Ünnecessary Ümlaut

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A surplus of geekery by :: Fred Abercrombie

Pop Quiz: What Beer is Princess Leia Toasting? CORRECTED

Can you name what beer can Carrie Fisher is holding in this 1976 Star Wars: A New Hope shot?

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HINT #1
The beer she’s drinking is popular in the States now but not then.

HINT #2
This shot was from a set near London.

UPDATE1: AND THE ANSWER IS …

It’s not a can from the same year, but you can see the elements …

Jeff Fang called it first—she’s toastin’ a can of Stella Artois!

Though the Belgian lager’s gotten a big stateside ad push recently, it first came out way back in 1926 as a Christmas beer. The name’s a combo of brewmaster Sebastian Artois and the latin word for ‘star‘.

• •   • •

UPDATE 3.7.11: NEW EVIDENCE PROVES IT’S NOT STELLA

Originally, we had one stillframe to judge from (scroll to top). The curve of the graphic label, although obscured, looked just like an old tallboy of Stella. But recently an animated gif of the whole scene showed up, giving us better views of the can (which was being passed to Mark Hamill). And, well, certain things have come to light…

Shout out to eagle-eye Ümlaut reader Joshua Webb for making the catch:

The can we can (now) plainly see is actually Double Diamond from Ind Coope/Carlsberg. They had a jingle at the time of filming, “A Double Diamond works wonders, works wonders, works wonders. A Double Diamond works wonders, so drink some today!

This officially closes the case on the Princess Leia Beer Can Mystery. I’ll be sending some beer schwag to ya, Mr. Webb, so keep an eye out. Cheers!

 

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17 Responses

  1. DK says:

    Old English, I always knew she was gangsta.

  2. Tom says:

    It almost looks like a Reingold.

  3. rich says:

    Man, I want to say Iron City, but the gold band along the top isn’t quite matching any versions of the can that I’m able to find online. Falls City also had a similar red dot/gold trim/ white can thing happening, but the Falls City logo was more of an oval.

  4. Jordan says:

    That gold band is throwing me off too, because at first I think Pliny The Elder, that’s what I’ll go with, unless Lucky Strike makes beer.

  5. mikey says:

    when i was a kid my dad used to have a buddy of his ship twelvers of Ballantine from NY to CA.

    i’m not 100% but i remember them having a white and gold can.

  6. Fang says:

    Tried so hard to look online… Can’t tell.
    Krueger? Falls City? I don’t know.

  7. Rich says:

    Genesee? Though that was more of an oval than this seems to be

  8. DK says:

    Amstel. She’s such a douche.

  9. NL says:

    It looks like a Stella Artois to me.

  10. Rich says:

    Doesn’t match any Stella cans I could find, but I had the same thought. I’m stumped.

  11. Bob says:

    Nice photoshop on the cans!

  12. Josh says:

    Doesn’t look at all like a stella logo. It’s Double Diamond.

  13. Tyler says:

    Fang… what an idiot. Duhhh… Double Diamond.

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