1.14.12 Loosen Your Grain Belts and Have A Beer

Today's kind of a slow news day on the island, so I figure I'll talk about the iconic Grain Belt Beer sign, behind which lurks the northern end of Nicollet Island and the house where I live.

Many people have done paintings of this sign, and I plan on doing so as well. It seems like a nice challenge, and a fitting subject for a painting to grace the walls of our home. My own thought is that I will leave the painting in the apartment when we vacate, whenever that may be. Who knows, maybe we will never vacate and this is the last place I will ever reside. Which would be okay with me, I guess, although I am not averse to living in other places before I cross the great river.

Golden Grain Belt beer was introduced in 1893 by the Minneapolis Brewing Company, which operated from a large, castle-like brewery located along the Mississippi River in Northeast Minneapolis. The name Grain Belt referred to the geographical area of the country known as America’s Grain Belt, also known as the Corn Belt, which was the most intensively agricultural region of the Midwest, typically defined to include Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and eastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas, southern Minnesota and parts of Missouri. The Grain Belt is also sometimes defined to include parts of South Dakota, North Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Kentucky. Grain Belt Beer quickly became one of the best-selling beers in the upper Midwest and the flagship brand of the Minneapolis Brewing Company.

Golden Grain Belt, in its earliest days, was sold in taverns, drawn from wooden kegs that were delivered by horse-drawn wagons, and in glass bottles. Early Grain Belt labels illustrated a golden barley field beneath blue skies in the now-familiar diamond logo, and assured customers the beer was “Properly sterilized -- Does not cause biliousness.” I don't know about you, but when I drink beer, the last thing I want to become is bilious!

I will spare you additional historical lore pertaining to Grain Belt Beer--it is easy enough to find for those who are interested. When we moved into our new home on the island, the landlord had left two bottles of Grain Belt Beer in the fridge, which we thought was a nice touch. The large sign is a notable Minneapolis landmark, greeting all who drive or walk eastward over the Hennepin Bridge, where it looms up on the northern side, standing directly in front of De La Salle High School. I wonder how many high school kids have been tempted to climb the sign, and how many actually have. Thus far, I have yet to observe any such shenanigans in progress.

Today is a cold day, and one better suited to a cup of hot tea or coffee than cold beer. But maybe this evening, hunkered down in a cozy Northeast Minneapolis tavern, a bottle of Grain Belt would not be unwelcome.

Life flows on, in and around us--and sometimes that life is made from yeast, hops, and barley, and as it flows, we grow livelier still.

D.E.S.