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Today, we're cracking the cap on the history of malt liquor
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In the mid-1900s, beer sales were in a decline. As a Hail Mary attempt to regain their previous status
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these struggling brewers repackaged a Depression-era beer for a more upscale audience
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It was called malt liquor. The malt in malt liquor refers to a specific process during brewing
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wherein grains, usually barley, are heated and dried out in order to release the enzymes required for brewing
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These grains are then mashed and soaked in hot water, causing the enzymes to release sugars
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And the water turns into what is then known as wort. This wort is then boiled and, typically when making beer
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hops and spices are added in to balance out the previously released sugars
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This is the part of the brewing process where malt liquor differs from traditional beers
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If you're strapped for grains, you can replace the hops with non-grain adjuncts such as rice, sugar, or corn
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These adjuncts will give the drink a unique flavor, and once the wort is strained, filtered, and fermented, it leads to a higher percentage alcohol by volume
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They also make the brewing process cheaper. Country Club Malt Liquor was the first malt liquor to truly make it big in America
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In the early 60s, Dawson Farber was an executive at the National Brewing Company
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After performing some market research, he saw that Country Club was effectively still the only malt liquor game in town
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So Farber came up with Colt 45 Farber then told his designer that the can should feature a kicking Colt just to show customers the extra kick provided by the drink high ABV
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Colt 45 quickly became a national sensation, but it wasn't until 1980 that the brand began aggressively targeting black consumers
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Fresh off the release of The Empire Strikes Back, Colt 45 scooped up Billy Dee Williams to be its new spokesperson
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As hip-hop music became increasingly popular throughout the 1980s, references to malt liquors and music became commonplace
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The association between hip-hop and 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor was here to stay
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Despite the popularity of malt liquor in the early 90s, not everyone was on board with its targeted advertising
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For instance, in Public Enemy's 1991 One Million Bottle Bags, the group calls out the damage heavy drinking has done to black communities
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rhetorically asking how much violence has been committed after drinking down a bottle or a malt liquor six-pack
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Chuck D. commented on the situation, accusing brewers across America of deliberately contributing to increased violence in poor black communities
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Many religious leaders spoke out against the targeted advertising as well. Many started to turn against malt liquor
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All the while, the beverage has been in steady decline. While these slowing sales still secure the malt liquor industry about half a billion dollars every year
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a Chicago-based market research firm found in 2015 that, nationwide, malt liquor sales were at their lowest point in nearly 40 years. Yes
