P. Ballantine and Sons Brewing Company facts for kids
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| Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1840 in Newark, New Jersey |
| Founder | Peter Ballantine |
| Headquarters | |
| Products | Beer |
| Owner | Pabst Brewing Company |
The P. Ballantine and Sons Brewing Company was an American company that made beer. It started in 1840, making Ballantine one of the oldest beer brands in the United States. At its most popular, it was the third largest beer maker in the country. Today, the brand is owned by the Pabst Brewing Company. Ballantine is famous for its Ballantine XXX Ale. In 2014, Ballantine IPA was brought back, and it's part of Pabst's effort to make more special, craft beers.
Contents
The Story of Ballantine Beer
Early Years of Ballantine
The company began in 1840 in Newark, New Jersey. It was started by Peter Ballantine (1791–1883), who came from Scotland. At first, the company was called the Patterson & Ballantine Brewing Company. Peter Ballantine rented an old brewing spot that had been used since 1805.
Around 1850, Ballantine bought out his business partner. He also bought land near the Passaic River to make his ale. His three sons joined the business. In 1857, the company changed its name to P. Ballantine and Sons. This name stayed for 115 years until the brewery closed in May 1972.
By 1879, Ballantine was the sixth largest brewery in the U.S. It was almost twice as big as Anheuser-Busch. Ballantine added a second brewery in Newark to make lager beer. Peter Ballantine passed away in 1883. His sons continued to run the company until the last son died in 1905.
New Leaders: The Frelinghuysen Family
After Peter Ballantine's last son died, George Griswold Frelinghuysen took over the company. He was the company's vice-president and was married to Ballantine's granddaughter.
Frelinghuysen went to Rutgers College and Columbia University Law School. He became a lawyer in New Jersey and New York.
In 1920, a law called the 18th Amendment started Prohibition. This meant it was illegal to make or sell alcoholic drinks. The company had to make other products, like malt syrup, to stay in business. The Ballantine family still owned the company during Prohibition. But when the 21st Amendment ended Prohibition in 1933, the family decided to sell the company.
Growing Big: The Badenhausen Years
In 1933, after Prohibition ended, two brothers, Carl and Otto Badenhausen, bought the Ballantine company. The Badenhausen brothers helped the brand become very successful in the 1940s and 1950s. They used smart advertising to make the brand popular. Ballantine Beer was the first company to sponsor the New York Yankees on television.
During this time, Ballantine became the third most popular beer in the U.S. It also grew into one of the largest privately owned companies in the country. Ballantine Beer was very successful until the early 1960s. However, by the mid-1960s, the brand started to lose its popularity. In 1965, Carl Badenhausen sold the company, but he stayed in charge until he retired in 1969.
Challenges and Changes
In the mid-1960s, the company faced difficulties. People started preferring lighter beers with less alcohol. Even with new advertising, the owners decided to sell the brand and all its assets to the Falstaff Brewing Corporation in 1972.
The new owners closed the original brewery in Newark. They started making Ballantine beers in other places. They also didn't always follow the original recipes strictly. Over time, the original recipes for Ballantine beers were lost.
Pabst Brewing Company bought Falstaff in 1985. Pabst continued to make some Ballantine beers through the 1980s and 1990s. They stopped making the IPA in 1996. Slowly, most of the beers were stopped, except for the main one, Ballantine XXX Ale. Through the 2000s and 2010s, Pabst kept making Ballantine's famous ale, but the recipe changed several times.
Bringing Ballantine Back
In August 2014, Pabst Brewing Company brought back a version of Ballantine IPA. The original recipe was lost a long time ago. However, Pabst's brewmaster, Greg Deuhs, worked hard to recreate the taste and smell of the original beer. He used old chemistry reports from the 1930s that showed the beer's alcohol and bitterness levels. He also researched what ingredients were likely used and read stories from beer lovers.
In 2014, Pabst announced that it was sold to a new group called Blue Ribbon Intermediate Holdings, LLC. This group is a partnership between beer expert Eugene Kashper and a company called TSG Consumer Partners.
Ballantine XXX Ale is often sold in large bottles, which sometimes makes people think it's like other strong malt liquors. But Pabst wants the Ballantine brand to be known for its special craft beers, like the relaunched Ballantine IPA.
In 2015, Eugene Kashper mentioned that he might build a small brewery in Newark, New Jersey, where the company first started.
On November 16, 2015, Pabst announced they would bring back Ballantine Burton Ale for the holiday season. This new version was also recreated by brewmaster Greg Deuhs. This strong ale has a high alcohol content. The original Burton Ale was aged for 10 to 20 years in oak barrels and was only given as gifts to important people, like President Harry S. Truman. The new version is aged for several months in barrels with American oak. Pabst said this is a seasonal beer for now.
The Ballantine Logo
The Ballantine logo has three rings that link together. This design is called the Borromean rings. A story says that Peter Ballantine got the idea for the symbol when he saw the rings left by beer glasses on a table. However, this logo was actually created in 1879.
In some old advertisements, Peter Ballantine was called "Three-Ring Pete." The three rings stand for "Purity, Body, and Flavor." New York Yankees announcer Mel Allen called it "the Three-Ring Sign."
Ballantine Products
Over the years, Ballantine made many different kinds of beer:
- The XXX Ale: This was their main product.
- A light lager and a dark lager.
- An India Pale Ale: This was a very bitter and flavorful beer that was aged for a year in wood.
- A Brown Stout: Also aged for a year in wood.
- A Porter with the XXX mark.
- A Bock beer.
- A Burton ale: This strong beer was never sold in stores. It was given as a gift to important people like company executives and VIPs. It was aged for 10 to 20 years in wood. Even today, very old, unopened bottles of this beer are bought and sold by collectors.
Ballantine in Pop Culture
In Books
- Writer Hunter S. Thompson mentions drinking Ballantine Ale in his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
- Famous American writer Ernest Hemingway appeared in an advertisement for Ballantine Ale. This ad campaign featured many authors, asking them how they would describe a glass of Ballantine Ale. Other writers in the campaign included:
- James A. Michener, who wrote over 40 books.
- C.S. Forester, known for his Horatio Hornblower series.
- Erle Stanley Gardner, famous for his Perry Mason detective novels.
- Anita Loos, who wrote Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
- Beer writer Alan D. Eames wrote about Ballantine IPA in 1986, calling it "a holy sacrament!"
In Art
- Artist Jasper Johns made a famous sculpture of two Ballantine XXX Ale cans called Painted Bronze (1960).
- Pop artist Tom Wesselmann included two Ballantine XXX Ale cans in his painting Still Life #28 (1964).
In the Military
- Bottles of Ballantine Beer are shown in a picture of sailors celebrating VJ Day at the Naval Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina.
- During World War II, Ballantine made beer cans that were painted a dull olive color. This was so they wouldn't reflect light and give away the position of American soldiers.
In Politics
- In 1983, President Ronald Reagan famously held up a glass of Ballantine Ale at a bar in Boston.
- President Harry S. Truman received a bottle of the special Burton Ale as a gift. This beer was never sold to the public.
In Music
- Many sources say that Frank Sinatra liked Ballantine Ale and even mentioned it on stage.
- The Beastie Boys mention Ballantine in their song "High Plains Drifter". They talk about the puzzles printed under the bottle caps.
- Rapper GZA/The Genius of the Wu-Tang Clan often mentions Ballantine Ale in his songs.
- The Notorious B.I.G. mentions Ballantine in his song "Long Kiss Goodnight".
- Jay-Z mentions Ballantine Ale in "The Joy" and in an interview with Charlie Rose.
- It's rumored that John Bonham, the drummer for Led Zeppelin, chose an upside-down version of Ballantine's three-ring logo for his symbol on their fourth album.
- The Good Rats song "City Liners" (1979) includes the line "And sneak a couple of his daddy's Ballantine".
- The Billy Joel song “No Man’s Land” includes the line, “bankers with their Volvos and their Ballantine’s”.
- Rick Moranis sings about Ballantine's in "It's the Champagne Talkin'" on his album Agoraphobic Cowboy.
In Sports
- The brewery sponsored the New York Yankees on television and radio for many years, from the 1940s to the 1960s.
- Yankees broadcasts had commercials with the jingle: "Baseball and Ballantine/ Baseball and Ballantine/ What a combination/ All across the nation/ Ballantine, Ballantine beer."
- Ballantine also sponsored the Philadelphia Phillies on radio and TV in the 1950s and 1960s. Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia had a 60-foot-long Ballantine Ale sign.
- In 1963 and 1964, Ballantine sponsored a drum and bugle corps called the "Ballantine Brewers" in Newark, New Jersey.
- P. Ballantine and Sons Brewing Company briefly owned the Boston Celtics basketball team in the late 1960s.
- Former baseball player Mickey McDermott was signed to the Boston Red Sox for $5,000 and two truckloads of Ballantine Beer.
In Radio and Television
- Ballantine Ale sponsored Three Ring Time, a comedy show with Milton Berle, in the early 1940s.
- Ballantine Beer was the favorite beer of Martin Crane on the TV show Frasier.
- Mel Brooks created a character called the 2500-Year-Old Brewmaster for Ballantine Beer ads in the 1960s.
- The TV show Shotgun Slade had Ballantine Beer as its main sponsor.
- Ballantine XXX Ale is shown in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 2, episode 7.
Since the Relaunch
- Ballantine IPA was the official beer of the 2015 Pork Roll Festival in Trenton, New Jersey.
Company Leaders
Here are some of the people who led the Ballantine company over the years:
- Peter Ballantine (1840–1883)
- Robert Francis Ballantine (1883–1905)
- George Griswold Frelinghuysen (1905–?)
- Carl Badenhausen (1933–1964)
- John E. Farrell (1964–1967)
- Richard Griebel (1967–1969)
- Jack Waldron (1969)
- Stephen D. Haymes (1969–?)
