Today Fingers has a big new interview with @kbernot.bsky.social, longtime bev-alc journalist and lead analyst at Feel Goods Insights, about the booze industry's ticking retirement time bomb, the trade's mostly dismal outreach to Gen Z customers, CPG brands' AI slop obsession, and more.

😥 Lily's awesome and this closure isn't awesome in the slightest.

INBOX: The Brewers Association has acknowledged, in a roundabout way, that its flagship annual production report this year contained bad data. "While post-release revisions are a normal part of the BA's annual process, this year's adjustments are more extensive than usual," it says in a statement.

“It’s the water.”

June 1, 1972 U. of Montana students turn sociology homework into a charity kegger/concert, to support their uni library. For $2, they offer 6 bands and bottomless Olympia beer. 3000 people show up, so they do 7 more. The Aber Day Kegger becomes the biggest college beer event west of the Rockies.

If you're a fan of Munich beer gardens, chances are you've visited places like the Augustiner-Keller and Hirschgarten. But what about some of the city's smaller beer gardens? Bienenheim (the home of the bees!) is in the woods of western Munich. tempestinatankard.com/2026/06/01/o...

Exciting News: We’re hiring! Our small nonprofit, Clio Digital Media, is looking to hire a part-time Executive Assistant & Operations Coordinator. You’ll mostly be working with me and helping keep Ben Franklin’s World going. Please tell your friends!

So I've always focused on the beer halls in this photo (downtown Chicago, 1858) and never paid much attention to the line of horse-drawn carriages across the street. But now I can't stop wondering what it's like to parallel park one of those things.

This isn’t a coincidence.     Trump bought millions of dollars’ worth of Dell stock. Nine days later, he told a rally crowd to “go out and buy a Dell computer.” Then he bought even more Dell stock. Three months after that, his Pentagon handed Dell a $9.7 billion government contract.

Beer in Art #1957 Wiener Hinterhof mit Bierfässern (Viennese Courtyard with Beer Barrels), by Franz Hohenberger, 1897 (Austria)

This fascinating. From @kbernot.bsky.social #beer www.beerandbrewing.com/brewing-ingr...

Chicago dogs, Italian beefs, and Döners (mit scharf) ...but probably not all at once.

Dr. Jason Herbert is a historian, public scholar, and outdoorsman from Kentucky. Herbert tells us about the Acadians, French settlers expelled from British Canada, who helped to create today’s Cajun culture. #WeAreAmerica250

Bapple-Kapple Grapple Scrapples Minor Dapples

@250to250.bsky.social is an inspiring effort to celebrate America's 250th.

If this was all a ploy to replace the cane sugar with HFCS...

Bapple-Kapple Grapple Scrapples Minor Dapples

May 24, 2026

Again, please share. In every aspect of American history you will run smack dab into the critical contributions of Black people. It’s not Black history. It’s American history. Trying to erase it is a fool’s errand. We live it every day. time.com/5836444/blac...

Charleston ex-Confederates spent years trying to use local holiday celebrations to reignite white supremacy in the state. When they finally succeeded, they suppressed and rewrote history. The site of Charleston's first Memorial Day is now a park named after terrorist governor Wade Hampton.

Every social platform you’ve ever used has been a bubble, including Old Twitter.

Most folks don't realize how central events like J6 were to the Jim Crow state. Dozens of unprosecuted coups & massacres—actively encouraged by those in power—revived the fundamental logic of the pre-emancipation state: that Black Americans had "no rights which the white man was bound to respect."

I'm human and I use dashes like the Three Stooges trying to bake.

You've heard of the Dust Bowl, but what about the Corona Drought? Jeffrey Pilcher explains the accidental explosion of Corona beer in the United States. @academic.oup.com

A wet vs. dry debate for the 21st century.

RIP Schlitz

Amazon Keyword Research and Optimization just emailed me a (totes not AI) glowing review of my book and offered to help me reach more potential readers (for $$$). The problem: - They got my name wrong - It's not my book - The book was written in the 1970s - The real author is (sadly) deceased

Yakima's Bale Breaker is acquiring Seattle's Cloudburst. Seems amicable though. washingtonbeerblog.com/bale-breaker...

Went on Fox 32 Chicago today to share a sliver (schliver?) of Schlitz history! www.fox32chicago.com/video/fmc-xy...

Went on Fox 32 Chicago today to share a sliver (schliver?) of Schlitz history! www.fox32chicago.com/video/fmc-xy...

Re: the Schlitz news Anyone notice that the press statements by Pabst are basically identical for both Schlitz and their pulling of various other brands a few weeks ago?

Bruce Springstein, Madonna...you know, stuff way before Nirvana. Like U2, and Blondie, and the music still on MTV.

"I just liked knowing it was there!" That phrase pops through my head whenever anyone (including me) laments a brewery closing that they could've been buying from but weren't.

I recently came across this, which changes the narrative by a lot. I had assumed Garage Beer came up with this idea to reinforce its brand identity, but apparently it's an outside idea that several breweries have jumped on. Still a good idea? Maybe, but it's certainly not differentiating.

Time to hear Mario Savio again: "There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious...that you can’t take part; you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels and you’ve got to make it stop." www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz7K...

These are lawless violent vigilantes, not “patriots” or “martyrs.” Trump has already pardoned them. They most certainly should not now get paid from Trump’s proposed $1.7B fund.

Friendly reminder — Individual faculty can do this by opting out. I did this semester. I assigned books, gave paper handouts in class, and put nothing on canvas save the syllabus. The result? Better engagement and a better grade average. www.chronicle.com/article/kill...

Proclaiming it Schlitz Day throughout the land. There shall be no bitterness.

Another image from The Price of Plenty: A History of Meat In America: From Puck magazine, 1906. Yet another portrayal of the evils of the Beef Trust. Read an excerpt from the book at maureenogle.com

Another image from The Price of Plenty: A History of Meat In America. This is from 1910, the lower east side of Manhattan, and a mostly Jewish neighborhood. These women are discussing the latest meat boycott. From LOC Read an excerpt from the book at maureenogle.com

I’m stoked to be live on Reddit @askhistorians.bsky.social today talking about my book, Opium Slavery, and answering questions about the history of drugs. Join us and ask me anything! 🗃️ www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...

More to come but I will say this: the liberal institutional infrastructure of mobility is gone. People are mad. Women are people. No one is speaking to that anger. Midterms soon come. But that’s just the start. Here lies the girlboss. First to die but not the last. Good riddance.

I'm no fan of the modern Uihleins or their legacy (even under Pabst stewardship), but it'd still be something to see Schlitz disappear.

One of my current projects is about Americans misinterpreting/misrepresenting bits of German beer culture and just deciding not to care. So I am obligated to express my deep thanks to this article for its generous support.

Feeling overwhelmed with all of this. LISTEN. Another Louisiana resident (Marshawn is the only name we have) testifies against the state’s racial gerrymander, speaking truth to power up and down the hearing room and predicts how this story will end. Speak your truth, fight and believe.

Looks like FamilySearch is enlisting AI to whitewash the historical record.

🎙️🥩❤️

Earnest question: setting aside the huge "irate grove" brands, what separates well-made hard cider from the mid stuff? I've had ciders that I do and don't like, sure, but I struggle to discern high vs low quality when tasting. I've never formally trained my palate. Claiming no expertise.

Like 2 weeks ago I was teaching about Chicago's attempt to reduce crime in the 1870s by banning Sunday alcohol sales. Spoiler: it didn't stick.

"Mom's the best!" Happy Mother's Day!