Friday, July 26, 2013

Albany Ale: On Broadway

I love the little, inconsequential discoveries about Albany Ale. The little mentions of it in the work-a-day world of the 19th century. Newspaper ads and clippings are cool, and city directories are neat, but Brian Welch, out new friend in Boston may have unearthed my new favorite. 

At first glance, this sheet appears to be like hundreds of thousands of broadsides printed in the 19th-century to advertise plays, musicals and minstrel shows performed in New York City. This one, from September 23, 1872, came from The Theater Comique—a playhouse on Broadway, between Spring and Broome Streets. It list fairly common place stuff—listing the shows playing that week, the actors, and brief descriptions of the scenes. But, take a look at Scene 3, under the header CASH OR, THE WAY OF THE WORLD.

I have no idea what this play is about—and I'm not finding much history on it—but it seems like there was a scene in a bar and the merits of Albany Ale were compared to those of Newark Lager Bier. Newark, New Jersey, like Albany and Philadelphia, was also one of the U.S's mid-19th-century brewing centers. 1872 is the beginning of the end for Albany Ale. The transcontinental railroad had connected the east and west coast and Albany's monopoly on distribution was weakening and the popularity of its hometown brew was waning. However, it appears that it still was in the minds of theater goers on the Great White Way. The old girl wasn't dead yet.

Truthfully, the broadsheet is pretty insignificant—other than the cool factor. What's more important in my mind, is that the Albany Ale Project is becoming a true collaboration. We're moving past the "old days" of just Alan and myself satisfying our own curiosity, to a full-fledged exchange of ideas. People from all over the U.S.—and the world for that matter—are contributing to the project. From Ron Pattinson in the Netherlands, to Jess Kidden in Newark, NJ and now Brian in Boston, the research is expanding and the holes in the history are slowly closing. With Ryan and Neil at the C.H. Evans Brewing Company at the Albany Pump Station, and Roger at the Homebrew Emporium on board, the re-creation aspect of the Project is really beginning to take shape, as well.

Needless to say, cool things are happening with the Project.

4 comments:

  1. See, that is not insignificant at all if it leads to a description of taste in the script. All the brewers records in the world can't replace that.

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    1. Well then, let's get Brian on finding the script.

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  2. Have they sourced the hops for this upcoming re-creation brew yet? It would be a shame if they had to use modern varieties in such a historical beer.

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    1. The game plan is to try and get vintage hops. If memory serves me correct, Will you grow some vintage hops, too? Got any to spare?

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