Beck’s Beer: The Real Story
The REAL Story
Standing but 66.5 inches, Beck weighed 242 pounds and was as rugged as they come. Beck was one of the first lifters to perform a continental clean and jerk with 300 German pounds (equal to 330 English or U.S. pounds), and eventually managed 374 (English) pounds in this style.
Among his most outstanding feats, however, were his barrel lifts.
On September 25, 1896, Beck manhandled an 18-3/4 gallon beer barrel that weighed 249 pounds. He PRESSED the barrel overhead not once, not twice, but THREE (!) times in succession.
Beck followed this feat by tackling a 21-3/8 gallon barrel, which weighed all of 275-1/2 pounds. Beck jerked this massive and unwieldy load overhead.
History does not record how much Pilsner Beer Beck consumed after his prodigious lifting, but I like to think that it was “lots.” I also like to think that they named Beck’s Beer after old Hans. Any lifter as strong as Hans Beck deserves to have a beer named after him!
Yours in strength,
Brooks D. Kubik
P.S. For more information about the Lost Secrets of Strength and Development, just like Hans Beck used to use, you’ll want to grab a copy of my classic training book Dinosaur Training.