The Ballantine stops here – would you open it?

There’s another Ballantine Burton Christmas Ale on eBay – and this one was brewed for Harry Truman.

Here’s the history of these ales – coveted by beer lovers interested in tasting what’s inside the few remaining bottles even though the beers were brewed 60 and 70 years ago.

What’s different about this one is that the label states that this one was brewed on May 12, 1934 and bottled for President Harry S Truman in December 1949. This bottle comes with a note citing its provenance written on a White House note card with the presidential seal. The card is written by Mrs. M. Esperancilla, whose husband was chief steward on the presidential yacht, the U.S.S. Williamsburg.

So what makes this bottle more valuable – the Burton Ale is inside or that it was bottled for a president?

There other question. Why didn’t he drink it?

3 thoughts on “The Ballantine stops here – would you open it?”

  1. “What’s different about this one is that the label states that on May 12, 1934 and bottled for President Harry S Truman in December 1949.”

    Skipped a beat there Stan, what happened on May 12, 1934 (a year after my dad was born and 4 years before my mom)? The beer was brewed? Lagering for 15 years? Maybe that’s what deterred Harry from popping the cap.

  2. That’s when it was brewed (fixed now). The eBay description was worded in a way that implied it was brewed just for Truman in 1934 (when it was simply brewed) – like they knew he’d be president 15 years later.

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