About this episode

The episode discusses the rise and fall of Billy Beer, its connection to Jimmy Carter, and the subsequent craft beer revolution.

President Jimmy Carter had a brother, and this brother LOVED beer. Billy Carter was a big 1970s celebrity and a struggling brewery decided to bet on him to revive its fortunes. Together they created  Billy Beer and launched a huge ad campaign. The beverage was a global sensation... except nobody including Billy liked the taste. Billy Beer was a flop.   Billy Beer was emblematic of American brewing at the time. It was all bad beer and gimmicky marketing. Coincidentally, it was Jimmy Carter who would change that. He signed a new tax law that kickstarted the craft beer revolution which brought us some of modern America's most popular brews.  Write to us at  businesshistory@pushkin.fm See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Topics covered

• American beer
• Billy Beer
• craft beer revolution
• 1970s celebrity
• brewing history

Keywords

• Billy Beer
• Jimmy Carter
• beer history
• craft beer
• 1970s
• brewing
• marketing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pushkin Industries

Products: Billy Beer

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