Ranting v. 2.0

[old codger]

Amen brother!

You can keep your tepid beer, no matter what brand, or any other warm drink ment to be cold for that matter. Enjoy what you like but don't disparage those who do not agree with you.

[Motorcycle Forum]

[buster]

.....but....... proper beer isn't meant to be cold. Only that chemical yellow rinse..

[old codger]

.....but....... proper beer isn't meant to be cold. Only that chemical yellow rinse..

Mr. Buster, I have been to a few pubs in your fair country, all I can say is different folks have different tast. That stuff you call beer may have been good if not served at room temp. All I am saying is people have different taste, that doesn't make anyone wrong, just have different preferences. Now in my case if it isn't Coors I wont drink it.

[omegajim]

I take offense, that yellow rinse of which you speak kind of grows on you.

Me, for instance, Pabst - and a local pub serves it for $1 on Tuesdays.

[AfterDarker]

.....but....... proper beer isn't meant to be cold. Only that chemical yellow rinse..

Oh dear Buster. Scots are great at fighting, whisky and golf. But not beer. I lived in the UK for 4 years and had all kinds of locals attempt to convert me to their own brews. I tried, I really did, but drank gallons and gallons of swill.
Conclusion: "I'd rather drink cold beer in a warm country, than warm beer in a cold country."

[slozomby]

does it taste good right out of the fridge, and does it also taste good after sitting on the deck(or in the live well) of the boat for 8 hours. if you can answer yes to both then you've got a good beer.

and for those of you that like cold beer but cant stand waiting.....
The jet powered beer cooler

ps. the Scottish know scotch, for whiskey you want Kentucky.

[JmalB]

I contend no proper liquid is meant to be consumed at room temperature. It's either cold or hot. In between is just... wrong. Like Spotted Dick...

[intimid8er]

You can keep your tepid beer, no matter what brand, or any other warm drink ment to be cold for that matter. Enjoy what you like but don't disparage those who do not agree with you.

Sorry...don't see where I'm "disparaging" your choices.

I'm agreeing with what Slozomby said...and by definition....he's mostly correct. It's generally agreed that Light America Lager (it's a style not Light or Lite beer, i.e. Budweiser, Miller, Coors) is best enjoyed colder. If your definition of Beer is BMC, and that's all you drink, that's fine, but there's a myriad of other styles that people drink, and each one begs it's own set of "rules" if you will, to consume. Most producers of Pilseners, Kolsch's, and other Lager styles recommend that their products be consumed cold.

I am not a Beer Snob..however, I enjoy a varied range of styles regularly. I'm aware how each I drink is best consumed. I'm aware that a Belgian, Barley Wine (or other high gravity brew) release their subtleties starting at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit (fridge temp). Is that room temp or warm? No, but, as the glass and liquid warm, the brew gets better. A BMC gets worse as it warms. Does that make it bad? In my eyes no. Each has it's own place. A heavy duty IPA sometimes tastes better at 32 degrees and gets worse as it gets warmer if it doesn't have a good malt backbone. Does that mean I'm going to dump a Dogfishhead 60, 90, or 120 in a frozen mug? Hell no. Will I dump an Old Milwaukee in one....without hesitation.

All that said.....I don't drink Bud. I don't drink Miller. I sometimes enjoy a Coors regular. My go to if I just want to consume a sh*t ton of beer, enjoy the day with friends, and not be an abject retard by the end of a Saturday? Pabst or Old Milwaukee. Those are actually a decent beer in the style of a "Light American Lager" (Light refers to the color...refer to Yuengling <another of my go to's> as to how a Lager is really supposed to be). Truth be told, Lager isn't really a style, it's a process. The beer is fermented with bottom (of the wort) dwelling yeast at colder temps. Ale's are done with yeast that thrive at the top of the brew in warmer temps (50-70 deg F).

Prior to the 60's the PBR's, Old Milwaukee's, Old Style's, and Iron City's of the world ruled the country. Advances in technology, and some savvy backroom dealings by Augustus Busch began the global takeover by the Busch family. They bought up local/regional breweries, created distributorships, got some sweetheart deals from politcians, and soon were moving Budweiser all over the country. A well placed advertising blitzkrieg began. They were now able to blanket the country cheaply, and in response, PBR, Schlitz, Old Milwaukee (et-al) added more and more adjuncts (cheaper ingredients such as corn and rice) to try and keep up with the competition, and allow prices to remain low. Well..as we all know, changing the formula didn't work out too well for those brands. Kinda like new Coke. They lost loyal customers in droves. Coupled with the early blitz. It was no longer "cool" to drink those brands. They became known as "cheap" or "value" brands. It was a Catch-22 too. Losing their base, they lost revenue, so they could no longer go back to using expensive ingredients or less adjuncts. Over the years there's been a quiet retooling of the recipes, and the flavors are back more towards what they were in the sixties. Schlitz actually touts this on the label. I recently read a cool article about the latest Augie Busch. He'd pulled some old cans out through the years...and explained that though it's not announced, the flavors are tweaked, and he's kinda feared, they've gone too far from the original Budweiser (not Budvar Buster! We all know they're nowhere near that!). I'd be excited to see them at least get back to the 70's, 80's formula. I can still occasionally get a whiff from a bottle of Bud that reminds me of Bud's from then, but the taste is not there.

A few years back, my buddy and I got talking about why the Pabsts, Old Milwaukee's, and Schlitz's of the world were so popular in their day. So we bought a bunch of "cheap" beer up. There were a couple of rules. Foremost, the beer couldn't be produced AS a value leader. I.E. Milwaukee's Best, Busch, Natty Light or any of those types. We went through Genny, Iron City, Schlitz, PBR, and Old Milwaukee.

I have to say......some folks were horrified when they chose Old Milwaukee double blind (blindfolded, and blind sample....actually triple blind...they didn't know they were tasting "cheap" beer either). Their comments lauded it as almost the manna of the gods....watching them do a u-turn when they realized they chose what they chose was priceless. Surprisingly, Old Milwaukee topped the charts in all the tasters...Actually, PBR and Old Mil were neck and neck.

[QZephyr]

I've had beer debates with people more times than I care to remember. The best thing to do is drink what you like and never mind the other guy. I have a friend that insists I try his favorites all the time. If I don't like his choice he gets rudely defensive about it. There's no reason for that. Reminds me of vegetarians who verbally attack people who like meat.

[intimid8er]

I love talking about beer, respect other peoples choices, keep an open mind, and will try anything once.

I love sharing new beer finds with friends...if they don't like it, oh well, I've got two fridges full of choices, I'm bound to have something they like. I ain't gonna beat 'em over the head with something they don't enjoy. I keep full stock. Ciders, Pilseners, "Lagers", Black Lagers, Wheats, Pale Ales, IPA's, Brown Ales, Porters, Stouts, Imperial Stouts, Barley Wines, high gravity specialties, you name it. Although, my stout stock has been getting pretty beefy lately. I'm not a fan of the Amber Ale though. Although, Costco has a "generic" craft beer sampler case, it is brewed by Gordon Biersch. The Amber is not half bad. I just don't care for the "biscuity" dry finish of an Amber, theirs doesn't have it. Speaking of Amber's, folks rant and rave about Fat Tire Amber out of Colorado.....not my cup of tea.

Flogging a man's beer is just about as bad as deriding him for his choices in music...if not worse.

[omegajim]

Budweiser came about because of a variety of factors, some of which have already been mentioned.

However, a couple of very significant factors occurred, albeit several years apart that changed the landscape.

In the late fifties, Schlitz, who at the time was "the king of beers" had a strike. It lasted something like two years, and Schlitz never got the market share it lost back entirely.

Later, other companies like Pabst, who were privately owned and did not have a trust or other legal shenanigan to hide the wealth, couldn't stay in business because the kids had to pay an "inheiritance tax" of some 20% on their business. This required them to do all sorts of things that were not long term good ideas.

Then again, somehow, a few locals here and there - like Leinenkugel's and Point beer, managed to survive by staying in their nitch long enough to get on somebody's radar and they get bought.

[Aussie Steve]

Tast's change... a few years back I would have defended the brown swill the poms call beer to the hilt but no more...years of lager rinses have all but destroyed my ability to comsume what is little more than the brown water sweepings from an abbatoir floor with some bicarbonate added for fizz....just my two cents worth and no offence meant...just don't mention Guiness

[QZephyr]

Funny thing about strikes. Union people used to stick together. My dad drank Bud but when the local distributor went on strike, he quit drinking Bud. I told him that it was only the distributor not the company but it didn't matter to him. He never drank Bud again.

[AfterDarker]

I love talking about beer, respect other peoples choices, keep an open mind, and will try anything once.

I love sharing new beer finds with friends...if they don't like it, oh well, I've got two fridges full of choices, I'm bound to have something they like. I ain't gonna beat 'em over the head with something they don't enjoy. I keep full stock.

Now this is turning into a very good thread.
Intimid8er for someone that enjoys a variety of beers but is not a US resident, eg me, what are your 'must taste these' Top Five US Beers??
Now I know that can cause a hell of an argument. And there is no right answer. But interested in your opion.

For me, the Top 10 World beers are
Hoegarden, Belgium
Duvel, Belgium
Leffe Blonde, Belgium
Guiness, Ireland
Schnieder Weisse, Germany
Budvar, Czech Republic
Pilsner Urquel, Czech Republic
Weihenstephaner, Germany
Little Creatures Pale Ale, Australia
Krystallhoffer cant remember it too drunk, brewed in Frankfurt, (at the airport bar, I didn't want to leave the airport to catch the plane home)

[inspiron]

In Germany, there is a friendly rivalry between Cologne (with their pale Kölsch) and Düsseldorf (with their dark "Altbier").

Düsseldorf has the reputation for the "longest bar in the world", because the small Old Town has more than 300 bars and discos.

And of course, the Biergartens of Munich are always great in the summer. The cool thing about the Biergarten is that it's like a picnic - you can buy food there, or you can bring your own food. The only requirement is that you buy the beer there.

I'm going to be in Munich in two weeks - I'm hoping the weather will be good enough that the first Biergartens are open!

The area of Germany where I'm building my new house is, however, a wine and Schnapps region - there are plenty of well-known wineries but only a few good breweries. My favorite brewery is Rothaus - the beer isn't anything special, but it's local.