May 2, 2016 - This story will take you back to the year 1976. Some of you younger readers have probably never heard of this topic, though older readers will perhaps remember “Billy Beer.”
When the national press descended upon Plains, Georgia during the 1976 presidential campaign, the journalists were looking for some insight into Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter’s character, as they usually do. But they found something even better: Carter’s hard-drinking younger brother, gas station owner Billy Carter.
The media quickly fell in love with the bespectacled, beer-chugging younger Carter. Billy’s Southern-fried buffoon character and friendliness provided the perfect counterpoint to his brother’s earnest demeanor. His quick wit kept the press stocked with sound bites like, “I got a red neck, white socks, and Blue Ribbon beer.”
In 1979, the Associated Press described Billy Carter as a “professional redneck”, and that’s a pretty accurate assessment of Billy’s activities in the early years of his brother’s presidency. He basically traveled the country drinking beer, making various event appearances, and cashing checks. But, his most notable project, though, has to be the beer that bore his name.
As Billy Carter’s odd, beer-swilling star was rising, the Louisville-based Falls City Brewing Company’s fortunes were fading. By 1977 the small brewer was having trouble competing with national brands. Falls City didn’t want to simply fade into oblivion, so in 1977 the company approached the country’s most visible drunken redneck about forming a partnership. Never one to turn down free beer, or an easy buck, Billy agreed to market his own brand of beer.
The company brewed up a set of test batches and let Billy choose the one that he thought was the tastiest. He selected the one that he liked and commented, “Maybe I’ll become the Colonel Sanders of beer.”
The new “Billy Beer” drew a huge amount of national attention when it debuted in November of 1977, and Jimmy Carter’s supporters and detractors alike rushed out to buy a six-pack of the novelty cans. The twelve-packs came with a picture of Billy and his buddies enjoying frosty cans of the brew. Each can bore Billy’s signature and the promise “I had this beer brewed just for me. It’s the best beer I’ve ever tasted, and I’ve tasted a lot.”
Of course, even if the beer had been heavenly nectar, the brand had a major hurdle to clear, Billy Carter himself. It seems that hiring a highly quotable, frequently drunk attention hound turned out to be a bad decision for Falls City. Billy had a habit of attending promotional events for his beer, then parroting the company line about how delicious he thought it was. Later he would get sloshed and admit to reporters that he still drank Pabst Blue Ribbon at home. He even commented that Billy Beer was the reason that he quit drinking. That’s about the best summary of Billy Beer that we can find; it was so noxious that not even Billy Carter would drink it.
In 1978, Falls City announced that it was closing its doors after less than a year of cranking out the first brother’s suds. The brewery’s president said that the fortunes of Billy Beer “sank with the popularity of the President”, but many media sources pinpointed the beer’s crummy quality as the true reason for its downfall.
Wisconsin’s G. Hellerman Brewing Company acquired Falls City’s non-Billy brands and continued to bottle them at other breweries. Reynolds Metals bought nine million unfilled Billy Beer cans and melted them down, and Billy Carter left the beer industry for good.
Billy Carter, the irrepressible gas station proprietor and farmer who vaulted to national celebrity in his brother, Jimmy’s successful campaign for President in 1976, died of cancer of the pancreas at his home in 1988. He was fifty-one years old.
If one checks the internet today, he will find cans of Billy Beer for sale by collectors, priced anywhere from $600 for one unopened can to a sealed case for a mere $2,000. Is the beer worth it? Apparently Billy didn’t think so.
