THE WORLD SHOULD LAST TILL THE BEER IS GONE
Okay, right up front, I'll say it: I'm a beer snob. First, I don't drink pseudo-beers (you know the ones I mean—Bud, Miller, Coors, etc.) or the faux-lite cousins (Bud Lite, Miller Lite, Coors Lite, etc. lite). Give me a good import or, even better, a good US micro-brew, any time. Any brewery that goes for quality over quantity is going to brew not just drinkable beers and ales, pilsners and lagers, but very good ones.
Second, I want my beer in a glass. Not a bottle. Not a can. (Putting beer in a can is like putting a Rolls Royce in a demolition derby.) Pouring a beer down the side of a glass releases aroma and flavor, making the beer still more enjoyable.
Third, I want my beer at the correct temperature. "Ice cold" beer leaves me cold. Cold subdues the flavor. A beer served at around 57ยบ, give or take a few, has more flavor than the same beer served straight from the fridge. That means I have two choices to get my beer to the correct temperature. One is to remove it from the fridge half an hour or so ahead of when I want to drink it (not always possible) or (brace yourself, this will probably come as a shock), I can microwave it. Yes, microwave it. Pour the beer into a glass, nuke it at full power for 10-15 seconds, and presto! it's at the right temperature. Doesn't affect the flavor, there's no foaming, no loss of carbonation.
The following bits of beer info are from http://hubpages.com/hub/beertriv.
• Beer is the second most popular beverage in the world, coming in behind tea.
• Pabst Beer is now called Pabst Blue Ribbon beer because it was the first beer to win a
blue ribbon at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.
• To get rid of the foam at the top of beer (the head), stick your fingers in it. (But do it to your glass only!)
• Monks brewing beer in the Middle Ages were allowed to drink five quarts of beer a day. (I would have been a monk.)
• Bavaria still defines beer as a staple food.
• Tossing salted peanuts in a glass of beer makes the peanuts dance
• Samuel Adams Triple Bock is the strongest beer in the world with 17% alcohol by volume.
• In Japan, beer is sold in vending machines, by street vendors and in the train stations.
• To keep your beer glass or mug from sticking to your bar napkin, sprinkle a little salt on the napkin before you set your glass down.
• The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock because of beer. They had planned to sail further south to a warm climate, but had run out of beer on the journey. (Smart, those pilgrims!)
Burp! Of course, nothing beats a good stout or porter, unless it is wine...
ReplyDeleteCappy John
Burp! I prefer the brown stuff - porters and stouts, and as you, not too cold. But each of us to our own poison. Some good wine also fits my diet, but not with the same food as beer. I can recall when up here in Seattle all you could get was local 4% beer, known as green beer or, more often P---water. That was many years ago. By the way, Time magazine had an article which says the Europeans have and are developing super-high alcohol beers. Here's a link for those folks who are curious:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1978705,00.html
John Cappy
Here's a beer fact I didn't include: Samuel Adams Triple Bock is the strongest beer in the world with 17% alcohol by volume. The strength is achieved by using champagne yeast. four times stronger than the 4% you remember and considerably stronger than most wines. McEwans Scotch Ale (my favorite ale which I can no longer get) had an alcohol content of 9%, pretty high for beer.
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