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Dirty John's

Rules damnit

Best I could do.

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Some of us remember when Dirty John's didn't have much of a beer selection, just kegs for a good price.

For iconic places, I'd put Hamburg Inn #2 up as a candidate. And Joe's and the 'Liner (although I seldom darkened the door of the latter, not being in a fraternity).
Yeah, Johns used to sell lots of kegs. $23 for a Keg of Old Style or PBR. $10 deposit on the Keg. We had a tap box that had a large cylinder on it. We could push 30 kegs without re-filling it. We went through about a keg a week. (1/2 Barrel)
 
I used to take friends from Madison - not exactly a tough place to find many, many awesome beers - down there in the 90s and they FREAKED OUT at how extensive it was.

Definitely one of the best beer sellers anywhere in America, let alone the Midwest.

We used to bring in so much stuff that wasn't available anywhere else in the state because it was so high gravity that it was taxed as wine and allowed us to bypass the beer distributors. For whatever reason that went away and my access to Three Floyd's with it.

Working there when I did was like access to a secret club. We had decades long relationships with all the bars and restaurants that employed similarly degenerate staff that really paid off. 1 bottle of Jack would get us anything we wanted from the Hamburg or Paul Revere's and the bartenders at the Foxhead, George's, The Dublin and Deadwood would let us sit and drink(or bring our own bottle in) after hours almost every night. I had a couple nights in the Dublin that turned into day before we knew the place was even closed. The beer room staff also had a rule that if you crack a beer on the job, you have to finish the sixer and all canned beer must be shotgunned. A lot of times we were worse off than the after bar crowd trying to pick up a case on the way home.
 
We used to bring in so much stuff that wasn't available anywhere else in the state because it was so high gravity that it was taxed as wine and allowed us to bypass the beer distributors. For whatever reason that went away and my access to Three Floyd's with it.

Working there when I did was like access to a secret club. We had decades long relationships with all the bars and restaurants that employed similarly degenerate staff that really paid off. 1 bottle of Jack would get us anything we wanted from the Hamburg or Paul Revere's and the bartenders at the Foxhead, George's, The Dublin and Deadwood would let us sit and drink(or bring our own bottle in) after hours almost every night. I had a couple nights in the Dublin that turned into day before we knew the place was even closed. The beer room staff also had a rule that if you crack a beer on the job, you have to finish the sixer and all canned beer must be shotgunned. A lot of times we were worse off than the after bar crowd trying to pick up a case on the way home.
We need to hang out.
 
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This thread is going to force me to get back to Iowa City. Anyone else here ever participate in the bladder buster at the Vine (downtown)?

John's has changed a lot over the last 5 years. It's a lot more polished and the guys running it for Doug have gotten it to stand on it's own, instead of being propped up by the Alberhasky's rental properties.
 
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John's has changed a lot over the last 5 years. It's a lot more polished and the guys running it for Doug have gotten it to stand on it's own, instead of being propped up by the Alberhasky's rental properties.
They have added a nice little lunch counter thingy with hot sandwiches and other foods. It is just a perfect neighorhood store now.
 
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Yeah, Johns used to sell lots of kegs. $23 for a Keg of Old Style or PBR. $10 deposit on the Keg. We had a tap box that had a large cylinder on it. We could push 30 kegs without re-filling it. We went through about a keg a week. (1/2 Barrel)
You aren't very old. When I got our home system in '80, a half-barrel keg of Coors (or Miller) was $19.

Coors had a distributorship in Cedar Rapids at the time. They had a deal that for $100, you got the tap, regulator, gas bottle, everything except the fridge, and they set it all up for you. They had an informal "club" that met once a month at their warehouse to drink free beer and discuss home systems. At the time, Coors was still using the tap that had a long tube you had to insert in the keg.

I don't know what the kegs at John's cost when I was in school in the late '60s.....didn't buy kegs then. But I guarantee you that the place earned the nickname "Dirty John's."
 
They have added a nice little lunch counter thingy with hot sandwiches and other foods. It is just a perfect neighorhood store now.

Yeah it's a really nice place these days. The department heads are, strangely, all people I worked with or am neighbors with. They turned it into an actual business after decades of nobody caring if the place made any money.

There's a lot going on in that place that even regulars probably aren't even aware of. It took me almost a year of working there to find the humidor in the basement and the cases and cases of Dom Perignon that were for bottle service at the Summit. Apparently members of the Carver family really liked to impress their friends by buying expensive champagne at the summit and the union.
 
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Did 50 cent pint night at Chauncey's or the birthday 21 pitchers for $21 at One Eyed Jake's count?

One of my saddest moments in college was when I showed the bartender my ID on my 21st birthday in order to get my 21 pitchers. He'd been serving me without question since I was 19 so it was like I killed his dog or something. Apparently, my fake was really good and I went to Jake's far too often.
 
10 cent draws at Vito's!

Godawful warm piss-tasting Busch but it got the job done.
I remember QT on the corner of Gilbert and Burlington selling cases of Busch Light bottles for like $12. Damn inflation and such.
 
This thread is going to force me to get back to Iowa City. Anyone else here ever participate in the bladder buster at the Vine (downtown)?

Yes. Did that a few times. The longest I remember going was 37 minutes. I also remember it ending once because someone pissed in a stein under the table and got caught.
 
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10 cent draws at Vito's!

Godawful warm piss-tasting Busch but it got the job done.
For us it was any silver coin night at Field House. $5 cover then any silver coin would buy you a well drink or shitty draw of your choice. We would scrape together the cover and get a couple rolls of nickles and proceed to get hammered on god awful sex on the beaches or stone sours interspersed with bad beer.

What we lacked in taste we made up for with enthusiasm I suppose :eek:
 
You aren't very old. When I got our home system in '80, a half-barrel keg of Coors (or Miller) was $19.

Coors had a distributorship in Cedar Rapids at the time. They had a deal that for $100, you got the tap, regulator, gas bottle, everything except the fridge, and they set it all up for you. They had an informal "club" that met once a month at their warehouse to drink free beer and discuss home systems. At the time, Coors was still using the tap that had a long tube you had to insert in the keg.

I don't know what the kegs at John's cost when I was in school in the late '60s.....didn't buy kegs then. But I guarantee you that the place earned the nickname "Dirty John's."
The place is a palace compared to what it was back in the day. It was a dump.
 
Fall of '80, nickel draws of Hamm's at Woodfield's on Monday night. Not the best time and place for a freshman but all part of the experience.

The walk-in keg cooler at John's was a slice of heaven.
 
I can't imagine places do any of this stuff anymore. Reminds me how I feel about the below pic, and how kids will never experience what we did growing up...
21e61197c5cfa21b6dcc7b351512f922.png
Was just talking about this with my folks - we agreed there must be a balance in between the insane freewheeling of the 70s and 80s (my folks used to let me take the Madison Metro downtown and wander around for HOURS sans cell phone or anything else when I was 11!) and today's way over-safe, over-regulated childhoods.

I have always leaned more toward "free range" parenting than most modern parents, but damn were the "adults" back then more than a little negligent and irresponsible. I can distinctly remember my dad driving us around after having like a 12 pack of beer and then deciding we all needed pizza. LOL
 
I can't imagine places do any of this stuff anymore. Reminds me how I feel about the below pic, and how kids will never experience what we did growing up...
21e61197c5cfa21b6dcc7b351512f922.png


Wednesday night Flip Night at the Liner, 25 cent short draws at the Fieldhouse on Thursday, cup night at the Que, $5 all you can drink beer and $7 all you can drink well mixers at Jake’s on Monday in the summer and whatever else I drank away from memory. Good times.
 
Was just talking about this with my folks - we agreed there must be a balance in between the insane freewheeling of the 70s and 80s (my folks used to let me take the Madison Metro downtown and wander around for HOURS sans cell phone or anything else when I was 11!) and today's way over-safe, over-regulated childhoods.

I have always leaned more toward "free range" parenting than most modern parents, but damn were the "adults" back then more than a little negligent and irresponsible. I can distinctly remember my dad driving us around after having like a 12 pack of beer and then deciding we all needed pizza. LOL
Same experience. Grew up in Eau Claire, a city of about 50K. From the age of 8 we were out on our bikes in the summer until dark riding all over the city and into the country, going off rope swings into rivers/creeks, etc with our parents not having a clue where we were or what we were up to.
 
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Bladder Buster changed over the years, but I think I might have been towards the end. Endless beer at 10 cents per small cups until someone went to the bathroom or left the building. Then it was called off. I remember having tables completely covered with cups of beer with my buddies. Experienced folks cleared their bladder before walking in the door.

On several occasions I saw folks bring their own pitcher to urinate in underneath their table. I recall never seeing a guy that ruined it. Always a gal that "couldn't" hold her bladder. Regardless, whoever stopped the essential free beer got boo'ed and was forced to leave the place. Fun for all.
 
Bladder Buster changed over the years, but I think I might have been towards the end. Endless beer at 10 cents per small cups until someone went to the bathroom or left the building. Then it was called off. I remember having tables completely covered with cups of beer with my buddies. Experienced folks cleared their bladder before walking in the door.

On several occasions I saw folks bring their own pitcher to urinate in underneath their table. I recall never seeing a guy that ruined it. Always a gal that "couldn't" hold her bladder. Regardless, whoever stopped the essential free beer got boo'ed and was forced to leave the place. Fun for all.
Sounds like an occasion where everyone should know what they're getting into and have some depends on before walking through the door.
 
Was just talking about this with my folks - we agreed there must be a balance in between the insane freewheeling of the 70s and 80s (my folks used to let me take the Madison Metro downtown and wander around for HOURS sans cell phone or anything else when I was 11!) and today's way over-safe, over-regulated childhoods.

I have always leaned more toward "free range" parenting than most modern parents, but damn were the "adults" back then more than a little negligent and irresponsible. I can distinctly remember my dad driving us around after having like a 12 pack of beer and then deciding we all needed pizza. LOL
But I suppose the more important question is was it Rocky Rococo's?
 
My dad lived in the duplex behind John’s when he was in college, so John was his landlord. We’ve been good friends with the Alberhasky family forever, great people. In fact I watched the 1985 Iowa-Michigan game in John’s camper, in the Kinnick parking lot. I was 9, it was awesome.

John was on submarines in WW II. He once told me that he was delayed reporting to his sub in Hawaii, so it left without him. The sub never returned and all aboard were lost.
 
My dad lived in the duplex behind John’s when he was in college, so John was his landlord. We’ve been good friends with the Alberhasky family forever, great people. In fact I watched the 1985 Iowa-Michigan game in John’s camper, in the Kinnick parking lot. I was 9, it was awesome.

John was on submarines in WW II. He once told me that he was delayed reporting to his sub in Hawaii, so it left without him. The sub never returned and all aboard were lost.
So many cool stories and memories in this thread. Especially that aren't related to FSU or politics. It turned out way better than I had hoped.
 
The reason it was called Dirty John's, I believe, is because back in the 70s and 80s (maybe earlier?) they kept quite the library of porno mags behind the counter for purchase - something the "nice" grocery stores in town did not. Thus the name.

Once porn became ubiquitous thanks to the Internet, it is likely the moniker gradually faded.

Was definitely still called Dirty John's in my days as an undergrad (89-93).

They actually acquired the "Dirty Johns" moniker earlier than that and it was because of their brazen choice to stock Playboy magazine for sale in the store in the late 50s early 60s. Such a kerfluffle.
 
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My dad lived in the duplex behind John’s when he was in college, so John was his landlord. We’ve been good friends with the Alberhasky family forever, great people. In fact I watched the 1985 Iowa-Michigan game in John’s camper, in the Kinnick parking lot. I was 9, it was awesome.

John was on submarines in WW II. He once told me that he was delayed reporting to his sub in Hawaii, so it left without him. The sub never returned and all aboard were lost.

John was a funny guy. Legit CSB.
 
All signs point to my son attending Iowa in a few years. I am sure he will be testing that out...

My underage brother is a regular customer to John's right now.

This thread is going to force me to get back to Iowa City. Anyone else here ever participate in the bladder buster at the Vine (downtown)?

The Bladder Buster was gone during my Vine days ('10-12) but I did have a friend banned for a year because he puked all over the bar one too many times. They lost a lot of money that year.
 
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