The Mila 18 NoNsEnSe thread - Part 4

[trevpr1]

Re: Ohhh, ASL players make me sooo hot...

How high is the alcohol content supposed to be? It is 4.5% in the U.S.

One of the problems is that some state laws require beer to be labelled as "malt liquor" if the alcohol content exceeds a certain percentage. I'm not sure of the %, but Lowenbrau Oktoberfest is one of the beers affected by this, just for example.

I was an exchange student at the University of London during the heighth of the "real ale" movement. (I lived on Gower Street near the Dillon's Bookstore.) I can't remember what we usually drank. Boddington's maybe?

I has that changed in the past decade? the beer I drank in the midwest from Altlanta to Cleveland and then on to Chicago was a lot weaker than that. I drank a lot of canned stuff and bottled stuff in our motels and I drank Boddies in a 'pub' Cincinnati and that and other beers in Chicago but neither were at proper strength.

We have low alcohol beers as an alternative to the full and premium strength beers. That has a dreadful sweet after taste where the taste of alcohol should be. All the beer I drank in the US had the same thing, be it micro-whatever or more popular beer. This was eventrue of beers that had been imported to the US.


I did notice that not one can or bottle had the strength of the beer recorded on it. That's mandatory here.
You probably didn't drink Boddingtons if it were a real ale pub - and the 'height' of it continues here. If anything its easier to find a decent pint now than ever, despite pubs closing by the hundred as people buy cheaper beer from supermarkets.

 

[trevpr1]

Re: Ohhh, ASL players make me sooo hot...

The biggest difference in UK and US drinking culture is the relative differences between bars & pubs v. liquor stores & off-licenses.

Unless things have changed dramtically in the last twenty years, American bars are generally very different from pubs. The "wine bar" doesn't really exist on any real scale in the US. Bars serve everything, which means they specialize in nothing. In many parts of the country, drinking in bars is considered a "lowlife" activity. When you enter most bars in the midwest and midsouth, the typical clientele will be well under 30. It's a little different on the coasts.

OTOH, American liquor stores put off-licenses to shame. It's not unusual to find liquor stores that carry hundreds of different brands of beer in a large town or small city. There is a liquor store five blocks from my house that is at least three times bigger than any off-license I ever saw in London. I live in a city of just under 100,000 people, and this isn't even one of the bigger stores in town. A big reason is the microbrewery boom.

Bottom Line: I think most Americans drink in private homes, and you wouldn't necessarily know what they are drinking in terms of brand, etc.

Pub cuture is for the young here too. The bars I went in were usually places to get good food or sports bars where I could watch football all day on a Sunday. One of the reasons I'm sure the beer was weak was i was chugging it all day in a Chicago bar and it didn't touch me.

I think your observation about liquor stores compared to our off-licences is about 80% accurate today, but there are chains of off licences now which are big enough to compete with our supermarkets and they now sock more brands. That being said a full size supermarket offers the best choice.

Best place I ever went for booze was a liquor store in Bardstown Kentucky called Toddy's Liquors. They had a long wall with different types of bourbon (here you might find four brands if you are very lucky) and the staff were very helpful. I may have been in bigger ones with even more choice but that was my first and I'll not forget it soon.

More people drink at home here all the time as the beer is much cheaper in supermarkets. Pubs are closing all over the place.

 

[Manilianus]

Re: Ohhh, ASL players make me sooo hot...

You know what's really retarded?

When you play WO Pack for few weeks, you don't even have time to post on GS... and you realize after few weeks, that there is no Soviet OOB in those two scenarios...

I know, I know...

 

[trevpr1]

 

[Morbii]

The "wine bar" doesn't really exist on any real scale in the US. Bars serve everything, which means they specialize in nothing.

I dunno about the rest of the U.S., but here in the bay area we have a few wine bars. We also have at least one beer bar (that has over 100 beers; probably 20+ of which are on tap).

Best place I ever went for booze was a liquor store in Bardstown Kentucky called Toddy's Liquors. They had a long wall with different types of bourbon (here you might find four brands if you are very lucky) and the staff were very helpful. I may have been in bigger ones with even more choice but that was my first and I'll not forget it soon.

You should see Bevmo

We have low alcohol beers as an alternative to the full and premium strength beers. That has a dreadful sweet after taste where the taste of alcohol should be. All the beer I drank in the US had the same thing, be it micro-whatever or more popular beer. This was eventrue of beers that had been imported to the US.

I did notice that not one can or bottle had the strength of the beer recorded on it. That's mandatory here.

I think it's mandatory here too, but only once it's reached a certain strength (though, I'm not absoultely sure). There are TONS of strong beers here, but generally they come from microbrews. For instance, right now I'm imbibing in Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale, which is 7.2%. I guesstimate that the average here is around 5% (maybe like 3% in Utah

 

[Martin Mayers]

I dunno about the rest of the U.S., but here in the bay area we have a few wine bars. We also have at least one beer bar (that has over 100 beers; probably 20+ of which are on tap).



You should see Bevmo



I think it's mandatory here too, but only once it's reached a certain strength (though, I'm not absoultely sure). There are TONS of strong beers here, but generally they come from microbrews. For instance, right now I'm imbibing in Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale, which is 7.2%. I guesstimate that the average here is around 5% (maybe like 3% in Utah

I love a nice light lager.....strong lagers tend to be a turn off for me.
But my favourite are the German Weizen's like Erdinger, Paulaner and the like.
Just nectar on a nice sunny day, sat on the banks of the Mosel, watching the world go by, nice tuna fish salad for lunch, bit of fishing, perhaps a swim in the fresh, clean water. Maybe a row up/down river to the next riverside pub.
Maybe I might have a nice glass of Riesling in Piesport, Bernkastel-Kues, Cochem....
aahhhhh
mmmmm

I also enjoy a nice traditional English ale, something from Burton (Marston's Pedigree perhaps), or a beautiful pint of Theakston's XB
My favourite though....well I'm a Stockport lad so a nice pint of Robinsons (caveat....only within 3 miles of Bredbury where it's brewed...it don't travel great that stuff).
Problem with ales and bitters I have is that they are, to me, a 'winter' drink....summer is for lager

 

[custardpie]

I love a nice light lager.....strong lagers tend to be a turn off for me.
Problem with ales and bitters I have is that they are, to me, a 'winter' drink....summer is for lager

No you have it wrong (what a suprise!!!)
Larger = gay drink

Beer = fat mans drink

Cider = Summer Drink.

Hope that was not too taxing for you!!!

 

[Roadtogundagai]

For those that appreciate the Belgian Trappist style - this stuff is hard to beat (and hard to find in NZ):

 

[King Billy]

I pretty choosey about my bear, it has to pass three tests before I will dirng it.

It has to be cold, wet and contain alcohol....

 

[Gen. Sosabowski]

I dunno about the rest of the U.S., but here in the bay area we have a few wine bars. We also have at least one beer bar (that has over 100 beers; probably 20+ of which are on tap).

I think it's mandatory here too, but only once it's reached a certain strength (though, I'm not absoultely sure). There are TONS of strong beers here, but generally they come from microbrews. For instance, right now I'm imbibing in Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale, which is 7.2%. I guesstimate that the average here is around 5% (maybe like 3% in Utah

I think it's a Bay Area/New York City phenomenon.

Most American beers are 5%. I think that stronger beers always advertise their alcohol content for marketing purposes. Containers larger than 12 oz. always have the alcohol content listed here in Indiana, so it could be a requirement. OTOH, the marketing explanation would also hold. (Think about the target market.)

 

[Gen. Sosabowski]

Re: Ohhh, ASL players make me sooo hot...

Pub cuture is for the young here too. The bars I went in were usually places to get good food or sports bars where I could watch football all day on a Sunday. One of the reasons I'm sure the beer was weak was i was chugging it all day in a Chicago bar and it didn't touch me.

There is definitely something fishy about beer served on tap here in the U.S. I know they do not clean the lines as often as good pubs do in Eire and the U.K. If dirty lines lower the alcohol content, then it would explain it. I know that the same quantity of Coors that gets me fairly lit at home doesn't do nearly the same "damage" when served on tap in the locals. OTOH, I don't have to wait for service, etc.

 

[trevpr1]

Re: Ohhh, ASL players make me sooo hot...

There is definitely something fishy about beer served on tap here in the U.S. I know they do not clean the lines as often as good pubs do in Eire and the U.K. If dirty lines lower the alcohol content, then it would explain it. I know that the same quantity of Coors that gets me fairly lit at home doesn't do nearly the same "damage" when served on tap in the locals. OTOH, I don't have to wait for service, etc.

THAT was the strangest thing... being pestered by a waitress all the time. Here at home, one of the people drinking will go to the bar and get the beer in without all that malarkey. I only expect to see a waitress if I've ordered food.

 

[Martin Mayers]

Re: Ohhh, ASL players make me sooo hot...

THAT was the strangest thing... being pestered by a waitress all the time. Here at home, one of the people drinking will go to the bar and get the beer in without all that malarkey. I only expect to see a waitress if I've ordered food.

Weird how tastes differ
I ABHOR the anarchy you sometimes go through for a round of drinks in a busy English pub
Love waiter/ress service in Germany....they don't so much pester....but they are always hovering ready to bring you another round of drinks....
They scribble the running total down on the beermat and collect the dosh at the end of the evening....
Imagine that happening in the UK....there'd be even more insolvent pubs than there are already !!!

 

[MrP]

For those that appreciate the Belgian Trappist style - this stuff is hard to beat (and hard to find in NZ):

Your perfect woman, a beer brewing nun........

 

[Roadtogundagai]

Your perfect woman, a beer brewing nun........

You have been a VERY naughty boy...

 

[Psycho]

You have been a VERY naughty boy...

I would not anger it

 

[MrP]

You have been a VERY naughty boy...

I would not pray with it.

 

[Kevin Kenneally]

I would not pray with it.

I thought Athiest don't know HOW to pray....

 

[regularjoe]

Re: Ohhh, ASL players make me sooo hot...

having managed a hotel with a bar...tap cleaning is fairly routine and inexpensive, certainly cheaper than litigation. the tap cleaner that we used charged us maybe $20 every week.
i suspect that the "off" taste/drinkability is probably local water; garbage in, garbage out. my hometown abutted on two lakes, one of which the indian name of translated to "lake stinking water." the other lake's name translated from french to 'mound of the dead.' ahhh, the romance of wisconsin place names,
no disrespect meant, but gary, indiana, is home to the foulest water i've met in the eastern US. my wife and i stopped there en route to a wedding in indy and we could taste the difference in fountain soda.

 

[MrP]

I thought Athiest don't know HOW to pray....

I'm sure they know how, just choose not to.