Bass.com and Alembic.com

[jazzyvee]

just saw this on the uk basschat site and wondered what the truth is.


"Do you know the Alembic story about Bass (the brewery)?[/size] [/color]
[/size]In the formative days of the internet, Ron and Mica Wickersham tried to purchase the 'Alembic.com' domain.  However, it was already taken (by another bunch of Californian hippies)....so they registered the original 'Bass.com'.  Roll the clock forward about 10 years and Scottish and Newcastle (or whoever owned Bass the brewer) decided it was time to register all domains they could think of to do with beer.  Much to their dismay, they discovered Alembic owned 'Bass.com' and were unwilling to sell.  Anyway this must have prompted Ron and Mica to check on 'Alembic.com'...which was now available.  I think the terms of their domain sale to Bass are on the Alembic website somewhere.  Suffice it to say that the last rider in the deal for Ron and Mica was: 'free beer for life'!"[/color]

[pauldo]

Interesting…
Somewhere there is a picture of John (member 811952) playing a bass with a Bass bottle as a slide from the 2009 gathering.

[adriaan]

Just try www.bass.com - it takes you to the Anheuser Busch site. Which is obviously beer-related, except that you won't find anything related to Bass Ale there. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Brewery has more info, but there's the same www.bass.com website listed. For the UK's first registered trademark and a product that is still for sale, seems a rather sad state of affairs there's not even a dedicated website.

[edwardofhuncote]

I'm calling Bull-Squeeze on the internet domain thing, but I am just wondering now if the root of Alembic is Ale... as in; you need an alembic to produce ale.

Where's my 8th cup of coffee?

[adriaan]

Greg, way back when the internet was young, www.bass.com actually was the Alembic home page, no bovine secretion involved.

[edwardofhuncote]

Well, I'll be dipped in shi... Ale. 


The story still seems too embellished. They say the greatest enemy of truth is not the lie, it's the myth. I wouldn't have thunk this one was so.

[pauldo]

Aha!  Found them.

[paulman]

Aha!  Found them.

I remember that!  Good times!  2022 maybe it will happen again?

[mica]

http://alembic.com/info/domain.html

[mica]

Lots of the links are old and tired, but the story is still accurate.

[David Houck]

I have a recollection of going to bass.com back in 1997 and finding a landing page that offered to redirect to Alembic.com or continue on to Bass Ale.  Of course I chose Alembic.