Billy Beer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Billy Beer was a beer that was brewed in the United States of America by the Falls City Brewing Company and promoted by Billy Carter, brother of then-President Jimmy Carter. The beer was also produced by Cold Spring Brewing, West End Brewing, and Pearl Brewing companies. Introduced in 1977, the beer saw dismal sales figures while in production, but at least two billion cans were produced, and they were considered even at the time to be potential collectors items, and so a great many have been kept, ironically making them nearly worthless as collectors' items; this fact was the subject of a joke in the animated television series The Simpsons. Nonetheless, several scam artists have perpetuated an urban legend that the cans are extremely rare, which has led to occasional high prices in some venues, such as eBay. There is also a rumor that the "gold topped" cans (those with a gold colored lid) are valuable. This is also an urban legend with no basis in fact.
Billy Carter was selected as spokesperson for the beer because it was widely known that he enjoyed drinking beer. However, it was also fairly widely known that his brand of choice was Pabst Blue Ribbon.[citation needed]
[edit] Label
Written on each can were these words of endorsement.
- Brewed expressly for and with the personal approval of one of America's all-time great beer drinkers - Billy Carter
- I had this beer brewed just for me. I think it's the best I've ever tasted. And I've tasted a lot. I think you'll like it, too.
