Category: history

On this day in history… prohibition.

ProhibitionYes, on January 16th, 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution went into effect. According to Wikipedia:

Although it was highly controversial, Prohibition was widely supported by diverse groups. Progressives believed that it would improve society and the Ku Klux Klan strongly supported its strict enforcement as generally did women, southerners, those living in rural areas, and African-Americans. There were a few exceptions such as the Woman’s Organization for Prohibition Reform who fought against it. Will Rogers often joked about the southern pro-prohibitionists: “The South is dry and will vote dry. That is, everybody sober enough to stagger to the polls.” Supporters of the Amendment soon became quite confident that it would not be repealed, to the point that one of its creators, Senator Morris Sheppard, joked that “there is as much chance of repealing the Eighteenth Amendment as there is for a humming-bird to fly to the planet Mars with the Washington Monument tied to its tail.”

Surly mentioned in Wall Street Journal

Ok, it’s a pretty small mention in an article about Trappist beer, but hey, it’s a mention in an international publication. Thanks to Dag for the head’s up.

Read the full article, at least until the WSJ takes the link down, here.

Two American Web sites, Rate Beer and Beer Advocate, rank the strongest of Westvleteren’s three products, a dark creamy beer known as “the 12,” best in the world, ahead of beers including Sweden’s Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter and Minnesota’s Surly Darkness. “No question, it is the holy grail of beers,” says Remi Johnson, manager of the Publick House, a Boston bar that has Westvleteren on its menu but rarely in stock.

Doug Hoverson at Mill City Museum

Mark your calendars… great book, local beer, great museum… sounds like my kind of event!

Land of Amber Waters: The History of Brewing in Minnesota
Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007, 7 p.m. (Cash bar opens at 6 pm), Free.

Author Doug Hoverson will give an illustrated presentation about the long history of brewing in Minnesota, from the first illegal brewer at Fort Snelling, to the first commercial brewery in 1849, to the craft brewers and major companies of today. Audience members can enjoy local brews at a cash bar provided by D’Amico Catering before and after the program, and a small display of brewing collectibles. Books will be available for purchase and signing by the author.

Mill City Museum is open every Thursday until 9 p.m.

704 South Second Street
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612-341-7555
www.millcitymuseum.org