My Dad's Repeal Day Story

We celebrate the Repeal of Prohibition today, December 5, because on this date in 1933, Pennsylvania and Utah ratified the 21st Amendment, providing enough votes to make the amendment law.

This is my dad’s Repeal Day story, but it didn’t happen on Repeal Day. It happened eight months earlier, on April 7, 1933. On that day it became legal to sell beer in many states, including Missouri, where he lived.

Dad grew up in what today is called the Wells/Goodfellow neighborhood of St. Louis, on Roosevelt Place. He was 13-years-old when these events occurred. (His words follow.)


The Meyers family lived up near Goodfellow Blvd. Their youngest son was a couple years younger than me but we were friends and I spent a lot of time at their house. Mr. Meyers was the acknowledged best home brew maker in the neighborhood, if not the civilized world. He undoubtedly applied the same skill and attention to detail as he did in his job as a tool and die maker. His stuff was far superior to the stuff that we occasionally made in our basement. It was no more illegal for kids to drink heingemake (homebrew) than for adults, so we were allowed to join in the responsible and moderate use of the quaff.

At the Meyers' house, as was common, the beer was bottled in one-fifth gallon bottles and served in an aluminum bucket, from which all partook.

Frank Meyers' system was a seven day process that he would tend to right after work. He would come in the back door, put his lunch bucket on the sink, kiss his wife, then go to the basement for that day's part in the process. After FDR took office, an executive order was issued proclaiming that 3.2% beer was not intoxicating, therefore it did not fall under the restrictions in the 18th amendment. A date was set when this would take effect.

The building at the corner of Clara and Roosevelt (named for Teddy, I might add) was owned by Anheuser-Busch and had been a tavern. It was now Wesling's grocery. Gelhausen's Saloon across the street had never closed. Perhaps they served iced tea and soda pop during the great drought. The lease for Busch's building had a clause that if beer ever became legal again the lease could be terminated. An agreement was reached and an addition was built onto the rear of the grocery and made into a tavern.

You may note that I refer to one establishment as a tavern and the other as a saloon. This is not accidental. Gelhausen's was a dark, bad place with men sitting around. I do not know why, when beer was again legal, that Grandma always had me go to Gelhausen's when she wanted a pitcher of beer. There was a side door at the rear and a separate tap for take-out. It cost a whole dime for a big pitcher of beer.

When "B" day was drawing near, Mr. Meyers finished up the current batch and then started dismantling and packing away his equipment. When the fateful day arrived, most of the men in the neighborhood congregated at Wesling's Tavern. The house was packed and everyone was having a riotous good time.

When Frank Meyers walked in a hush fell over the place and the crowd around the bar parted like the Red Sea to make room for the greatest. He walked up to the bar, Mr. Wesling drew a glass and set it in front of him. He took a sip, then another sip, then pushed the glass away and turned and walked out. It was not the same after that, it was quiet and half the customers left. Obviously, I was not there but my Uncle Russ was and told me about it.

Mr. Meyers went straight home, straight to the basement, unpacked his equipment and started a new batch. Mrs. Meyers kidded later that it was the first time in their forty years of marriage that he had come into the house and started working without kissing her first.

In fairness to Anheuser-Busch, I should add that they were limited to 3.2% alcohol while the Meyers brew ran close to the theoretical maximum for the fermentation process, around 12%.

Celebrate 76 Years Of Legal Drinking December 5.

Repeal Day is Saturday, December 5, and if you are going to be anywhere near Louisville, Kentucky, you might want to consider the Bourbon Society's Repeal Day Party. Special guests include Chris Morris from Woodford Reserve, Al Young from Four Roses, and Mike Veach from the Filson Historical Society. Somebody (they don't know who yet) is supposed to be there from Wild Turkey too.

Those folks are great and all, but the real attraction is the venue; the fabled Pendennis Club.

Louisville's Pendennis Club is a private club, so you can't just stroll in on a normal day and have a drink at their bar. Back when Louisville was full of whiskey barons, this was their hang out. By legend, the Old Fashioned Cocktail was invented there. On December 5, 1933, you can bet the place was jumping.

It's a jacket-and-tie affair, but tickets are only $30. For more information go to The Bourbon Society web site.

What Does Ten High's Demotion Mean?

On Monday, I reported that Ten High Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey has become a bourbon blend, at least in the state of New York.

I have since heard that the switch is on in California as well.

What can we learn from this?

The obvious conclusion is that Constellation has decided to allocate its stock of fully-aged whiskey to more profitable distribution channels. It just can't spare enough 4-year-old bourbon to support Ten High as a 4-year-old bourbon. They can make more money by selling that whiskey someplace else.

But where?

Maybe their 6-year-old Very Old Barton (VOB) Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is growing faster than expected. VOB has very limited distribution but where it is sold, including in Kentucky, it is in the same league as the big boys: Jack, Jim and Evan. Or maybe they have some desperate bulk whiskey buyers making them offers they can't refuse.

They could have saved a lot more bourbon by making Ten High a straight-up blend, but this allows them to keep the word "Bourbon" on the label. Standard blends are usually four-fifths vodka, one-fifth whiskey. A bourbon blend is about half and half.

I assume that Ten High, in Barton's overall mix, is high volume, low margin. They probably calculate that a price increase will cost them more business than will a cheapening of the product. That is the kind of trade-off you make in business.

You don't do that to a key brand, but Ten High has not been a key brand for a long time. It's barely a brand at all. It's a commodity. Ten High has some base of loyal customers but it otherwise is sold on price, as it's frequently the cheapest bourbon in the store. Likewise in bars it is not a big call, but it is in many wells.

The fact that Constellation has other channels where they can sell their bourbon more profitably means the bourbon market continues to be healthy, which is overall good news for us as straight bourbon enthusiasts.

But it's still sad to see this happen, because Ten High was a major brand during the post-Prohibition golden age, and was the leading brand of Illinois-made bourbon, and because it's always sad to see a 75-year-old kicked around.

Is Ten High No Longer A Bourbon?

First Blagojevich, now this. How much humiliation can Illinois take?

Ten High Straight Bourbon Whiskey has been demoted to a blend, at least in some markets.

Hiram Walker’s Ten High Bourbon was, in its heyday, a proud product of Peoria, Illinois. It was made there at the largest whiskey distillery in the world. Peoria, Pekin and other Illinois towns had significant whiskey industries on both sides of Prohibition.

Ten High was popular as one of the better cheap bourbons. The name refers to a barrel storage location at least ten ricks high, as barrels in the upper part of the aging warehouse mature faster. It was always just a name, never an actual barrel location promise, but it was meant to communicate quality.

Hiram Walker was the Detroit grocer who created Canadian Club whiskey in the 19th century, at his distillery across the border in Canada. When Prohibition ended in 1933, Hiram Walker and Sons, Inc., then owned by a guy named Harry Hatch, decided to reenter the newly-legal U.S. market in a big way. Their Peoria distillery made Walker’s DeLuxe and Ten High, both straight bourbons; Imperial Whiskey, a popular blend; and other Hiram Walker products.

Peoria paid off for about 35 years, until the American whiskey market suddenly tanked in the late 60s. The distillery closed in 1981. (Today it makes ethanol for ADM.)

They had actually stopped distilling there several years before and then slowly emptied the warehouses as the whiskey in them matured. Ten High production then shifted to Kentucky. Eventually, Hiram Walker was sold for parts and Ten High was acquired by Chicago’s Barton Brands, whose obituary I wrote a few weeks ago.

Recently a friend of mine in upstate New York bought a bottle of Ten High and, when he got it home, discovered that instead of "Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey," the label said, "Bourbon Whiskey - a Blend."

Straight bourbon is all whiskey. A bourbon blend is about half whiskey, half vodka.

Some people like that sort of thing, but since vodka isn’t aged, blends are much cheaper to make.

My friend was told by his whiskey monger that the straight has been discontinued. He wondered if this was some depredation by the brand's new owner, but I assured him it can't be Sazerac's fault, as that deal won't even close for another month or so.

The Constellation Spirits web site still shows the only available expression of Ten High as being the 80-proof straight bourbon. So does the Binny’s web site.

The bourbon is still one of your better cheap whiskeys. I can’t speak for the new blend.

BT Launches Repeal Day Tour.

More Repeal Day news is coming in as Friday approaches and you can take advantage of this one if you are or will be anywhere near Frankfort, Kentucky.

On Friday, December 5, the Buffalo Trace Distillery raises a glass to the Repeal of Prohibition with a new tour, called the "Post-Prohibition Bourbon Boom Tour."

Buffalo Trace was one of four distilleries that remained open legally during Prohibition, to sell whiskey for "medicinal purposes." Known at the time as the George T. Stagg Distillery, it began an expansion of its facilities as Prohibition was ending that started the Post-Prohibition Bourbon Boom. That "Bourbon Boom" lasted from 1933 (the end of Prohibition) to 1951 (the onset of the Korean War).

This architecturally-focused tour will take visitors through the great building expansion of the distillery during that period and will highlight the development happening today. The new tour will launch Friday, December 5th with tours scheduled for 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. The tour is complimentary but reservations are requested. Following the tour guests can enjoy refreshments in the George T. Stagg Gift Shop and Gallery.

This new tour will be available as part of the Distillery’s regular tour offerings. Call 502-696-5926 for reservations and tour times.

Buffalo Trace is a family-owned company based in Franklin County, Kentucky. Its rich distilling tradition dates back to 1787. In addition to its namesake Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, the company makes other venerable brands such as Blanton's Single Barrel, Van Winkle, Ancient Age, W. L. Weller, Old Charter, Eagle Rare, Benchmark, Virginia Gentleman, Sazerac Rye, and others.

Just in Time for Repeal Day, Here Is Old Forester Repeal Bourbon.

This coming Friday, December 5, is Repeal Day, and marks the 75th Anniversary of Prohibition’s repeal.

Old Forester Repeal Bourbon is a new, one-time, limited-release bourbon expression that goes on sale nationwide this week. Old Forester Repeal Bourbon comes in a mock, circa-1933, 375ml bottle and carries an Old Forester replica label from that era.

Old Forester became America’s first bottled bourbon in 1870 when George Garvin Brown recognized the need for a bourbon of consistent high quality and began to put Old Forester into glass bottles. Whiskey was sold in bottles before 1870, but Old Forester was the first brand to be sold exclusively in bottles.

Brown, a Louisville pharmaceutical salesman, was so sure of the quality of Old Forester that he put his hand-written guarantee on each bottle – a practice continued today. Old Forester is the only bourbon whiskey in existence that has been sold continuously for more than a century, including between the Prohibition years of 1920 and 1933, when it received one of only ten government permits to sell whiskey for medicinal purposes. No other bourbon whiskey sold in the U.S. today can make that claim.

"This special bottling of Repeal Bourbon celebrates the rich history of Old Forester’s role as the founding brand of Brown-Forman," said Joe Murray, Brand Manager for Old Forester. "Old Forester still lives up to its claim of 'There is nothing better in the market' over 135 years since its inception and is proud to be the only bourbon produced before, during and after Prohibition."

Old Forester Repeal Bourbon comes in a gift pack with a scroll of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which ended Prohibition, and an Old Forester snifter. Repeal Bourbon is 100° proof. The suggested retail price is $29.99. Only 2,700 cases were produced.

"Repeal Bourbon is bottled from a special selection of Old Forester barrels that exhibited a more robust character that is similar to the Old Forester that was bottled during Prohibition," added Chris Morris, Master Distiller for Old Forester. "The flavor, presented at Prohibition's required 100° proof, is a full, deep, charred oak character that will appeal to bourbon-lovers everywhere."

More information on Old Forester Repeal Bourbon can be found at www.oldforester.com/repeal.