R.I.P.

In the mid-1960s, Joseph Owades, a biochemist working for Rheingold Breweries in Brooklyn, observed that non-beer-drinkers explained that they either didn’t like the taste, or that they thought beer would make them fat. He concluded,“I couldn't do anything about the taste of beer, but I could do something about the calories."

He developed a process that removed the starch from beer, thus lowering the number of calories. Today, nearly half of all beer consumed in the United States is one form of “light” beer or another. (Of course, it is also true that nearly 90% of all beer consumed in the United States is one form of “undrinkable” or another, but that’s another story.) Dr. Owades, it would seem, had a winner on his hands.

But not so. The corporate marketing geniuses at Rheingold sought to sell the new concoction as “Gablinger’s Diet Beer,” and promoted it with a television commercial featuring an enormous fat man scarfing pasta and drinking Gablinger’s. Some image. “Fat guys drink this.” Good thinking. Neither the name they'd chosen, nor the can art, did much to help. Similar crafty decisions contribute to the fact that no one under age 50 has ever heard of Rheingold.

Miller Brewing acquired Dr. Owades' process in the early 1970s, and came up with “Tastes Great. Less Filling.” A marketing phenomenon was born.

Joseph Owades died December 16 at his home in Sonoma, California. He was 86.

Credit: Washington Post.