Yesterday, Frau A reminded me, quite clearly, that in my post
Understanding the Beer Bracket, Part II, there was an inexcusable omission. Actually, two. Without hesitation, she offered a suggestion for the appropriate analogy linking the missing university and beer.
Her argument goes like this:
Georgetown is part of the Big East, but lies geographically closer to ACC country, near the heart of the sport. Franziskaner is located in Munich (beer central) rather than the German northwest like the others in Part II. Like the brewers in Part II, Franziskaner is big - the 3rd largest producer of weissbier in the world. The others in Part II produce mainly pilsner, but we can probably agree the Hoyas play a different style of basketball than their Northeast conference mates. Franziskaner started as a brewery across from a Franciscan monastery (hence the name and friar in the logo). Georgetown was the first, and is therefore the oldest, Roman-Catholic (Jesuit) university in the U.S., and was founded by the first American bishop, John Carroll.
Note: I'm sure her idea has nothing to do with the fact that Georgetown is her alma mater... or that Franziskaner is probably her favorite weissbier...or that Franziskaner brewed the first Vienna/Märzen style with higher alcohol content for Oktoberfest (in 1872)... or that Franziskaner had a cool carousel-bar at this year's Oktoberfest which rotated to give drinkers a changing view of the fair (see below)... but I had to admit it was a good start. So I looked further into the matter.
Franziskaner Carousel Bar at Oktoberfest, 2010
Munich is the capital of Bavaria, Washington the capital of the U.S.. Franziskaner is not far from the Isar River; Georgetown's main campus is on the Potomac. In 1683, Bavarian troops stationed at the gates of Vienna to fight the Turks are supplied with weissbier, helping the Austrians achieve a historic victory. Georgetown had over 1100 students (most of 'em) enlist to preserve the Union in the Civil War. But there's more.
There have always been concerns that beer is unhealthy, whether for physical or spiritual reasons. (In the year 600, an Irish missionary travelling through Bavaria was mortified to observe beer being sacrificed to a heathen god. Today our gods are sports teams?) But in 1602, Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria recognized that weissbier is an "ideal refreshment" for the population. He places every Bavarian brewery that produces weissbier under state ownership... Is this kind of like Obamacare - government medicine for the masses? Did G-town grads have a hand that legislation? But that's not all.
In the first decade of the 20th century, Franziskaner started delivering beer to North America. In the same time frame, Georgetown founded their School of Medicine and School of Nursing. Well, now that weissbier is available over here, they probably thought they should train healthcare personnel to administer it, right? Healthy and ideal refreshment, right? Within the same ten years, Georgetown began its basketball team/program too. I'm not sure if this was a place to sacrifice the beer to the new god, or simply a central place/events to administer a recurring student healthcare treatment. In either case, I'm guessing it was quickly followed by the first visit of the police to a campus party, but there is no historical evidance to support this theory. Overall, the evidence is clear: Frau A's idea really makes sense.
A few final thoughts on Georgetown, beer and Franziskaner:
In the year 719, Duke Lantfrit decreed in his code of law, the 'Lex Alemannorum', that all bonded peasants must pay tribute to their lords IN BEER. Why can't the government-types from Georgetown change U.S. tax laws in this direction???
In 1924, Franziskaner's parent company unveiled a new slogan: "Lass Dir raten, trinke Spaten" (literally "Let yourself be advised, drink Spaten"). The verb "advised" is interesting... a more influencial approach than just marketing? Not long after, in 1928, the U.S. Senate passed the first bill that attempted to regulate lobbyists (but it was blocked by the House). Georgetown is known for government and political affairs... can this just be concidence? Hoyas in the beer lobby are out of control!
Frau A spent quite some time in Texas, and Franziskaner's web site has most of its marketing events there. There is Spaten Pint Night at The Libertine Bar in Dallas, Spaten Sundays (Franziskaner is part of the Spaten/Löwenbräu brewery group) at Ginger Man in Fort Worth, and Franziskaner Hefeweisse avaialble at the American Airlines Center.
So there we have it. Franziskaner = Georgetown. Readers: any other beers/teams you think should be included?
Franziskaner logo and dried hops, Oktoberfest, 2010
