A Time Traveler's Guide to Beer
February 13, 2015 1:18 PM Subscribe
In the May 1975 issue of Oui magazine, Robert Christgau and Carola Dibbell reviewed four dozen American beers, plus eleven imports.
I swear to God I've read that Budweiser review nearly word for word in a Metafilter thread about Budweiser .
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:25 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:25 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
we found it one more instance of San Francisco's chronic confusion of eccentricity with quality
Oh snap.
posted by mhum at 1:33 PM on February 13, 2015 [20 favorites]
Oh snap.
posted by mhum at 1:33 PM on February 13, 2015 [20 favorites]
I can't vouch for his taste in music but his taste in beer is shit.
posted by doctor_negative at 1:37 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by doctor_negative at 1:37 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
It's hard to imagine how different the beer selection in the USA is these days - look at this list of beers that are all basically within a few degrees of each other, even the imports!
For goodness' sake - the macguffin in Smokey and the Bandit was a trailer full of Coors yellowbellies. Because Coors was so superior to the other beers available that it was worth breaking the law to get. Coors!
posted by dirtdirt at 1:39 PM on February 13, 2015 [9 favorites]
For goodness' sake - the macguffin in Smokey and the Bandit was a trailer full of Coors yellowbellies. Because Coors was so superior to the other beers available that it was worth breaking the law to get. Coors!
posted by dirtdirt at 1:39 PM on February 13, 2015 [9 favorites]
It was only 1975 so Xgau hadn't yet honed his reviews to their epigrammatic point. 10 or 20 years later and I expect he'd have covered those brews in a sentence or three.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:41 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by octobersurprise at 1:41 PM on February 13, 2015
BUDWEISER (Anheuser-Busch, Newark, New Jersey) Anheuser-Busch isn't the biggest beer company in America just because of its distribution. Budweiser is the Great Mean of good American beers....B
See, to me the "mean" beer should get a C. Or is that the average beer? Don't care, Bud gets a C.
LABATT "BLUE" (Canada) We used to marvel mildly over Labatt "Green", which we now discover to be an ale that tastes like a beer, a not-quite-Bud-class beer at that. The "Blue" is worse. Outleagued. C PLUS
I had no idea a Labatt Green existed, but yes. Blue is worse. Blue is worse than x, for most values of x.
RAINIER (Seattle, Washington) We've never tasted moss but still think this tastes mossy.
This one had me laughing.
LOWENBRAU (Munich, West Germany) People who love Lowenbrau talk about it the way mountain climbers talk about mountains. The name means "Lion's Brew," and it's an impressive, unmistakable and distracting beer. You don't just toss down a glass of Lowenbrau. Of all the European beers, which often seem less drink than food, Lowenbrau is the foodiest. It has enough bitterness to make you cringe, sunk into a heavily sweet flavor, but that flavor is also full and the body very robust. We're impressed. We'd just rather drink one of those dry Wurzburgers. A MINUS
I'm going to go ahead and assume Lowenbrau has changed A LOT since 1975
posted by Hoopo at 1:43 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
See, to me the "mean" beer should get a C. Or is that the average beer? Don't care, Bud gets a C.
LABATT "BLUE" (Canada) We used to marvel mildly over Labatt "Green", which we now discover to be an ale that tastes like a beer, a not-quite-Bud-class beer at that. The "Blue" is worse. Outleagued. C PLUS
I had no idea a Labatt Green existed, but yes. Blue is worse. Blue is worse than x, for most values of x.
RAINIER (Seattle, Washington) We've never tasted moss but still think this tastes mossy.
This one had me laughing.
LOWENBRAU (Munich, West Germany) People who love Lowenbrau talk about it the way mountain climbers talk about mountains. The name means "Lion's Brew," and it's an impressive, unmistakable and distracting beer. You don't just toss down a glass of Lowenbrau. Of all the European beers, which often seem less drink than food, Lowenbrau is the foodiest. It has enough bitterness to make you cringe, sunk into a heavily sweet flavor, but that flavor is also full and the body very robust. We're impressed. We'd just rather drink one of those dry Wurzburgers. A MINUS
I'm going to go ahead and assume Lowenbrau has changed A LOT since 1975
posted by Hoopo at 1:43 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
I swear to God I've read that Budweiser review nearly word for word in a Metafilter thread about Budweiser .
Are you sure? There wasn't anything in it about mowing your lawn on a summer day.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 1:43 PM on February 13, 2015 [21 favorites]
Are you sure? There wasn't anything in it about mowing your lawn on a summer day.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 1:43 PM on February 13, 2015 [21 favorites]
but.. but.. no yeungling ? Man ...
posted by k5.user at 1:44 PM on February 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by k5.user at 1:44 PM on February 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
Came for the 1975 issue of Oui magazine and left with an understanding of C level beers. He does get it right about Miller High Life. Ice cold MHL is the best of the C level beers! Drink them in 1978 in the pony 8 packs while hanging out with the boys in the bleachers at the high school and well you have my high school Saturday nights.
posted by 724A at 1:45 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by 724A at 1:45 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Hoopo: "I had no idea a Labatt Green existed"
I assumed they were talking about Labatt 50.
posted by mhum at 1:45 PM on February 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
I assumed they were talking about Labatt 50.
posted by mhum at 1:45 PM on February 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
I've drunk quite a few of those tennis ball cans myself.
posted by Drinky Die at 1:46 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by Drinky Die at 1:46 PM on February 13, 2015
I swear to God I've read that Budweiser review nearly word for word in a Metafilter thread about Budweiser .
I'll never get that Mayo review out of my head.
posted by Drinky Die at 1:47 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'll never get that Mayo review out of my head.
posted by Drinky Die at 1:47 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Yuengling lager as we know it wasn't available in the 70s
posted by just another scurvy brother at 1:47 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by just another scurvy brother at 1:47 PM on February 13, 2015
I assumed they were talking about Labatt 50.
Huh. I actually kinda like 50 for a mass-market beer from one of the big breweries. More than I like Bud, absolutely.
posted by Hoopo at 1:49 PM on February 13, 2015
Huh. I actually kinda like 50 for a mass-market beer from one of the big breweries. More than I like Bud, absolutely.
posted by Hoopo at 1:49 PM on February 13, 2015
Ha! I love that Narragansett was already notorious (and presumably not even worth reviewing) even in 1975.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 1:51 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 1:51 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
we found it one more instance of San Francisco's chronic confusion of eccentricity with quality
For comparison's sake here's what he said about Pablo Cruise the following year:
posted by octobersurprise at 1:54 PM on February 13, 2015
For comparison's sake here's what he said about Pablo Cruise the following year:
Lifeline [A&M, 1976]Sigh. Anchor Steam B and Lifeline C-. Sometimes I question that man.
You can take the Doobie Brothers out of the country, but you can't turn them into Three Dog Night. C-
posted by octobersurprise at 1:54 PM on February 13, 2015
Here's the thing about Bud. It just works. Seems to me, a lot of folks just want a cold fizzy in their hands and (ultimately) in their bellies. They don't have time or energy for anything beyond. Clean, light, and buzz-inducing. It mitigates social angsts, easily and cheaply. That's all it ever has to be. For my money, Shiner does this just as well as Bud (and tastes a little better to boot) but at the end of it all it kind of doesn't matter. Are you here for the beer, or for the people?
I enjoyed the reviews. Beer-snobbery is a hallowed hobby which transcends time and medium.
posted by Doleful Creature at 1:55 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I enjoyed the reviews. Beer-snobbery is a hallowed hobby which transcends time and medium.
posted by Doleful Creature at 1:55 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Are you here for the beer, or for the people?
Beeeer!
posted by octobersurprise at 1:56 PM on February 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
Beeeer!
posted by octobersurprise at 1:56 PM on February 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
This was fascinating.
The descriptions of the beers read more like strange, uneducated wine tasting notes. Full of descriptors that I understand but can't really use to create a schema of what each beer must have tasted like.
Their comments on Anchor made me think that if there is ever a time machine invented, I'm gonna take a couple mixed cases of modern American craft beers back and see what they think about them and how they describe them.
posted by Seamus at 2:07 PM on February 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
The descriptions of the beers read more like strange, uneducated wine tasting notes. Full of descriptors that I understand but can't really use to create a schema of what each beer must have tasted like.
Their comments on Anchor made me think that if there is ever a time machine invented, I'm gonna take a couple mixed cases of modern American craft beers back and see what they think about them and how they describe them.
posted by Seamus at 2:07 PM on February 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
STRAUB (St. Mary's, Pennsylvania) At moments, we thought this was just wonderful and wrote down comments like "springy" and "soft-edged." Then at other times, like now, too drunk to know if we were more or less drunk than we had been the times before, we wondered what we could have meant. B MINUS
I don't know about their taste in beer but it sounds like they had a great time with this project.
posted by octothorpe at 2:09 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
I don't know about their taste in beer but it sounds like they had a great time with this project.
posted by octothorpe at 2:09 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Hamm's does have a terrible aftertaste! Like licking a sweaty metal pole on the El train.
posted by Juliet Banana at 2:13 PM on February 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Juliet Banana at 2:13 PM on February 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
I think gulping a beer is the best way to taste and review it...but gulping enough that you become drunk just leads to a lack of objectivity.
Also, Straub is a really cool little brewery. I need to get around to visiting sometime.
posted by Drinky Die at 2:13 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, Straub is a really cool little brewery. I need to get around to visiting sometime.
posted by Drinky Die at 2:13 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
The wort is cooled (to 37-49 degrees for beer, 50-70 degrees for ale) and brewer's yeast is added to trigger the fermentation. More than any other substance, the yeast determines the final character of the beer. It is the secret to each beer's particular taste. Beer takes about ten days to ferment; ale takes five or six.
Ale kind of was/kind of wasn't beer.
Understanding the almost complete absence of ales in the US at the time helped me grasp this a little better.
posted by Seamus at 2:13 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ale kind of was/kind of wasn't beer.
Understanding the almost complete absence of ales in the US at the time helped me grasp this a little better.
posted by Seamus at 2:13 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ah Andeker - with its fancy-ass bottle and vaguely Middle Eastern font. Its amazing how something so central to your life can completely disappear from memory. Thanks for the reminder.
posted by rtimmel at 2:17 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by rtimmel at 2:17 PM on February 13, 2015
Ale kind of was/kind of wasn't beer.
Nah, ale is a kind of beer. I think it's more a question of ale vs lager than ale vs beer.
posted by Hoopo at 2:20 PM on February 13, 2015
Nah, ale is a kind of beer. I think it's more a question of ale vs lager than ale vs beer.
posted by Hoopo at 2:20 PM on February 13, 2015
It's kind of fascinating how little there was to say about most beer forty years ago. 90% of the brews that they review were basically the same variety of beer, American Adjunct Lager and probably tasted pretty similar.
They also don't seem to know much about beer. You'd be embarrassed to put reviews that simplistic in Untapped these days.
posted by octothorpe at 2:20 PM on February 13, 2015 [5 favorites]
They also don't seem to know much about beer. You'd be embarrassed to put reviews that simplistic in Untapped these days.
posted by octothorpe at 2:20 PM on February 13, 2015 [5 favorites]
(Nah, ale is a kind of beer. I think it's more a question of ale vs lager than ale vs beer.)
I think the point Seaumus was making was about the American perceptions of the time. Pale Lager was beer.
posted by Drinky Die at 2:21 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think the point Seaumus was making was about the American perceptions of the time. Pale Lager was beer.
posted by Drinky Die at 2:21 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Unlike Playboy, people really weren't reading Oui for the articles.
posted by Roger Dodger at 2:23 PM on February 13, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by Roger Dodger at 2:23 PM on February 13, 2015 [7 favorites]
Yes, Drinky Die. That was my point.
Also, the idea of almost the entirety of a beer's character coming from the yeast is also very much a result of almost every beer being a pale lager.
posted by Seamus at 2:25 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, the idea of almost the entirety of a beer's character coming from the yeast is also very much a result of almost every beer being a pale lager.
posted by Seamus at 2:25 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Unlike Playboy, people really weren't reading Oui for the articles.
until the other pages were stuck together.
posted by srboisvert at 2:25 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
until the other pages were stuck together.
posted by srboisvert at 2:25 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Alcohol is a drug that has pleasantly impairing effects. Beer and wine are the two most popular delivery systems of this drug.
It is not a particularly sophisticated or cultured thing to say, "I really like taking this particular drug that impairs me!" Consequently, people who want to appear sophisticated or cultured have to pretend that their primary motive for consuming these beverages is for some reason other than the fact that they are delivering the drugs. "I drink wine/beer for reasons X, Y, and Z!. I don't drink them because of the impairing effects!"
People drink way more soda than beer. While people have their favorites, they don't write eloquently at length about their preferred soda. They don't pay comparatively enormous sums for one brand over another. The same applies to juices, water, etc.
posted by flarbuse at 2:28 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
It is not a particularly sophisticated or cultured thing to say, "I really like taking this particular drug that impairs me!" Consequently, people who want to appear sophisticated or cultured have to pretend that their primary motive for consuming these beverages is for some reason other than the fact that they are delivering the drugs. "I drink wine/beer for reasons X, Y, and Z!. I don't drink them because of the impairing effects!"
People drink way more soda than beer. While people have their favorites, they don't write eloquently at length about their preferred soda. They don't pay comparatively enormous sums for one brand over another. The same applies to juices, water, etc.
posted by flarbuse at 2:28 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
no mickey's? - come on, it was the 70s and that was my college beer - at least they would have had to admit that they got their asses kicked by it
posted by pyramid termite at 2:28 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by pyramid termite at 2:28 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, flarbuse. Kinda, I guess.
But then, I have garage whiskey which I drink to get drunk and kitchen whiskey which I drink to taste.
I swill turkish tea to get caffeine but sometimes enjoy a nice cup of something a little more refined.
And people do pay more for waters and juices that they find to be superior in some way, don't they?
posted by Seamus at 2:30 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
But then, I have garage whiskey which I drink to get drunk and kitchen whiskey which I drink to taste.
I swill turkish tea to get caffeine but sometimes enjoy a nice cup of something a little more refined.
And people do pay more for waters and juices that they find to be superior in some way, don't they?
posted by Seamus at 2:30 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Man, the past really is another country.
posted by PMdixon at 2:30 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by PMdixon at 2:30 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
People drink way more soda than beer. While people have their favorites, they don't write eloquently at length about their preferred soda. They don't pay comparatively enormous sums for one brand over another. The same applies to juices, water, etc.
back in '75, no one did anything about beer except guzzle it - it was all cheap, it was all mediocre and it would all get you drunk
posted by pyramid termite at 2:31 PM on February 13, 2015
back in '75, no one did anything about beer except guzzle it - it was all cheap, it was all mediocre and it would all get you drunk
posted by pyramid termite at 2:31 PM on February 13, 2015
Hoopo: I'm going to go ahead and assume Lowenbrau has changed A LOT since 1975
In the 70s Lowenbrau was still an independently owned brewery, they merged with Spaten-Franziskaner-Brau in 1997, which was sold to Interbrew in 2003, which merged to become InBev, which merged again to become Anheuser-Busch-InBev. Of the 6 Munich breweries: Spaten, Lowenbrau, Paulaner (Heinecken), Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbrauhaus (State-owned), and Augustiner; now Augustiner is the only independent holdout, which is why native Müncheners love it so much. Well, that and because it's delicious.
Besides Augustiner, if you want your Bavarian beer fix, the nearby Weihenstephaner, Ayingerbrau, and G. Schneider & Sohn have good internationally-found stuff, and Klosterbrauerei Andechs is a solid but rare find.
posted by JauntyFedora at 2:31 PM on February 13, 2015 [10 favorites]
In the 70s Lowenbrau was still an independently owned brewery, they merged with Spaten-Franziskaner-Brau in 1997, which was sold to Interbrew in 2003, which merged to become InBev, which merged again to become Anheuser-Busch-InBev. Of the 6 Munich breweries: Spaten, Lowenbrau, Paulaner (Heinecken), Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbrauhaus (State-owned), and Augustiner; now Augustiner is the only independent holdout, which is why native Müncheners love it so much. Well, that and because it's delicious.
Besides Augustiner, if you want your Bavarian beer fix, the nearby Weihenstephaner, Ayingerbrau, and G. Schneider & Sohn have good internationally-found stuff, and Klosterbrauerei Andechs is a solid but rare find.
posted by JauntyFedora at 2:31 PM on February 13, 2015 [10 favorites]
I thought I might not have a case on sodas, but then I thought about Blue Sky and Fentiman's and all of those high priced brands that people drink. Does anyone drink Fentiman's Dandelion and Burdock soda just for the sugar or do they drink it for the unique flavors?
posted by Seamus at 2:33 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by Seamus at 2:33 PM on February 13, 2015
I wonder how many of the beers that have "survived" taste anything like they did in 1975.
posted by tommasz at 2:36 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 2:36 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
just about none, tommasz - they'll all become less hoppy, a little more sugary and a lot more icky
posted by pyramid termite at 2:37 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by pyramid termite at 2:37 PM on February 13, 2015
So if Bud is a solid B and Coors a B+, what I learned today was that beer was terrible in 1975
posted by thecjm at 2:37 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by thecjm at 2:37 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
the macguffin in Smokey and the Bandit was a trailer full of Coors yellowbellies
As Tom Scharpling has pointed out, not just Coors...warm Coors! They must have been pretty thirsty at the Southern Classic.
posted by Ian A.T. at 2:40 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
As Tom Scharpling has pointed out, not just Coors...warm Coors! They must have been pretty thirsty at the Southern Classic.
posted by Ian A.T. at 2:40 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Warm, highly agitated Coors. Once you open it, only a quarter of the can is left to drink.
posted by Seamus at 2:42 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by Seamus at 2:42 PM on February 13, 2015
I had remembered Heineken as being really good - a real treat, back there in high school -and I got some about 10 years ago and found it to be terrible. My beer drinking days are behind me now, so I can't do any more testing. Any other oldsters care to confirm or deny? Did we just think it was good because it was a novelty?
posted by thelonius at 2:43 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by thelonius at 2:43 PM on February 13, 2015
If you think 1975 was bad...
posted by strangely stunted trees at 2:45 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by strangely stunted trees at 2:45 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
"I drink wine/beer for reasons X, Y, and Z!. I don't drink them because of the impairing effects!"
I mean, yes, the intoxicating effects of sweet delicious booze is one of the nicest things about it, but otoh, if intoxication was the only thing I was looking for I'd just drink sterno.
posted by octobersurprise at 2:45 PM on February 13, 2015
I mean, yes, the intoxicating effects of sweet delicious booze is one of the nicest things about it, but otoh, if intoxication was the only thing I was looking for I'd just drink sterno.
posted by octobersurprise at 2:45 PM on February 13, 2015
My mom used to talk about Coors parties, where someone coming back east from the Rockies would load up their car or truck to capacity with that frost brewed goodness. A payphone call from some highway filling station would ensure a house full of friends upon arrival, when the fun would begin.
posted by stinkfoot at 2:49 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by stinkfoot at 2:49 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I remember going to the Coors brewery on a summer vacation and, as a kid from a family with relatives who worked for Anheuser Busch and who allowed kids to sip beer, was upset by the Kiddie Coors I was poured.
That shit was just spring water!
posted by Seamus at 2:52 PM on February 13, 2015
That shit was just spring water!
posted by Seamus at 2:52 PM on February 13, 2015
Yeah people thought Coors was a really, really, big deal. Wasn't the plot of "Smokey And The Bandit" about smuggling Coors?
posted by thelonius at 2:52 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 2:52 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
This had to have been the late '70s, so there was no excuse for them not serving me a real beer.
posted by Seamus at 2:52 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by Seamus at 2:52 PM on February 13, 2015
We'd rather drink Pearl, its local competition, but suggest that visitors to Texas look around for another fabled Texas beer we couldn't get hold of: Shiner.I love that I can get Shiner at any grocery store in Seattle these days, but when I was a kid there was no guarantee that my dad could find it in Galveston (Shiner, TX and Galveston being 60-90 minutes outside of Houston in not-quite-opposite directions). Shiner was what Dad bought for parties, when Pearl wouldn't do.
I should pick up some Shiner.
posted by five toed sloth at 2:54 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I just buy Oui for the beer reviews.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 3:00 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 3:00 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Pearl was always greener than Lone Star in the '90s. But it was cheaper and had rhebuses in the cap, so that's what I drank when looking for value.
Shiner has changed over time.
Still passable.
But if you want to freak people out, do a blindfolded taste test of Shiner Premium (formerly Shiner Blonde) and Shiner Bock. The mouth feel and flavor of the two are so similar that it shocks people when they take off the blindfold. People expect Shiner to be a thicker, more flavorful beer based on it's color alone.
(Last did this a decade ago . . . so . . . grain of salt.)
posted by Seamus at 3:00 PM on February 13, 2015
Shiner has changed over time.
Still passable.
But if you want to freak people out, do a blindfolded taste test of Shiner Premium (formerly Shiner Blonde) and Shiner Bock. The mouth feel and flavor of the two are so similar that it shocks people when they take off the blindfold. People expect Shiner to be a thicker, more flavorful beer based on it's color alone.
(Last did this a decade ago . . . so . . . grain of salt.)
posted by Seamus at 3:00 PM on February 13, 2015
Wasn't the plot of "Smokey And The Bandit" about smuggling Coors?
Thelonius, kind of.
posted by Roger Dodger at 3:04 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Thelonius, kind of.
posted by Roger Dodger at 3:04 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
i remember when coors was legendary in michigan and so, so hard to get - i also remember people telling me that stroh's was just as legendary out west
it was an incredible disappointment to me to buy a six-pack of coors in wyoming, only to discover it was weak and watery
by the way, stroh's was good - although what they're calling stroh's these days is kind of weak - but every november they came out with a limited release of bock beer that was very good, the first "real" beer i ever had
there was also weidemann (sp?) and altes - you could get a 12 pack of either in a cardboard box for under 5 bucks warm - (at that price, you weren't going to get it refrigerated!) - we'd leave it outside the car in the winter and by the 3rd beer it would be cold enough to drink ... kind of awful stuff but it had alcohol in it and it was cheap
i had an old ford maverick whose door socket was a perfect bottled beer opener - this was when detroit auto engineering had its priorities straight ...
posted by pyramid termite at 3:08 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
it was an incredible disappointment to me to buy a six-pack of coors in wyoming, only to discover it was weak and watery
by the way, stroh's was good - although what they're calling stroh's these days is kind of weak - but every november they came out with a limited release of bock beer that was very good, the first "real" beer i ever had
there was also weidemann (sp?) and altes - you could get a 12 pack of either in a cardboard box for under 5 bucks warm - (at that price, you weren't going to get it refrigerated!) - we'd leave it outside the car in the winter and by the 3rd beer it would be cold enough to drink ... kind of awful stuff but it had alcohol in it and it was cheap
i had an old ford maverick whose door socket was a perfect bottled beer opener - this was when detroit auto engineering had its priorities straight ...
posted by pyramid termite at 3:08 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I had remembered Heineken as being really good - a real treat, back there in high school -and I got some about 10 years ago and found it to be terrible. My beer drinking days are behind me now, so I can't do any more testing. Any other oldsters care to confirm or deny? Did we just think it was good because it was a novelty?
The euro lagers do tend to be a step above American lagers in that they generally don't use corn or rice adjuncts and are a bit more hoppy. I don't think a lack of adjuncts necessarily means better beer (strand me on an island and I'll take corn adjuncted Yuengling over Heineken) but to a palate that has never experienced all-malt beer you can bet they would be a revelation at the time. The difference is real.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:08 PM on February 13, 2015
The euro lagers do tend to be a step above American lagers in that they generally don't use corn or rice adjuncts and are a bit more hoppy. I don't think a lack of adjuncts necessarily means better beer (strand me on an island and I'll take corn adjuncted Yuengling over Heineken) but to a palate that has never experienced all-malt beer you can bet they would be a revelation at the time. The difference is real.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:08 PM on February 13, 2015
to a palate that has never experienced all-malt beer
I think, at that stage of my drinking career, my waster friends and I had tried Dunk's(!), Hamm's, Schaeffer, Budweiser, Miller, and Tuborg Gold. Maybe Schlitz.
posted by thelonius at 3:12 PM on February 13, 2015
I think, at that stage of my drinking career, my waster friends and I had tried Dunk's(!), Hamm's, Schaeffer, Budweiser, Miller, and Tuborg Gold. Maybe Schlitz.
posted by thelonius at 3:12 PM on February 13, 2015
I'm chuffed that I can't get Leinenkugels out West. In the late 90's you could pick up a sturdy cardboard case (I still have one) of 24 brown bottles for $10 in Iowa. Eminently drinkable stuff either with a meal or to just get drunk off of. No idea if their still any good, though.
(and a carton of American Sprits cost you a twenty, and some places you'd get change back)
posted by porpoise at 3:22 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
(and a carton of American Sprits cost you a twenty, and some places you'd get change back)
posted by porpoise at 3:22 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
So it's a Friday afternoon. I had mentally checked out of work, but still getting tasks done on autopilot. I was reading about beer on metafilter for a minute and getting thirsty. All of a sudden, KABOOM, a flash of light, and we're in the dark. A chorus of "what was that?" erupts and we all walk over to the window in time to see a second transformer explode and a power cable hanging down into the street. Fire department and police arrive quickly, cordon off the area. We get the OK from the boss to call it a week.
I am now at home before 4pm with beer. Probably better beer than what I read about today on metafilter. This is a pretty good day.
posted by Hoopo at 3:56 PM on February 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
I am now at home before 4pm with beer. Probably better beer than what I read about today on metafilter. This is a pretty good day.
posted by Hoopo at 3:56 PM on February 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
pyramid termite: "just about none, tommasz - they'll all become less hoppy, a little more sugary and a lot more icky"
I know the guy who works at AB and is the keeper of the samples going back to the 1940s. According to him, Bud hasn't changed appreciably since then.
(I still prefer other beers...)
posted by notsnot at 4:09 PM on February 13, 2015
I know the guy who works at AB and is the keeper of the samples going back to the 1940s. According to him, Bud hasn't changed appreciably since then.
(I still prefer other beers...)
posted by notsnot at 4:09 PM on February 13, 2015
I'm chuffed that I can't get Leinenkugels out West. In the late 90's you could pick up a sturdy cardboard case (I still have one) of 24 brown bottles for $10 in Iowa. Eminently drinkable stuff either with a meal or to just get drunk off of. No idea if their still any good, though.
(and a carton of American Sprits cost you a twenty, and some places you'd get change back)
Leinie's is still pretty good and relatively cheap, although the prices keep going up. The best thing about Leinenkugel's for a while there was the combination of dirt cheap and a ton of different styles. Really made it easy to get into different styles of beer as a college student. But now a six pack is maybe only a dollar cheaper than a six pack of Shiner or Boulevard which are both noticeable enough improvements to justify the extra buck.
Also Lienie's Summer Shandy became a big thing all of a sudden a few years ago, but I'm not really a shandy guy so I never get it... my pet theory with shandies blowing up is that the popularity and ubiquity of Blue Moon with a slice of orange in it really hooked people on the taste.
posted by jason_steakums at 4:13 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
(and a carton of American Sprits cost you a twenty, and some places you'd get change back)
Leinie's is still pretty good and relatively cheap, although the prices keep going up. The best thing about Leinenkugel's for a while there was the combination of dirt cheap and a ton of different styles. Really made it easy to get into different styles of beer as a college student. But now a six pack is maybe only a dollar cheaper than a six pack of Shiner or Boulevard which are both noticeable enough improvements to justify the extra buck.
Also Lienie's Summer Shandy became a big thing all of a sudden a few years ago, but I'm not really a shandy guy so I never get it... my pet theory with shandies blowing up is that the popularity and ubiquity of Blue Moon with a slice of orange in it really hooked people on the taste.
posted by jason_steakums at 4:13 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
He certainly could turn a nice phrase when he chose to, though:
This one was made in a brewery in New Jersey that Shopwell refused to name and told us was in Pennsylvania, doubtless for fear of reprisals. From the taste, we figure it's economical because it uses a lot of water and we daren't imagine what kind of grain. It's called "Premium" because words are cheap.posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:20 PM on February 13, 2015
I'll tell you another thing, their beer sucks.
posted by A dead Quaker at 4:22 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by A dead Quaker at 4:22 PM on February 13, 2015
but.. but.. no yeungling ? Man ...
No, the travesty is that there's no Iron City on that list. I mean, if we're going there. The first beer with a pull tab! It seems appropriate that the beer of Pittsburgh should be on the cutting edge of aluminum innovation.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it Black Label that had the little quotes on the pull tabs?
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 4:22 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
No, the travesty is that there's no Iron City on that list. I mean, if we're going there. The first beer with a pull tab! It seems appropriate that the beer of Pittsburgh should be on the cutting edge of aluminum innovation.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it Black Label that had the little quotes on the pull tabs?
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 4:22 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I, uh, can't remember....
posted by thelonius at 4:32 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 4:32 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Dixie used to be the great patriotic beer of New Orleans, last of the major local brands after Jax went under (and whose brewery is now a shopping mall). Dixie reorganized in the early 90's and cranked out a succession of popular specialties but their basic beer stayed a staple, available everywhere in southern Louisiana, until Katrina wrecked their brewery. You can still get the specialty brews like Blackened Voodoo which are brewed for them under contract, but the plain old "dix pack o' Sixie" is one of the casualties of the storm. It ain't dere no more.
posted by localroger at 4:49 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by localroger at 4:49 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh wow, when I was a kid in the late 70s my dad had some drinking buddies who would bring over Pearl in the bottle. I was OBSESSED with the rebus puzzles in the bottle caps. His friends would save the caps and give them to me at the end of the night. I used to beg my dad to buy more Pearl bottles, but he was a Budweiser man most of the time. By the early 80s we couldn't get Pearl in our part of NC anymore and also my father was a full blown alcoholic but man I still remember those rebus puzzles!
posted by little mouth at 5:08 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by little mouth at 5:08 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I know the guy who works at AB and is the keeper of the samples going back to the 1940s. According to him, Bud hasn't changed appreciably since then.
bud was always one of those beers i would tolerate when i wanted to drink and getting something else wasn't convenient or possible - but i would really, really want to drink these days to drink it
which is a long way of saying that i don't really know with bud - or miller, which i never liked at all
after i got off my mickey's kick, i was pretty much into stroh's and that isn't as good as it used to be and finding it is hard
i'm drinking a dark horse plead the 5th right now - THAT'S a BEER
posted by pyramid termite at 5:48 PM on February 13, 2015
bud was always one of those beers i would tolerate when i wanted to drink and getting something else wasn't convenient or possible - but i would really, really want to drink these days to drink it
which is a long way of saying that i don't really know with bud - or miller, which i never liked at all
after i got off my mickey's kick, i was pretty much into stroh's and that isn't as good as it used to be and finding it is hard
i'm drinking a dark horse plead the 5th right now - THAT'S a BEER
posted by pyramid termite at 5:48 PM on February 13, 2015
Someone tell me about Grain Belt, it seems to be the most well regarded surviving regional beer I have not tried. Am I missing anything?
posted by Drinky Die at 5:52 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Drinky Die at 5:52 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Grain Belt Premium tastes like banana pancakes. What else would you like to know?
posted by djseafood at 5:55 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by djseafood at 5:55 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Well I've tasted Well's Banana Bread Beer, is it still worth diving into banana tasting beer products?
posted by Drinky Die at 5:58 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by Drinky Die at 5:58 PM on February 13, 2015
Grain Belt Premium is actually tolerable, but if we're drinking Grain Belt, my friends and I prefer the Nordeast. They just came out with this '60s-70s retro packaging and it's absolutely perfect.
And they got bought out by Schells, which might explain the upsurge in quality.
posted by Sphinx at 6:00 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
And they got bought out by Schells, which might explain the upsurge in quality.
posted by Sphinx at 6:00 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm going to go ahead and assume Lowenbrau has changed A LOT since 1975
and Beck's - that or Americans were alarmingly ill-prepared for beer tasting back then.
posted by atoxyl at 6:04 PM on February 13, 2015
and Beck's - that or Americans were alarmingly ill-prepared for beer tasting back then.
posted by atoxyl at 6:04 PM on February 13, 2015
Before I was a winemaker, I thought that I knew what wine and beer tasted like. Then it turned out that I knew what wine and beer tasted like when you put it in your mouth and swallowed it quickly. And, once you've spent a week aerating every mouthful, thinking, spitting, thinking some more and making notes on whether this particular barrel is one of the few hundred that will make it into the final blend, you suddenly realise the place that the retronasal cavity has in flavour. Which is everything. Your tongue exists to help you eat, do basic detection and impress sexual partners. Without involving your nose, nothing has any real flavour at all.
There is no going back. Once you know how to taste liquids, you're probably always going to swirl, sniff, sip, suck, spit/swallow and pontificate. This isn't to say that you don't drink beers and wines that people might stick their noses up at but it does mean that you know when you're doing it.
Cheap mass-produced beer is a poorly flavoured alcohol delivery system that is designed to be neutrally pleasant when drunk in the way that we drink cheap mass-produced beer. Craft beer is a totally different animal and usually rewards the detailed tasting experience. Understanding and liking them for what they are isn't snobbery, it's being aware of your senses. Mass-produced wine can be completely pleasant but it won't have the range and nuance of smaller production because that's not how it's made. But it will be the same every time, like large-scale beer. Some people like that and, as an ex-producer of alcohol, it's not my place to be the fun police or tell people what they like. It was my job to make stuff that people enjoyed based on how they would probably drink it so we made bright, short-lifespan, instantly drinkable wine for the people who wanted it and expensive, highly involved, beautifully nuanced and seasonally variable wine for people who wanted that and felt like cellaring it. And we charged accordingly.
Drinking mass-produced anything and finding it wanting for being mass-produced is just crazy. That said, Pabst Blue Ribbon, what the hell?
posted by nfalkner at 6:05 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
There is no going back. Once you know how to taste liquids, you're probably always going to swirl, sniff, sip, suck, spit/swallow and pontificate. This isn't to say that you don't drink beers and wines that people might stick their noses up at but it does mean that you know when you're doing it.
Cheap mass-produced beer is a poorly flavoured alcohol delivery system that is designed to be neutrally pleasant when drunk in the way that we drink cheap mass-produced beer. Craft beer is a totally different animal and usually rewards the detailed tasting experience. Understanding and liking them for what they are isn't snobbery, it's being aware of your senses. Mass-produced wine can be completely pleasant but it won't have the range and nuance of smaller production because that's not how it's made. But it will be the same every time, like large-scale beer. Some people like that and, as an ex-producer of alcohol, it's not my place to be the fun police or tell people what they like. It was my job to make stuff that people enjoyed based on how they would probably drink it so we made bright, short-lifespan, instantly drinkable wine for the people who wanted it and expensive, highly involved, beautifully nuanced and seasonally variable wine for people who wanted that and felt like cellaring it. And we charged accordingly.
Drinking mass-produced anything and finding it wanting for being mass-produced is just crazy. That said, Pabst Blue Ribbon, what the hell?
posted by nfalkner at 6:05 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Understanding and liking them for what they are isn't snobbery
Oh, of course not. There's just a 'way' in which 'we' drink 'cheap', 'mass-produced' beer.
Say, friend, could you define 'mass produced' for me? Seems like an important threshold. How many litres, exactly? Is, say, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel 'mass produced'? I need to know, because I really like it, but I guess I'd be wrong if they make too much of it.
And how about 'cheap'? Because a bag of Maris Otter is a bag of Maris Otter, but if that guy buys a thousand bags and gets a good deal, his beer will be heaps cheaper than mine. Ditto if he has a big computer-controlled setup that gets wicked efficiency. I guess that makes it bad, right?
Alternatively, if you mean you don't like American light lagers, maybe just say that without the loaded, irrelevant language like 'cheap' and 'mass produced', as though barley was ever expensive, achieving economies of scale through large purchases of raw materials is immoral, and increasing mash tun size somehow automatically results in a decline in quality.
Because you know what I'd take over some of the infected, grossly unbalanced, overpriced slop in a twee pint glass with a cool logo on it a lot of craft breweries churn out for an over-eager public for whom IBUs and poorly-considered flavour additions are king? A Bud.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 6:37 PM on February 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
Oh, of course not. There's just a 'way' in which 'we' drink 'cheap', 'mass-produced' beer.
Say, friend, could you define 'mass produced' for me? Seems like an important threshold. How many litres, exactly? Is, say, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel 'mass produced'? I need to know, because I really like it, but I guess I'd be wrong if they make too much of it.
And how about 'cheap'? Because a bag of Maris Otter is a bag of Maris Otter, but if that guy buys a thousand bags and gets a good deal, his beer will be heaps cheaper than mine. Ditto if he has a big computer-controlled setup that gets wicked efficiency. I guess that makes it bad, right?
Alternatively, if you mean you don't like American light lagers, maybe just say that without the loaded, irrelevant language like 'cheap' and 'mass produced', as though barley was ever expensive, achieving economies of scale through large purchases of raw materials is immoral, and increasing mash tun size somehow automatically results in a decline in quality.
Because you know what I'd take over some of the infected, grossly unbalanced, overpriced slop in a twee pint glass with a cool logo on it a lot of craft breweries churn out for an over-eager public for whom IBUs and poorly-considered flavour additions are king? A Bud.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 6:37 PM on February 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
I had remembered Heineken as being really good - a real treat, back there in high school -and I got some about 10 years ago and found it to be terrible. My beer drinking days are behind me now, so I can't do any more testing. Any other oldsters care to confirm or deny? Did we just think it was good because it was a novelty?
Heineken is a very drinkable but extremely boring beer. I would almost go so far as to say that if you actively dislike Heineken, you probably don't much like beer (or at least lager).
That said, I too remember a time in the early/mid 90s when I thought that Heineken was a revelation as compared to the Molson Canadian, Labatt Blue, and Miller High Life I had previously been drinking. On the one hand, I still do think that it is better than those three beers (especially the first two) and the main problem was that I had never had a really good beer.
On the other hand, I think that it's taste was being very heavily augmented by the knowledge that it was real beer from Europe. Heineken doesn't taste nearly as good to me now as it did then and (though I have heard there was a small recipe change in the last five years) I really think the primary factor is just one of expanded horizons and altered expectations.
posted by 256 at 6:52 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Heineken is a very drinkable but extremely boring beer. I would almost go so far as to say that if you actively dislike Heineken, you probably don't much like beer (or at least lager).
That said, I too remember a time in the early/mid 90s when I thought that Heineken was a revelation as compared to the Molson Canadian, Labatt Blue, and Miller High Life I had previously been drinking. On the one hand, I still do think that it is better than those three beers (especially the first two) and the main problem was that I had never had a really good beer.
On the other hand, I think that it's taste was being very heavily augmented by the knowledge that it was real beer from Europe. Heineken doesn't taste nearly as good to me now as it did then and (though I have heard there was a small recipe change in the last five years) I really think the primary factor is just one of expanded horizons and altered expectations.
posted by 256 at 6:52 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I was a beer drinker back in those daze. The take amongst cohorts was:
Coors was the best, but only when ice cold. And since they shipped and stored refrigerated, that seemed to do...something.
Bud was awful. It always had a kind of "wood" taste...
We used to call Grain Belt "Poison Beer" because it was the cheapest stuff in the stores, but tasted...yuck. Even if you got the long necks!
Heineken was kinda horrible for the import price. But in Europe, it was a revelation! We couldn't figure out why it was so poor in the USA. Then found out later that all American beer (and imports) had to be Pasteurized (boiled). That ruined the taste of many beers....
Is this still the case with Pasteurization?
posted by CrowGoat at 7:09 PM on February 13, 2015
Coors was the best, but only when ice cold. And since they shipped and stored refrigerated, that seemed to do...something.
Bud was awful. It always had a kind of "wood" taste...
We used to call Grain Belt "Poison Beer" because it was the cheapest stuff in the stores, but tasted...yuck. Even if you got the long necks!
Heineken was kinda horrible for the import price. But in Europe, it was a revelation! We couldn't figure out why it was so poor in the USA. Then found out later that all American beer (and imports) had to be Pasteurized (boiled). That ruined the taste of many beers....
Is this still the case with Pasteurization?
posted by CrowGoat at 7:09 PM on February 13, 2015
I would almost go so far as to say that if you actively dislike Heineken, you probably don't much like beer
Well, that wasn't my problem :)
posted by thelonius at 7:48 PM on February 13, 2015
Well, that wasn't my problem :)
posted by thelonius at 7:48 PM on February 13, 2015
Pasteurization isn't required, but most brewers who ship outside of a local area do it to make a more predictable and longer-lasting product (and prevent the occasional explosion from a continuing fermentation).
Back in the day only bottles and cans were pasteurized because flash pasteurization hadn't yet become a widely used practice in the U.S. (Maybe why keg beer was thought to taste better?) Nowadays most beer with big distribution in the U.S. is flash pasteurized, kegs included.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:51 PM on February 13, 2015
Back in the day only bottles and cans were pasteurized because flash pasteurization hadn't yet become a widely used practice in the U.S. (Maybe why keg beer was thought to taste better?) Nowadays most beer with big distribution in the U.S. is flash pasteurized, kegs included.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:51 PM on February 13, 2015
Hmm yes Carlsberg on tap outside the U.S. is a passably tasty pub staple but in cans back in the states...not so much. Same with Hoegaardens.
posted by Doleful Creature at 7:53 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by Doleful Creature at 7:53 PM on February 13, 2015
No, the travesty is that there's no Iron City on that list. I mean, if we're going there. The first beer with a pull tab! It seems appropriate that the beer of Pittsburgh should be on the cutting edge of aluminum innovation.
Maybe because it's pretty close to undrinkable. I love my city but man that's a nasty headache in a bottle.
posted by octothorpe at 8:19 PM on February 13, 2015
Maybe because it's pretty close to undrinkable. I love my city but man that's a nasty headache in a bottle.
posted by octothorpe at 8:19 PM on February 13, 2015
The best intersection of good and cheap for me lately has, weirdly, been the store-brand beer of a grocery store - Baraboo Brewing Company, house brand for Hy-Vee. They mark it down like crazy all the time (I was getting $6 six packs for a while) and it's surprisingly good.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:01 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by jason_steakums at 9:01 PM on February 13, 2015
What's interesting about that piece is that it shows, in spite of some of the mythology, that regional breweries were still active in the years before Sierra Nevada Pale, even if they were making pale lager, and that there were practical limits on distribution. That said, there's very little in that list from the southeast: Schlitz in Winston-Salem (a satellite brewery) and Dixie in Louisiana. The Deep South was not making much beer, because Jesus would disapprove.
as though barley was ever expensive
Indeed. Beer: industrial product made at scale with cheap inputs, good process control and good quality control.
posted by holgate at 9:33 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
as though barley was ever expensive
Indeed. Beer: industrial product made at scale with cheap inputs, good process control and good quality control.
posted by holgate at 9:33 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I had remembered Heineken as being really good - a real treat, back there in high school -and I got some about 10 years ago and found it to be terrible. My beer drinking days are behind me now, so I can't do any more testing. Any other oldsters care to confirm or deny? Did we just think it was good because it was a novelty?
I've actually been enjoying Heineken a fair amount lately, because my local beer store has the stuff in tallboy cans for fairly cheap (same price as an equivalent amount of Pabst or High Life, for some reason). It turns out that when it's not put in skunkifying-but-fashionable green bottles, it's a pretty good lager.
I have no idea why anybody ever thought packaging imports in green bottles was a good idea. I used to turn my nose up at skunky-green-bottle beer Pilsner Urquell, too -- until I tried it canned and discovered that it's actually magically, refreshingly delicious. It's now one of my favorite beers of any style.
(drinks some HopSlam directly from the bottle because fuck the police)
posted by neckro23 at 10:19 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I've actually been enjoying Heineken a fair amount lately, because my local beer store has the stuff in tallboy cans for fairly cheap (same price as an equivalent amount of Pabst or High Life, for some reason). It turns out that when it's not put in skunkifying-but-fashionable green bottles, it's a pretty good lager.
I have no idea why anybody ever thought packaging imports in green bottles was a good idea. I used to turn my nose up at skunky-green-bottle beer Pilsner Urquell, too -- until I tried it canned and discovered that it's actually magically, refreshingly delicious. It's now one of my favorite beers of any style.
(drinks some HopSlam directly from the bottle because fuck the police)
posted by neckro23 at 10:19 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
After that many beers, you'd have to Oui, too.
posted by not_on_display at 10:40 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by not_on_display at 10:40 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Heineken is a very drinkable but extremely boring beer. I would almost go so far as to say that if you actively dislike Heineken, you probably don't much like beer (or at least lager).
Like Neckro says, it comes skunky in the bottles, though not as much as something like Corona. Some people like that taste but come on.
posted by atoxyl at 11:51 PM on February 13, 2015
Like Neckro says, it comes skunky in the bottles, though not as much as something like Corona. Some people like that taste but come on.
posted by atoxyl at 11:51 PM on February 13, 2015
It turns out that when it's not put in skunkifying-but-fashionable green bottles, it's a pretty good lager.
The 12oz keg cans were the best Heineken delivery system, I have no idea why they discontinued them.
As a aside, all of my Cambodian relatives will only drink Heineken, Hennessy, or snake wine. (I get along well with them.) Putting Heineken on a pedestal isn't only an American thing.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:25 AM on February 14, 2015
The 12oz keg cans were the best Heineken delivery system, I have no idea why they discontinued them.
As a aside, all of my Cambodian relatives will only drink Heineken, Hennessy, or snake wine. (I get along well with them.) Putting Heineken on a pedestal isn't only an American thing.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:25 AM on February 14, 2015
1975 and no mention of Little Kings? For shame! My high school practically ran on LK.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:05 AM on February 14, 2015
posted by Thorzdad at 6:05 AM on February 14, 2015
Many major brewers have moved from whole hops/hop pellets to hop extracts/synthetic hop flavors because they are easier to use consistently and because they don't skunk when in contact with light. Most big brewers that use green and clear glass these days use them.
But, the clearer the glass and the longer the beer takes to ship from production location to consumption location, the less likely you are to have a product similar to one tasted in the region where it is produced. For this reason many companies contract brew their beers rather than export. Then you have to worry about their QC processes and the quality of the contract brewer. Sometimes it's just easier to support a local brewer or purchase a tall boy of macro beer than to worry about the whole damn supply chain.
Imagine the supply chain differences between now and when Christgau wrote this.
I shared this with my brother (poor bastard lives in CO) and his response was "Christ, Christgau can't even get beer right."
posted by Seamus at 8:18 AM on February 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
But, the clearer the glass and the longer the beer takes to ship from production location to consumption location, the less likely you are to have a product similar to one tasted in the region where it is produced. For this reason many companies contract brew their beers rather than export. Then you have to worry about their QC processes and the quality of the contract brewer. Sometimes it's just easier to support a local brewer or purchase a tall boy of macro beer than to worry about the whole damn supply chain.
Imagine the supply chain differences between now and when Christgau wrote this.
I shared this with my brother (poor bastard lives in CO) and his response was "Christ, Christgau can't even get beer right."
posted by Seamus at 8:18 AM on February 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
And those Heieneken keg cans were coveted by the penny alcohol stove crowd for being the best cans with which to build. I don't think I ever drank one. But the word on all of those lists was that the beer inside was better than any other Heine.
posted by Seamus at 8:20 AM on February 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Seamus at 8:20 AM on February 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I know the guy who works at AB and is the keeper of the samples going back to the 1940s. According to him, Bud hasn't changed appreciably since then.
According to the Wall Street Journal:
Anheuser concedes Budweiser has changed over the years. It quietly tinkered with its formula to make the beer less bitter and pungent, say several former brewmasters, a byproduct of the company's desire to create a beer for the Everyman.
posted by sixpack at 12:54 PM on February 15, 2015
According to the Wall Street Journal:
Anheuser concedes Budweiser has changed over the years. It quietly tinkered with its formula to make the beer less bitter and pungent, say several former brewmasters, a byproduct of the company's desire to create a beer for the Everyman.
posted by sixpack at 12:54 PM on February 15, 2015
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Ah, Natty Boh. The beer of Baltimore MD.
posted by josher71 at 1:25 PM on February 13, 2015 [5 favorites]