Beer in US and UK

November 17, 2002 4:47 AM

Is Bottled Beer Taking Over The World? This Oxford-based search machine has got to be the most international and complete on the web. But only a few years ago, in most styles of beer, it was considered a poor alternative to draught and cask-conditioned ales. Now it looks like globalization and the boho culture are bringing the bottle (and the can) back. Or perhaps there's not that much of a difference? It's only beer, after all. [Sunday flash supplement: Al Yankovic's beer song and something called "Titties and Beer".]
posted by Carlos Quevedo (30 comments total)

Beer in cans makes the baby jesus cry. My ol' step-daddy told me so.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:54 AM on November 17, 2002

It may be the "most international and complete on the web," but it isn' terribly complete, or international. It found no results for 4 out of the first 6 beers I searched for, and only listed 6 beers from Austria, 2 from China, 4 from Mexico and 0 from Mongolia.

Interesting find, nonetheless - some very detailed descriptions to be found there...
posted by syzygy at 5:10 AM on November 17, 2002

Search: korean

No matches found.

Yeah, that'd be right.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:13 AM on November 17, 2002

Great post. Cheers.
posted by ginz at 5:17 AM on November 17, 2002

Only 11 beers from Canada eh? Hmm... anyway, while there are places in my town that go for the many international bottles thing, I think there are actually more and more that are stocking interesting local draught, a few even with the whole cask-conditioned, hand-pumped deal. One of the more popular breweries that does real ale here is Wellington.
posted by transient at 6:04 AM on November 17, 2002

The link I gave to Michael Jackson's website also provides a beer search, which is probably more complete than the Oxford one, but not as systematic. I found 21 for Mexico, 26 for Canada and 3 for Korea. The problem is that the references are buried in general articles which, though interesting, are not as quick and direct. Jackson, also well-known for his whisky and whiskey knowledge, must be the one person to have tasted more beers in the history of the universe! His Canadian competitor Stephen Beaumont's findings are mostly in books, though his website has a lot of good stuff.
posted by Carlos Quevedo at 6:30 AM on November 17, 2002

Mr. Carrington has nothing on FZ when it comes to songs about titties and beer.
posted by TedW at 6:36 AM on November 17, 2002

Hmm, I have that song listed as being by 'They Might Be Giants' - of course it could be wrong tho..
posted by Orange Goblin at 6:41 AM on November 17, 2002

Thanks Carlos! The best beer I ever had was served up fresh in Prague. And as far as cans go, I second the sentiment so eloquently stated by stavrosthewonderchicken. In a word, blech.

How well do you know your beer? Name that beer bottle.
posted by madamjujujive at 7:25 AM on November 17, 2002

Search for Bubba Whoop Ass Wilson's Beer Song on your favorite file sharing network.
posted by Eyegore at 8:31 AM on November 17, 2002

or don't, and save yourself 3 minutes of your life (+ time to download)
posted by ejoey at 8:55 AM on November 17, 2002

"It's only beer, after all." What?! "only beer"? Heretic!
(Seriously though, great post.)
posted by Mark Doner at 8:59 AM on November 17, 2002

Only beer? ONLY BEER? Curse you, you heathen dog!

Um. 11 Canadian beers? What a terrible database. There's at least a dozen variety of beer being made in my town -- not city, but a town -- alone. There's another dozen or so being made in the city just south of us, too. These are beer sold across at least Western Canada, and possibly all of Canada.

I can name at least seven breweries in BC, all making damn fine beer; that's at least a hundred different types/labels, ranging from cheap-ass mass-manufactured shite to excellent microbrew.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:11 AM on November 17, 2002

Beers that have widgets in the can are actually pretty decent, they don't seem too common in the US though.
posted by zeoslap at 9:36 AM on November 17, 2002

Beers that have widgets in the can are actually pretty decent...

I agree. Have you tasted Guinness in a bottle yet? *Shudder*
posted by machaus at 9:51 AM on November 17, 2002

The only beer I prefer in a can (I don't drink Guiness) is Tecate. Cracking open a can, stuffing in a small lime wedge and sipping back--mmm. The tinge of aluminum taste does that beer good.
posted by brittney at 10:15 AM on November 17, 2002

Ha! The old 'they suck 'cause they don't have some obscure beer I know about' dis. Whouda thunk this post would have brought that on?
posted by HTuttle at 10:54 AM on November 17, 2002

Guinness in a can *shudder* or in general for that matter
posted by Orange Goblin at 11:07 AM on November 17, 2002

Search: korean ... No matches found.

It's a beer search engine. What is it doing looking for matches?
posted by kindall at 11:27 AM on November 17, 2002

*ba-da-boom*
posted by wackybrit at 12:08 PM on November 17, 2002

Yeah, a little tin probably does improve teh taste of Tecate :)
posted by Space Coyote at 12:25 PM on November 17, 2002

It costs more to produce beer with cans than bottles despite often seeing cheaper beers in cans. This is why microbrewers use bottles its cheaper they can't afford canning. The large can-based brewers get economies of scale and distribution supply line saveings by using cans.
posted by stbalbach at 12:48 PM on November 17, 2002

Serendipity: I just found a very good Belgian and Dutch beers database when I clicked through to Morphic's post, just 2 posts up. Not only that: Ray Givran's wonderful Apothecary's Drawer also links to the Oxford Bottled Beer search engine. Since he's also a Metafilter user, perhaps he could contribute a link that also mentioned Argentinian beers (not that they're any good)...
posted by Carlos Quevedo at 12:49 PM on November 17, 2002

Tedw: so right my friend. Haven't heard Zappa's rendition in a long time. The crap on that link made me weep.
posted by ziklagz at 1:44 PM on November 17, 2002

No results for delicious Harp, which is just a crime really. I would really like to try the Anheuser-Busch "Irish" Beer though (with quotations like that it can't be anything less than interesting)
posted by Celery at 1:49 PM on November 17, 2002

Hmm, I have that song listed as being by 'They Might Be Giants' - of course it could be wrong tho..

Heh. Very wrong. As noted here, it's actually from the South Park guys. It's often miscredited to "quirky" bands. But any fan'll tell you, Weird Al or (especially) TMBG would never do a song like that.
posted by katieinshoes at 8:33 PM on November 17, 2002

I can name at least seven breweries in BC, all making damn fine beer; that's at least a hundred different types/labels, ranging from cheap-ass mass-manufactured shite to excellent microbrew.

I don't think you will ever get a definitive list especially of the microbrew as some of these change constantly and also only the microbreweries brew some varieties for a short time only or a special occasion. Personally I don't much care to know about the mass-manufactured shite - too many chemicals/additives.

But a good site for starting to get a list together. Has potential for ultimate travel companion - I can almost feel a challenge coming on for my next trip.
posted by roobarb at 5:41 AM on November 18, 2002

I never understood the appeal of draft beer. It always tastes flat and watery compared to the bottled equivalents; I suppose I'm a philistine.

And, beer doesn't come in cans. After they put it in a can it's no longer beer by any civilized definition of the word.
posted by IshmaelGraves at 7:36 AM on November 18, 2002

I wouldn't expect the microbrews to make the list, but brands like Okanagan Springs, Sleemans, Big Rock, Granville, Tree, and such should be there. They're all well-established breweries with committed product lines.

If you ever are lucky enough, try Nelson After Dark. It's a great Guiness-like brew. Mmmmm.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:53 AM on November 18, 2002

So, does this endorsement jeopardize her amateur status?
posted by moses at 1:26 PM on November 18, 2002