Stubby

June 26, 2003 11:08 AM

Back when beer was good. "The stubby beer bottle was used by the Canadian breweries between 1961 and 1986, replacing the old long neck beer bottle. The stubby was a very sturdy bottle and could be refilled numerous times. In 1983 Carling O'Keefe Breweries began bottling Miller in a US style private mould bottle and soon after the other breweries also switched over to their own private mould bottles. Most of these bottles were then discontinued after a few years because of the cost and replaced with a common long neck beer bottle, but the stubby was abandoned."
posted by monkeymike (41 comments total)

Thanks to KP for pointing this out: "So many memories I can't remember..."
posted by monkeymike at 11:11 AM on June 26, 2003

Yes this is the kind of thing we Canucks take pride in. And I'm perfectly OK with that. I think it shows we have perspective :)
posted by Space Coyote at 11:20 AM on June 26, 2003

Olympia still comes in 11 oz. "stubby" bottles. My fridge almost always contains a few. The Oly ("It's the water") is great on a hot day. Plus it's only $5.60 for a 1/2 rack (12 bottles).
posted by maniactown at 11:28 AM on June 26, 2003

Man, I so remember my Dad puttering around the house with a stubby in hand. Sadly, by the time I hit legal age (88 or 89, depending on what side of the Ottawa River I was on) they had been mostly phased out.

That being said, Red Stripe bottled (bottles?) their fine and tasty brew in a stubby.
posted by smcniven at 11:29 AM on June 26, 2003

doh, that would be 1988 or 1989
posted by smcniven at 11:30 AM on June 26, 2003

But Olympia is American.

Why is American beer like making love in a canoe?

(Great link, by the way.
posted by timeistight at 11:34 AM on June 26, 2003

That's all very well and good but remember when it comes down to it that

"Woman like long neck bottles/ And a big head on her beer..."
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 11:35 AM on June 26, 2003

Monkeymike, I know this is beside the point of stubby bottles, but if there's one complaint that you CAN'T make about the today's world, it's that the beer isn't any good. Today, in America, in 2003, we live in beer heaven.
posted by Faze at 12:00 PM on June 26, 2003

maniactown: It's not known for how long there will still be Oly stubbies left. Miller's closing the brewery as we speak, and it's up in the air if Pabst (who still owns the brand) will make Oly stubbies elsewhere or not, or even what's going to happen to the brewery now.

I hope something does happen. It's going to be pretty bad for the city of Olympia and surrounding parts now -- the brewery employed a lot of people.

Also, timeistight, Oly is great schwag-ass domestic beer! Better than Bud and Coors, and cheap! What more do you want?
posted by Captain_Tenille at 12:35 PM on June 26, 2003

You'll need something to keep that cool
posted by johnny7 at 12:45 PM on June 26, 2003

Sadly, the last Olympia stubbie rolled off the line this month. Miller purchased the Pabst-owned Olympia Brewery a few years ago and recently merged with South African Brewerey to become SABMiller. SABMiller then decided that maintaining the historic brewery is not cost effective and have stopped all production. As a resident of Olympia and an Olympia beer lover, I am heartbroken.
posted by car_bomb at 12:45 PM on June 26, 2003

Actually, Belgium is beer heaven.
posted by rocketman at 12:50 PM on June 26, 2003

Does the red stripe beer bottle count as a stubby?

"Only smart people drink Red Stripe. If you drink and drive, you are STUPID. Don't drink Red Stripe! It's not for you!"

I almost spit my beer out my nose when I heard that on the radio driving down the street.
posted by taumeson at 12:52 PM on June 26, 2003

Look harder, it's still available, and it's still Canadian.
posted by shepd at 12:54 PM on June 26, 2003

timeistight -

They're both fucking close to water.

Yes, one of my favorite beer jokes . . .

But who's up for going wide?
posted by tr33hggr at 12:55 PM on June 26, 2003

Years ago I got my hands on a case of Canadian beer, where the bottom of each bottle was formed into a bottle opener! Does anyone know what brand that was, or was it all a beautiful dream?
posted by JoanArkham at 12:55 PM on June 26, 2003

where the bottom of each bottle was formed into a bottle opener

What if you only had one bottle?
posted by yhbc at 12:58 PM on June 26, 2003

I guess I'll have to do it myself:

Why is American beer like making love in a canoe?

Because it's fucking near water.

I always thought that "It's the water" slogan was very apt.
posted by timeistight at 12:58 PM on June 26, 2003

joanarkham: i believe that was the old kokanee bottles . you could pop the top off of a fresh beer with the underside of a dead soldier. genius.

posted by car_bomb at 12:59 PM on June 26, 2003

I guess I'll have to do it myself:

But I got it!!
posted by tr33hggr at 1:00 PM on June 26, 2003

where the bottom of each bottle was formed into a bottle opener

What if you only had one bottle?

Yeah, if you wanted to open it you'd have to go out and buy more, and-

Ah. I see.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:00 PM on June 26, 2003

Sorry, tr33hggr. I should have previewed.

Yours was better!
posted by timeistight at 1:13 PM on June 26, 2003

I used to know people who could open a bottle using the cap of another bottle, upside down. Better for outside; a slight miscalculation could cause a beer rocket.
posted by timeistight at 1:16 PM on June 26, 2003

I so remember my Dad puttering around the house with a stubby in hand.

You know... nah. It's too easy.
posted by kindall at 1:16 PM on June 26, 2003

Yes, Red Stripe is still around, and they use the venerable stubby. To see it in movies, check out Strange Brew.
posted by insomnyuk at 1:17 PM on June 26, 2003

But who's up for going wide?

Yeesh, that scares me that Mickey's has a website!
posted by PeteyStock at 1:23 PM on June 26, 2003

Are you crazy insomnyuk??!??! I thought everyone knew that the Mackenzie Brothers only drink Elsinore Beer!! I'm afraid there is no Red Stripe in Strange Brew.

posted by car_bomb at 1:24 PM on June 26, 2003

I have half a dozen cases of empty Labatt stubbies in the basement I use for homebrew. Damn things are indestructible.
posted by tommasz at 1:35 PM on June 26, 2003

That didn't come out right car_bomb. I meant stubbys in Strange Brew, not Red Stripe, but the way I worded it, it could be misconstrued. Funny I'm getting corrected about beers by a guy named after a mixed drink.
posted by insomnyuk at 1:38 PM on June 26, 2003

PeteyStock -

It scares me too, though I'll admit to downing many a 40 oz. Mickeys as an undergrad. They were cheap!

At last count, I've seen Strange Brew over 75 times.

"I'd kiss you if I didn't have puke-breath."
posted by tr33hggr at 1:39 PM on June 26, 2003

Ok ok sorry to snap at you insomnyuk. I misread your intent. I am just very defensive when it comes to Strange Brew. Best. Movie. Ever.
and i'm not named after the drink, i'm talking about the real thing. boom!

posted by car_bomb at 1:42 PM on June 26, 2003

Here's a QuickTime tour of Strange Brew's "Elsinore Brewery" (a.k.a. the R. C. Harris Filtration Plant):
http://www.hainsworth.com/qtvr/images/filtrationthumb.gif
posted by timeistight at 1:44 PM on June 26, 2003

That was dumb. Here's the thumbnail:

posted by timeistight at 1:46 PM on June 26, 2003

Y'know, that brewery looks an awful lot like the location for the "spectacular" end sequence of the movie "Undercover Brother." Anybody agree?
posted by razorwriter at 3:42 PM on June 26, 2003

If you look closely at the definition from the Canadian Edition of the Oxford Dictionary on the stubby website, you'll notice that stubby is listed both Canadian and Australian slang. And in the standard edition, it's listed solely as Australian slang.

It does look the stubby was an American invention, at least if you look here (you'll have to scroll down a bit).

But the stubby is still pretty much the standard in Australia, and although there's an assortment of bottle shapes with your more upmarket beers, the real decent working class beers - like VB - still come in stubbies. 4.9% alcohol is the standard strength for Aussie beers. And make sure you listen to the classic VB radio commercial. More Australians would know the words to this little ditty than know our national anthem.
posted by chrisgregory at 4:00 PM on June 26, 2003

Y'know, that brewery looks an awful lot like the location for the "spectacular" end sequence of the movie "Undercover Brother." Anybody agree?

I'm sure it is. Undercover Brother was shot in T.O.

It's an incredible building, right on the lake. Very spooky at night. I used to trip around there in my misspent youth, many, many years ago.
posted by timeistight at 4:34 PM on June 26, 2003

I've got a whole bunch of stubbies lying around. The guys who owned the apartment before me made all this homebrew beer and left it here, and I've yet to drink it, and they used old Red Cap stubbies for it.
posted by Pseudoephedrine at 7:27 PM on June 26, 2003

you could pop the top off of a fresh beer with the underside of a dead soldier

Well, no, but you could twist it off. Same meat different gravy I suppose, but I am pedantic about my alco-legendry.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:35 PM on June 26, 2003

Back when Molson Brewing was changing over to the long-neck bottles, some enterprising fellow bought out their Labatt's stubby stock and slapped his own label on it, and sold them in the us for something like $5 a case.
posted by Oriole Adams at 5:16 AM on June 27, 2003

Stubbys had one key advantage above all other bottling types: they were good for the environment.

Stubbies were heavy glass, and could be reused a few hundred times before being recycled. The only energy costs after their initial manufacturing were (A) washing and sterilizing; (B) slightly higher transportation costs, due to the increased weight.

Longnecks can not be refilled, and the glass is nearly useless for recycling purposes. You can't melt them down and make a new bottle; you can only melt them down and use them as glass filler for other products.

Cans, too, can not be refilled, and they can not be recycled into beverage cans. They can be reused for other product purposes. But melting them down requires a lot of energy, and the end result is still a low-quality product.

I'd like to see a return to the stubby. But, then, I'd also like to see a standard, reusable glass container spec for plenty of grocery-store products...
posted by five fresh fish at 9:57 AM on June 27, 2003

New York's own Rheingold beer had a "chug-a-mug" bottle at one time. Beats the stubby, I'd think...



http://www.rheingoldbeer.com/beer/archives_packaging.php
posted by lenticular at 11:27 AM on June 27, 2003