HOT TRUB
January 24, 2001

Edited by: Peter LaFrance (peter.lafrence@beerbasics.com)

Presented by: American Brewer
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Vol. 2 No. 4
This newsletter will post items of special interest to brewers, members of the brewing and distilling community, and members of the media that covers the beverage alcohol business.
Should you wish to contribute in any way to this venture please contact Peter LaFrance at peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com
If you wish to be dropped from this list please respond to this posting to peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com and include the word remove in the Subject: line.
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This is an unusual issue in that I am publishing the following posting, unedited, with the permission of Tom Schafly of The Saint Louis Brewery, St. Louis, MO:

 

NB: 

 

JOHN ASHCROFT ON BEER

 

from: Tom Schlafly - schlaflt@PeperMartin.com
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 10:06 AM
Subject: John Ascroft's Missouri

Everyone who subscribes to this Forum is aware of the political muscle flexed by Anheuser-Busch.  In Missouri, A-B wields about as much clout in our state capital as trial lawyers and teachers' unions.

People from out of state may not be aware of another powerful constituency, reflective of the fact that Springfield, MO, in the Southwest part of the state, has been described as the buckle of the Bible belt.   The population of religious conservatives is large and well organized.  This group tends toward prohibitionism, creating an interesting climate in the General Assembly vis a vis microbreweries.  Neither the fundamentalists nor the big guys are particularly sympathetic to our plight.  (But I digress.)

John Ashcroft, the nominee for US Attorney General, hails from southwest Missouri and is much beloved by the previously described constituency. While the national media have devoted a lot of attention to his attitudes on a number of social issues, there has not been much discussion of his views
on alcohol.  In the interest of spreading enlightenment to non-Missourians who seek enlightenment on this subject, I'm happy to share my wisdom.

Ashcroft was elected attorney general of Missouri in 1976 and reelected in 1980.  In 1984 he was elected governor and was reelected in 1988.  In 1994, he was elected to the US Senate. In each of these elections, as well as in his unsuccessful bid for reelection to the Senate in 2000, he received enthusiastic support from southwest MO.

As governor, he prohibited drinking, dancing and smoking in the governor's mansion.  He was also less than sympathetic to anything having to do with alcohol legislatively.  At one point he vetoed a bill that would have permitted supermarkets to sell beer on Sunday.  His stated reason had nothing to do with preserving the Sabbath or restricting beer sales. Rather, he pointed to a minor provision that would have permitted the sale of imported bon bons with small amounts of liqueur inside.  Although no one was suggesting that such candies could be sold to minors, he strongly disapproved of permitting something as evil as booze to be associated with something as innocent as candy.  He expressed fear as to the message this would send to impressionable children.

When Ashcroft completed his term as governor, Schlafly Beer was the first beer served in the governor's mansion in eight years.  (We donated kegs to be served at the party following the inauguration of Governor Mel Carnahan in 1993.)  At the time, the new governor, who did not drink himself, mistook
brewer Stephen Hale and me for convicts from the state prison, some of whom worked in the mansion into which he had moved a few hours earlier.

In addition to Ashcroft, another Missourian is being considered for a cabinet position--Jim Talent, a former congressman, whose name has been floated to take the place of Linda Chavez as Secretary of Labor.  Although Talent doesn't drink either, his brother owns a bar & grill at which liquor is served. (I need to investigate whether Schlafly is on tap there or not.)

I should also note that Christopher Bond, our incumbent Republican Senator, preceded Ashcroft as governor.  In this capacity Bond initiated the Missouri wineries program in the State Dept. of Agriculture.

All of this discussion is not designed to politicize this Forum.  I simply want to advise readers who may want to influence the man who may become Attorney General that they should not try to do so by offering him a beer.

Tom Schlafly
The Saint Louis Brewery
St. Louis, MO

 

 

F.X. MATT II PASSES AWAY

 

 

F.X. Matt, II, 67, of New Hartford, Chairman of the F.X. Matt Brewing Company and community leader, died Monday, January 15, 2001, at Beth Israel North Hospital in New York City.

 

 

 

BOULEVARD INSTALLS NITROGEN STRIPPER

 

Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City, Mo. has installed Praxair, Inc. nitrogen stripping technology in order to improve the flavor, color and shelf life of its products.

 

The in-line system reduces dissolved oxygen in the process water used by the regional specialty brewer to filter some 50,000 barrels of beer annually.

 

Traditionally, brewers have de-oxygenated water in batches using a vacuum process. "But vacuuming is clumsy and expensive and involves considerable maintenance and downtime," according to Praxair Marketing Applications Manager Phil Boldyn. "Our nitrogen stripping system is relatively easy to install and very easy to monitor. And because it's a continuous, in-line system, there's no downtime." Efficacy is another advantage of nitrogen stripping. "Our system quickly knocks down dissolved oxygen from parts per million to parts per billion."