Mickey's is a brand of
malt liquor
Malt liquor is a type of mass market beer with high alcohol content, most closely associated with North America. Legally, it often includes any alcoholic beverage with 5% or more alcohol by volume made with malted barley. In common usage, it ...
made by the
Miller Brewing Company
The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the M ...
. It has a 5.6%
ABV
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
.
The brand was created by Sterling Brewery in
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
, which brewed it from 1962 through 1972. It is known for its bright green barrel-shaped, waffle-ribbed wide-mouthed 12-ounce bottle. It features an image of a
hornet
Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other vespine wasps by th ...
on the label and the cap, and
rebus puzzles
A rebus () is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+ ...
beneath it.
At some point Mickey began to sponsor the
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
, using the phrase, "Get Stung", and has featured several UFC fighters on 24 ounce cans.
Mickey's is also available in 12, 16, 22, 32, and 40 ounce sizes.
Popular culture
There is a reference to Mickey's in the track "Frank's Wild Years" by
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
on his 1983 album ''
Swordfishtrombones
''Swordfishtrombones'' is the eighth studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released in 1983 on Island Records. It was the first album that Waits produced himself. Stylistically different from his previous albums, ''Swordfishtrombones'' ...
'' where, on his way home from work, the song’s title character "stopped at the liquor store, picked up a couple of Mickey's Big Mouths, and drank them in the car down by the Shell station."
References
External links
Historic Evansville - Sterling BreweryMiller Brewing CompanyMickeys.com
American beer brands
SABMiller
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