Tap Handle #718 - Flying Tiger

April 21, 2019

Tap Handle #718 - Flying Tiger

Tap size: 12.25"
Rarity: less than 10 seen
Mounting: 3/8" ferrule on 5/16" anchor bolt

This incredible tap was supplied by a friend of the Museum, Morgan C., a Louisiana resident who was eager to get this (and a few other Louisiana taps) into my hands so that he could one day see them profiled here. I was thrilled to get the taps, so I decided Morgan should be able to see them here right away instead of waiting for years. Of the taps Morgan offered me, this Flying Tiger tap is probably my favorite, due to my personal ties to the military and aviation. It features a profile of a P40 Warhawk Flying Tiger airplane, which became the identity of the brewery due to its local ties to General Chennault, who was the commander of the Flying Tigers and lived in Monroe (where the brewery is located) for a time. The detail of the tap is impressive, from the nose art and cockpit decals to all the tiny rivets that have been sculpted across the surface. At the top of the airplane is a round sign that bears the brewery's name and logo. The tap is not variety-specific but is instead used for all beer varieties; I've chosen to profile their WarHawk Kolsch. This tap is definitely one of my favorite recent acquisitions. It's also pretty scarce since I have never seen another.

The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force in 1941–1942, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was composed of pilots from the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), Navy (USN), and Marine Corps (USMC), recruited under President Franklin Roosevelt's authority before Pearl Harbor and commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. The aircraft were to fly with Chinese colors but be under American control. The mission was to bomb Japan and defend China but many delays meant they flew in combat after the US and Japan declared war. The AVG was largely the creation of Chennault, a retired U.S. Army Air Corps officer who had worked in China since August 1937, first as military aviation advisor to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the early months of the Sino-Japanese War, then as director of a Chinese Air Force flight school centered in Kunming. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union supplied fighter and bomber squadrons to China, but these units were mostly withdrawn by the summer of 1940. Chiang then asked for American combat aircraft and pilots, sending Chennault to Washington as an adviser to China's ambassador and Chiang's brother-in-law, T. V. Soong.

Chennault spent the winter of 1940–1941 in Washington, supervising the purchase of 100 Curtiss P-40 fighters and the recruiting of 100 pilots and some 200 ground crew and administrative personnel that would constitute the 1st AVG. The fighters were purchased without "government-furnished equipment" such as reflector gunsights, radios and wing guns; the lack of these items caused continual difficulties for the AVG in Burma and China. The 100 P-40 aircraft were crated and sent to Burma on third country freighters during spring 1941. At Rangoon, they were unloaded, assembled and test flown by personnel of Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CAMCO) before being delivered to the AVG training unit at Toungoo. One crate was dropped into the water and a wing assembly was ruined by salt water immersion, so CAMCO was able to deliver only 99 Tomahawks before war broke out. Shortages in equipment with spare parts almost impossible to obtain in Burma along with the slow introduction of replacement fighter aircraft were continual impediments although the AVG did receive 50 replacement P-40E fighters from USAAF stocks toward the end of its combat tour. AVG fighter aircraft were painted with a large shark face on the front of the aircraft. This was done after pilots saw a photograph of a P-40 of No. 112 Squadron RAF in North Africa, which in turn had adopted the shark face from German pilots of the Luftwaffe's ZG 76 heavy fighter wing, flying Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters in Crete. The P-40's good qualities included pilot armor, self-sealing fuel tanks, sturdy construction, heavy armament, and a higher diving speed than most Japanese aircraft – qualities that could be used to advantage in accordance with Chennault's combat tactics.

The group consisted of three fighter squadrons of around 30 aircraft each. It trained in Burma before the American entry into World War II to defend China against Japanese forces. The group of volunteers were officially members of the Chinese Air Force. The group first saw combat on 20 December 1941, 12 days after Pearl Harbor (local time). It demonstrated innovative tactical victories when the news in the U.S. was filled with little more than stories of defeat at the hands of the Japanese forces and achieved such notable success during the lowest period of the war for both the U.S. and the Allied Forces as to give hope to America that it might eventually defeat Japan. AVG pilots earned official credit and received combat bonuses for destroying 296 enemy aircraft, while losing only 14 pilots in combat. The combat records of the AVG still exist and researchers have found them credible. On 4 July 1942 the AVG was disbanded and replaced by the 23rd Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Forces, which was later absorbed into the U.S. Fourteenth Air Force with General Chennault as commander. The 23rd FG went on to achieve similar combat success, while retaining the nose art on the left-over P-40s.

Some of the more notable members of the Flying Tigers were:

Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, who broke his contract with the AVG in the spring of 1942 and returned to active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps. He went on to command the "Black Sheep" Squadron and was one of two AVG veterans (the other being James H. Howard of the USAAF) to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
David Lee "Tex" Hill later commanded the USAAF 23rd Fighter Group.
Charles Older earned a law degree postwar, became a California Superior Court judge, and presided at the murder trial of Charles Manson.
Kenneth Jernstedt was a long-time Oregon legislator and mayor of his home town of Hood River.
Robert William Prescott, founder of the first scheduled cargo airline in America named Flying Tiger Line.

Flying Tiger AVG info and photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Click through to read more about Flying Tiger Brewing, their WarHawk Kolsch, and to see more photos of this decorated tap...

Flying Tiger Brewing was founded in Monroe, Louisiana in 2016 by James Earl Simpson, Robert Brewer and David Johnson. Simpson’s love and appreciation for beer started as a bartender serving up imports. Later he moved to Dallas and discovered hundreds of unique craft beers. Then, on a trip to Jefferson, Texas, with his then-girlfriend, now wife, Julie, her brother let Simpson sample his two kegs of home-brewed beer. Simpson was impressed and took a great interest in the brewing process. Julie noted his interest and gifted him home brewing equipment for Christmas in 2012. Brewer was a long-time friend who would come over to watch Simpson homebrew and sample the product while they discussed bringing a craft brewery to Monroe. Johnson, a former partner in Danken Trail, had also been talking to Simpson about starting a brewery, and they agreed to bring Brewer on board for his business savvy. Brewer was the one who began to research, crunch numbers, and propose marketing and branding. The name Flying Tiger was proposed by Johnson, who once had a customer who was one of the last surviving members of the Flying Tigers from World War II. In addition, the brewery wanted to pay homage to General Chennault, who was the commander of the Flying Tigers and a Louisiana native who lived in Monroe for a time. The Chennault Aviation & Military Museum is named after him, and Flying Tiger Brewery wanted to tie in to that local establishment.

While Simpson was passionate about brewing, he knew he couldn't do all the brewery himself while running the brewery, so the team decided to look for a brewmaster, but with the craft beer explosion they were having trouble finding an experienced candidate. Brooks Hamaker was a Monroe native who had been vice president of Abita, and served as brewmaster for eleven years, making well-known beers such as Turbo Dog and Purple Haze. When Hamaker left Abita in the late 90s, he became a consultant for new breweries around the world. He was responsible for setting up brewery operations in Mexico, Ireland, Hong Kong and all across the U.S., and had spent six years in Durham, North Carolina, moving from one setup job to another. One of his sons called him after seeing the ad run by Simpson and Brewer in search of a head brewer, and Hamaker returned to his roots to brew for Flying Tiger. Their four flagship beers were Man at Arms Amber Ale, Heroic Hops IPA, Burma Blonde Lager, and Nitrogen Milk Stout. Eight to ten other beers rotate on taps with beer for all levels of interest.

The tap room opened in November, and in December, distribution began from east from the Mississippi River to Minden and down to Alexandria in numerous convenience stores, local restaurants and bars. The facility is producing a little more than 3,000 barrels a year, with about 70% canned for distribution, with the rest on taps. The 2,000 square foot tap room, which features sitting areas, couches, oversized stuffed chairs and typical bar stuff like barstools, tables darts, and lounging areas, is designed to get people to stay for longer periods of time. A 5,000 square foot outdoor space is referred to as the “beer garden.” Local talent was sourced to make countertops, drink rails and tabletops, as well as an old retro arrow sign that sits atop the building. The nose of a World War II-era Curtis P-40 Warhawk fighter plane peers out over the pecan wood tables. For the custom tap tower, Simpson turned to a craftsman in San Antonio. The tap room also has live music and food trucks on weekends.

Philanthropy is important to the brewery. In its first year of business, Flying Tiger generated more than $30,000 in fundraising money for small, local nonprofits like the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana, SOS Pets of Ouachita, Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo and more. It even created a Warhawk Kölsch beer, with 5 percent of gross sales going directly to the University of Louisiana Monroe scholarship fund (the University's mascot is Warhawks). The brewery is particularly involved in the arts community, sponsoring the Downtown Art Crawl and hiring local artists to design can art and merchandise. They supported downtown restoration efforts and are proud that the local Mardi Gras parade goes right past their entrance. In 2018 the brewery hosted the Arts Council’s Northeast Louisiana Summer Film Series. The first film, Heart of a Tiger, documents the story of one of the Flying Tigers shot down by the enemy, who survived with the help of Chinese farmers. The Arts Council is partnering with Chennault Aviation & Military Museum for this section of the film series. They also use local sources for ingredients like Ruston peaches, locally grown blueberries, or coffee beans from RoeLa Roaster to infuse their brew. Spent grain is donated to a local pig farm or to cattle at a nearby ranch.

Flying Tiger's WarHawk Scholarship Beer is a classic German Kölsch that is top fermented with an ale yeast then lagered at near freezing temperatures for conditioning. It finishes dry, clean, and crisp with subtle hints of pear & white wine. Flying Tiger Brewery donates 5% of their WarHawk Beer sales to a student scholarship fund at the University of Louisiana Monroe.