Hamms "Polar Keg".

Uhhhh, awesome!

 

Nope, and can't find any info on them - probably short-lived and no other brewers picked up on them.

Theo. Hamm Brewing Co. was one of those breweries that was always trying to sell draught beer to the off-premise trade. They were one of the brewers in the 1960s, along with Falstaff and National, which invested in Reynolds Aluminum's "Tapper" kegs. Most were 2.25 gallons, so equal to a case of beer, but they also came in "pony" keg size - 1/8 bbl./3.875 gallons.

And then Hamm's eventually put their unpasteurized "real draft" beer in those steel barrel-shaped 12 oz. cans - the only beer cans I ever remember seeing that rusted sitting in the store coolers.

(All the nice US gallon can breweriana websites seem to have disappeared, but I don't think Hamm went with them. Probably still trying to recover from the financial hit of the "Tapper"). Other smaller "home" kegs.

 

ISO

 

Put that thing on an integrated dolly and you have a winner.

 

That looks very cool, I guess it was before it’s time perhaps.

 

But when would its "time" have been? Looks to be from the 1960s - mid-1970 (don't know Hamm's graphics well enough to date them, but once sold by Hueblein in '73, I doubt they'd have spent the money) and by the 1980s many US brewers started adopting the "Sankey" style straight-sided keg, so that thing wouldn't fit. It's primary market was apparently on-premise retailers, like those listed (red dot) who wanted a nice looking "portable" draught system.

 

I see available in half barrel sizes so it’s obviously made to be for a retail business, the volume is fairly large. Back in HS I’d get half barrels of Michelob for $12 and we’d play poker and get drunk, my mom would make meatball sandwiches, all of 17/18. My dad was an ex too. But back then that would been the business, but I don’t remember Hamms back in 1973/74. But then again I was 17.

 

That sounds awfully cheap for Michelob in the early '70s. 1964 NJ State Minimum for a ½ of Michelob (at the time, among the most expensive US-brewed beers) in 1964 was $26.45 and a ¼ was $14.15. In '77, in NJ, they were selling for $30-½ bbl. and $20 - ¼ bbl.

Hamm's was in the northeast in the 1960s, when they were still in the Top Ten of US brewers - larger than Coors or Miller in 1964, for instance - and even had a brewery in Baltimore (ex-Gunther, future-Schaefer), but their marketing region shrunk as they went downhill and were sold twice in the 1970s (to a group of distributors/investors and then to Olympia).

Likely Hamm's wasn't around in that period but would show up again once it became an Olympia and then a Pabst brand in the 1980s. Might have even been brewed in Newark.

 

My friends father owned a tavern in Morrisville so it was cheaper and easier, he provides everything. Lol we’d stop in sometimes before school and have a few beers, US Steel really drove these taverns back in the day and MADD wasn’t invented yet.

 

Maybe they never caught on, though, because they didn't work as advertised, keeping a ½ barrel cold for 48 hours? Apparently made out of fiberglass, likely with some foam (or asbestos ) insulation inside the 'glass shell? But it doesn't look to be too thick - maybe 1.5 - 2"?

I'd say it was closer to the more common (and cheaper) "keg sitting in a large bucket of ice and, eventually, ice water" since it is trying to keep the cold keg cold rather than the jockey box chilling the beer out of the keg before serving.

Funny thing I came across doing searches for "Hamm's" and "Polar" in various digitized reference sources - how many people thought the Hamm's Bear was a polar bear! WTF - that's a brown bear! (Yeah, rendered in black ink).

 

Man, those house parties I went to in college would've been about $1cheaper for a red Solo cup if the hosts didn't have to buy ice. I feel cheated.

 

This was developed by Hamm's draft specialist,Bob Yanz in 1962. I just found one in Stockton,CA. a few weeks ago,and it cleaned up pretty nicely.

 

I would enjoy seeing a photo of this if you are willing to post it.

Is this just a collector's item for you or do you intend to actually use it?

Cheers!

 

Lots of pics of them at various auction sites - like this one:
Hamm's Polar Keg

To use it, one would have to be able to get beer in the old style "Golden Gate/Hoff Stevens" kegs. I didn't think any brewer was still using them - but I guess some homebrewers still do?

 

I see a black and white critter a.k.a. a skunk.
Perfectly acceptable mascot for a brewery. What? It's not?

 

I don't ever remember seeing this, neat piece of history for sure.

 

Pepé Le Pew moved to the mid-West and, with all that hearty food > weight gain.

Only for the ones that package in clear or green bottles in open sixpacks...

 

This ridiculous contraption claims to keep beer ice cold for up to 10 hours (though how they know the weather at my event is a mystery. Hmm).
$240.00

Both the Polar Keg and this thing probably do not, or did not get many takers. Buying a few sleeves of ice is really not that difficult after all.
Cheers