Chain store competition is creaming Milk Bars across Australia, leaving independent store owners, desperate smokers and the odd lost droog thirsting for more.

Milked Dry

Milk bars have a curiously convoluted history dating back almost a century: the first so-named establishment opened in India back in 1930. The concept of an alcohol-free pub catering to the younger set with healthy, dairy-based fresh and frozen comestibles then took off in the UK, and by 1940 had spread to the United States.

In Australia, milk bars evolved into proto-convenience stores selling cigarettes, newspapers and sundries alongside trademark tasty treats. Our lead images of the abandoned Oak Milk Bar in Kangaroo Point, NSW were taken in 2003 by Flickr member Geoff Eastwood though by that time, the quintessentially Sixties structure had already been long-abandoned.

Nixed Business

The sign says “Mixed… Business” but to the average Aussie, that meant a milk bar with the aforementioned odds & ends sold within. One would hope the floor within this abandoned milk bar in Fitzroy (a suburb of Melbourne) was more level than the street outside but if not, any spilt milk would run off instead of forming a puddle. Call it a feature, not a bug. Flickr member Susan Fitzgerald snapped the tipsy ex-establishment in July of 2006.

Petered Out

They do things a little differently in the Antipodes… care for some “Tea of Flavor”, fer instance? You’ll find it – at least you COULD, before the shop went (down) under, sold along with Peter’s ice cream at this unnamed former milk bar in Annandale, Sydney. Aussies also take their milk barrista-ing seriously: none other than Mrs. R.V. Craig, “Reg. Milk Vendor”, served up the cow juice with fresh or frozen att-teat-tude! Flickr member Navin (no, not Navin R Johnson) posted the above pic early in 2010.

Heavy Medal

The weight of time is apparent when gazing at the now-demolished Olympia Milk Bar in Stanmore, Sydney. Flickr member Newtown grafitti recalls a movie house just next door, the closing of which likely decimated business at the Olympia. Too bad – a scoop or two of Street’s Ice Cream would have made a notoriously hot Sydney summer evening a tad less hellish.

Never On Sundae

From the serene blue-tiled facade to the homely (in a good way) rose-patterned window curtains, this nameless former milk bar in Murrayville, Victoria just oozes cooling replenishment of the dairy persuasion. One wonders, did anybody ever actually “insist” on being served a “delightfully refreshing” Holten’s aerated drink? We sure wish we could do so but alas, Flickr member Matt‘s photo above plainly and painfully points out the milk bar’s CLOSED status as of January 2010.

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Call it a Cock & Bull story but a disproportionate number of British pubs, bars and taverns have ‘cock’ in their name. What’s up with that?

Ye Olde Cock

While we’re on the topic, why don’t these outwardly manly establishments have any femininely-titled counterparts, as in “hen”… what did you think we meant? Anyway, the real reason England boasts so many “cock” pubs has nothing to do with salaciousness, Beavis- er, faithful reader, but for now feel free to feast your eyes upon one of the better known examples: Ye Olde Cock Tavern, on Fleet Street in central London.

It’s uncertain whether the famed 17th-century diarist Samuel Pepys really “drank a cup of Cock ale” at Ye Olde Cock Tavern, though he was known to frequent a number of watering holes in and around Fleet Street. Modern-day publicans should have no hesitation when it comes to getting their Pepys on, however, because what happens at Ye Olde Cock Tavern STAYS at Ye Olde Cock Tavern. Credit photographers quite peculiar, David, and nikoretro for posting the images above at their respective Flickr accounts.

The Famous Cock

Note, if you will, that Pepys wasn’t just enamored of any type of ale. No indeed! The er, barley literate wordsmith expressed a specific hankering for “Cock ale”… not that there’s anything wrong with that. He wasn’t the only Brit-brew-bro to feel that way, either, although with the passage of time the cocks have fled from the beer barrels to the pub signs. Ponder on that if you will, while you ogle Flickr member Ewan Munro‘s shot of The Famous Cock (formerly The Cock, and before that The Old Cock Tavern) near Highbury & Islington station in north London.

Cock O’ The North

So, just what WAS this bewitchingly “cocky” beverage that had the perspicacious Pepys, pen in hand, popping into pub after pub? According to Hannah Woolley, who wrote “The Accomplish’d lady’s delight in preserving, physick, beautifying, and cookery” in 1670, the standard recipe for Cock Ale called for infusing a boiled cock in eight gallons of ale along with raisins, nutmeg, dates, mace, and fortified wine for about a week. And by “cock”, she means “rooster”… that’s almost a relief! Flickr member crabchick brings us this September 2000 image of Cock O’ The North (since renamed the Westbury Park Tavern) from the very cocky city of Bristol.

Cock & Crown

One might say Cock Ale was chicken soup for the drunkard’s soul, and you wouldn’t be far off the mark. Sure, pickling a whole chicken in spiced beer may be weird (not to mention being a gross violation of the German Beer Purity Law of 1516) but the restorative qualities of such con-cock-tions were rather well known by the late 1600s. Flickr member Tim Green snapped the Cock & Crown tavern in Crofton, West Yorkshire, late in 2014.

The Fighting Cocks

Them’s fightin’ words… or fighting cocks, which strikes us as being illegal, unpleasant, and a lyric from ELP’s Karn Evil 9. In any case, a pint of cock ale would really hit the spot iffen you was a’fixin’ to do some fightin’. A case of cock ale, on the other hand, might have you fightin’ to get up off the floor. Seems like a textbook example of the Fight or Flight reflex in action, and the action’s happening at The Fighting Cocks pub in Moseley, Birmingham. Snapped by Flickr member Elliott Brown in December of 2009, this Grade II Listed building dates from the dawn of the 20th century and boasts its own integral cock tower. Make that CLOCK tower, dangnabbit!

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If you’re sober, pregnant or otherwise unable or unwilling to consume alcohol, you can still enjoy whatever cocktails you crave with a high-tech drinking glass that simulates three layers of senses to trick you into tasting flavors that aren’t really there. Invented by Nimesha Ranasinghe, the ‘Vocktail’ or ‘virtual cocktail’ glass can either augment the ingredients of your choice to make your real cocktail more complex, or make a glass of plain water taste like expensive scotch.

The first ‘layer’ of sensory simulation is the color cast onto the liquid by LED lights, giving our brains an idea of what to expect from the flavor. The second is tiny pumps of scent located along the rim, spraying these all-important molecules right in front of our noses. But the third, and most impressive, is a series of electrodes that send signals to the tongue, altering the flavor of what we think we’re tasting.

The glass is interesting (and potentially game-changing) in and of itself, but consider how technology like this could dramatically alter our experience of the internet and virtual reality. As part of his research work at the National University of Singapore, Ranasinghe also developed TasteXML, a markup language for flavor, as well as Taste Over IP, a protocol for transmitting flavors over the internet.

The inventor describes the latter creation thusly:

“Taste Over IP (Taste/IP) is a new methodology (framework) for integrating the sensation of taste with the existing digital communication domain. Taste/IP has three core modules: the transmitter, form of communication, and receiver. The transmitter is an AndroidTM mobile application, where the sender formulates a taste message to send. At present, we are conducting research on transferring basic taste sensations known as sour, salty, bitter, and sweet.”

“Then, for communication, we present a new extensible markup language (XML) format, the TasteXML (TXML) to specify the format of taste messages. TasteXML is a Remote Procedure Calling protocol that works over the Internet. TasteXML messages are set of encrypted requests and responses. The body of both request and response are in XML format. As the receiver (actuator), we use the Digital Taste Interface, a novel method for stimulating taste sensations on human.
We believe, in the future, this technology may use to implement digital taste sharing platforms and social networking services.”

If a party ain’t a party without beer and rock ‘n’ roll, then beer brewed by, for & about rock ‘n’ rollers is practically a party in a keg, bottle, can or case!

Iron Maiden’s TROOPER Ale

(images via: The Sun/News Group Newspapers Ltd. and WW2 Talk)

Iron Maiden beer? Excellent! Bill & Ted references aside, TROOPER is a premium ale inspired by the legendary British heavy metal band and handcrafted at Robinsons brewery in Stockport, UK. “I’m a lifelong fan of traditional English ale;” explains Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden’s lead vocalist. “I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when we were asked to create our own beer.”

(images via: Rock Video Fever!, Blabbermouth and Dementesx)

Dickenson, a real ale enthusiast in his spare time, visited Robinson’s a number of times during the ale’s development period. “Their magic has been to create the alchemical wedding of flavour and texture that is TROOPER,” enthuses Dickenson. “I love it.”

(image via: Facebook/Iron Maiden Beer)

According to the product page at the Robinson website, TROOPER ale exhibits “malt flavours and citric notes from a unique blend of Bobec, Goldings and Cascade hops (that) dominate this deep golden ale, with a subtle hint of lemon.” TROOPER’s distinctive label features a unique version of band mascot Eddie decked out in a tattered Crimean War uniform, evoking Iron Maiden’s song TROOPER from which the ale got its name.

Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew

(images via: Drink Philly and By The Pint)

Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew beer from renowned craft brewer Dogfish Head was released in June of 2010 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Miles Davis’ seminal album of the same name. According to the reverent brewer, limited edition Bitches Brew is “a bold, dark beer that’s a fusion of three threads imperial stout and one thread honey beer with gesho root, a gustatory analog to Miles’ masterpiece.”

(image via: Daily Beer Review)

Bottles of the 9% ABV beer feature the 1970 album’s iconic artwork created by the late Mati Klarwein. Delaware-based Dogfish Head introduced Bitches Brew during “SAVOR, An American Craft Beer & Food Experience,” held at the National Building Museum in Washington DC on June 5th, 2010. Two 40th anniversary editions of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew were produced: a Legacy Edition and a deluxe Collector’s Edition.

KISS Destroyer

(images via: Mason Hell – Cat’s Beer Blog, Kissopolis and Frozen Summers)

Gene Simmons has earned a legendary reputation as a relentless merchandizing machine so it’s no surprise he’s branded beer with the familiar KISS iconography. It’s not even a surprise he’s done it twice, the first time being in 1996 when cans of KISS pilsner were produced in the Czech Republic to help promote the band’s ALIVE/WORLDWIDE tour concerts in Prague.

(image via: Badger & Blade)

This time, however, the band is aiming for world drinking domination on two fronts: beer and wine. Released in 2010, Kiss Destroyer Beer is a German-style brew (that’s made in Sweden) available in cans and bottles. Along with the beer, KISS is also releasing Kiss Zin Fire wine, because the KISS Army is evidently exploring more mature tastes these days. “This isn’t just something we put a label on. We wanted wine and beer unique to KISS and we got it,” explains band guitarist (and non-drinker) Paul Stanley. “This stuff will set your taste buds on fire.” Or so he’s been told.

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The spice must flow but the beer? Not always, and last call for breweries large or small is only a question of timing. These dozen decrepit, decommissioned and de-alcoholized breweries are the drunk dry victims of changing times, changing tastes and changing fortunes.

Lincoln Oakbank Brewery – Narrandera, Australia

(images via: Tara Moss)

Motorists out for a Sunday drive on the the Newell highway near historic Narrandera, New South Wales should keep their eyes peeled for the abandoned Lincoln Oakbank Brewery. Overtaken by “climbing plants, birds and clusters of spiders,” the formerly stately brick brewery now lies at the brink of collapse. As for the mysterious occurrence of a single ladies shoe at the site, we’re taking the fifth and blaming the spiders.

(image via: Tara Moss)

The brewery’s well-built and sturdy looking five story tower was designed by Australian architect John Hill Robertson (1870-1955) just after the turn of the century. We can thank Tara Moss for capturing these eerie and haunting images of a brewery down under that went under.

Murree Brewery – Murree, Pakistan

(images via: SoftServ Intl and Pkspare)

A brewery in Pakistan? It’s more likely than you think. The Murree Brewery Company Ltd. was established in 1860 to provide British administrative and military personnel stationed at Ghora Gali with English-style ale. The company still exists today (though exports are forbidden) but the original Gothic brewery complex at Ghora Gali was burnt down during the Partition riots in 1947/48. Thanks to photographer Umair Altaf who snapped the coolly refreshing image of the original brewery above.

Old Gebhard Brewery – Morris, Illinois, USA

(images via: Kendoman26, Muledriver and Strange Closets)

Founded in 1866 by German immigrant Louis Gebhard, the Gebhard Brewery in Morris, Illinois, once used a third of the corn grown in Grundy County. Golden revenues were pouring in as fast as Gebhard’s golden brew was pouring out in 1896, when the last bricks in the main building were mortared into place. Then came the passage of the 18th amendment in 1919 and a year later, Gebhard Brewing was no more.

(image via: Statigram/Amandazelko)

Sometime in the early 1920s, most of the brewing machinery was sold and shipped to Shanghai, China while the 7-story main brewery building housed a number of marginally successful businesses over the next half-century. The building has now been unoccupied for about 25 years though plans are afoot to repurpose the structure to some other use.

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