbowl. Budweiser or Bud Light in the BudBowl? When I was a kid, and didn't understand football, I would watch the Superbowl just to see the BudBowl. I always thought growing up that Bud Light won every year, but according to Wikipedia, it was Budweiser 6, Bud Light 2.

This one isn't even a question. Budweiser, you may lose a few points for the "Wassup" campaign, but you redeemed yourself. The Wiener Dogs just can't beat Real Men of Genius. You win this round!

St Louis: 2
Milwaukee: 1

Tomorrow: brewery tours!

suds series vol 2

Tonight, in our ongoing Suds Series, St. Louis vs. Milwaukee, we look at mascots: both in the baseball realm and in the beer realm.

First up, baseball. The Brewers have Bernie Brewer: A blonde haired, blue-eyed, mustachioed drunken man who slides down a beer slide every time the Brewer's hit a homerun. In theory: awesome. But in practice, not quite as cool. Why, might you ask? Well, when actually at the game, Bernie has to stay really close to his "dugout" in the outfield so that he can be ready to slide down his slide whenever the Brewers are up. This limits the amount of interaction that Bernie can have with the fans. He leaves it to the Bratwursts to hang out in the stands and throw t-shirts to the crowd. Sure, the Brewers gave us the Sausage Race. But do you really want a hot dog dressed up in a baseball outfit or a bratwurst  wearing lederhosen giving you free things? Well, maybe.

The Cardinals have the ever-popular FredBird. 

FredBird is admittedly more fan-friendly (and kid-friendly) than Bernie. He hangs out in the stands, runs around with flags when the Cardinals win, has a build-a-bear (bird?) store in Busch Stadium, and likes to touch people with his beak -- in a good way, of course. Michael's niece and nephew both love FredBird.

Sausage Race? Beer Slides? Or touching fans with your beak? Hmmm. Let's think about this while we ponder the mascots of the breweries.

Budweiser has a slew of mascots: Bevo Fox, the Dalmatian, the Clydesdales, the Eagle (All American!), Spuds MacKenzie, the frogs, the lizards, the penguins. I think there isn't an animal on earth that Budweiser hasn't used to promote their beverages. Next thing you know they'll be using red pandas or something.

Bevo Fox

And yet, when I google Miller Beer mascot, this is the first thing that comes up:

Miller!! Seriously?! It's a beer bottle holding more beer bottles. Yes, you have The Girl in the Moon. And apparently a beer bottle mascot type thing. But I don't think it's going to cut it against all of those animals listed up there.

So where does that leave us? I think that because Miller can't even come up with a decent mascot, despite the beer slide and bratwurst race at the stadium, it's tipping in favor of Budweiser.

We are all tied up:

St. Louis: 1
Milwaukee: 1

Tomorrow: advertising!

suds series vol 1

Michael Lober here. As some of the loyal readers of Lauren's blog might know, I hail from the great beer city of St. Louis, where Budweiser and the baseball Cardinals are religions. Our baseball stadium is named Busch, the only beer available there carries the label "Bud," and it's surprising that our mascot isn't a pint. In all honesty, I find Budweiser rather terrible--a watered-down, tasteless alcohol liquid--but it's MY terrible beer.

Anyway, I bring this up because the mighty St. Louis Cardinals suddenly find themselves locked in a battle with the Milwaukee Brewers, those hosers from the north that claim the title of America's brew-town. Granted, they love their beer up there in Milwaukee and there are some excellent microbrews, but I'm not interested in that now. It seems to me that the only fair way to contrast the cities is through a showdown between their flagship beers: Budweiser vs. Miller. It's on.

I never buy Budweiser, think Bud Light Lime is just crappy beer dashed with lemon juice, and would choose pretty much any beverage over Bud Light; but if someone says that Miller is better than Budweiser, I suddenly become an irrational champion of my hometown brew. Budweiser is the best! Miller is just Lake Michigan water put through a strainer! Come on, it's not even a comparison!

OK, obviously, I can't be a judge between the two companies. But Lauren can. So I propose the following this week at Super Cool Bottle Caps: a Suds Series between Budweiser and Miller, the arch city of St. Louis vs. the beer-and-cheese berg of Milwaukee. Best of five, with categories ranging between mascots, advertising, local microbrews, brewery tours, varieties, and, of course, bottle caps. I'll have no hand in the outcome, nor will the outcome have anything to do with the Cardinals vs. Brewers series. Lauren is the judge, juror, and jailer. So take it away!

Hi, Lauren here!  Obviously, I  have written about St. Louis and Milwaukee before on this blog (probably ad nauseum), BUT what better time than now to discuss all things St. Louis vs. Milwaukee and base it entirely on beer? I will be impartial. As always, I would love to hear my dear reader's thoughts -- that is what the comment section is for!

So let's start tonight with the most important -- to me, at least. Bottle caps. Obviously I don't have every bottle cap at my disposal from the many years of brewing for both of these storied breweries. But I have what I have, and I have a *little* bit of knowledge outside of that. For this series, and this one only, I will be pulling some images off the web to fill a few gaps in my collection.

Budweiser Classic Bottle cap vs. Miller Classic Bottle cap:

So, what do we have here? And how far down the chain do we want to go? Just stick with classic? Does the Girl in the Moon count as classic or is it really just MGD? Do we want Bud Light and Miller Light? Miller High Life and Bud Light Lime? There are so many ways to go. As Michael mentioned above, this is a 7-game series, so I say stick with the classic -- and let's make it a fair fight. We can always come back for more.

Budweiser: we have the bowtie, the A with the eagle, the proud line: "King of Beers."
With Miller, dark background, some gold, some white lettering. No mascot, no logo. Just text.

I feel like if you look at both, Miller just has a stronger, bolder look to it. Sure, there is no mascot, but do you need it with that bold, black forceful bottle cap? I don't think so. Sure, the beer may taste like Lake Michigan water (Michael's words, not mine!) but damn, don't you want to drink it if you just took a look at that bottle cap?? The Budweiser - eh, it kind of looks off-center, it doesn't flow...

And even if you compare it to the Miller High Life bottle cap, which also has the bowtie thing goin' on, it just doesn't have that bold look:

 Sorry Budweiser. You lose the first round. Luckily we have 6 more to go!

St Louis: 0
Milwaukee: 1

Tomorrow: Mascots. (Beer AND Baseball)

bad frog

Second Street Antiques was an embarrassment of riches. Not only did I get the Miller Girl caps and two Schlitz caps, but I also found something that is definitely a contender for the Hall of Fame.

Bad Frog. You are bad-ass. Self-described as The Beer So Good...It's Bad, Bad Frog seems to be more about marketing than actual beer. If you read their history you'll see that they actually started making t-shirts for Bad Frog Beer, and then people started asking for said beer! HA!

So, the Bad Frog is giving you (and me) the finger on this pretty awesome bottle cap. But part of me thinks, man, if I put this sucker in the HOF, that is just one more feather in the Bad Frog cap! They didn't even want to make beer at first! Their website is clearly for people who have Attention Deficit Disorder. WTF?

But on the other hand, it's a badass frog. Under the cap it says, "Flip the Bird Get a Frog." It's colorful. It's eye catching. It really has all of the requirements for a HOF entry. Readers, I think I want to leave this one up to you. HOF? Leave your comments & I can tally them over the weekend.

And I want to leave you with this -- next week is killer for me. I will probably not be able to post at all but I will try my best to find some new crowns during my travels. So have an awesome week, and I'll see you on the flip side.

schlitz

Schlitz is a beer oft associated with Milwaukee and rightly so. Their website, I will admit, is pretty great despite their bare-bones timeline. Check out their TV advertising! Check our their downloads! Want a ring tone? Want a Schlitz desktop image? Look no further. And why is that woman forcing Schlitz to her man (who is bowling)? Why are they bowling?!? And the most important question: why isn't the image of the bowling man with woman from the '50s a prominent download? I want THAT to be my desktop image! And can they make that an image on a bottle cap? I'd buy that, too.

This bottle cap, which I'm guessing is older, was purchased at the amazing antique market where I also got the Miller cork lined cap and the Schlitz Malt Liquor. Upon reflection, neither Michael nor I have ever actually HAD a Schlitz. I believe that Shotz (Laverne & Shirley) is supposed to be Schlitz... I won't show the theme song again though.

This bottle cap is another case of the twist off OR use opener instructions, which I am growing to love. Seriously, if you can twist it off, just do it! I love that I'm given a choice, but if you know it's that easy to get the cap off... I don't know... that's just an extra step in my mind (and an opportunity to ruin your bottle cap, which no one wants. At least I don't!)

stevens point brewery/point premium root beer

I've written about Stevens Point Brewery before -- there was a little controversy about the "coolness" of the Whole Hog bottle cap a few weeks ago.

I came across Point Premium Root Beer in the Milwaukee Public Market (do you think my tourism dollars had any effect on the local economy?? I hope so!) and was excited -- and overwhelmed -- at the series of caps before me. I wanted all of them, but Michael was trying to reign me in. How much soda and beer could we drink in a day? We couldn't bring it with us on the plane (damn you TSA and your no liquids on the aircraft!) and we only had a day to drink it. And frankly, opening it, taking one sip and then dumping the rest is just wasteful - unless it's a malta -- so I really had to chose my battles, and try to get a variety of caps, instead of many in a series.

Point Premium Root Beer bottle caps remind me of Henry Weinhard's soda line (Can't Top This! Flip My Lid!) Dear readers -- who started this trend? Was it Henry? Was it Steven? Someone else that I have yet to discover? Which ones do you like better? Who has better slogans?

ale asylum

Yeah, with all of the selection at the Thief Wine Shop and Bar, there was no way I was leaving the Public Market with only two bottle caps. I admit it. I went back for more. There was an Ale Asylum Madtown Nutbrown that was calling my name. And with pretty lax rules about walking around the Market with open containers, sipping my Nutbrown and browsing the other vendors seemed like a perfectly reasonable way to spend another hour checking things out. We tasted some cheese at the West Allis Cheese and Sausage Shoppe . We smelled spices at the The Spice House. We discussed our plans for the afternoon (Harley Davidson Museum, shopping, etc).  We looked for more bottle caps!

The Ale Asylum has a pretty interesting theme going on: it makes me think of comic books and goth kids. As a former comic book store employee and a chick obsessed with The Sandman, I am totally cool with this association. The bottle cap uses some sort of gothic font, and black and silver can go a long way with those who love The Cure and Morrisey. And the Madtown Nutbrown? The label looks like gravediggers and crosses.

Most importantly, it falls in nicely with the overall theme of trying to really stick to the local breweries while in the Wisconsin region. I have a few more regional trips throughout the US coming up... if anyone has any suggestions for local brews in Austin or Kansas City, let me know!

new glarus and lakefront brewery

Friends, I was definitely busy in Milwaukee. It is officially week two of Milwaukee coverage here at super cool bottle caps.

Last Sunday, Michael and I decided to have lunch at the Public Market in the Historic Third Ward. With tons of food, beverages and free parking on the weekends (!!), it seemed like the perfect place to explore on a rainy afternoon. We had soup in bread bowls from The Soup and Stock Market (you don't even know how much I love a bread bowl) and beer purchased from the Thief Wine Shop and Bar. Michael had a New Glarus Spotted Cow and I had a Lakefront Brewery Klisch Pilsner.

Both beers hail from Wisconsin. Michael and I had discussed going to Lakefront -- we really wanted to try their Friday Night Fish Fry.  But as you recall from last week, we had a difficult time actually GETTING to Milwaukee on Friday night, and Saturday was already booked with brewery tours and baseball games. Alas, on Sunday Lakefront Brewery wasn't open. So we had to settle for beers at the Public Market. I love the Lakefront Brewery bottle cap: LB with a frosty mug along with a clear indication that it's a local Milwaukee brew.

The Spotted Cow was equally tasty, in its own way, of course! And the bottle cap also proves to be great. The state of Wisconsin with a fingerprint in it. And it tells us boldly: Drink Indigenous.  Indeed.  Local brew = good times.

Procuring just two bottle caps at lunch didn't seem to be enough for us, so we went back for more...Stay tuned!

miller brewery tour

When Michael took a trip to Milwaukee a few years ago (the trip that I wasn't allowed on), he called me from the road, excited about the "educational" video that Miller played at the start of their brewery tour.  Miller didn't take itself too seriously: they had some cavemen talking about how "from the dawn of time, Man has yearned for Miller Time" and then proceeded to play a bunch of fun Miller commercials from the past. Michael said it was awesome in a non-corporate sort of way.

I was definitely looking forward to that video when we journeyed to the Miller Factory during our trip to Milwaukee. Unfortunately, MillerCoors has become much more corporate since the last visit. The new video they have features a bad actor playing the founder, Frederick Miller, and speaking in a silly German accent. We encountered Frederick Miller again in the beer cave. Tragic, really. The other thing that Miller really, REALLY stressed on the tour was how green they are now and how much they give back to their community, don't waste water, and make awesome beer.

I'm sorry, but Miller didn't really seem to help the community directly around the factory. Michael and I were driving around not five minutes away from the factory looking for some breakfast, and the community looked awful. Rundown, poor, not a lot of local business. Maybe we missed the main downtown of Menomonee Valley, but they could have done something to give the local community some more business. Have the workers go to a nearby restaurant for lunch? Have some local stores? Anything to bring some money to the community!

Another gripe that I had was the beer at the end of the tour. Now, I've been to my fair share of brewery tours, and it's a perfect opportunity to try to sway those who don't drink your beer, or are on the fence.  The Budweiser and even the Bud Light at the Anheuser-Busch Factory tastes pretty amazing. It's so fresh, fizzy, cold, crisp, and refreshing...It almost makes me want to go out and buy some Budweiser for the fridge. Almost. Miller... oh goodness. We had Miller Light and MG64 along with Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy. They were all watered down -- especially the Shandy. And I couldn't even tell the difference between the Miller Light and the MG64. They both tasted like watery gross beer.

And the biggest gripe I have? Of course it is about bottle caps. You can't buy bottle caps in the gift store! You know what you can buy? Bottle cap earrings. Sigh. Miller, when will you learn?

Luckily, Michael and I also love a good thrift store (aka junk store) and there was a great one in downtown Milwaukee. Second Street Antiques had a little bit of everything. I found some cork-lined Miller Girl in the Moon caps, as well as a few others, so all was not lost..... stay tuned!

See below for some additional pictures from the Milwaukee Brewery Tour.  Despite the gripes, it was kind of fun.

Oh my goodness. It is where the bottle caps go! 

The High Life Bus! 

My MG64. I don't think I had more than 1 sip. So sad.

sprecher's beer

Oh my god! Another day of Sprecher? Well, I figured yesterday's post might have been a little long, with the sob story about our traveling woes, and worth breaking up Sprecher's into two days.

Sprecher's also offers a wide variety of beers, a few of which we sampled at their brewery. I tried the Special Amber, and Michael partook of the Pub Ale. We had a sizable tour group, it being Memorial Day Weekend and all, so the bar had pre-poured our samples. Luckily, they were both tasty.

Afterwards, Michael and I perused the gift shop. We bought one of every soda that we hadn't tried (see yesterday's post) as well as a Premium Reserve Triple Abbey Ale and their year round Hefe Weiss.

The interesting thing (I feel) about Sprecher is for all of the fun that they have with their soda bottle caps, they are pretty boring with their beer crowns. All of the beers, be they seasonal or regular, either just have the Griffon Crest (the griffon, by the way, is named Rooty) or no design at all. I noticed quite a few colored beer crowns, but with nothing on them! The premium reserve crown has the crest smaller, and with Premium Reserve on it, but there's no differentiation between beer lines. Sprecher, I am disappointed!

sprecher's soda

You may remember my mini-rant a few weeks ago against those who went to Milwaukee without me. And I promised that if I ever made it there, it would be beer and cheese galore. Well, shortly thereafter, Michael found some cheap tickets to the land of Wisconsin over Memorial Day weekend, and off we went.

It started off rocky. The bus to the airport didn't come for over an hour, and we barely squeezed on (the bus driver tried to tell us to wait for the next bus). Then we got off at the wrong terminal (the D instead of the B terminal! Damn you MTA and your scratchy PA systems. "D" should be distinguishable from "B" if at all possible). Then, we sat on the runway for an hour after having already lounged in the narrow terminal beforehand for hours. Finally, shortly before midnight, we arrived in Milwaukee. But then we strolled to the Enterprise desk and were told that they had underestimated their reservations for the weekend. We ended up having to wait for an additional hour while they called in cars from some mystical off-site land. Sigh. There were numerous calls to the hotel to make sure we would still have a room when we finally did arrive. But arrive we did, and we quickly went to sleep in anticipation of a big day of breweries and sightseeing for Saturday.

One of the breweries that I was really excited about seeing was Sprecher. I've already blogged about their caps in the past, and so far the sodas I've tried have been pretty good (thumbs up for the root beer... sideways thumb for the cream soda). I love their bottle caps and really wanted to see where, as they say, the magic happens.

It turns out that when Randy Sprecher started the company in 1985, he brewed only beer. Many of his visitors then were children, and he wanted something to give them at the end of the tour. So he started making root beer as well. Now they output more root beer than all of their other beverages combined.  Michael and I tried some beer at the end of the tour -- amber ales, which was delicious -- but we were more excited by the prospect of trying their Red Apple Soda, Cherry Cola, Ginger Ale, and Lo Cal Root Beer. None of them disappointed. (Well, maybe the Red Apple Soda -- it was too sweet.) The best part is that I've found a new favorite Cherry Cola. (I've been a Cherry Coke Zero drinker for quite some time.  But man! If I could find a local deli or store in NYC that sells Sprecher Cherry Cola, it would be all over for me.)

These soda crowns are fun: each with a unique color and font. The fonts are both retro and sincere -- a tough combination, to be sure. Their seasonal sodas have plain colored crowns... disappointing, to be honest. Think about the possibilities for Red Apple or Raspberry!

Another thing to note: I'm sorry to report that Sprecher is slowly switching over from their awesome 16oz bottles to 12oz. Stock up on 16oz's while you still can!

16 oz bottles! They're goin' fast! 

Root Beer and Red Apple Soda. The Red Apple Soda was really sweet, so I went back for some Cherry Cola. YUM.

horny goat

One of the more unusual crowns I bought this year at Crownvention was from Horny Goat Brewery. A microbrewery hailing from Milwaukee, WI, these guys give a whole new meaning to...well, farm animals, I guess. And double entendres.

Ah, Milwaukee, home of Shotz beer of the legendary Laverne & Shirley show:

I love Laverne's shirts.  I wish I had one... and speaking of Shotz -- did they ever make a bottle cap of that? Gotta love the fictional beers of TV land -- Pawtucket Pat, Shotz and of course, Duff. (do you have a favorite fictional beer?)

Obviously, Milwaukee has an amazing history and tradition of brewing beer. (Milwaukee's Best? Schlitz? Miller? Pabst?)  You can't throw a bottle cap in Milwaukee without hitting a brewery.  I should mention, for the record, that there was an opportunity for me to go to Milwaukee a few years ago and I was denied. Flat. Out. Denied. in my request to accompany those headed to the great Midwestern city of beer, bratwurst, and cheese. It is truly a shame, and something that I hope to fix in the coming years.  If I am ever let loose in Milwaukee, it will be beer and cheese for me -- all day and all night -- and I guarantee  you'll have to roll me back to the airport.

But back to the task at hand:  Horny Goat, you have a pretty fun bottle cap!  It has a goat with horns! It has the name of your brewery! It has more than one meaning! You are coming SO CLOSE to a HOF entry.  But I think I need a little more color and/or background to let you in.  Keep trying, and please do send me any new bottle cap designs you might be entertaining. I would be happy to give some notes.