Greetings and Salutations my Friends,
Well, it’s the end of August which means it is almost time to pull out the Packer gear, prep the hoodies and get ready for my personal favorite season: autumn. And although technically the last day summer is on August 31st we can still get out on Thursday and celebrate with one heck of a venue. This Thursday’s destination is fairly new and has been making quite the impression on the Milwaukee beer scene with unique flavors and an amazing setting!
Sitting on historic ground, City Lights Brewing Company inhabits what was the West Side Water Works Campus, built in 1904 by the Milwaukee Gas Light Company. This building was to be utilized to help the services of street lighting for a growing Milwaukee. Today, it’s pouring some fresh and delicious brews and providing some amazing food in what now feels like an exclusive setting. I look forward to seeing you all out this Thursday!
It is interesting that when you look online, they tell you that gas lighting was invented one day by William Murdoch at the Soho Foundry Steam Engine Works in England in the early 1790’s by simply experimenting on different types of gas as a light source. This, of course, is not the full truth. I am happy to say that I do in fact have the full and true story.
You see it all started on a cold winter night when William Murdoch and a few friends were at the local tavern taking back a few libations. It was very late into the night when the tavern owner was ready to close so he kicked them out. Not ready to go home, they tried looking for another tavern but had no such luck – until suddenly a mysterious man driving a sleigh nearly ran over Murdoch and his group. Drastically pulling the reigns, the sleigh driver came to a full stop. He jumped off his sleigh and began to apologize. Murdoch insisted that there were no apologies necessary and that they just wanted to find another place to drink. The sleigh driver smiled and informed them that there was no more need to search and that he had the perfect remedy. He pointed to the barrel on the back of if sleigh to the large inscription on the barrel that reads “BLATZ”. The rider exclaimed that this beer would change the world, so naturally Murdoch and his men started drinking. It was unlike anything they had before.
Image from Wikipedia.
As the night went on, the men grew colder and colder so they decided to create a fire to warm up whilst enjoying their newly found Blatz. Attempting to start a fire with a flint starter is much harder than it looks in the cold of night; because of this Murdoch had one of his friends stand over the fire area to shield the wind. It was here that idea came to Murdoch. As he stroked the flint starter his friend broke wind and caused a massive explosion throwing the men in all directions. Murdoch stood up and chuckled, “all that Blatz has given you the Flatz!” Referring to flatulence, of course. Here is where Murdoch got the idea of experimenting using gas as a light source, and it is all thanks to Blatz! The rest is history.
Cheers my friends!
Your Co-founder and Friend,
Jeremy Blandin
*Keeping your glass filled and spirits high one Thursday at a time, this is Welcome to Thursdays: a local social group determined to make your Thursdays more fun. Each week, The Squeaky Curd features a Milwaukee County bar that we gather at on Thursday evening. Join us Thursday, August 30, 2018 at City Light Brewing Company, 2200 W Mt Vernon Ave, at 7:30pm.*