It is thought that hockey is nearly as old as beer, dating back to approximately 2000 BC, and the association with beer may also be ancient. The most important tool of the game, the stick, was originally a barrel stave. Some of the earliest versions of the puck may have been cow chips coated in pitch: pitch is the viscous tar-like substance that was used to line the vats and barrels of most breweries for centuries.

In modern times, the prize awarded to the world’s best team each year is the Stanley Cup. Each player on the winning team gets to spend time with the prize over the year, and you just know that a few brews have been quaffed from this flagon of fortitude. The Molson Cup is an award given to the Canadian hockey player who receives the most three-star votes during the season.

Breweries have owned teams and venues, and sponsored broadcasts. The Molson Brewery owned the Montreal Canadiens for years and the team played their home games at the Molson Centre in Montreal. The Quebec Nordiques were owned by the Carling-O’Keefe Brewery before it merged with Molson. In London, ON, hockey and other events are held at the John Labatt Centre. For years Canadians were glued to their TVs, as Molson brought viewers “Hockey Night” live from coast to coast.

South of the border, Iron City has regularly promoted the Pittsburgh Penguins, paying homage to the Civic Arena where the team plays, along with issuing a number of beer cans: one with a team schedule, one listing team awards and, of course, one to commemorate Mario Lemieux. Miller Lite honored the Detroit Red Wings’ victories on a series of beer cans, as well.

Don Rickles would be proud of all of the hockey pucks I have in my collection that advertise beer. One of the coolest items I have is a Labatt Blue windshield scraper, in the shape of a skate with a hockey stick shoved in it. The blade of the skate is the blade on the scraper. Molson produced a great tap handle, which is a full caged hockey mask on the end of a hockey stick. Labatt issued a similar design except with a hockey glove on their tap handle.

Another great artifact is a regulation-size Molson Ice hockey stick, complete with reinforcing tape. They also issued a great set of coasters in the shape of hockey pucks, which show an NFL team on one side and hockey trivia on the reverse.

Richard Squire, the founder of the Breckenridge Brewery in Colorado, scored with the brewery’s Avalanche Amber, when Denver named its team the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado’s fans may face off over the best micro to drink during the game, but Breckenridge has the name by a long shot.

I must have over two hundred team schedules issued by various breweries, with the Canadian breweries producing bi-lingual schedules. Now that the labor disputes of the NHL are behind us, it is time to start collecting the newest schedules of the 2007 season.

Just before St. Patrick’s Day, I purchased a new home, an exciting event for many. For me, it took a while for the excitement to set in. My first thought was “Oh, yeah, now I have to move all of this stuff.” With 45 days left before the closing, it was time to bring order to this bevy of breweriana.

Over the past few years I had outgrown the three-bedroom bi-level I purchased back in college. As I would return home from collecting shows and flea markets, I had no choice but to box and stow the newest treasures. This actually worked to my benefit, because for the first few weekends of the move, the cars, trucks, and U-Haul trailers were easy to load for the trip to the new abode.

It was sometime around the fourth weekend that the move became more of a challenge. In a sick sort of a way, I could not walk past an empty box in public without attempting to acquire it. Bubble wrap, packing peanuts and old newspapers suddenly became golden.

Mark Twain once said that you never really meet a person until you travel with them. I am here to tell you that you never really meet a person until they help you move.

The major brewers have used vampires, skeletons and jack o’lanterns, and slogans such as “I vant to suck your Bud!” to boost sales. Elvira, the “Mistress of the Dark,” promotes Coors Light. Miller Lite and MGD have released orange and black versions of their logos on bottles. Miller also packaged beer in cans with Halloween graphics: if you were one of the few who found one in your case of beer, you were a prizewinner. These promotions have become more of a treat than a trick when it comes to increased sales.

A number of microbreweries have seen a spike in sales with the release of pumpkin beers. To name a few, Buffalo Bill’s, O’Fallon, New Holland’s and Shipyard all produce brews made with the addition of pumpkin starch and various spices. The end result is a gourd-geous concoction, resembling a liquid version of pumpkin pie.

The Wychwood Brewery of Oxfordshire, England, uses a spooky theme year-round with their brands. Wychwood is named after the ancient medieval forest of the Wych Wood. Hobgoblin Ale is their largest seller, followed by such beers as Black Wych, Circle Master (or Scarecrow, as it is known in the United States), and Fiddler’s Elbow.

This year they will introduce a line extension, WychCraft, with original art commissioned from Chris Bohanna, who first gained fame from the many album covers he designed for the rock group Molly Hatchet.

Collectors seek out Wychwood labels because of the ever-varying graphics used in the designs. Even their tap handles have a scary look about them: the first Hobgoblin tap handle was a bloodied axe. The newest version features a goblin clutching a sword while sporting a sinister look.

Rogue Ale’s number one selling brand is the Mai-Bock style known as Dead Guy Ale. Micro consumers easily recognize the logo of a cross-legged skeleton sitting on a barrel. A pinnacle collectable is the ceramic tap handle for Dead Guy Ale: a three-dimensional version of the skeleton on the keg.

Each year leading up to Halloween, this brewery issues glow-in-the-dark versions of Dead Guy growlers and 22-ounce bottles. Rogue also issues a glow-in-the-dark wristband, similar to the Lance Armstrong yellow band, distributed to promote the “Rogue Strong” lifestyle. There are even Dead Guy condoms that are said to glow in the dark! Of course, no collection would be complete without the glow-in-the-dark Rogue Dead Guy yo-yo.

For a number of years, Pete’s Brewing Co. also capitalized on Halloween. Naturally, when your major brand is named Wicked Ale, Halloween is a natural fit. For the last big marketing push, the company sponsored a number of Rob Zombie rock concerts.

Lots of people decorate their houses for the various holidays, especially Halloween. I simply drag out the collectables affiliated with each occasion and leave the generic decorations on the shelves at Walgreen’s.

In Germany, breweries have mastered this beer with various styles: weizenbock (wheat bock), helles bock, Mai-bock, and doppel (or double) bock, to name a few. (Bock beers ending in -ator refer to the doppelbock style.) And almost every brewer who has ever produced a bock beer has utilized a goat in some form or another on the label’s design. A goat used in the logo or on the label refers to the bock (German for billy goat). The type of depiction usually determines the desirability of a particular bock beer item.

Dances with Goats

The Brewery Collectibles Club of America includes a chapter of bock beer enthusiasts known as the “Merry Bocksters.” These collectors are inspired by how the goat is incorporated into a brewery’s bock beer advertising. Some of the best-known labels depict dancing goats, goats licking their chops, goats pulling carts and goats carrying human riders. (Some of the most memorable items simply show a goat that appears to be thirsting for beer.) The more graphic and unusual the use of the goat, the more desirable the item. Many designs incorporated the horns of the goat as part of the logos.

Some of the most sought-after of the early beer cans include bock beer from Budweiser, Schoenling, Carling’s Black Label and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Many annual commemorative mugs, glassware, coasters and posters have been released to celebrate the various springtime offerings of micro and regional breweries.

Years ago, some smaller regional breweries would sometimes utilize only a bottle cap (or a stamped bottle label or the lid of a beer can) with bock painted on it to indicate that the container held bock beer. Also, as a cost-saving measure, a number of these small brewers would use a stock-art label containing only the brewery’s name and address stamped on a preprinted label featuring a goat and the words “Bock Beer.”

Bully Goat?

Back in the early 1950s, the Narragansett Brewery (of Cranston, RI) used the character of “Ferdinand the Bull” to advertise its bock beer. The characters were conceived by author Munro Leaf and illustrated by artist Ward Kimball (of Walt Disney fame). Over the years, the Jacob Leinekugel Brewery of Chippewa Falls, WI, has also issued an extensive array of items promoting its bock beer, as has the August Schell Brewery of New Ulm, MN.

A number of breweries host events like an annual Blessing of the Bock, or a Bock Fest, or other roll-out-the-barrel celebrations in the spring when this tonic is released. It should be noted, however, that not all bock beers are brewed for release in the spring. Brands like Shiner Bock, Berghoff Bock, Michelob Amber Bock, Huber Bock, Point Bock, Erdinger Pikantus Weizenbock, and Ayinger Celebrator are available year ‘round. An amazing fact about collecting only items pertaining to bock beer is that it can seem like there is an endless amount of items out there, even though this is only one style of beer.

Neon refers to the glowing, brightly-colored, gas-charged tubes bent into a particular shape. Neon is an inert gas that glows a reddish-orange when electricity is passed through it. When argon gas is used in the tubes, they radiate a bluish hue. Additional colors can be produced by coating the inside of the tubes with fluorescent powders that will filter out a number of colors from the light spectrum, or by using colored tubing.

These techniques have changed very little since French inventor Georges Claude developed the first neon sign in 1910. It was not until 1923 that neon came to America, when a Packard automobile dealership in Los Angeles ordered two signs to illuminate the outside of the show room. The demand for neon skyrocketed almost overnight.

In the early 1940s there were over 2,000 neon sign companies employing over 5,000 neon tube benders. However by the end of the 1960s, neon was associated almost entirely with strip clubs, gambling, and alcoholic beverages. Many benders had retired and a number of the manufactures had closed shop.

Breweries realized the power of this medium and refused to let it die. Most bars remained dimly lit and this lighting provided just the right amount of atmosphere. As the industry’s customer base shrank, these few advertisers controlled the destiny of neon. In the late 1980s another boost came to this industry when companies began to package affordable “open” signs. Soon businesses large and small were hanging these signs in the windows to let the world know they were open for business. In the 1990s, neon began to appear as a frame for license plates and before long it was being added to both the inside and outside of the hippest cars on the road.

The influx of imported beers and the success of the microbrewery movement have continued to grow the demand for neon beer signs. In addition, the large brewers have partnered with various sports logos to create a dual type of attraction and advertising.

In collecting circles, neons are desired up to a point. Because of their fragility, the older the sign the more valuable it is. Also some small brews produced very few signs when they were issued.

Most neons in private collections will last longer than ones used in bars because collectors will usually only light the sign when they are showing off their display. Many of the older neons also have a hum or sizzle sound when lit. Some older versions also will interfere with radio or TV reception in the home. Regardless, neon lighting creates an atmosphere that is timeless.

2. The patent application for a corkscrew on August 24, 1795 suggests that collecting could have been active. Varieties of this invention became as ornate as the sacred church key used by many of the clergy to lock up the altar wine.

3. The approval of the Bass red triangle, Britain’s oldest trademark, in 1777, meant everyone could recognize the beer, even though few could read in those days.

4. The American Brewer and Maltster is first published in 1815. This was the voice for the brewing industry, at a time when a flood of European immigrants was about to descend on U.S. soil. Could a magazine called All About Beer be far behind? These early publications are the backbone of many collections in brewerianists’ quest for accurate history.

5. The invention of the glass-pressing machine in 1827 allowed for a lower-cost and more uniform bottle to be produced. These blob-top bottles were crude by today’s standards, but pioneers in their day.

6. 1840: the pilsner beer style is introduced. In less than 100 years, it is the world’s dominant style, and a complement to the new developments happening in glassware in Bohemia.

7. Maine introduces the first Prohibition law in 1846. (Interesting, and maybe ironic, that Maine is also where our most famous horror novelist hails from.)

8. Louis Pasteur publishes studies of beer in 1876. This allowed for the transportation of beer, thanks to pasteurization. Now Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and St. Louis beers could be shipped greater distances. What would be next? Beers from other countries?

9. Robert Smith invents the wood pulp coaster in 1892, entertaining collectors and saving furniture for over 100 years.

10. William Painter invents the first bottle cap (crown) in 1892. It s one of the few things I have found that could top beer. His company went on to become Crown Cork & Seal, the General Electric of the container and sealing industry today.

As I quickly found out, beer cans do take up a good deal of space. So is the answer a simple one?

The items used to advertise America’s microbreweries are a great segment for young collectors. Items like business cards, bottle caps, openers, labels, and even sports schedules are inexpensive, take up little room, and, yes, you can acquire a good-sized assortment of them in a short time.

Just over 25 years ago, the first microbrewery appeared on the scene. The most prominent item used to advertise the “little guys” is the bar coaster. I have thousands of these and they really do not take up much space. Think of them as baseball cards. The brewpub chains like Rock Bottom, Hops and Gordon Biersch have issued a number of sets over the years, as have brewers like Samuel Adams, Pete’s and Widmer. The New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins has issued some great postcards made from the same fibers as coasters with incredible graphics and slogans. Stoddard’s Brewpubs in California number their coaster releases because owner Bob Stoddard is a collector. New York Harbor Ale numbers each of their series of 107 different coasters and suggests that you “Steal Them All.”

Some breweries have issued very simple versions; economies of scale are usually at work here. The small brewpub may only be able to afford the basic one-color coaster. All in all, the graphics that the small breweries have brought back to collecting will surely amaze you.

As a kid, when my father or other relatives would return from a trip, I always got something because the gift only involved bringing home one of their empty beer cans from their travels. The same can easily happen nowadays if family and friends will pick up a few coasters from the brewpub where they had dinner at the night before. On a family trip, instead of eating all of your meals at a burger chain, schedule a visit to a brewpub. The children can see adults enjoying beer in a respectable way and see the art of beer being brewed on site. And many brewpubs produce a handmade root beer for those under legal age to enjoy alcohol. I have a sister who is not a collector, yet she must have 100 different coasters that she has picked up from her travels. Yes, of course, she saved one of each for me.

Where can you find these items? Almost every region of this country hosts a breweriana show. The best way to learn of the events scheduled in your region is to visit www.bcca.com, the website of the Brewery Collectibles Club of America. These shows almost always have coaster collectors with duplicates ready to buy, sell or trade. Here is also a great way some weekend to pickup a few items for decorating your home bar.

In 1942 the F & M Schaefer Brewery celebrated its 100th anniversary with a commemorative book, along with coasters, glassware, and engraved plaques that were awarded to employees, taverns, retailers and wholesalers. In 1992 the Stroh Brewery, which owned Schaefer, recognized the 150-year milestone on its can and bottle labels.

When Pabst Brewing Co. turned 100 in 1944, it issued few items because this was during World War II. I know only of a coaster. But when Pabst turned 125 in 1969, it promoted this milestone with a number of items including a historical booklet, bottle labels and coasters. It issued a commemorative stein when the Pabst Blue Ribbon brand turned 100 in 1993.

Joseph Schlitz, the beer that made Milwaukee famous, marked 1949, its 100th year of brewing, with a number of regional celebrations at its Brown Bottle Rooms operated around the country. When Joseph Schlitz turned 125 in 1974, a great ceramic decanter was issued featuring a gowned fairy-like woman sitting on a globe.

Coors turned 100 years old in 1973. At this time, the Coors brews were not distributed nationally, but they were strong in the West, especially in Colorado where there was a great deal of fanfare. The Coors ceramics division issued a number of 100th anniversary items.

When our country was celebrating its bicentennial in 1976, Anheuser-Busch was celebrating its centennial. A-B’s commemorative items included a series of trays decorated with graphics from its past 100 years of advertising. Mugs, steins, coasters, and many other forms of advertising also celebrated their 100 years of brewing.

In 2003 Genesee marked 125 years with a commemorative issue of six cans featuring past labels. These cans were mixed in their multi-can packs, encouraging you to collect all six.

Many former breweries like Falstaff, Ballantine, Stroh, Pearl, Stoney’s, Hudepohl, Lone Star, Falls City, Sterling, Drewry’s and countless others had reason to brag about 50, 75 and even 100 years of brewing heritage. In 1961 the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. issued gold-painted bottles to salute 100 years of operation. In 2001 they issued a 5-liter can to celebrate 140 years, and in 2003, they issued a 25-year commemorative can for their I. C. Light brand.

The brewery that has reason to boast the most seems to be Yuengling. This Pottsville, PA, brewery is America’s oldest, founded in 1829. Yuengling commemorates its anniversary each year on its bottles and cans.

Microbreweries have also boasted a number of landmarks. In 2003 Mendocino Brewery promoted 20 years of brewing bliss with Raptor, a commemorative brew. And Avery of Boulder released a commemorative brew known as TEN. This special brew was created from 10 grains and 10 hop varieties, finishing at 10 percent alcohol by volume. Catamount of Vermont in 1997 created a special 10th anniversary brew as well.

Bridgeport brewing in 1999 celebrated 15 years in operation with a commemorative logo on bottles, coasters, business cards and other forms of advertising. Redhook, Grant’s, Water Street of Milwaukee and many others have proudly celebrated their years of success.

As the early microbrewers mature into regional success stories, we can count on the continued annual commemorations of 10, 15, 20, and years beyond.

Any number of breweries from the areas of the Triple Crown race tracks have produced some beautiful tie-ins with beer and horse racing. Upstate New York, Maryland and, of course, Kentucky breweries have all issued true works of art featuring the “Sport of Kings.” Many breweries the world over have also used horse-drawn wagons to promote their brews.

August Schell is known for the use of deer in advertising. Yuengling, Wiedemann and Anheuser-Busch are known for their eagles. Lowenbräu, which translates as “lion’s brew,” makes great use of the king of the jungle. Many early American brewers were known as the Lion or Eagle Brewery, named after animals that symbolize strength and patriotism.

Dogs also have been used to advertise man’s other best friend. The dachshunds that advertised the Frankenmuth brand have been brought back by a brewpub that opened this year in Frankenmuth, MI. The wiener or “frank” dog is just a natural selection. The original brand was even advertised as “Dog Gone Good!” beer. After Prohibition, the original brewery operated a kennel to breed and care for this variety of dog. They had an eight-dog team that pulled a wagon loaded with one keg or case of Frankenmuth beer.

Spanish Peaks pictures “Chug,” a black Labrador retriever, on the label of Black Dog Ale. Pete Slosberg’s dog, Millie, was the first endorser of Pete’s Wicked Ale. Avery Brewing Co.’s Ellie’s Brown Ale is a great brew featuring Adam Avery’s chocolate Lab on each label. Smuttynose Brewing in Portsmouth, NH, features Peter Egelston’s dog, Olive, on its Old Brown Dog Ale. Yuengling has a great poster showing smoking dogs playing cards. The most popular beer at the three Thirty Dog Brewpubs in Ohio is Old Leghumper Porter.

Many breweries have used a moose in their advertising: Duluth Brewing & Malting Co.; Moosehead from New Brunswick, Canada; and Big Sky in Montana, which makes Moose Drool, Slow Elk and ScapeGoat beers. Otto Brothers used to make Moose Juice Stout. Then there was the Smiling Moose Brewpub in Colorado and the Moose Tooth Brewpub in Alaska.

The Carlsberg Brewery of Denmark has made great use of elephants to identify its beer. Two massive mastodons greet you at the entrance gate to the Copenhagen brewery. Tusker Beer of Kenya also uses an elephant to market its brew. Fish, buffalo, rams, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, water-fowl, poultry, cows, pigs, raccoons, and even whales have all been used to lure us in to drink like a—well, you know, to consume a particular brand.

Geary’s from Maine uses a lobster, asking you to “crack one open.” Another great animal is the half bear-half deer used to promote the brews from Anderson Valley Brewing Co. A bear with antlers must be a “beer”?

Easily the most famous animal icon in beer promotions has to be the Hamms Bear. Theodore Bear first appeared 50 years ago. This black and white cartoon character has danced to the “From the Land of Sky Blue Waters” tom-tom jingle since 1953. The advertising agency, Campbell-Mithun’s creation helped the Hamms brand of Saint Paul, MN, grow from a few hundred thousand barrels to over 4 million barrels per year in output. In Beerdom, the Hamms Bear has become as famous as other product symbols, Tony the Tiger, Charlie Tuna, and the Pillsbury Doughboy.