99 Bottles: Bass Ale

Brewed with English malts, aromatic hops and water rich in essential salts and minerals, Bass has a malty, lightly hoppy taste that, combined with its slight burnt roast aroma, creates a full-bodied flavour of the highest quality. Bass is the most famous English ale in the world, and today, every drop of Bass Pale Ale is still brewed in England.

The story of Bass begins in 1777 when William Bass opened the first brewery in Burton-on-Trent, England. The story of the Red Triangle begins on January 1, 1876, when the Bass red triangle would go down in history as Britain's first trademark and establishing Bass as a pioneer in international brand marketing.

William Bass was originally a master-carrier, running a fleet of wagons that plied the route between Manchester and London in the 1760s. But Bass shrewdly calculated that the arrival of a canal along the same route would seriously hamper his business. So he got out of carriages and entered the brewing business. The house (and brewery) he bought in 1777 still stands.

Bass so inspired Napoleon Bonaparte that he sought to build a Bass brewery in France.

Edgar Allen Poe traveled to the darkest, most frightening corners of his mind and stayed there. He wrote tales so wrought with horror that, to this day, he is still considered the preeminent godfather of terror. It is said his nightmarish stories were recharged nightly by a pint of Bass.

Edouard Manet was inherently drawn to dramatic light and color. He filled a canvas by blending the perfect arrangement of tone, color and pattern. It makes sense then that the impressionist featured Bass several times as the subject of his work.

Throughout his life, Buffalo Bill Cody was a hunter, an Army scout, a prospector and a showman. He also regularly escorted rich Easterners and European nobility on western hunting expeditions. To retain the civility his guests were accustomed to, Buffalo Bill chose Bass to complement the delicacies of buffalo tail soup and salami of prairie dog served for their feast under the stars.

In 1881, the Oxford Union debated whether Bass or the printing press contributed more to the benefit of the human race. After an intense deliberation where all the merits were carefully weighed, the decision was unanimous. Bass was triumphant.

Nobody latched a line to him and dragged him to the South Pole. It wasn't a televised eco-race. There were no rescue crews to bail him out. It was an amazing adventure of will. And it would only end with death or glory. Regardless, Ernest Shackleton had brought Bass along for a proper toast or an appropriate memorial.

When the Titanic set sail for New York, she was engineered to be the most luxurious liner that had ever sailed the seas. She catered to every need and included every possible amenity for the ultimate in luxury travel. That is why today over 500 cases of Bass now sit on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

Christening a new airplane with a bottle of Bass might seem unorthodox, but to the design team of the Concorde, it seemed absolutely appropriate. They believed that for the fastest, most ambitious commercial aircraft ever built, champagne seemed just a little too ordinary.

After 130 years, the Bass Red Triangle logo received its first update. A new beveled treatment gives it a more contemporary feel that exemplifies the Bass standards of quality and authenticity without diminishing its legendary status.

The clue for this letterbox is as follows:

25-25:26-7:27-33:28-24:29-6:30-8  30-14:31-14:32-7:34-9:2-11:5-1  6-13:7-14:8-7:11-1  15-26:16-22:17-5:18-1  20-1:21-3:22-47:22-46:23-4:26-9:28-8  29-22:29-23:29-24  30-22:31-12:32-7:34:9  1-1:19-10:19-11  33-7.

10-14:13-4:16-3:18-8  22-7:23-10:28-22:30-4.

33-2:34-30:1-14:1-14:34-30:11:3  15-2:16-3:17-3:18-21:20-33  16-1:16-2:16-3:16-5  13-13:19-19:19-19:19-21:21-4  18-1:18-2  19-9:19-11:29-38:29-39:29-40:30-17:34-11  2-22:3-7:5-6:8-10:9-7:11-21:13-1.

7-1:12-1:26-29:31-2:31-6  4-44:33-8  18-1:18-2  4-43:33-8  23-17:23-18:25-14:29-19:29-20:30-6  18-1:18-2  21-15  14-8:14-20:14-36:14-60  24-1:24-4:24-7:24-9.

25-3:27-4:31-20:15-5  3-5:4-6:6-12:7-14:8-13:9-14  1-185:1-186.

9-23:9-31:9-65:10-12:10-15:10-18  20-35:20-36:20-37  24-1:24-4:24-7:24-9  20-70:20-71  4-161  14-6:15-6:27-6:16-6:32-6.

12-23:12-24:12-25:12-53.

27-42:27-32:27-25:27-21  33-19:33-20:33-22  11-18:14-29  3-41:3-33:3-42:3-43:3-44.

2-2  6-39:6-40:14-51:14-52  19-44:19-46:19-50:19-54  6-10:6-11:6-8:6-3:6-34:6-38:6-36:6-45:6-56  2-2  18-59:18-54:18-49:18-45  16-24:16-21  2-22:3-7:5-6:8-10:9-7:11-21:13-1.

18-1:18-2  1-185:1-186:1-179  13-34:13-42:13-43:13-44:13-45, 16-38:16-39:17-40:16-41:16-42  8-9:8-10:8-5:8-1:8-2:8-16:8-17  18-59:18-54:18-49:18-45,  4-2:4-19:4-16:4-16:4-24:4-29  12-50:12-51  2-2  10-51:10-50:10-49:10-30  29-22:29-23:29-24  19-44:19-46:19-50:19-54  21-7:21-8:21-9:21-6:21-5.