1 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: Pushkin too quick. 2 00:00:19,240 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 2: No, it was perfect, pushkin stop, you got it. 3 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,240 Speaker 3: Jacob Goldstein, I want to tell you a story about 4 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 3: two brothers from Georgia. One was a goofy looking peanut farmer. 5 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 3: The other one also a little goofy looking, also peanut farmer, 6 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 3: also the President of the United States of America, Jimmy 7 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 3: Carter and Billy Carter. They looked similar, Billy and Jimmy, 8 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 3: but their temperaments were different. Jimmy Carter, the President was sober, 9 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 3: both in the sense that he rarely drank, but also 10 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:05,119 Speaker 3: in the sense that he had pretty strong religious views. 11 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 3: He felt that if you looked at a woman who 12 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 3: was not your wife with lust in your heart, this 13 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 3: was actually a form of adultery. His brother, Billy, loved drinking, 14 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:19,040 Speaker 3: loved beers, and he would drink them with this unquenchable thirst. 15 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 3: And he judged the nineteen seventy seven Miss Piggy's Pizza 16 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 3: Beauty pageant. I'm going to argue that Billy and his brother, 17 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,839 Speaker 3: the President were essential to an important moment in business history, 18 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 3: specifically the history of the beer industry in the United 19 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:36,959 Speaker 3: States of America. Between the two of them, they were 20 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 3: responsible for possibly the very lowest point in American beer history, 21 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 3: which we will tell you about, and eventually the birth 22 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 3: of the fantastic American craft beers we have today. It's 23 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 3: a fall and rise story, and surprisingly it is the 24 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 3: teetotaling president, not the drunkard, who saves the great American Bruski. 25 00:01:58,960 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 3: I'm Robert Smith. 26 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 4: Have you ever said Bruski before in your life? 27 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: I have never said brusky before? 28 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 4: In this business history A show about the history of beerness, 29 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 4: no show about the history of business. 30 00:02:08,920 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 1: No, do it, do it, do it. We're going do 31 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: it all the way. 32 00:02:11,519 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 3: This story answers some questions that I have always had 33 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 3: about beer. How did a nation of immigrants, each of 34 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 3: which brought delicious beers with them, create an American beer 35 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 3: industry that, at least in the sixties, seventies, and eighties 36 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 3: served bland, watery swill. And how did craft beers finally 37 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,360 Speaker 3: break that curse? And the answer this is going to 38 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 3: delight you is tax policy and regulation. 39 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,519 Speaker 4: It does delight me, the two most powerful forces in 40 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 4: the universe. 41 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 3: I was a kid during this era and the news 42 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 3: just loved stories about Billy Carter. And maybe it was 43 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 3: because Jimmy was a goodie two shoes. But Billy, Oh. 44 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,959 Speaker 3: People would tell these stories about the president's brother is 45 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 3: a redneck, he's a good old boy, and Billy Carter 46 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 3: embraced those terms. Jimmy Carter's route to the presidency was 47 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 3: a classic one. He left the small town of Plains, 48 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 3: Georgia as soon as he could to attend the Naval Academy. 49 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:16,360 Speaker 3: He joined America's nuclear submarine fleet, and when his father died, 50 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:18,680 Speaker 3: he went back to run the family business, the family 51 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:24,239 Speaker 3: peanut farm. Billy, twelve years younger than Jimmy. Billy flunked 52 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 3: out of university. He left a four thousand dollars beer 53 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 3: tab behind. A lot of beer, was a lot of drinking. 54 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 3: He ended up working and managing the peanut farm. But 55 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 3: he was smart. Billy Carter was smart. He was a 56 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 3: voracious reader. He did a great job of running the 57 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 3: peanut farm. But he did find that the drunken, good 58 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 3: old boy shtick was effective in the peanut business. He 59 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 3: once told a reporter, I got a redneck white sox 60 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 3: and blue ribbon beer. 61 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 4: Blue ribbon beer like PBR, like Pabst, blue ribbon. 62 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 3: Paps, blue ribbon. He would roll up to farmers and 63 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 3: peanut buyers in his pickup truck with an open perhaps 64 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 3: blue ribbon, driving while drinking between his knees, and the 65 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 3: customers just loved it. 66 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 4: So in nineteen it was like a business show. He 67 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 4: was like a salesman selling this character of Billy Carter 68 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 4: to some extent. 69 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, of this southern farmer you know who loved America, 70 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 3: loved his beer, and. 71 00:04:23,159 --> 00:04:25,439 Speaker 4: He's a good time. You're happy if you're in business 72 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 4: with him and he shows up, you know it's going 73 00:04:26,919 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 4: to be a good time. 74 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: I think it still works in business to this day. 75 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 3: Like you were not unhappy when Billy Carter rolled up 76 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 3: with a six pack of PBR. In nineteen seventy two, 77 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,600 Speaker 3: Jimmy Carter was governor of Georgia and Billy Carter also 78 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 3: made his big career jump. So he was living at 79 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 3: this time planes Georgia in a dry county, meaning they 80 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 3: couldn't sell alcohol. You could find alcohol, but they didn't 81 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:55,480 Speaker 3: officially sell alcohol in the county. So Billy Carter joins 82 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 3: the town council for the sole reason of voting to 83 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 3: allow alcohol sales in the county, and once that vote 84 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:07,039 Speaker 3: went through, he resigned from the town council. About the 85 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 3: only gas station in town and Plains, Georgia. And he 86 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 3: put up a big beer sign and said, we are 87 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 3: selling beer, which I helped legalize. Here at the only 88 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:21,280 Speaker 3: gas station in Plains, Georgia, and it became this community 89 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 3: hub for the city. With Billy holding court, why don't 90 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 3: you give me his quote? 91 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 4: We were a beer joint that sold gas as a sideline. 92 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 4: I probably drank or gave away more beer than I sold. 93 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 4: That second part is the is the trick right. It's 94 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 4: great if your business is selling beer. Good classic business, 95 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 4: giving the beer away that's going to hurts you in 96 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 4: the end, and drinking it also. 97 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:43,679 Speaker 3: Now at this point, I want to leave the Carter 98 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 3: Brothers for a moment, and I want to follow the 99 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 3: beer itself, the Paps blue ribbon, because, unbeknownst to Billy's belly, 100 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 3: Paps is a perfect way to tell the story of 101 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 3: how beer got to America and how it got so bad. 102 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 3: We're going to flash back now one hundred and thirty 103 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 3: years to eighteen forty four. 104 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 4: I'm there, I'm ready. I love the eighteen hundreds in 105 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 4: business history, as you know, my favorite business history century. 106 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 3: So since this is a beer store, you know it's 107 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,159 Speaker 3: going to feature Germans. Eighteen forty four, a lot of 108 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 3: Germans are coming to America, including Jacob Best, who starts 109 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 3: the Empire Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Now, in this era 110 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 3: of German migration, they brought a new style of beer. 111 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,480 Speaker 3: They brew a beer it's all cloudy, has all this 112 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,840 Speaker 3: stuff in it, and they would store it somewhere cold, 113 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 3: like in a cool cellar, and the stuff inside the 114 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 3: beer would sort of drop down to the bottom. And Jacob, 115 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 3: do you know what store away is in German? No, no, no, 116 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 3: it's Lagern, where we get the term lagger. So this 117 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:58,440 Speaker 3: is the beer that the Germans have brought to America 118 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 3: and this new process. And after the lagurn process, you 119 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 3: had a clear, mellow beer that stayed fresh longer than 120 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 3: other ales. And the timing of Jacob Best was impeccable 121 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 3: because soon after the reopened came the Great Lagger Drought 122 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 3: of eighteen fifty four. No put it on the calendar. 123 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 3: It's like a bank panic, But for beer, I knew 124 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 3: all the bank panics. I did not know about the 125 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 3: Great Lagger Drought of eighteen fifty four. It had apparently 126 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 3: been a hot summer. There's all this newly arrived German 127 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 3: population in Saint Louis and Chicago, and they drank the 128 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 3: city's dry. The Chicago Journal wrote about. 129 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 4: This here give it to us, Jacob, Germans disconsolate and 130 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 4: haggard wander from hall to hall, and as yet there. 131 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: Is no beer. 132 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 4: Something must be done. A newspaper loves nothing more than 133 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 4: to say something must be done. 134 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 3: The problem was that most lagger at this point was 135 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 3: sold within a mile or two of where it was brewed. 136 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 3: Number one, it's heavy, so it's expensive to move. But 137 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 3: number two, it's because once the beer gets warm, it 138 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 3: starts to go bad. But luckily for Jacob Best, this 139 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 3: is the beginning of the age of the cold shp 140 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 3: So you had ice, you had railroads, you had shipping, 141 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 3: you had a way to transport beer. 142 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 4: So call back to our ice king show. Of course, 143 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 4: right around this time mid eighteen hundred's kind of early 144 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 4: to mid eighteen hundreds, they're they're industrializing ice before they 145 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 4: have refrigeration. They're cutting it out of frozen lakes and 146 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 4: using it to keep beer coll It was actually one 147 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,439 Speaker 4: of the first places that spread from Boston was Milwaukee 148 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 4: for the beer business. 149 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:39,239 Speaker 3: So you have a new way to transport beer. You 150 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 3: have a beer panic in the big cities. And so 151 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 3: Jacob Best starts to ship barrels of their logger on 152 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 3: the Lake Michigan ferry to Chicago and then down a 153 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 3: canal to Saint Louis. Lagger drought over Jacob Best, and 154 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 3: eventually his son Philip started to build their brand. The 155 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 3: other thing happening in eighteen hundreds is the launch of brands. 156 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:07,199 Speaker 3: They put their last names. They put worst Beer first, No, 157 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 3: it was best select, and they put it on the bottle. 158 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:16,320 Speaker 3: And they came up with a drinking song specifically for 159 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 3: their beer. Here are the lyrics printed in Maureen Ogle's 160 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:24,599 Speaker 3: great book Ambitious Brew. Jacob sing Us sing Us a 161 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 3: drinking song of the bests. 162 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:30,559 Speaker 4: When the glasses loudly ring, all the waiters quickly spring, 163 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 4: serving promptly all the guests with the bestest of the bests, with. 164 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:40,840 Speaker 3: The bestest of the best. I want a tuba for 165 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:44,199 Speaker 3: that the best. We're soon making enough profit to expand. 166 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 3: They built a new brewery in Milwaukee look like a 167 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 3: Gothic castle, and the Lagger vaults extended for several city 168 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 3: blocks under the city. 169 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:54,079 Speaker 1: It's all beer below the water. 170 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 4: We need a comic book. We need a beer comic 171 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 4: book down there. 172 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 3: Eventually a steamboat captain married into the family and he 173 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 3: took over the business and renamed it. His name was 174 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:06,319 Speaker 3: Frederick Papst. He tied a little blue ribbon around the 175 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 3: next of the bottles, like an actual blue ribbon. Yeah, 176 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 3: as part of the marketing they could stand out. 177 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:12,719 Speaker 4: I always thought it was it's like they won a 178 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 4: blue ribbon at a contest or something. 179 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: They later did. 180 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,680 Speaker 4: Also, Yeah, the actual blue ribbon seems impressive. 181 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: It's nice. 182 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:21,559 Speaker 3: Now you needed a gimmick like this to stand out. 183 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:23,839 Speaker 3: Because everyone was getting into the brewing business in the 184 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 3: late eighteen hundreds, we start to see companies like Schlitz, Miller, 185 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 3: Anheuser Busch, and Papst. Now, maybe because it was a 186 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 3: product of the German immigrants, beer did not enjoy the 187 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 3: best reputation in the late eighteen hundreds. This is when 188 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 3: the temperance movement was rising in America. People who said 189 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 3: we should outlaw alcohol. It's terrible, and these German and 190 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,320 Speaker 3: Irish immigrants, they were painted as being drunks invading and 191 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:56,080 Speaker 3: destroying America. The beer industry fought back with science. They said, listen, 192 00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:00,200 Speaker 3: beer is a low alcohol alternative to the devil that 193 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 3: is whiskey. They said in court, you could drink twenty 194 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:05,800 Speaker 3: pints of lager before you could get drunk. 195 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 4: It's a lot of pints. 196 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 3: The brewers might have won this argument, but just as 197 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 3: the prohibition movement was growing, the US declared war on 198 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 3: Germany in nineteen seventeen, and beer became an easy target 199 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:21,079 Speaker 3: for the propaganda of the war. Here's what one pro 200 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:22,920 Speaker 3: prohibition politician had to say. 201 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 4: No, Germans in the war are conspiring against the peace 202 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 4: and happiness of the United States more than Papst, schlitz 203 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 4: Miller and others of their kind. We don't like that 204 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:35,600 Speaker 4: phrase their kind. 205 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:40,080 Speaker 3: It's never good. No, we should do a prohibition show 206 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 3: in the future. 207 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 4: Yeah, there's a lot of sort of tax and regulation. 208 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 4: I mean, even just al Capone. I think there's a 209 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 4: business case study about al Capone that I've been meaning 210 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 4: to dig into. 211 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: Oh, we should definitely do it. 212 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 3: Just after the war, the Eighteenth Amendment passed, which meant 213 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 3: that prohibition was in effect in the United States of America. 214 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:01,679 Speaker 3: Production of alcohol is now banned, and the big beer 215 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 3: companies converted their giant factories to make near beers like 216 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 3: low alcoholics, soft drinks. Essentially, it would have been very 217 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 3: popular today. 218 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 1: That is the trend. 219 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 3: And because they had ice houses and refrigeration plants, some 220 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:23,079 Speaker 3: started to produce ice cream. Paps made spreadable cheese delicious. 221 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 3: In fact, got sued by Craft. Perhaps also had a 222 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 3: big real estate portfolio from all the beer gardens and 223 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:33,600 Speaker 3: hotels and taverns, and it acquired it developed these properties, rented, 224 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:38,320 Speaker 3: sold them off. It did anything to survive prohibition. And 225 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 3: because all of this, you know, a lot of the 226 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 3: small breweries went out of business, but paps they made 227 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 3: it through. When prohibition was repealed in nineteen thirty three, 228 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:48,439 Speaker 3: they could reopen the factory and start to sell beer 229 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 3: again in America. But the paps that they were about 230 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 3: to brew, the one that Billy Carter was to come 231 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 3: to love, would not be the same beer. It would 232 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 3: taste different than the one that carried that first blue ribbon. 233 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:27,559 Speaker 3: It would be much worse after the break. I think 234 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:30,840 Speaker 3: we've all heard about the celebrations when prohibition was repealed 235 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 3: and people are drinking in the streets. It feels like 236 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:36,960 Speaker 3: it was this anomaly in America. But prohibition really changed 237 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 3: the industry. Obviously, people drank less, they just did after prohibition, 238 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:46,440 Speaker 3: and the industry structure was altered. In the old days, 239 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 3: if you were perhaps blue ribbon, you would have a 240 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:49,920 Speaker 3: beer guarding. 241 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 4: A lot of bars were owned or financed directly by brewers, right, 242 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:56,280 Speaker 4: it was like a it was a vertical integration. 243 00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 3: Basically, when prohibition was repealed, the US government was like, well, 244 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 3: wait a minute, let's not go back to the way 245 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 3: things were. Let's create something new called a beer distributor. 246 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 3: It was ended up being a what is a three 247 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 3: tier systems? 248 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 4: Three tier system? This is the phrase everybody is. 249 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:14,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, so rather than sell the beer you made to 250 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 3: someone who wants to drink the beer you made. 251 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 4: Or even rather than sell it to a store that's 252 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 4: going to sell it. 253 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 3: The brewer would sell it to a distributor. The distributor 254 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 3: would sell it to a store, and the store would 255 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 3: sell it to the customer. 256 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 4: Yes, and so the three tiers, to be clear are brewer, wholesaler, 257 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 4: slash distributor, and store. And like, just like, why did 258 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 4: they do that? What is the rationale? 259 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 3: I think the government was worried that the brewers had 260 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 3: incentive to, first of all, to take over markets because 261 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 3: they owned the bars and the beer halls, and also 262 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 3: an incentive to encourage people to drink more than they 263 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 3: probably should because because it is their product. So they 264 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 3: were concerned about alcoholism. But also they were concerned about 265 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 3: taxing the industry, and they felt like if they reduced 266 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 3: the power of all parts of the brewing industry, it 267 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 3: would be easier to track the beer and to tax 268 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 3: the beer. 269 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 4: And maybe you know, I'm kind of making this up, 270 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 4: but antitrust was pticularly aggressive around this time, and there 271 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:17,240 Speaker 4: was that famous case. You know, movie studios used to 272 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 4: own movie theaters, yes, and there's the famous case that 273 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 4: went to the Supreme Court where the government didn't want 274 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:24,880 Speaker 4: that to happen anymore. They didn't want that vertical integration, 275 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 4: and they won and movie studios were no longer allowed 276 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:31,480 Speaker 4: to own theaters anymore. This is the analog of that, right, 277 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 4: beer brewers can't own bars anymore. And it seems like 278 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 4: there are some I don't know whether they're intended or not, 279 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 4: but there are some interesting structural consequences of this shift. 280 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 4: One of them of this three tiered system is it 281 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 4: seems to be quite bad for small brewers, right, They 282 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 4: already were having a hard time. A lot of them 283 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,359 Speaker 4: had gone out of business in prohibition. 284 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 3: They don't have a lot of leverage with the distributors, right. 285 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 3: Distributors have a limited storage space, limited truck space, and 286 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 3: limited shelf space. These are the things that distributors care about, 287 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 3: and so in theory they could negotiate with every small brewery. 288 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 3: But if you're a distributor, it's easy to just talk 289 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 3: to Paps Blue Ribbon and to like fill up your 290 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 3: truck with Paps we Ribbon and to put it on 291 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 3: the shelf. 292 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 4: And I bet Paps we Ribbon will give you a deal. 293 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 4: I mean, it kind of reminds me of the Amp 294 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 4: story as well, where the big player it just has 295 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:27,000 Speaker 4: economies of scale and efficiencies, and the distributor just wants 296 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 4: to do the easiest, cheapest thing, the most efficient thing, 297 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 4: and why wouldn't they And that's good for the big 298 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 4: brewers and bad for the small brewers. So now we 299 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 4: have beer distributors and the big breweries seem to get bigger. 300 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 4: The smaller ones seem to be hurt after this. And 301 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 4: it's interesting when you have a market like this and 302 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 4: there's a few big players, there's a couple of ways 303 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 4: the market can divide differentiate. One way would be that, 304 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 4: you know, some people could start making beers for a 305 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 4: more sophisticated palette. You could have basically a rich person's 306 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,080 Speaker 4: beer costs a lot, has great flavor, and then a 307 00:17:04,159 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 4: cheaper swell you could sell to the masses. What actually 308 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 4: happened was that all the big breweries decided they were 309 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 4: going to cut costs and compete to be the cheapest, blandest, 310 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:20,000 Speaker 4: most generic beer out there. This feels very mid century 311 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 4: to me. I feel like in the we're in the 312 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 4: kind of post war period here, right, We're in the 313 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 4: nineteen fifties, sixties. It feels like this very mass market era. 314 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,440 Speaker 4: And you can imagine the three tiered system being highly 315 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,960 Speaker 4: relevant here, right. We just we want to fill the 316 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,919 Speaker 4: distributor's trucks with our couple beers, with our one or 317 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 4: two basic beers that everybody's going to want, and send 318 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:43,680 Speaker 4: them out by the case. 319 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 3: So, with this philosophy, perhaps and the other brewers decide 320 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 3: they need to cut costs become more efficient. They add 321 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 3: corn and rice to make the beer cheaper and blander 322 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 3: and at this point they decide they're going to compete 323 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 3: through advertising, not the flavor space. Flavor space, flavor space. 324 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 3: So by the nineteen seventies, basically every beer is weak. 325 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:09,680 Speaker 3: It's very light, very pale, very dry, and the only 326 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 3: thing to differentiate is the name on the label and 327 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 3: the tagline. The tagline became so important here. Why do 328 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 3: you read me some of these taglines? Miller makes it right. 329 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:27,399 Speaker 3: Where there's life, there's bud. If you'll like beer, you'll 330 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,719 Speaker 3: love Schlitz. You know what things made me think of? 331 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 3: You remember the Homer Simpson line beer. 332 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:39,200 Speaker 4: The cause of and solution to all of life's problems, 333 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 4: something like that. 334 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:44,640 Speaker 3: Well, he's making fun of this era of beer. And 335 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 3: because it is the mad Men era and they are 336 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 3: starting to advertise on television and sponsor big league sports, 337 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 3: these beer names are everywhere, and everyone's looking for their 338 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 3: competitive advantage in terms of how can I get the 339 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,879 Speaker 3: name of my beer to stand out? Who can I 340 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 3: get to hold up my beer and say this beer 341 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:13,120 Speaker 3: is the best. And their eyes turned towards planes Georgia. 342 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 1: It's nineteen seventy six. 343 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:18,600 Speaker 3: Governor Jimmy Carter runs for president and the world's press 344 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 3: descends on planes Georgia. You know, I've been there myself. 345 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:24,480 Speaker 3: You have to do the puff piece about the people 346 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:27,879 Speaker 3: running for president where you interview all their neighbors and 347 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 3: their relatives and who should be there at the gas 348 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,640 Speaker 3: station when you drive into planes Georgia. But the President's brother, 349 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 3: Billy Carter, and they loved him. Jimmy Carter, the President 350 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 3: later said, why don't you give me this quote? 351 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 4: He could play the country bumpkin as well as anyone. 352 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,320 Speaker 4: His beer drinking helped promote that image. He had a 353 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,399 Speaker 4: can of beer in his hand in every photo I 354 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,840 Speaker 4: ever saw. And I just want to point out that phrase, 355 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:58,879 Speaker 4: play the country bumpkin, right, because what President Carter is 356 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 4: saying here is Billy knew what he was doing. He 357 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 4: was conscious that he was putting on an act, creating 358 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 4: a persona, and he was good at it. 359 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 3: And what Jimmy Carter didn't say is that this act, 360 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:15,840 Speaker 3: this image, the country bumpkin, actually helped his run for president. 361 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,880 Speaker 3: This is just after Vietnam and Watergate, and Americans were 362 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:24,439 Speaker 3: suspicious of the same old politicians in Washington, DC. And 363 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 3: Billy Yeah, he was embarrassing. He used some unfortunate language, 364 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 3: but he humanized Jimmy Carter. He made it seem like 365 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 3: this is an authentic politician from an authentic small town, 366 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:38,120 Speaker 3: and who amongst us doesn't have a brother that says 367 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 3: the wrong thing occasionally. So Billy took advantage of this. 368 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:46,760 Speaker 3: He went on TV game shows, he judged belly flop competitions, 369 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 3: and eventually he hired an agent to handle all the 370 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 3: media requests and business propositions that flooded in. Definitely taking 371 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 3: advantage of his brother's run for president. And you could 372 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:00,360 Speaker 3: imagine the beer companies taking a look at this guy 373 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,640 Speaker 3: who is never without a beer in his hand, and 374 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:08,119 Speaker 3: they think, this guy, we can make money off of 375 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 3: this guy. One company in particular, this was a small 376 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,159 Speaker 3: trying to compete against the paps and the Budweisers of 377 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:19,040 Speaker 3: the time. It was called Fall City Brewing Company. They 378 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 3: were a little desperate. They had started in nineteen oh 379 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:25,120 Speaker 3: five in Louisville, Kentucky. Just a little side note, Fall 380 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,200 Speaker 3: City were the first people at the time to start 381 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 3: using the state tab opener for their beer cans, which 382 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 3: we talked about in our can show. 383 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 4: The state tad is the way you open a can now, 384 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,440 Speaker 4: the misticulous three lever thing. 385 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,440 Speaker 3: Instead of instead of the ring poll. 386 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:41,120 Speaker 4: Which was a deadly device. 387 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: People can swallow them. It's terrible. 388 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 3: So False City looks at Billy Carter and they think, yes, yes, 389 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 3: what if we craft an entire beer around this beer 390 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:58,439 Speaker 3: god's image. What if we make Billy beer? And they 391 00:21:58,440 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 3: were going to take it up a nuts. They weren't 392 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 3: just going to put his name on it. They were 393 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:05,400 Speaker 3: going to have Billy pick the beer. Okay, So they 394 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,119 Speaker 3: send a private jet to Georgia to pick up Billy Carter. 395 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:12,240 Speaker 3: They bring in Billy Carter. His quote is, perhaps I'll 396 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 3: become the Colonel Sanders of beer. 397 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 4: It's interesting that he should say Colonel Sanders because today 398 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,399 Speaker 4: a celebrity not just endorsing a beer, but you know, 399 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,200 Speaker 4: starting a brand that has become a thing. If you're 400 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 4: famous and you want to not just be really rich, 401 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,680 Speaker 4: but really really rich, rather than just acting in another 402 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,680 Speaker 4: movie or releasing another album, you start a tequila brand 403 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,800 Speaker 4: or a line of skin care products, and if it 404 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 4: goes well, you go from mega millionaire to maybe billionaire. 405 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: Yeah. 406 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 3: If you know Jay Z like bought into a champagne company. 407 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:49,680 Speaker 4: Yeah, George Clooney and Rihanna. 408 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:53,120 Speaker 3: Billy Carter is going to be that guy so he's 409 00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 3: flying to Louisville. He is going to pick out the 410 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:01,639 Speaker 3: beer that will bear his name. Only problem is, Billy 411 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 3: at this point is drinking a little bit more than beer. 412 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 3: He had graduated to the hard stuff. So Lanny and Louisville. 413 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:13,359 Speaker 3: Billy later admitted quote, I'd been knocking vodka and grapefruit 414 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:14,800 Speaker 3: juice all the way there. 415 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,240 Speaker 4: At least there was the juice. 416 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:19,639 Speaker 3: It's good for you. It keeps the scurvy away. Billy 417 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,080 Speaker 3: was set up with all these different recipes of beer, 418 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 3: and his one job was to taste them all and 419 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 3: to pick out the one that would become Billy Beer. 420 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:34,120 Speaker 3: Here's what Billy said of that tasting session, Jacob I was. 421 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,200 Speaker 4: So drunk that they could have given me water in 422 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,719 Speaker 4: a glass and I wouldn't have known the difference. I 423 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,919 Speaker 4: finally just pointed at one and said that's the best. 424 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 3: And so that was the batch that got the green 425 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 3: light for full scale production start the factory, and False 426 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 3: City was going to make so much of this beer 427 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:53,600 Speaker 3: that it couldn't handle the brewing on its own. It 428 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 3: licensed Billy Beer to several small outlets across the nation 429 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:00,359 Speaker 3: so that Billy Beer could all roll out the same time, 430 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 3: and they designed it around the image of Billy. It 431 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:08,399 Speaker 3: said billion, big blue letters, and it had this claim 432 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:11,560 Speaker 3: in smaller print, Jacob brewed. 433 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 4: Express and with the personal approval of one of America's 434 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 4: all time great beer drinkers, Billy Carter. 435 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 1: It's a pretty good copy. 436 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 3: And then even more there was a personal endorsement from 437 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 3: Billy that was the company speak. 438 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:31,719 Speaker 4: Really leaning in. So on the can, Billy says, I 439 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,120 Speaker 4: had this beer brewed up just for me. I think 440 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 4: it's the best I ever tasted, and I've tasted a lot. 441 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 4: I think you'll like it too. It's very country bumpkin. 442 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:42,040 Speaker 4: It's very much in that persona. 443 00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 3: Do you remember that Billy was drunk and had no 444 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 3: detailed memory of the tasting, and when he tried it again, 445 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:52,400 Speaker 3: he realized he did not like the taste of his 446 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 3: own beer. He said, I have trouble believing a reputable 447 00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,160 Speaker 3: brewery would pick it. Dude, you picked it fine. Contractually, 448 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 3: he had to be seen with Billy beer in his hand, 449 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:06,640 Speaker 3: but he would often pour out the contents and fill 450 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:07,880 Speaker 3: up the can with a vodka. 451 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 4: That is a that is kind of a grim turn 452 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:13,280 Speaker 4: in our story. That is not as fun. 453 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:15,679 Speaker 3: Billy at this point is a pretty serious alcoholic, and 454 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 3: he's drinking a lot, and they're parading him around the nation. 455 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:21,440 Speaker 3: He would go to these events and people would sing 456 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:24,400 Speaker 3: Hello Billy to the tune of Hello Dolly. They had 457 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 3: Billy Beer Day in Carter's hometown, complete with a branded 458 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 3: hot air balloon. It was one of the wildest days 459 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 3: ever in planes, said Billy. Everyone in town except the 460 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:40,439 Speaker 3: Baptist got drunk. But this huge buzz, as I'm sure 461 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 3: you can imagine, did. 462 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,159 Speaker 4: Not last long like any buzz. 463 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:46,919 Speaker 3: Like any buzz, there is a hangover, and that happened 464 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:50,919 Speaker 3: in nineteen seventy eight. Distributors start returning the beer to 465 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:56,399 Speaker 3: the manufacturer by the case load. It was discounted. It 466 00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:00,840 Speaker 3: was a flop, and that year fALS City Brewing shut down. 467 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,240 Speaker 3: Nineteen seventy eight was also the same year that Jimmy Carter, 468 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 3: the President's approval ratings started to drop. Probably not connected. 469 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 3: The economy was weak, There's an energy crisis. It was 470 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 3: a tough time, and it seemed like everyone needed to 471 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:17,200 Speaker 3: just chill and relax and. 472 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:17,879 Speaker 1: Have a good beer. 473 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 3: But there were no good beers to be had. It 474 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:22,760 Speaker 3: was the low point of beer in the United States 475 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 3: of America. The nation needed an optimistic hero, someone who 476 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:31,240 Speaker 3: could show us that there's morning in America and drink 477 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 3: a beautiful craft beer to celebrate it. I am not 478 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 3: referring to Ronald Reagan. He was a one drinker. I'm 479 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 3: referring to the man who will bring back good beer. 480 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:41,919 Speaker 1: We will meet him after the break. 481 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 4: Robert Smith, We're back from the break, and you're about 482 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,199 Speaker 4: to tell me the story of the birth of craft 483 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,240 Speaker 4: beer in America, or the rebirth of craft beer in America. 484 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:14,400 Speaker 3: We had reached the bottom. Seventies were a dark time 485 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:17,399 Speaker 3: for beer. If you didn't like what they were serving, 486 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:19,880 Speaker 3: you did not have many options. The five big beer 487 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:24,120 Speaker 3: companies controlled seventy five percent of the market beer oligopoly, 488 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 3: and even if you wanted to brew your own beer 489 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:31,159 Speaker 3: at home, you were out of luck because it was illegal. 490 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,760 Speaker 3: When prohibition was repealed, the law allowed for making a 491 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:38,639 Speaker 3: small amount of wine at home, but not beer. Essentially, 492 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,880 Speaker 3: what the law says is that all beer production has 493 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 3: to be taxed, but there was no mechanism to collect 494 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 3: taxes from home brewers. So if you somehow brewed beer 495 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,280 Speaker 3: and didn't pay taxes because you can't pay taxes. 496 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: You could be charged. 497 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:57,760 Speaker 3: And you know, have to pay up to five thousand dollars. 498 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,160 Speaker 4: Fine homebrew Catch twenty two. 499 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 3: Why is the seventies and there were some people who 500 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 3: were illegally brewing the hop stuff. This included a young 501 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 3: Californian named Ken Grossman. 502 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:13,480 Speaker 1: Give us a quote from the beer Rebel. 503 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:16,120 Speaker 4: I don't remember the exact day I made my first 504 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,920 Speaker 4: batch of homebrew, but it was some time between Junior 505 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:21,920 Speaker 4: and Senior High. Junior and Senior High. He's a little 506 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,159 Speaker 4: boy baking beer. I did what any teenager would and 507 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 4: hid my equipment in my closet. Of course, my mother 508 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,199 Speaker 4: found it, but I managed to convince her that it 509 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 4: was just an experiment and I wouldn't drink it. 510 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 1: I don't. 511 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 3: I don't believe him. His mother parents was cooler in 512 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 3: the seventies. My parents were not paying attention to the seventies. 513 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 3: I think you know that it's hard to believe that 514 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:45,120 Speaker 3: anyone would not see what their teenage son was doing. 515 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 3: It was also amazing because this was pre internet. It 516 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:50,280 Speaker 3: wasn't something you could just ask AI, how do I 517 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:53,960 Speaker 3: make beer at home? Ken Grossman had to figure this 518 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:58,120 Speaker 3: out by himself. One of the things he did was 519 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:01,280 Speaker 3: to order books from the UK, Like, really. 520 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 4: Nobody was brewing beer in America. They were not homebrew books. 521 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, how do I do this? And then he had 522 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 3: to find his ingredients at local supermarkets. He continued homebrewing 523 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,360 Speaker 3: through high schooling into college and this was his main 524 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 3: hobby other than hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Loved 525 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:24,280 Speaker 3: the Sierra Nevada. He and his wife had a child, 526 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:30,720 Speaker 3: a daughter named Sierra Heavy, foreshadowing Ken starts to teach 527 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:35,480 Speaker 3: others how to homebrew, and they really struggled to get 528 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,600 Speaker 3: the one thing they really needed to make the beer's great, 529 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:40,760 Speaker 3: and that was the hops. 530 00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:42,959 Speaker 4: Beer people loved to talk about hops. 531 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:44,920 Speaker 3: I'm gonna make you talk about hops. Why do you 532 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:46,320 Speaker 3: give me? A quote from Ken Grossman. 533 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:50,920 Speaker 4: Finding quality hops was nearly impossible because the homebrew trade 534 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,800 Speaker 4: consumed an insignificant amount of hops and apparently, in the 535 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 4: eyes of hop growers and merchants, wasn't worth pursuing. 536 00:29:59,120 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: But then. 537 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:05,720 Speaker 3: President Jimmy Carter comes to the rescue. This is literally 538 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,479 Speaker 3: as his brother Billy is signing on the dotted line 539 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 3: to be the face of Billy Beer. The low point 540 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 3: of beer in America. Jimmy Carter is about to create 541 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 3: the high point for beer. Now. President Carter did not 542 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:22,280 Speaker 3: drink much himself, but he wasn't anti alcohol In Georgia, 543 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:23,640 Speaker 3: he had lowered the drinking. 544 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 1: Age to eighteen. 545 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 3: He argued big argument at the time that if Georgia 546 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:29,440 Speaker 3: boys were going to go off to fight in Vietnam, 547 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:31,760 Speaker 3: they should be able to down a beer at home. 548 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 3: So Carter's not anti alcoholic, just doesn't care for himself. 549 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:40,760 Speaker 3: And on October fourteenth, nineteen seventy eight, he signs a 550 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:44,520 Speaker 3: federal transportation Bill HR one three three seven into law. 551 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:49,400 Speaker 3: It's about taxing trucks and buses, but it also held 552 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:54,920 Speaker 3: an amendment, an amendment that solved this tax problem for beer. 553 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:58,880 Speaker 3: The amendment said, any adult may, without payment or tax, 554 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:02,120 Speaker 3: produce beer for his personal or family use, and not 555 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:05,040 Speaker 3: for sale. The aggregate amount shall not exceed two hundred 556 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,720 Speaker 3: gallons per calendar year if there are two or more adults, 557 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:09,719 Speaker 3: one hundred gallons if there's only one adult. 558 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 1: Whatever. Quite dull language. But in his book. 559 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,800 Speaker 3: Beyond the Pale, great title Beyond the Pale, Ken Grossman 560 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:22,040 Speaker 3: calls this the turning point. This is the turning point 561 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:26,880 Speaker 3: for beer. President Carter has done what his brother could not, 562 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 3: inspire beautiful beer. The homebrewers start to come out of 563 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:38,880 Speaker 3: the cold. They start having trade shows, start homebrew supply shops. 564 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 3: There's a whole generation that's learning a more sophisticated palette. 565 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 3: And eventually, and this was the key, they start to 566 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 3: make small breweries to make larger batches of this beer 567 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:55,440 Speaker 3: that they had perfected at home. Ken Grossman is one 568 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,040 Speaker 3: of these brewers. He borrowed fifty grand from his friends 569 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:00,960 Speaker 3: and family, and then another fifty grand, and they beg 570 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:05,520 Speaker 3: borrow and scavenge pipework and vats and bottling machines. And 571 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 3: after some false starts eleven they have eleven failures, they 572 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 3: finally mass brew a batch of ale they call Sierra Nevada. 573 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:16,400 Speaker 3: Saw it coming a beer I drink to this day. 574 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,840 Speaker 3: Turns out, scaling up from homebrew to industrial capacity is 575 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:23,200 Speaker 3: quite hard. It is tricky to make a consistent product. 576 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:25,480 Speaker 3: You have to keep everything very clean, you have to 577 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 3: keep it refrigerated. And it's the thing we talked about 578 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 3: it before. You have to get buy the distributors. The 579 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:34,040 Speaker 3: distributors who are dealing with paps and Budweiser. The don't 580 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,480 Speaker 3: want to take to Ken Grossman for his like three 581 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:37,280 Speaker 3: cases of beer. 582 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 4: It is quite inefficient for them to do that. It 583 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:41,760 Speaker 4: is costly for them to do that. It is rational 584 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 4: for them to not talk to him. What it means 585 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:46,440 Speaker 4: is that Ken has to take on an inefficiency himself. 586 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:49,320 Speaker 4: He has to get in his car and visit local 587 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:53,360 Speaker 4: taverns and restaurants and ask them individually to stock Sierra 588 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:55,800 Speaker 4: Nevada or to ask their distributors. Right, they can't even 589 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,040 Speaker 4: buy it from him, right, he has to get them 590 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:00,280 Speaker 4: to ask their distributor to sell it to them. 591 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:01,240 Speaker 1: But these home. 592 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:05,480 Speaker 3: Brewers turned industrial brewers are a clever lot, and they 593 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:09,160 Speaker 3: figure out that there are loopholes to this distributor thing. 594 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:13,320 Speaker 3: And you know what's coming. You can open a brew pub, 595 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,440 Speaker 3: which I remember at the time, I'm like, this is incredible. 596 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 3: They brew the beer and whatever they serve you some 597 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,600 Speaker 3: French fries, and you can drink their beer and see 598 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:22,720 Speaker 3: it being made behind the glpe. 599 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:25,600 Speaker 4: And in fact, these brew pubs tap rooms sometimes they're 600 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:29,640 Speaker 4: called they're slightly different. They're enabled by these state laws 601 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:32,520 Speaker 4: that start getting passed in the eighties. They are part 602 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:35,560 Speaker 4: of this shift, and it is very much as we've 603 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:39,600 Speaker 4: seen through this story, a legal and regulatory story all 604 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:40,560 Speaker 4: the way through, and a. 605 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,800 Speaker 3: Little bit about taste. If in the fifties and sixties 606 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:46,360 Speaker 3: people wanted this bland, industrial taste, by the eighties people 607 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:48,959 Speaker 3: are starting to seek out things that are different, finding 608 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 3: a new beer, telling your friends about you're not going 609 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:52,520 Speaker 3: to believe this ipa. 610 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:55,080 Speaker 4: Food and being more into food goes with that. Having 611 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:58,720 Speaker 4: particular sophisticated taste in food is more of a thing. 612 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:02,400 Speaker 3: And it was a big breakthrough to have regional beer. 613 00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:06,320 Speaker 3: Remember regional foods were a thing. But when you thought, like, oh, 614 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:10,239 Speaker 3: beers can taste different everywhere you go, this becomes a 615 00:34:10,359 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 3: kind of collect them all thing. 616 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:12,399 Speaker 1: That's big. 617 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:15,439 Speaker 3: But micro brews, I guess microways in the name, was 618 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,719 Speaker 3: still a small business in America. It's going to take 619 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:25,680 Speaker 3: one more person to really make this an industry craft brewing. 620 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:31,600 Speaker 3: His name is Jim Cook, and Jim Cook was not 621 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:34,719 Speaker 3: a brewer, but he had roots back in the brewing industry. 622 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:37,759 Speaker 3: The way he tells the story is he found an 623 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,440 Speaker 3: old family recipe for beer, found it in his parents' attic, 624 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:44,000 Speaker 3: and he tries to recreate it in the kitchen and 625 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:47,520 Speaker 3: it ends up stripping the wallpaper off the walls, but 626 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:51,440 Speaker 3: he persists. He wants to make his own homebrew. But 627 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:54,960 Speaker 3: more importantly, Jim has a day job, and his day 628 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:59,680 Speaker 3: job is at the Boston Consulting Group. He is a consultant, 629 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:02,959 Speaker 3: a businessman at heart, and he starts to think about 630 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:07,719 Speaker 3: this as a business proposition. How can I leverage capital? 631 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:11,359 Speaker 3: How can I leverage scale for this recipe that I love. 632 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:16,840 Speaker 3: What he figures out is he doesn't need his own 633 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:19,560 Speaker 3: brewery and employees. That's the hardest part is buying all 634 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:22,920 Speaker 3: the vats and brewing the actual beer. He realizes that 635 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:26,600 Speaker 3: all around the country are breweries with excess capacity. Ah 636 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:30,280 Speaker 3: they have times where the vats are empty, and he thinks, 637 00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:33,080 Speaker 3: what if I can just hire out the vat space, 638 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:36,120 Speaker 3: hire out the brew masters and the employees to make 639 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:39,800 Speaker 3: my recipe. I can put my name and my recipe 640 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:43,000 Speaker 3: in the bottle and have someone else sort of take 641 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:43,919 Speaker 3: on the capital risk. 642 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:49,239 Speaker 4: This eliminates a huge amount of risk. I mean starting 643 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:52,799 Speaker 4: a brewery. Building a brewery from nothing when you haven't 644 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:56,719 Speaker 4: sold any beer is extremely risky. And if you have 645 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:00,960 Speaker 4: capacity just sitting there, you would imagine people would rent 646 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:03,600 Speaker 4: it out to you quite cheaply. The marginal cost to 647 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:06,600 Speaker 4: them is low, and they should pass that low cost 648 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:09,560 Speaker 4: onto you. It's really a lovely big idea. 649 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:10,640 Speaker 1: I will also say that. 650 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:16,279 Speaker 3: These big factories have refrigeration and so they're able to 651 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:20,120 Speaker 3: make that German style lagger, the one that requires a 652 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:24,880 Speaker 3: whole cold chain to make and cook launches his baby 653 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:28,920 Speaker 3: Sam Adams Boston Lagger, another great beer, and it's. 654 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:29,680 Speaker 1: Not a light logger. 655 00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:32,960 Speaker 3: It's sort of ready and bitter, and it immediately wins 656 00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:35,440 Speaker 3: best Beer in America, which of course they put on 657 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:38,760 Speaker 3: the bottle. And this was the real breakthrough. Craft brewers 658 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:41,680 Speaker 3: rise all over the United States. Group pubs are in 659 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:45,640 Speaker 3: every small town and to this day, Boston Beer Company 660 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:49,080 Speaker 3: that makes Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada are in the 661 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 3: top ten list of brewers in the United States by size, 662 00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:53,720 Speaker 3: and they sell their products around the world. 663 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:58,080 Speaker 4: I was shocked, honestly that they're both still independent, because 664 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,560 Speaker 4: what we've seen a lot is there a few giant 665 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:04,200 Speaker 4: beer conglomerates that are sort of have come down from 666 00:37:04,239 --> 00:37:07,080 Speaker 4: the big beer companies that were dominant in the billy 667 00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:09,920 Speaker 4: beer era that still exists, and what they've done is 668 00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:13,760 Speaker 4: bought up a lot of the craft brewers. So there'll 669 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:16,279 Speaker 4: be a beer that is a craft beer by a 670 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:19,279 Speaker 4: certain sense that tastes interesting maybe, but it's owned by 671 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:21,440 Speaker 4: a giant company. It's it's impressive to me in a 672 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,920 Speaker 4: way that both Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada are still independent. 673 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:27,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, these big companies are doing what they probably should 674 00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:29,480 Speaker 3: have done back in the nineteen fifties, which is, you know, 675 00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:31,759 Speaker 3: I can walk into a place that only has Budweiser 676 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:38,200 Speaker 3: products but also get Goose Island you know IPA, which, yeah, 677 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:42,040 Speaker 3: which was a craft brewer in Chicago that is now nationwide. 678 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:42,520 Speaker 1: Because of the distributors. 679 00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:43,879 Speaker 3: Here at the end of the show, let's go back 680 00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:47,959 Speaker 3: to our two main characters, Jimmy Carter and Billy Carter. 681 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:51,480 Speaker 3: Jimmy Carter, of course, lost his re election bid in 682 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:54,520 Speaker 3: a landslide to Ronald Reagan, who, as I said, was 683 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:57,520 Speaker 3: a wine drinker and does not feature in this story. 684 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,799 Speaker 3: Carter would go on to become one of the most 685 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:03,880 Speaker 3: respected ex presidents in history, and he won the Nobel 686 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:07,840 Speaker 3: Peace Prize in two thousand and two. Billy Carter's story 687 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:13,839 Speaker 3: is tougher. It's sad he was a severe alcoholic by 688 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:17,960 Speaker 3: the end of Carter's presidency. He said, basically, from October 689 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:20,840 Speaker 3: to December of nineteen seventy eight, I didn't do anything 690 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:25,279 Speaker 3: but drink. He was behaving erratically. He urinated on an 691 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,360 Speaker 3: airport runway, which was big news at the time. He 692 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:31,920 Speaker 3: started to work as a paid agent for Libya's Momar Gadaffi, 693 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:35,120 Speaker 3: and it became known as Billy Gate, maybe one of 694 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:37,480 Speaker 3: the first post Watergate other gates. 695 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:40,759 Speaker 4: I was looking at this. There was apparently a Banana 696 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,960 Speaker 4: Gate in nineteen seventy four, like right around the time 697 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:46,920 Speaker 4: of Watergate. Very soon after I had to do something 698 00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:51,120 Speaker 4: to payments to a Central American government buy a fruit company. 699 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:55,400 Speaker 3: Bananagate and Billy Gates, so the second gate perhaps doubtful. 700 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:59,000 Speaker 3: Billy Carter went into a hospital to dry out, and 701 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:03,160 Speaker 3: he stayed sober after rehab, although he admitted it feels 702 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:06,759 Speaker 3: funny not having a beer can in my hand. He 703 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:10,800 Speaker 3: died at the age of fifty one. I had hoped 704 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,879 Speaker 3: to order a can of Billy beer we could taste here. 705 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,680 Speaker 3: Couldn't do it, but I read about what it did 706 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,719 Speaker 3: taste like, and I assumed it was going to be 707 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:23,000 Speaker 3: a terrible light beer like paps. 708 00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:23,520 Speaker 1: But it was not. 709 00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:28,200 Speaker 3: When Billy's Sun tried the beer, his quote was, it 710 00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:31,640 Speaker 3: was strong and heavy and a couple could kick my 711 00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:34,280 Speaker 3: young ass all over town. I don't know why his young. 712 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:35,719 Speaker 1: Son's drinking the beer, but sure, sure, sure. 713 00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:39,960 Speaker 3: One of the brewers said that Billy Carter, in his 714 00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:43,640 Speaker 3: drunken haze, had actually picked one of the more complex 715 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:47,520 Speaker 3: test recipes put before him. He said it had a 716 00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:51,719 Speaker 3: combination of three tastes, soft, a little on the light 717 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:57,320 Speaker 3: beer side, and hoppy with a strong aftertaste. It was probably, 718 00:39:57,440 --> 00:40:00,920 Speaker 3: and this is a quote, too sophisticated for American tastes. 719 00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:06,319 Speaker 3: When he launched Billy beer, people were expecting that blandness, 720 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:11,399 Speaker 3: that sweetness, not bitterness and happiness. And in nineteen seventy eight, 721 00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:14,799 Speaker 3: Billy Beer may not have been bland enough for the 722 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:17,480 Speaker 3: mass market. Makes me think, I don't know, maybe if 723 00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:21,080 Speaker 3: you had launched it twenty years later, the craft brewing craze, 724 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:23,719 Speaker 3: maybe you could have walked into one of these giant 725 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:26,640 Speaker 3: beer bars that have the one hundred and twenty seven 726 00:40:26,719 --> 00:40:30,000 Speaker 3: taps and said, you know, I'm going to try the 727 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:33,960 Speaker 3: Billy Beer. I hear it's a regional brew named after 728 00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:36,200 Speaker 3: the brother of a popular ex president. 729 00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:39,720 Speaker 4: So we've done a beer show now. 730 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:40,239 Speaker 1: Yes. 731 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:42,680 Speaker 4: If you have other ideas for beer shows for us, 732 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:45,319 Speaker 4: or closer to my heart, other ideas for tax and 733 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:46,440 Speaker 4: regulation shows? 734 00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:48,440 Speaker 1: Are you talking about whiskey? 735 00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:54,000 Speaker 4: Email us at Business History at Pushkin dot fm, or 736 00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:57,680 Speaker 4: get in touch with us on Twitter. I'm at Jacob Goldstein, 737 00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:01,000 Speaker 4: you're at Radio Smith. I'm on LinkedIn. We do love 738 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:05,760 Speaker 4: to hear from you. Today's show was produced by Gabriel 739 00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:10,240 Speaker 4: Hunter Chang was engineered by Sarah Bruguer. Our video editor 740 00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:13,440 Speaker 4: who puts us on YouTube is Matt Nielsen, and our 741 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:16,840 Speaker 4: showrunner and editor who did most of the work on 742 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:21,360 Speaker 4: this show he did is one Ryan Dilly. I'm Jacob 743 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:23,080 Speaker 4: Goldstein and I'm Robert Smith. 744 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:23,920 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.