lion brewery, alaskan brewing co

Another day, another blog post about animals! Are we sensing a theme here? Actually, I don't have that many animal bottle caps, but the ones I do have seem to be begging for their 15 minutes of fame.

As you can tell, Crownvention was an amazing opportunity to find all sorts of bottle caps from all over the world. One crown I kept seeing over and over again was the Alaskan Brewing Co.'s "Made in Alaska" crown. Two polar bears -- a momma bear and a baby bear.  Same design for all crowns, but lots of different colors. Another great starting point for you beginner crown collectors. The one I got at Crownvention is purple with pink highlights. Who doesn't love a polar bear?

While at a local deli with a large selection of beers, I find myself choosing beers based entirely on what their bottle cap looks like.  New criteria for Lauren purchasing a beer: Do I have the bottle cap already? Is it unusual or visually striking? Does it have a lion on it? If these questions are answered correctly, the beer is mine. Recently I found Lion Brewery, a beer purveyor in Pennsylvania and their brew Lion's Head. Upon researching this brewery, I also noticed that they make soda! Which now makes me wonder: Is their soda crown different than their beer? I will certainly be keeping my eyes out for their soda as well.

The beer was delicious -- and the crown is awesome  A lion's claw mid-swipe, with a "claw off" instruction. Why twist when you can claw? It might be my new motto.

fentimans, firehouse brewing co

Today's theme is based not on a beverage but on a cap. As Michael (or anyone who knows me well) will tell you, I'm obsessed with dogs. Whenever we walk down the street and there is someone walking his dog, I have to stop myself from staring. If the dog does something adorable, I coo. If the dog barks, I make excuses for it.
Growing up, I asked for a dog all the time, but the only pet I ever got was a gerbil. I made up for the lack of canine companionship by becoming the resident dog-walker of the neighborhood. Now I live in an apartment where dogs aren't allowed, so I have the next best thing: a cat that acts suspiciously like a dog.

Both caps in this post prominently feature dogs. Fentimans is a UK-based soda with a curiously old-fashioned name and unusual flavors. Established in 1905, Fentimans prides itself on its Ginger Beer and other herb-tastic flavors. While I haven't tried all of them, I recently found a storefront in NYC that carries quite a few of the flavors. Now that it's getting warmer out, trips to said storefront will be more common and hopefully more Fentimans will be enjoyed.
The bottle cap, as mentioned, has a lovely dog on it -- AND the name of the company! If it were in color, I'm pretty sure this cap would have made it into the HOF. And if they ever decide to make a series of caps (like Boylans does!) it would be an excellent starting point for a collector.

Florida Firehouse Brewing Co.'s cap was discovered at Crownvention. You would be surprised at the number of "firehouse brewing co's" that come up on Google. This one claims to be from Florida, but I'm not sure. Anyway, this cap has a regal looking Dalmatian surrounded by the name of the brewing company. Again, could be a contender for the HOF. But it's just not quite there.

my pop's root beer, frostie root beer

This will be the last installment of the crownvention blog posts. (Sorry I missed Thursday! I got a bit backlogged with afterwork events this week!)  Today's theme is root beer.

My Pop's Root Beer is a fun cap with bright colors, fun fonts, and circles that might be bubbles. It just seems exciting to drink -- doesn't this crown make you want to drink a root beer?

And from the 10-for-a-dollar box, I found a Frostie Root Beer cap. This one is fun in a different way: there is a gnome or elf or some sort of magical creature seemingly excited at the prospect of you drinking a Frostie. And who doesn't want to drink a Frostie Root beer? No really, who?

Last night, Michael and I met up with some friends at a local pool hall. One of the options on the menu was a root beer float. It made me hope that it was either Pop's or Frostie on tap. Unfortunately, it was neither, so we didn't get a float. But we did play some foozball and Big Buck Hunter, which was a good second option.

hillbilly brew, fudgy chocolate, it's peachy, try it!

Day three of Crownvention coverage commences now!

Hillbilly Brew (a poor-man's Mountain Dew), Fudgy Chocolate, and It's Peachy, Try It! are three caps found, much to my excitement, at Crownvention. They were purchased solely for their looks. I know, I know, how superficial of me. I've never had any of these beverages and it's difficult to find info online (so, as always, any info my faithful readers can provide is welcome), but their retro styles are very pleasing to the eye.

Hillbilly Brew and It's Peachy are both cork-lined caps, which makes me think they are pretty old crowns. Fudgy chocolate, however, is plastic-lined and has pretty clean lines, which makes me wonder where on earth it's from and what time period. Google, the ultimate finder of everything these days, comes up only with recipes for chocolate brownies when I do a search for fudgy chocolate, fudgy chocolate beverage, soda, etc. Google, you have failed me! I asked the Internet: It. Did. Not. Know. On the bright side, I know what I'm baking this weekend.

In any case, it's a really fun bottle cap, with a totally ridiculous font and girl wearing a crown licking her lips. Definitely makes me want to drink one! I just hope it's not secretly a Yoo-hoo!

appalachian brewing company

Welcome to entry 2 in my week-long look at Crownvention.

Of the many things to do in Harrisburg, PA and the surrounding areas, taking a trip to the Appalachian Brewing Company is a must. Great food, loads of brew on tap, and, of course, beer and root beer brewed right on premises.

When Michael and I arrived for dinner after a full day of conventions and sight-seeing, we stumbled upon a restaurant full of people excited for some food, some drink, and apparently a concert by a band called The Clarks. (Michael and I had never heard of them but everyone was wearing t-shirts and seemed stoked for the show to begin. They're a band hailing from Pittsburgh, so the home-town feel was definitely in the air.)

While we were waiting (it ended up being about a 45 minute wait), we hung out at the bar, watched the end of a NCAA basketball game, and drank some beer. When we finally sat down for dinner, we each ordered a diet Root beer. My Tree-Hugger veggie burger was HUGE -- I definitely couldn't finish it -- and Michael ordered the Drunken Shepherd's Pie, which he was very pleased with. The diet Root Beer also hit the spot, so much so that we purchased a bottle of regular root beer for the road. The regular root beer has more spice to it, as well as a stronger after taste.  I prefer the regular, but I think Michael liked the diet. We should have gotten a bottle of that, too!

The bottle cap is also noteworthy -- a bear claw (or some sort of animal claw) with a seal of excellence and a nice, clean design.  It also fulfills an important requirement for me -- the name of the brewery, so that I know what it is after it has been sitting in my collection for a while.

Speaking of which, in the coming weeks I will have a few "mystery caps" that I hope my loyal readers can help me decipher. When your bottle cap has only a bird on it, or a star  --- well, it makes it hard to remember what it is. Keep that in mind, bottling companies!

cherry coke, clearly canadian, dr. pepper

Crownvention has come and gone. Rooms and rooms of cans, crowns, and other drinking goodies are behind us. I feel like I made out like a bandit. A few bottle caps I was specifically looking for were easily found and procured. The weekend in PA was well worth the trip.

Cherry Coke has always been a favorite drink of mine but I don't think I have ever seen it in a glass bottle, so it was definitely on the list of caps that I wanted to try to get this past weekend. I was in luck!  One of the first vendors I came across had an array of Coke caps -- both old and new, and many, many varieties. This particular Cherry Coke cap also has an actual cherry on it, only adding to the fabulousness. The best Cherry Coke I think I've ever had is at this great old-fashioned diner on the Upper East Side that makes Coke with Syrup (if you click on the link be sure to turn up your volume!). You can get a fountain soda with vanilla, lemon, or cherry.

Dr. Pepper is also a classic.  Again, not as easy to find in bottles in my 'hood as one might think (plenty in plastic, but we all know that it is just not the same.)  I went with a more contemporary cap for Dr. Pepper. I'm not such a fan of all of the new flavors of Dr. Pepper out there -- how do you feel about them?  Dr. Pepper has such a distinctive taste that only the classic hits the spot. I drink Diet Dr. Pepper but it is the ONLY diet soda that I think actually tastes like the original.

The last cap I'll discuss tonight from Crownvention is Clearly Canadian,  a delicious flavored sparkling water. This is a drink that I used to covet growing up.  It was abundant, many flavors to choose from, and was always satisfying. As I got older, it became more and more scarce, and now it is at the point where I can't find it anywhere. I think the last time I found Clearly Canadian anywhere in NY was about five or six years ago, and that was a fluke! Before that, I saved one bottle (but not the cap, alas) that is currently residing at my parent's house. I think it is now a candle holder -- such a sad fate. Clearly Canadian wasn't even something on my list of hopeful caps for this trip, so when I saw one, I had to pounce on it!

Faithful readers, did you find any amazing bottle caps this weekend?

crownvention

Phew! It was an absolutely crazy weekend! After a full week of work, Michael and I hopped in our car and drove 3 1/2 hours to Harrisburg, PA to attend the Spring Thaw/Crownvention.  Even though it was a three-day affair, Michael and I could only make it for Saturday. Rooms and rooms of bottle caps, cans, and other drinking paraphanalia. It was amazing! I found a bunch of caps that I had been looking for (stay tuned for upcoming posts on all sorts of interesting crowns). You could spend as much or as little on caps as you wanted--I dug through a cardboard box that had 10 caps for a dollar, and Michael was very generous and bought me a few cork-lined caps as gifts!  It was win-win, with Michael even finding a beer can for his father.

Michael and I also took the opportunity to explore Harrisburg, Lancaster County, and Hershey PA as well.  Lancaster County was great--with handmade Amish pretzles, all-you-can-eat buffets, horse and buggies, and lots of antiques, quilts, and ceramics. We had fun having a car (in NYC the subway is our car), driving around and having a weekend in "the country."

This post will be sans-cap photo, but don't worry--this week will be full of new caps and new stories. And if you were at Crownvention, feel free to share your stories, too!