The Museum Turns 8 Years Old, Part 4: Upcoming Tap Profiles

A couple of years ago I added a new feature that was essentially a sneak peak of upcoming profiles. Although some of those profiles still haven't made an appearance due to various reasons, I felt that the topic was worth revisiting. Last year I was only able to profile 5 of the 10 taps I had chosen. Click through to find out which additional 5 taps I hope to profile over the next year...





Rogue - Artisan Ale (Statue of Liberty)
Sometime during the early 2010s, Rogue commissioned a series of taps for several of their beers: Dead Guy (with a yellow mug); the "Fisherman" used for Wild Irish Rogue and St. Rogue Red; Santa's Private Reserve; Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout; and the "Statue of Liberty" used for Artisan Ale. All had interchangeable bases that resembled a barrel, so you could take the base off of the topper and move it to a different topper. These taps took a lot of damage and were not produced in large numbers, so very few of each exist. The Artisan Ale tap featuring a bust of the Statue of Liberty will be the first one I profile.





Dead Frog
Dead Frog Brewing is still around, and you can find this tap in their tap room, but it's hard to find them anywhere else. One reason is because the brewery is located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Another reason is that these taps tend to be quite fragile, and just the slightest mistake in packing and shipping causes them to break. Only 1 has popped up on the secondary market in the past 4.5 years.








Hoster - Gold Top Dortmunder
I bought this tap many years ago but the damage to it caused me to place it in a "project box" for Museum Restoration Expert, Kelly, to work on at a later date. Since the tap is now in Kelly's queue of projects, I'm hopeful I'll be able to profile this tap soon in all its colorful glory. Hoster was a brewery founded in the late 1800's that was closed due to the enactment of Prohibition, also known as the Volstead Act. In an interesting twist, a company called Volstead Corporation has been contract brewing Hoster beer since 1989, which is where the tap comes from. It's unknown to me if Volstead has actually acquired and brews old Hoster recipes.





Dinosaur Ape Hanger
This is another tap in Kelly's repair queue. Dinosaur Ape Hanger is a house beer brewed for Dinosaur BBQ chain in new York that is contract brewed by Middle Ages Brewing. The Ape Hanger tap has long been out of production and only a handful have ever appeared on the secondary market. An "Ape Hanger" refers to handlebars on choppers that are so tall that the rider has to reach up to them, giving the rider the appearance of an ape with its arms raised high. There's a lot of crazy stuff going on with this one, and I can't wait to feature it.






Molson McKenzie Brothers
Bob and Doug McKenzie are a pair of fictional Canadian brothers who hosted "Great White North", a sketch which was introduced on SCTV for the show's third season when it moved to CBC Television in 1980. Bob is played by Rick Moranis and Doug is played by Dave Thomas. In all probability it was probably SCTV's most successful sketch, considering it spawned 2 hit songs ("Take Off", "12 Beers of Christmas") and a platinum album, a full length movie (Strange Brew) and made "Hoser" and "Take Off Eh" popular in the U.S. They revived the act in a 2 year campaign for Molson in 1999 and 2000 consisting of more than a dozen television and radio commercials which aired nationally in the U.S., 16 years after Strange Brew was released. This tap is part of that 2 year campaign. Two versions exist, the more rare Molson Golden with the hex-shaped label pictured here, and the more common Molson Ice "half-hex" version (not pictured). In total several of both versions were made, but only a little over a dozen have appeared on the secondary market, and usually for a lot of money. Whether they suffered damage, were thrown away, or ended up in the hands of collectors is unclear.


That takes care of Part 4 of the anniversary posts. A new tap handle giveaway contest will commence soon. Check back soon...

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