Kool-Aid Inspired Beers

"Why, I didn't know the circus was in town."

 

In the 1950's Ernest and Julio discovered that people in low income neighborhoods were adding Lemon Kool Aid to Gallo's White Port Wine. They weren't allowed to add flavors to their wine so they got the regulations changed. Soon thereafter Gallo started selling a 21% ABV White Port wine with added lemon flavor. You may have heard about and even drank it, Thunderbird!

 

I remember kids dying their hair with kool ade when I was a kid.... thats about as much as I would like to remember it. sounds awful to drink. Just awful.

 

Ha Ha, yeah me too but only if they release the old Kool-Aid Sharkleberry fin flavor and it was free of charge.

 

I think you've just hit upon a good idea for a thread: Where do you draw the line between ridiculous and not ridiculous?

 

There's also the line between good ridiculous and bad ridiculous.

 

That sounds pretty good - well, drop the Kool-aid and substitute lemon juice and you've got a beverage worthy enough for people to sing about.

OTOH:
Damn - 40 years later (I guess? I'm not going to look it up) and just the thought of that scene still annoys the hell out of me - the implication (I know, I know - "It's just a time travel joke.") that a white kid - and you can't get any whiter than that actor - was the inspiration for Chuck Berry's art still rankles me. Hell, even Presley, Jagger and Pat Boone would have thought that went too far.

 

Remember all the trouble R.J. Reynolds got into with Joe Camel, that aside, this is my review of Hydra from beer fest which I believe falls in this category:

Hey! I need to report an incident! Someone replaced my beer with a delicious berry smoothy! That’s all I got to say because the usual descriptive words don’t apply here. Needless to say, not what I expected. But a very enjoyable drink. (Is this really a beer?)

 

Comments like this make me think a lot of those hating on these styles haven’t actually tasted them. I’m not super fond of them, but all of these beers (that I have tried anyway) are certainly better than cheap vodka.

 

Gallo was always great at copying and mimicking. Thunderbird was creative, innovative, and really very socially evil. It was a change of pace. What's the word"? "Thunderbird".......

 

"How’s it sold? Good and cold.
What’s the jive? Bird’s alive.
What’s the price? Thirty twice."

Cheers!

 

I worked for groups that sold Thunderbird, among others, like Wild Irish Rose. I delivered these products on occasion and I was stunned at such volume in such small marketing areas. These "wines" were so targeted and socially disruptive that I learned to truly hate them in every form. If I am not mistaken, lots of this stuff was "made" from pears, like nearly lethal wine coolers.

 

You mean, like this?



https://www.instagram.com/p/CMK22vVFIKg/?igshid=1ih2eculo1sff

 

At some point isn't it just more cost effective to add everclear or vodka to a pouch of Hi-C?
In the 60s we asked "why not" and put a man on the moon. Now we go "Why can't we make a beer that tastes like an existing product?"

 

Yes, exactly. I should think that one would like to produce a unique product that others would emulate. These nods to a commercial nostalgia seem really lazy to me.

 

For the manufacturer? Not necessarily, if you considers the Federal Excise Tax:

Beer/Malt Bev's = $3.50 - $18.00 per bbl (so 12¢ - 58¢ per gallon)
Distilled Spirits = $13.50 per proof gallon

And, another consideration is the different retail licenses in many states, where beer, and sometimes wine, can be sold by many retailers while distilled spirits are limited to only certain licensees, sometimes restricted to state-owned stores.

That's kinda how so-called "wine coolers" - many of which were really flavored malt beverages (like Bartles & Jaymes)- got big in the 1980s.

 

I support my local breweries making overly fruited seltzers and sours that are themed like Hawaiian Punch and taste like the slushie you get at the gas station because it obviously sells and is helping them generate more revenue. But those styles themselves can go straight to hell, and I hope the fad dies a quick and painful death.