Favorite Beer

[Kev m]

its hardly assuming.  95% of light beers fall under 4%.  the fact that you found one beer with higher alcohol content proves very little.  except that you like to argue with people.   :wife: :beat_horse ~; :BEER: ::( **C ::)

MOST of the other light beers I checked were 4.2% and not "below 4%".

Ironically 4.something also describes a lot of other beers including Pilsner Urquell and Guinness.

As for assuming you're missing the point. If you're trying to educate someone with generalizations leaving out the exceptions is line deliberately misleading them. "I can drink more of these Platinum Light beers cause my buddy told me all light beers have less alcohol".

Doesn't seem hard to be careful with generalizations and assumptions that's all.

[the Bailey]

MOST of the other light beers I checked were 4.2% and not "below 4%".

Ironically 4.something also describes a lot of other beers including Pilsner Urquell and Guinness.

As for assuming you're missing the point. If you're trying to educate someone with generalizations leaving out the exceptions is line deliberately misleading them. "I can drink more of these Platinum Light beers cause my buddy told me all light beers have less alcohol".

Doesn't seem hard to be careful with generalizations and assumptions that's all.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/all-we-can-eat/post/bud-light-platinum-has-got-the-blues/2012/02/03/gIQAH0x1mQ_blog.html

and youre making my point for me.  the line between light beer and beer beer is almost non existant, so it is a mere marketing ploy.
and check out beer advocate.  how many light beers or for that matter mass marketed american beers are in the top 100 ?

ohh. and i found my original error.  i confused by weight with by volume.  oops.  rookie mistake.

[Kev m]

Again, I'm not defending light beer.

I'm not claiming that most mass marketed products AREN'T sold largely on gimmick and perception.

Hell, some of the worst commercials are for those beers (light or not). Not talking about quality or flavor but of how one is the "coldest" (wtf is that supposed to mean), or one has a can that turns blue, or one that swirls the beer through the neck.

Yeah, ridiculous crap designed to mask an otherwise un-noteworthy product.

I wasn't arguing against any of that.

I was just pointing out it's not safe to assume lower alcohol content. That's all...

[Triple Jim]

Fun fact:  The specific gravity of ethyl alcohol is about 0.79.  This means that a beer with 4% alcohol by weight is about 5% alcohol by volume.  This is a source of confusion.  West Virginia used to limit beer to 3.2% by weight.  3.2 / 0.79 = 4.05% by volume.  So the "3.2 beer" wasn't as weak as was assumed.  Always look to see whether the content is by weight or by volume.

[Kev m]

Good facts...data in my link claims to be % by volume.

[twodogs]

It's -14 and Friday, after work in the garage we will have culture and try some adult soda's, my preference is Big Sky Moose Drool :BEER:

[Triple Jim]

Dusty, I was curious about the 3.2, so I checked Wikipedia:

Any beverage containing more than 3.2% alcohol by weight or 4% alcohol by volume, that is, most liquors, wines, and typical beer, may only be sold in licensed liquor stores at room temperature.

So it's really 4% if you're talking about by volume, which is how most beers are labeled.  The alcohol laws there seem to be aimed at encouraging you to drink at home, don't they?

[rocker59]

Oklahoma has the 3.2 law for beer sold cold , makes no sense to me , as liquor stores sell "strong" beer , just not refrigerated . Funny to hear the uneducated say they are going to Arkansas to buy supposed 6.4 strong beer , not knowing how this all works . Similar to the 87 vs 91 octane argument . Sigh .
Dusty

They're not uneducated.  Just impatient.  Who wants to buy hot beer and wait for it to cool off at home when you can drive to the border, buy a 12-pack and drink it in the car on the way back to the house?!?!?!

[Triple Jim]

Well it would seem that way , but in effect in promotes the sale of cheap swill in convenience stores .
Dusty

It's not unusual for a seemingly simple law to have a lot of unexpected side effects.  The prohibition itself was a good example.

[rocker59]

It's not unusual for a seemingly simple law to have a lot of unexpected side effects.  The prohibition itself was a good example.

Yeah, my great-grand pappy made money hauling shine by wagon from Yell County into The Nations back in the day.  Spent a little time in McAlester as a result.  Didn't break him, though.

[Jim Rich]

The big beer weather has finally arrived, (freakin cold), Old Ales, Barleywines and Imperial Stouts are coming out of hiding where they have been resting for a year or 4 in the big plastic foot locker in my closet.  Best big beer this holiday season has been Old Knucklehead Barleywine from Bridgeport in Portland.  Aged in bourbon barrels and has a little fruit flavor to go along with all the rest.  Highly recommend it.   ;-T :BEER:

[Guzzistajohn]

When I lived in Oklahomie we kept rock salt with the cooler, you can cool off a 12 pack of 5% in about 35-40 miles over 2 lane oil surface highways ;D

They're not uneducated.  Just impatient.  Who wants to buy hot beer and wait for it to cool off at home when you can drive to the border, buy a 12-pack and drink it in the car on the way back to the house?!?!?!

[Penderic]

FYI ....... Dry beer system for backpacking and light camping.  ???

Mix with purified water and shake like crazy!

http://www.today.com/food/beer-concentrate-lets-you-take-brews-outdoor-adventure-2D11741579

Suppose to taste pretty good.  :BEER:

[Triple Jim]

Really interesting, but I think I'd just take a pint of Bourbon in my backpack instead.

[kidneb]

All this beer talk made me go and buy some American beer. Not that many to choose from here, but I came home with these two from Samuel Adams in Boston:

A quality ale with a pleasing rich malt flavor, but a little too sweet, and not enough hops for my taste. But quality it is, and much better than the weak English "Newcastle Brown Ale" that has grown so big and popular,- ask you me.
My favorite ale is still the English "Ruddles County".

The 6% IPA, however, was a nice experience that I could easily add to my favorites with its freshness and very distinct and strong hoppy character of which the label says :

This bold IPA features 5 varieties of hops, including Mosaic hops from the Pacific Northwest. These add a burst of citrus notes to the distinctive layers of German, English, and other American hops, all from growing regions near the "hop belt" of the 48th latitude. Cheers !

[Triple Jim]

Kidneb, that latitude 48 certainly is a good one.  I just started the mash for my annual batch of stout, to be ready for St. Patrick's Day.

[fat albert]

anything by Busheys on the Isle of Man

[tarless]

I'm sorry, it seems that somewhere along the way you've mistaken my objections as some impugnation of your knowledge or abilities with beer, it is not. I assumed it to be as thorough as a glance at your last post would suggest.

You also seem to have drawn a conclusion that I am in some way praising the mass marketed beers (I was going to say American, but since you find similar products all over the world from Becks to Tsing-Tao, or even Peroni it seems silly to limit it), again, I am not.

Or perhaps you are thinking that I am objecting to your likes/dislikes, and nothing could be further from the truth. Preferences are a personal matter and I generally try (admittedly I've often failed, but I do generally TRY) not to judge people based solely on their preferences (though it sure it tempting the more one strays from seeming sanity, but that is a matter for another discussion).

To be crystal clear, my objections have only been two fold:

1. Your claims that the mass marketed stuff that so many enjoy is not "beer" or worse "real" beer (see objection #2). The  reinheitsgebot is fine and I too generally take it as a potential measure of a QUALITY beer, one more likely to meet my PREFERENCES. But to say that the mass market stuff ISN'T beer at all based on it, is kinda silly. Everyone knows a McDonald's Hamburger is far from the pinnacle of the burger art, but it is in fact still a hamburger even if the quality of the ingredients and the lack of spicing makes it far from what the connoisseur would chose. And yes, though rice and corn sugars are NOT traditional ingredients, nor likely to make the best quality products, they can and are used with some effectiveness. We could argue that fruits or gourds aren't "traditional" ingredients either, but even if I don't care for Belgian Lambics or Pumpkin Ales etc, you must admit they may be quality products even with their straying from the strict purity standards of traditional "beer".


2. Your attitude. My MAIN objection and reason for getting into this silly war of words with you has been your flagrant attitude that those who enjoy or even PREFER those mass marketed products (ironically I don't consider myself one so I did not take this personally) are somehow not real men, or educated men, or whatever other BS rhetoric you were choosing. It's one thing to poke your friend in the ribs over a campfire, it's another to spew elitist crap over a matter of TASTE. Even if I share your basic lack of care for the product it's a complete other thing to, especially so casually, impugn every other reader of this board who doesn't share your (or even OUR) taste in the matter. This is no different from the other "hater" behavior we are constantly seeing in this online community (anti-Harley, anti-BMW, etc-  is all = "I'm better than those people because they don't like what I like" or worse "because they DO like what you don't like".

Again, I'll restate my PREFERENCES for delicate, balanced beers, usually something with a rich malt character, a nice crisp hop finish, but NOT something with such hopping that it bites at the palate and lingers too long, nor something with too many other flavors, especially notes of citrus which I don't like in a beer. That doesn't make my choices better or worse, just different  than yours and many others.  

Kev, to be clear, pumpkin and the fruits in lambics are not a good comparison.  These are not substitutes, cheap or otherwise, for malts..  Rice and corn ARE substitutes for malts (primary fermentation components)not additional additives to ENHANCE, or augment, flavor.  Purity law notwithstanding, I personally don't consider anything without hops and  100% barley malt, beer.  I get your Mcdonalds analogy, but there are many who don't want that meat glue and textured additives to be called "meat."  Whether it is or not is debatable but it is just some cheap alternative to the "real thing," and for some folks it works. You can stuff your face or get drunk for a little money.   This is not my philosophy but it is that of a good many Americans.  So if the regulators allow bud/coors/miller to be called beer, fine,  as long as they say so it has to be undisputable fact.
     As to mass market beer being Pilsner only, perhaps.  Pre prohibition mass produced beer in the US was more of an Ale style which didn't persist after prohibition ended.  I agree at that point US brewers emulated the Pilsner style but I think lagers made their way in (I know they're all lagered in terms of fermentation)..  Again it's not like they used any identifiable Pilsner malts one way or another.   Whatever it is I'm sure it's indistinguishable  from its original intent. But if people like it ces't la vie.

In terms of street cred.  Be careful.  Allot of us brewed as well and I've had offers to get involved with various investors (bar/micro breweries, beer sellers) myself but chose not to. I would hesitate to use that as a stamp of authority..

[Kev m]

Understand all of your points and agree with many.

As for a stamp of authority, I was NOT using it as an example to claim any expertise. I was simply mentioning it to refute the unkind and unwarranted accusation of ignorance (and make the accuser rightly look a tad foolish for it).

[tarless]

Understand all of your points and agree with many.

As for a stamp of authority, I was NOT using it as an example to claim any expertise. I was simply mentioning it to refute the unkind and unwarranted accusation of ignorance (and make the accuser rightly look a tad foolish for it).

Gotcha...

[tarless]

What's a McDonalds ?
Dusty


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Scientists haven't determined what it is yet  ;D

[kidneb]

Kidneb, that latitude 48 certainly is a good one.  I just started the mash for my annual batch of stout, to be ready for St. Patrick's Day.

Yeah- interesting , looks like the northern part of the Gobi desert would be a fine place for growing hops  ;D
Good luck with your annual stout you lucky brewer ! And CIA  :BEER:
 (Cheers In Advance that is)

[Kev m]

Stopped at Two Stones Pub for lunch with Jenn....currently enjoying a Stone Smoked Porter. :)

[r3bauer]

FYI ....... Dry beer system for backpacking and light camping.  ???

Mix with purified water and shake like crazy!

http://www.today.com/food/beer-concentrate-lets-you-take-brews-outdoor-adventure-2D11741579

Suppose to taste pretty good.  :BEER:

"...bit of a homebrew taste..." Ouch thats a low blow.

[Triple Jim]

Yeah, it seems like most people either have tried home brewing or know someone who did.  Beginners buying a starter kit of equipment and ingredients are not likely to produce world class beers on the first few tries.  So after a few tries, the work involved is more than it's worth for a couple cases of mediocre beer and they give up the hobby, but not before several friends tasted the so-so beer.  Now the brewer and his friends can truthfully say they tasted home brew and it wasn't very good.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Yeah, it seems like most people either have tried home brewing or know someone who did.  Beginners buying a starter kit of equipment and ingredients are not likely to produce world class beers on the first few tries.  So after a few tries, the work involved is more than it's worth for a couple cases of mediocre beer and they give up the hobby, but not before several friends tasted the so-so beer.  Now the brewer and his friends can truthfully say they tasted home brew and it wasn't very good.

True. *Good* home brew is every bit as good as any you can buy..

[Triple Jim]

I hope the stout turns out to be the good type of home brew you mentioned.  It's fermenting now, and will be in the mid 7% alcohol range.  That should qualify it to be "Imperial Stout".

[r3bauer]

I homebrew and love it. My firdt few batches were so so but now I have requests for my next brews

[Triple Jim]

You'll always have that, since very few beer drinkers will turn down free beer.   :D

[r3bauer]

You'll always have that, since very few beer drinkers will turn down free beer.   :D

yeah well they're beer snobs like myself and arent afraid to tell me it sucks. Lol