During the Billy Beer years several of us would make Billy Beer bets. The winner could chose the beer of his choice but the loser had to drink His loss in Billy Beers.
Two of us were sent to an IBM school in Washington DC during the period. We stopped at a local libation store on the way back to the hotel. On the cooler that had the beer in it was a large sign that said “Do not break 6-packs!”. There was a broken 6-pack of Billy Beer, one missing, sitting near the front. We asked the owner about that and he replied with a question,”Have you ever tried to sell a 6-pack of that stuff?”. True story!.
Billy Beer was franchised out to different local brewery’s around the country and they all must have used the same lousy recipe. It really was bad!
When Billy Beer was taken out of production, we had a 6-pack waiting to be drank over a lost bet (I won). We decided to not break the 6-pack as it might become collectible as it did. I claimed it because I won the bet but the loser claimed it because he purchased the beer. We had an ongoing argument about this over several years until I was transferred to another location. As far as I know the beer is still in his family.
There’s a legend that someone sent a can of Billy Beer to the FDA for testing. The message that came back was “we regret to inform you your horse has diabetes.”