In praise of Budweiser
May 12, 2007 11:16 PM Subscribe
In praise of Budweiser, in which Daniel Davies defends Budweiser, claiming that it is in the right in it's copyright fight with the Czech brewer Budvar and that the rice in Bud is not a modern cost cutting development but is an essential ingredient in brewing an American pilsner. Worth reading whatever your view on Budweiser is for the brutal attack on the Welsh town of Wrexham in the footnotes.
history has shown that when the Germans get keen on “purity” it is not always a wholly positive development
He just had to bring up the Nazis.
posted by stavrogin at 11:24 PM on May 12, 2007
He just had to bring up the Nazis.
posted by stavrogin at 11:24 PM on May 12, 2007
"In praise of Budweiser"?
What next, "in praise of Count Chocula"?
posted by telstar at 11:27 PM on May 12, 2007 [7 favorites]
What next, "in praise of Count Chocula"?
posted by telstar at 11:27 PM on May 12, 2007 [7 favorites]
Well-written insanity (especially the footnotes) and I agree with most of it. Except for the part about Budweiser not tasting like piss.
posted by mmoncur at 11:40 PM on May 12, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by mmoncur at 11:40 PM on May 12, 2007 [1 favorite]
There was an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal in the past year or so on how Anheuser-Busch so, so carefully tinkers with Bud's taste and mouthfeel. In the last 50 years or so, they succeeded in transforming it into the liquid version of Wonder Bread, but supposedly in the last couple of years they've turned up the taste incrementally, as beer-drinkers even on a mass level have gravitated toward stronger-flavored microbrews, etc. Interestingly, the goal was to reduce, uh, palate fatigue, I think it was called--that point where you say to yourself, "Hmm, I just don't feel like drinking another beer right now." (Yes, this does happen in real life.) So the less taste Bud has, the more Buds you might drink before you reach that point.
Anyway, my two favorite facts from that article: 1. Anheuser-Busch has cans of Bud going back decades stored in deep deep freeze, so that it's possible to judge today's product against, say, a 1964 model. 2. How do you measure taste fatigue in a scientific-like fashion? Simple. You rent a bar for an evening, invite a crowd, and offer them all the free beer they can drink. When do people say no thanks? That's your baseline for whatever beer you're currently testing. Brilliant.
Ah, here it is.
posted by chinston at 11:41 PM on May 12, 2007 [2 favorites]
Anyway, my two favorite facts from that article: 1. Anheuser-Busch has cans of Bud going back decades stored in deep deep freeze, so that it's possible to judge today's product against, say, a 1964 model. 2. How do you measure taste fatigue in a scientific-like fashion? Simple. You rent a bar for an evening, invite a crowd, and offer them all the free beer they can drink. When do people say no thanks? That's your baseline for whatever beer you're currently testing. Brilliant.
Ah, here it is.
posted by chinston at 11:41 PM on May 12, 2007 [2 favorites]
I like Budweiser. There is nothing quite so good on a hot summer day in America as drinking a Budweiser, sitting out on the back lawn, grilling burgers and hot dogs.
A lot of people agree with me.
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:44 PM on May 12, 2007 [2 favorites]
A lot of people agree with me.
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:44 PM on May 12, 2007 [2 favorites]
201. Fucking Clydesdales need to go on a diet, and stop using hair extensions.
posted by rob511 at 11:45 PM on May 12, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by rob511 at 11:45 PM on May 12, 2007 [1 favorite]
Go mow your grass during a hot Florida summer and then tell me a cold Bud doesn't taste incredible.
posted by photoslob at 11:56 PM on May 12, 2007
posted by photoslob at 11:56 PM on May 12, 2007
I have no problem with Budweiser except that it has virtually no taste - it entirely lacks the slightly bitter edge that makes good lagers so refreshing.
Of course lots of people like it. But only in the way that KFC is more popular than properly reared chicken and starbucks is more popular than real Italian espresso. Pander to the lowest common denominator and, especially in the US, you'll rarely fail.
posted by rhymer at 11:57 PM on May 12, 2007
Of course lots of people like it. But only in the way that KFC is more popular than properly reared chicken and starbucks is more popular than real Italian espresso. Pander to the lowest common denominator and, especially in the US, you'll rarely fail.
posted by rhymer at 11:57 PM on May 12, 2007
His comments about Wrexham were so bang on the nail that I was completely convinced until I read this:
"Mick Hucknall is an excellent songwriter and Simply Red stand up very well as one of the best soul bands of the last thirty years."
The man is clearly a professional troll.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:02 AM on May 13, 2007
"Mick Hucknall is an excellent songwriter and Simply Red stand up very well as one of the best soul bands of the last thirty years."
The man is clearly a professional troll.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:02 AM on May 13, 2007
My understanding, and this may be Urban Legend, was that the rice was added during Prohibition because the Feds were tracking barley sales and shipments. It also happened to be cheaper, so after Prohibition was lifted, so they stuck with it.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 12:03 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by Senor Cardgage at 12:03 AM on May 13, 2007
Go mow your grass during a hot Florida summer and then tell me a cold Bud doesn't taste incredible.
I agree 100%. A cold Czech Bud under those exact circumstances would taste incredible.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:06 AM on May 13, 2007
I agree 100%. A cold Czech Bud under those exact circumstances would taste incredible.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:06 AM on May 13, 2007
One can praise the merits of Bud.
It's similar to extolling the works of Phil Collins while axe murdering.
posted by jouke at 12:06 AM on May 13, 2007 [5 favorites]
It's similar to extolling the works of Phil Collins while axe murdering.
posted by jouke at 12:06 AM on May 13, 2007 [5 favorites]
I like Pillsner Urquell better, though, flapjax. Fine bitter taste.
posted by jouke at 12:07 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by jouke at 12:07 AM on May 13, 2007
I've tasted Bud, and it's crap. That is all.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 12:22 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 12:22 AM on May 13, 2007
The man is clearly a professional troll.
Now now, I think it's going a bit far to call him a professional troll. He's at most a semi-professional troll. And perfectly brilliant at it.
(And he may well have convinced me to try Budweiser some time.)
posted by moss at 12:25 AM on May 13, 2007
Now now, I think it's going a bit far to call him a professional troll. He's at most a semi-professional troll. And perfectly brilliant at it.
(And he may well have convinced me to try Budweiser some time.)
posted by moss at 12:25 AM on May 13, 2007
People who "enjoy" Budweiser do so by ignoring taste and clinging to some abstract notion that they're participating in some grand American 'thing.'
On the other hand, those who like a common, American beer which happens to taste very good on a break from your job drywalling (this has been tested personally) or after mowing your lawn or during a barbecue or some such, and which happens to have the benefit of not tasting like piss, tend to drink Miller, or, in weeks when the paycheck happens to be larger than usual, Miller High Life.
posted by koeselitz at 12:28 AM on May 13, 2007 [4 favorites]
On the other hand, those who like a common, American beer which happens to taste very good on a break from your job drywalling (this has been tested personally) or after mowing your lawn or during a barbecue or some such, and which happens to have the benefit of not tasting like piss, tend to drink Miller, or, in weeks when the paycheck happens to be larger than usual, Miller High Life.
posted by koeselitz at 12:28 AM on May 13, 2007 [4 favorites]
I'm not a wine drinker. I can not really appreciate the difference between a bottle of two buck chuck and something that costs 50 times as much. Nevertheless, while I will mock the super pretentious wine snobs who really seem to be making shit up half the time, I will not pretend that Charles Shaw is as good as a high-quality $50 bottle of wine. To do so would be ridiculous and insulting to those who truly appreciate good wine.
Likewise, while it is reasonable for the author to acknowledge that he does not appreciate good beer, or even that some beer snobs aren't much better than the worst wine snobs, to dismiss the very real differences--in both quality and flavor--between different kinds of beer is really stupid. Maybe you don't like a well-made heavy, hoppy IPA, but to argue that it's no better than a Budweiser won't really fly with someone who legitimately appreciates beer. To say that it's no different is wrong, as is clear to anyone who's tried both.
Anti-pretension is the new pretension, apparently.
Oh yeah, and Budweiser really fucking sucks.
posted by leo woodward at 12:32 AM on May 13, 2007 [6 favorites]
Likewise, while it is reasonable for the author to acknowledge that he does not appreciate good beer, or even that some beer snobs aren't much better than the worst wine snobs, to dismiss the very real differences--in both quality and flavor--between different kinds of beer is really stupid. Maybe you don't like a well-made heavy, hoppy IPA, but to argue that it's no better than a Budweiser won't really fly with someone who legitimately appreciates beer. To say that it's no different is wrong, as is clear to anyone who's tried both.
Anti-pretension is the new pretension, apparently.
Oh yeah, and Budweiser really fucking sucks.
posted by leo woodward at 12:32 AM on May 13, 2007 [6 favorites]
A Bud is a beer, like a cup of burnt tar from Starbucks is coffee.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:44 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:44 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
"Beer as it is drunk today is a product of the Industrial Revolution; it was arguably the first recognisably modern industry."
I always thought, with the coal and the shopgirls and the robber barons and all, the Industrial Revolution was rather a bad thing.
But if the alternative to the Industrial Revolution is enjoying a microbrew instead of writhing on the ground with a migraine headache because I've had two cans of chemically-adulterated Budweiser, hey. J.P. Morgan, you've got my digits. Send me a telegraph sometime.
posted by freshwater_pr0n at 12:45 AM on May 13, 2007
I always thought, with the coal and the shopgirls and the robber barons and all, the Industrial Revolution was rather a bad thing.
But if the alternative to the Industrial Revolution is enjoying a microbrew instead of writhing on the ground with a migraine headache because I've had two cans of chemically-adulterated Budweiser, hey. J.P. Morgan, you've got my digits. Send me a telegraph sometime.
posted by freshwater_pr0n at 12:45 AM on May 13, 2007
Budweiser is not “full of chemicals”. It does not comply with the German “Purity Law”, but this is because it has a non-barley grain in it (rice). The Rheinheitsgebot is a stupid law in any case, and was originally passed not to safeguard the sacred purity of German fluids (a concept that ought to be regarded as suspicious in its own right, as history has shown that when the Germans get keen on “purity” it is not always a wholly positive development)
Why the hell would I bother reading anything by someone who goodwins over fucking beer.
posted by delmoi at 12:50 AM on May 13, 2007 [3 favorites]
Why the hell would I bother reading anything by someone who goodwins over fucking beer.
posted by delmoi at 12:50 AM on May 13, 2007 [3 favorites]
Anti-pretension is the new pretension, apparently.
And thus the revival of PBR, Schlitz, and Miller High Life among West Coast hipsters.
Maybe Rainier will come back soon, too.
posted by dw at 12:50 AM on May 13, 2007
And thus the revival of PBR, Schlitz, and Miller High Life among West Coast hipsters.
Maybe Rainier will come back soon, too.
posted by dw at 12:50 AM on May 13, 2007
Unfortunately, we get the PBR crowd here on the East coast, too.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:54 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:54 AM on May 13, 2007
Budweiser - we pass it through a horse to give it that unique taste
posted by caddis at 12:58 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by caddis at 12:58 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
The PBR thing is alive and well in Madison, WI.
(anti) Pretension exists between the coasts, too.
posted by rsanheim at 12:59 AM on May 13, 2007
(anti) Pretension exists between the coasts, too.
posted by rsanheim at 12:59 AM on May 13, 2007
Copyright in the right or not, there's no denying that American Budweiser is to Czech Budweiser as Kenny G is to John Coltrane.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:23 AM on May 13
well, its not that extreme; at least its still beer
posted by caddis at 12:59 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:23 AM on May 13
well, its not that extreme; at least its still beer
posted by caddis at 12:59 AM on May 13, 2007
The media capital of North Wales would of course be Caernarfon...
Cob Records in Porthmadog, surely.
posted by Abiezer at 1:00 AM on May 13, 2007
Cob Records in Porthmadog, surely.
posted by Abiezer at 1:00 AM on May 13, 2007
Also, one of my regrets about the real ale revival is how hard it is to get a good, weak cask-conditioned beer in many puns these days. People seem to like the really heavy treacly ales.
posted by Abiezer at 1:03 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Abiezer at 1:03 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
My beer defines me. My beer belly defies me.
posted by srboisvert at 1:15 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by srboisvert at 1:15 AM on May 13, 2007
American Budweiser reminds me of Moosehead Lager, but at least the Canadians have the honesty to put "Taste of the Wild!" and a picture of a Moose on their label.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 1:24 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr Bismarck at 1:24 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
Jesus fucking Christ, I don't care how much rice is supposed to be in it or not - both versions taste like boiled horse asshole.
It's like listening to two side-show freaks argue about who is hairier and uglier.
At least PBR tastes like something. Granted, it tastes like unfiltered sewage, but that's better than nothing at all.
(And to the mutant freaks mowing lawns in Florida in Summer: Your first mistake is living in Florida. Your second mistake is mowing your lawn. Your third mistake is doing it mid-summer. You deserve a Budweiser.)
posted by loquacious at 1:27 AM on May 13, 2007 [9 favorites]
It's like listening to two side-show freaks argue about who is hairier and uglier.
At least PBR tastes like something. Granted, it tastes like unfiltered sewage, but that's better than nothing at all.
(And to the mutant freaks mowing lawns in Florida in Summer: Your first mistake is living in Florida. Your second mistake is mowing your lawn. Your third mistake is doing it mid-summer. You deserve a Budweiser.)
posted by loquacious at 1:27 AM on May 13, 2007 [9 favorites]
"No, bollocks to your “microbreweries”. These so-called “craft brewers” are a newfangled modern invention and have very little to do with the traditions of the brewing industry"
Microbreweries are modern because they only became legal in the last few decades. And they have everything to do with the traditions of beer brewing, but I guess he's right, they don't have much to do with the old brewing industry. Thank goodness.
I always heard that the reason American beer became so 'light' (tasteless) is that in World War II most beer drinkers were fighting in the war, so they changed the formula to try to bring in a new audience--women.
It is funny to see his argument that Budweiser doesn't taste like piss because its Ph is different. When people say it tastes like piss they are using a metaphor, but he's taking it literally. It is an interesting argument. Maybe Budweiser can use it as their new campaign slogan "Budweiser doesn't taste like piss! We can prove it with chemistry!"
You can make any argument you want about when or why they put in rice or corn, but you can't argue that it is a good tasting beer. The people I know who like it tell me that they don't like the taste of beer. They like Budweiser because it is refreshing. In other words it is water with a slight buzz. Yeah, cold (piss) water is just right after mowing a lawn on a hot day.
posted by eye of newt at 1:30 AM on May 13, 2007
Microbreweries are modern because they only became legal in the last few decades. And they have everything to do with the traditions of beer brewing, but I guess he's right, they don't have much to do with the old brewing industry. Thank goodness.
I always heard that the reason American beer became so 'light' (tasteless) is that in World War II most beer drinkers were fighting in the war, so they changed the formula to try to bring in a new audience--women.
It is funny to see his argument that Budweiser doesn't taste like piss because its Ph is different. When people say it tastes like piss they are using a metaphor, but he's taking it literally. It is an interesting argument. Maybe Budweiser can use it as their new campaign slogan "Budweiser doesn't taste like piss! We can prove it with chemistry!"
You can make any argument you want about when or why they put in rice or corn, but you can't argue that it is a good tasting beer. The people I know who like it tell me that they don't like the taste of beer. They like Budweiser because it is refreshing. In other words it is water with a slight buzz. Yeah, cold (piss) water is just right after mowing a lawn on a hot day.
posted by eye of newt at 1:30 AM on May 13, 2007
Drunken prediction: Jonmc fucking wrecking the joint in 3... 2... 1... PSST HAY FREE BEER
posted by loquacious at 1:33 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by loquacious at 1:33 AM on May 13, 2007
I only clicked the link because of the promised Welsh-knocking. Then I got a pompous intro paragraph about how the author was a Welsh nationalist.
I like Budweiser. It tastes nice, especially on a hot day. I'm also a member of CAMRA and know what I'm talking about when it comes to beer.
Incidentally, I'm sure the Budvar/Budweister thing is sorted now. Effectively they agreed to disagree.
I also like Budvar, although haven't had it for a number of years. My like of it stemmed from my college days when it was very inexpensive.
Thank you.
posted by humblepigeon at 1:38 AM on May 13, 2007
I like Budweiser. It tastes nice, especially on a hot day. I'm also a member of CAMRA and know what I'm talking about when it comes to beer.
Incidentally, I'm sure the Budvar/Budweister thing is sorted now. Effectively they agreed to disagree.
I also like Budvar, although haven't had it for a number of years. My like of it stemmed from my college days when it was very inexpensive.
Thank you.
posted by humblepigeon at 1:38 AM on May 13, 2007
I resent the fact the Budweiser is being compared to horse piss. No real horse piss is that diluted.
posted by IronLizard at 2:01 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by IronLizard at 2:01 AM on May 13, 2007
They like Budweiser because it is refreshing. In other words it is water with a slight buzz. Yeah, cold (piss) water is just right after mowing a lawn on a hot day.
Perhaps it's just easy to like something you grew up with, regardless of quality, especially when it's cheap.
Bud sucks, but when you're used to it, you're used to it.
posted by secret about box at 2:33 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
Perhaps it's just easy to like something you grew up with, regardless of quality, especially when it's cheap.
Bud sucks, but when you're used to it, you're used to it.
posted by secret about box at 2:33 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
It's easy to knock Budweiser. Because it's shit.
And incidentally, are some people taking this article a little too seriously?
posted by MrMustard at 2:45 AM on May 13, 2007
And incidentally, are some people taking this article a little too seriously?
posted by MrMustard at 2:45 AM on May 13, 2007
Budweiser is like a beer-flavoured alcopop. It's also one of the few beers that I can drink around the clock without getting incredibly drunk. It's the bottled beer of choice in certain British pubs frequented by fucktwats and cockchokers where it is frequently shouted to the barman as "BOTTLE OF BU (prn. 'boo')!"
I fucking hated being that barman too. Tossers.
posted by longbaugh at 3:14 AM on May 13, 2007
I fucking hated being that barman too. Tossers.
posted by longbaugh at 3:14 AM on May 13, 2007
Here's the scenario I saw last night when I went out: A bunch of British guys standing around in a bar, dressed jeans and t-shirts from The Gap (or some pseudo-American chain), listening to Kayne West and drinking Budweiser... and bitching about George Bush.
posted by chuckdarwin at 3:19 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by chuckdarwin at 3:19 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
Thanks for the amusing read. To be perfectly honest, I don't mind a nice Bud now and again - as far as cheap beer goes, you might as well go for the watery piss-bread flavor of a Budweiser, at least over the same-but-worse taste of a PBR or the godawful abomination that is Coors Light. Budweiser may not be not fine drinking, but it is consistent, agreeable, and mostly non-poisonous.
And it certainly is drinkable. For a night on the town, I'd rather have a series of Budweisers than some of the headier microbrews. I mean, of the common beers to have on tap, I'd rather have a Stella or a Sam Adams, but you can't always get what you want.
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:02 AM on May 13, 2007
And it certainly is drinkable. For a night on the town, I'd rather have a series of Budweisers than some of the headier microbrews. I mean, of the common beers to have on tap, I'd rather have a Stella or a Sam Adams, but you can't always get what you want.
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:02 AM on May 13, 2007
Genesee Cream Ale kicks Budweiser's ass on both taste and price, when you're looking for a cheap beer.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 4:53 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 4:53 AM on May 13, 2007
People who "enjoy" Budweiser do so by ignoring taste and clinging to some abstract notion that they're participating in some grand American 'thing.'
Or it's what we drank in high school and we're used to it. It's not the greatest beer in the world, no, but it's cheap and available and wet and cold. When I'm more flush, I'll have Brooklyn Lager or La Fin Du Monde or Lord Fizzlebottom's Numbnuts Ale brewed by miget gypsies, but when I'm quantity drinking, it's Bud tallboys in the can.
posted by jonmc at 5:05 AM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
Or it's what we drank in high school and we're used to it. It's not the greatest beer in the world, no, but it's cheap and available and wet and cold. When I'm more flush, I'll have Brooklyn Lager or La Fin Du Monde or Lord Fizzlebottom's Numbnuts Ale brewed by miget gypsies, but when I'm quantity drinking, it's Bud tallboys in the can.
posted by jonmc at 5:05 AM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
(also, as the cheapo brews go Schlitz is better than Bud or PBR, but hard to find in tallboys)
posted by jonmc at 5:13 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by jonmc at 5:13 AM on May 13, 2007
Here's the scenario I saw last night when I went out: A bunch of British guys standing around in a bar, dressed jeans and t-shirts from The Gap (or some pseudo-American chain), listening to Kayne West and drinking Budweiser... and bitching about George Bush.
Fucking spot on that. Big name US beer is like any other big name US product (i.e. shit). This holds true for beer, food, cars and almost all other stuff. I'm certainly not trying to big up the UK whose exports include football violence, nuclear waste and imperialistic tendencies but really - at what point does a major manufacturer ever really do something that might be termed risky or interesting?
I think that the USA's strongest export is it's amazingly effective entertainment industry which somehow manages to convince everyone else in the first world to buy these terrible products. Without this pimping in film/tv/music nobody would buy any of it. Who the fuck wants or needs an H2? It's crap on and off road - buy a Land Rover for god's sake, it'll last 40 years and actually works in mud. If it didn't have gigantic 30 inch rims with "spinnaz" no idiotic urban-lite white twat would buy one.
"Oooooh! Jay-Z rented a mansion, a nice car and some gold chains for his latest video! I must aspire to own these things so that I too am seen as succesful."
Fucking. Stop. It.
love,
the rest of the world.
posted by longbaugh at 5:15 AM on May 13, 2007
Fucking spot on that. Big name US beer is like any other big name US product (i.e. shit). This holds true for beer, food, cars and almost all other stuff. I'm certainly not trying to big up the UK whose exports include football violence, nuclear waste and imperialistic tendencies but really - at what point does a major manufacturer ever really do something that might be termed risky or interesting?
I think that the USA's strongest export is it's amazingly effective entertainment industry which somehow manages to convince everyone else in the first world to buy these terrible products. Without this pimping in film/tv/music nobody would buy any of it. Who the fuck wants or needs an H2? It's crap on and off road - buy a Land Rover for god's sake, it'll last 40 years and actually works in mud. If it didn't have gigantic 30 inch rims with "spinnaz" no idiotic urban-lite white twat would buy one.
"Oooooh! Jay-Z rented a mansion, a nice car and some gold chains for his latest video! I must aspire to own these things so that I too am seen as succesful."
Fucking. Stop. It.
love,
the rest of the world.
posted by longbaugh at 5:15 AM on May 13, 2007
Wrexham? Buggers 'em completely, miss.
/wrong joke
posted by Abiezer at 5:18 AM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
/wrong joke
posted by Abiezer at 5:18 AM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
Give me a session bitter or a session lager.
I don't drink Bud, it's too alcoholic for my taste. Give me a Carling or a Fosters any day of the week.
posted by seanyboy at 5:25 AM on May 13, 2007
I don't drink Bud, it's too alcoholic for my taste. Give me a Carling or a Fosters any day of the week.
posted by seanyboy at 5:25 AM on May 13, 2007
We get PBR in China too. Sino-Hipsterism is the new Kung Fu. PBR Lite too (?!).
We have a little place near my apartment where a bunch of foreign-flavored restaurants, wine cellars, and coffee shops set up shop against a little lake and the maddening claustrophobia of urban China calms a little and you can reflect or talk business. It's always there that I see rich Chinese drinking $4 Budweiser's. It's amazing how much being from a far away place can sell something.
posted by trinarian at 5:25 AM on May 13, 2007
We have a little place near my apartment where a bunch of foreign-flavored restaurants, wine cellars, and coffee shops set up shop against a little lake and the maddening claustrophobia of urban China calms a little and you can reflect or talk business. It's always there that I see rich Chinese drinking $4 Budweiser's. It's amazing how much being from a far away place can sell something.
posted by trinarian at 5:25 AM on May 13, 2007
I used to be a beer snob and tried beers of all varieties and from all around the world. I eschewed all the major-label domestics. It's not my favorite beer by any means, but sometimes, on a hot summer day, or in the dry recycled air of a flight over the rockies, nothing hits the spot like a can of Bud.
My favorite beer? Brooklyn Lager, on tap. Doesn't taste the same in bottle.
posted by mds35 at 5:33 AM on May 13, 2007
My favorite beer? Brooklyn Lager, on tap. Doesn't taste the same in bottle.
posted by mds35 at 5:33 AM on May 13, 2007
To be honest, despite my comment above, Bud isn't really bad tasting, it just lacks much taste at all. Some traditional (last 50 years) American pilsners actually have bad flavors. Bud doesn't have enough flavor to have bad flavor. Same with Coors, but I have a hard time with their Nazi past. (oops, now I've gone and Godwined this thread. Sorry afu)
posted by caddis at 6:06 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by caddis at 6:06 AM on May 13, 2007
So all of the above posters must all live in the same geographical region? I assume you all know that Bud is brewed all over the world, and in most cases by breweries not owned by AB. So in Nova Scotia the Bud you drink tastes completely different than the Bud you drink in Missouri. Etc. Brewing beer is surely a science that makes it possible to replicate a taste consistantly, if you cared to do so, but I am sure that the contract breweries don't.
posted by Gungho at 6:18 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by Gungho at 6:18 AM on May 13, 2007
There is nothing quite so good on a hot summer day in America as drinking a Budweiser, sitting out on the back lawn, grilling burgers and hot dogs.
Substitute High Life for Bud and I'm in complete agreement. Or maybe a nice cold bottle of Bear Whiz (.mp3).
And it was a trademark dispute between Bud and Budvar, not copyright.
posted by schoolgirl report at 6:26 AM on May 13, 2007
Substitute High Life for Bud and I'm in complete agreement. Or maybe a nice cold bottle of Bear Whiz (.mp3).
And it was a trademark dispute between Bud and Budvar, not copyright.
posted by schoolgirl report at 6:26 AM on May 13, 2007
Why the hell would I bother reading anything by someone who goodwins over fucking beer.
It could be a little joke, Janis. Or maybe Germans know a little something about Bier you may not.
posted by Wolof at 6:42 AM on May 13, 2007
It could be a little joke, Janis. Or maybe Germans know a little something about Bier you may not.
posted by Wolof at 6:42 AM on May 13, 2007
Perhaps it's just easy to like something you grew up with, regardless of quality, especially when it's cheap.
Bud sucks, but when you're used to it, you're used to it.
Nails it. Our tastes are determined at a young age.
(Likes Pilsner (the Molson brand), even though it's no longer made in Regina.)
posted by evilcolonel at 6:48 AM on May 13, 2007
Bud sucks, but when you're used to it, you're used to it.
Nails it. Our tastes are determined at a young age.
(Likes Pilsner (the Molson brand), even though it's no longer made in Regina.)
posted by evilcolonel at 6:48 AM on May 13, 2007
I like Budweiser because of the recyclability. Drink, wait, refill, chill.
posted by Mblue at 6:49 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Mblue at 6:49 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
Why are you sure about that, Gungho?
posted by Greg Nog at 9:24 AM on May 13 [+] [!]
It's in the water.
posted by Gungho at 7:02 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by Greg Nog at 9:24 AM on May 13 [+] [!]
It's in the water.
posted by Gungho at 7:02 AM on May 13, 2007
Oh how I love making fun of Budweiser. Nine out of ten preferred piss for the flavor! The tenth thought they were both piss!
My experience with beer is thus: if I can't afford to drink something that I'd at least pretend to want to drink sober, I can't afford to drink. I do it infrequently enough that insisting on an (admittedly obnoxious) standard of quality isn't too limiting. My sop to americana is substituting an ice-cold Coca ColaTM for Budweiser in those examples.
posted by Skorgu at 7:04 AM on May 13, 2007
My experience with beer is thus: if I can't afford to drink something that I'd at least pretend to want to drink sober, I can't afford to drink. I do it infrequently enough that insisting on an (admittedly obnoxious) standard of quality isn't too limiting. My sop to americana is substituting an ice-cold Coca ColaTM for Budweiser in those examples.
posted by Skorgu at 7:04 AM on May 13, 2007
This dude is funny but insane. Budweiser cruelly cut short my midwest high school partying career. I never "got used" to it, any more than I got used to the smell of feedlots or rendering plants in August. Let's discuss the real viciousness of Bud, which is morning piss-mouth. Whatever phs are involved, there is something so maliciously skunky about it -- something you certainly notice on first taste and that keeps weaving in and out of your consciousness no matter how inebriated you become -- and in the morning, god help you, every can left behind with even a drop still clinging, every strand of hair on your body north or south, and every filmy breath and belch releases a toxic gas that hurts children and other living things. If you've ever driven over a dead skunk in summer and had that odor -- which smells the way a cat screams -- rise up to coat your every pore with lingering foulness, then you know what it's like to have a Bud hangover. To this day I can barely touch a beer, any beer. Bud is a blight. To hell with it. I do like the Clydesdales, however.
posted by melissa may at 7:12 AM on May 13, 2007 [5 favorites]
posted by melissa may at 7:12 AM on May 13, 2007 [5 favorites]
The PBR thing is alive and well in Madison, WI.
it's not pretentious for midwesterners to drink pbr, any more than it is for us to wear baseball caps ... as for myself, back when i drank mass produced american beers in the 70s, bud was my 2nd choice
stroh's, of course, was my first
mass produced beer was better back then than it is now ... bud is still drinkable, but i prefer english-type ales these days
posted by pyramid termite at 7:18 AM on May 13, 2007
it's not pretentious for midwesterners to drink pbr, any more than it is for us to wear baseball caps ... as for myself, back when i drank mass produced american beers in the 70s, bud was my 2nd choice
stroh's, of course, was my first
mass produced beer was better back then than it is now ... bud is still drinkable, but i prefer english-type ales these days
posted by pyramid termite at 7:18 AM on May 13, 2007
I like a Bud or six on a hot afternoon when I'm grilling outside, but it's no PBR.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:19 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:19 AM on May 13, 2007
I like my beer like I like my women, ice cold and in Nebraska.
posted by nola at 7:21 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by nola at 7:21 AM on May 13, 2007
A big part of the "appeal" of Bud is the consistency. While it may change over time, the Bud you're drinking now tastes pretty much like the last one, or ten. If you've ever brewed your own beer, you know how difficult it is to be consistent. It's even more so when the taste is so light, it's easier to hide minor inconsistencies with a malty, hoppy beer than one that's as light as Budweiser.
Of course, consistency is great for the average beer drinker, but not so much for those with more advanced tastes.
posted by tommasz at 7:27 AM on May 13, 2007
Of course, consistency is great for the average beer drinker, but not so much for those with more advanced tastes.
posted by tommasz at 7:27 AM on May 13, 2007
For a decent, cheap, mass-market American beer, I like Miller in a frosty mug. Next to no complexity and a great match for Mexican food.
When a complex beer is required, look no further than Moylan's Brewery in Notavo, CA. Marvelous double IPAs and Imperial stouts which are fantasticly smooth and drinkable even with a very high ABV. Moylan's has decent distribution here in Nor Cal and beers can be purchased in 22 oz. bottles for $4 ea.
posted by porn in the woods at 7:34 AM on May 13, 2007
When a complex beer is required, look no further than Moylan's Brewery in Notavo, CA. Marvelous double IPAs and Imperial stouts which are fantasticly smooth and drinkable even with a very high ABV. Moylan's has decent distribution here in Nor Cal and beers can be purchased in 22 oz. bottles for $4 ea.
posted by porn in the woods at 7:34 AM on May 13, 2007
(Notavo = Novato)
posted by porn in the woods at 7:36 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by porn in the woods at 7:36 AM on May 13, 2007
Truly, I think this fellow is an idiot for defending Bud, especially the taste - I'm in the camp of "it doesn't have much taste at all." However, the non-beer taste of Bud would, in many cases, be preferable to the definitively bad taste of say, Iron City (sorry, yinzers!), or Schlitz.
I wish the AB still made the generic beer - the plain silver cans that just had "Beer" printed on the side. I remember going to the beer distributor with my brother as a teenager, and thinking those were the coolest cans around.
posted by god hates math at 7:37 AM on May 13, 2007
I wish the AB still made the generic beer - the plain silver cans that just had "Beer" printed on the side. I remember going to the beer distributor with my brother as a teenager, and thinking those were the coolest cans around.
posted by god hates math at 7:37 AM on May 13, 2007
"Copyright in the right or not, there's no denying that American Budweiser is to Czech Budweiser as Kenny G is to John Coltrane."
Oh, horseshit. Budvar is a weak Pils too. It's for people who want to yammer about "authentic" experiences while not drinking challenging beer.
"People who "enjoy" Budweiser do so by ignoring taste and clinging to some abstract notion that they're participating in some grand American 'thing.'"
Fuck that noise too— I enjoy Budweiser. It's a tasty beer with a good character.
"On the other hand, those who like a common, American beer which happens to taste very good on a break from your job drywalling (this has been tested personally) or after mowing your lawn or during a barbecue or some such, and which happens to have the benefit of not tasting like piss, tend to drink Miller, or, in weeks when the paycheck happens to be larger than usual, Miller High Life."
And you're wrong all over— High Life is substantially cheaper than Miller, and MGD's significantly worse than Budweiser (too sweet). I mean, it's not Coors, which is the real amazingly shitty American macrobrew.
"Maybe you don't like a well-made heavy, hoppy IPA, but to argue that it's no better than a Budweiser won't really fly with someone who legitimately appreciates beer. To say that it's no different is wrong, as is clear to anyone who's tried both."
Y'know, I do like a well-made IPA, with the hops that requires. But I also know enough to stay away from the hop fetishism that ruins too many American IPAs, where complexity and depth are sacrificed for a blazing hop attack. They are different, but that doesn't mean better.
"And thus the revival of PBR, Schlitz, and Miller High Life among West Coast hipsters."
Um... Us Midwesterners did this first, and it wasn't because it was "cool," it was because it was cheap. But yeah, going to Boston and being expected to pay $6 for a PBR was when I was ready to let that one pass me (and the local dive has upped 'em to $2.25, leaving us cheapos to drink Blatz or Milwaulkee's Best).
"Give me a Carling or a Fosters any day of the week."
Ach, fuck that! Fosters is Australian for Coors!
"We get PBR in China too. Sino-Hipsterism is the new Kung Fu. PBR Lite too"
Yeah, there was a bit of a quasi-boycott here a couple years back because PBR was being brewed in China, and somehow was destroying Tibet's environment or something.
Look, do I prefer a Bud in all situations? Not likely. Do I think it's a good beer? Spot on. It's tasty, refreshing, malted. It's not a fucking light, which are ciphers for beer, and when it's the beer of the month at the local dive, I've got one in my hand.
As far as best beer now? Well, I've just shifted out of the season for Great Lakes Brewing's Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, which is the best goddamned porter in the world, to either their Eliot Ness Amber or the Red Hook Longhammer IPA. And I've got a case of High Life in my fridge.
(No, you wanna talk about foolishness and weak beer, talk about fucking Guiness, who has somehow convinced millions of people that it's worth drinking. That's fucking flavorless swill.)
posted by klangklangston at 7:38 AM on May 13, 2007
Oh, horseshit. Budvar is a weak Pils too. It's for people who want to yammer about "authentic" experiences while not drinking challenging beer.
"People who "enjoy" Budweiser do so by ignoring taste and clinging to some abstract notion that they're participating in some grand American 'thing.'"
Fuck that noise too— I enjoy Budweiser. It's a tasty beer with a good character.
"On the other hand, those who like a common, American beer which happens to taste very good on a break from your job drywalling (this has been tested personally) or after mowing your lawn or during a barbecue or some such, and which happens to have the benefit of not tasting like piss, tend to drink Miller, or, in weeks when the paycheck happens to be larger than usual, Miller High Life."
And you're wrong all over— High Life is substantially cheaper than Miller, and MGD's significantly worse than Budweiser (too sweet). I mean, it's not Coors, which is the real amazingly shitty American macrobrew.
"Maybe you don't like a well-made heavy, hoppy IPA, but to argue that it's no better than a Budweiser won't really fly with someone who legitimately appreciates beer. To say that it's no different is wrong, as is clear to anyone who's tried both."
Y'know, I do like a well-made IPA, with the hops that requires. But I also know enough to stay away from the hop fetishism that ruins too many American IPAs, where complexity and depth are sacrificed for a blazing hop attack. They are different, but that doesn't mean better.
"And thus the revival of PBR, Schlitz, and Miller High Life among West Coast hipsters."
Um... Us Midwesterners did this first, and it wasn't because it was "cool," it was because it was cheap. But yeah, going to Boston and being expected to pay $6 for a PBR was when I was ready to let that one pass me (and the local dive has upped 'em to $2.25, leaving us cheapos to drink Blatz or Milwaulkee's Best).
"Give me a Carling or a Fosters any day of the week."
Ach, fuck that! Fosters is Australian for Coors!
"We get PBR in China too. Sino-Hipsterism is the new Kung Fu. PBR Lite too"
Yeah, there was a bit of a quasi-boycott here a couple years back because PBR was being brewed in China, and somehow was destroying Tibet's environment or something.
Look, do I prefer a Bud in all situations? Not likely. Do I think it's a good beer? Spot on. It's tasty, refreshing, malted. It's not a fucking light, which are ciphers for beer, and when it's the beer of the month at the local dive, I've got one in my hand.
As far as best beer now? Well, I've just shifted out of the season for Great Lakes Brewing's Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, which is the best goddamned porter in the world, to either their Eliot Ness Amber or the Red Hook Longhammer IPA. And I've got a case of High Life in my fridge.
(No, you wanna talk about foolishness and weak beer, talk about fucking Guiness, who has somehow convinced millions of people that it's worth drinking. That's fucking flavorless swill.)
posted by klangklangston at 7:38 AM on May 13, 2007
"I like my beer like I like my women, ice cold and in Nebraska."
I like my beer like I like my women: drunk.
posted by klangklangston at 7:40 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
I like my beer like I like my women: drunk.
posted by klangklangston at 7:40 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
According to the now famous taste tests from Consumer Reports (1996), Old Milwaukee rated tops. If I recall, Budweiser was about average. The difference in cost is about double for the latter, which sponsors events and advertises to the point of brainwashing, and is the only reason we are talking about it today. I don't even think Old Mil even lauded itself anywhere the consumer could notice. The interesting thing here is that Old Milwaukee was selected by a German exchange student I met a few years prior to the article, saying, "It's the only American beer I can drink." (Thus the reason I happen to remember the article in the first place, because it confirmed the observation.)
posted by Brian B. at 7:58 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by Brian B. at 7:58 AM on May 13, 2007
Here's the scenario I saw last night when I went out: A bunch of British guys standing around in a bar, dressed jeans and t-shirts from The Gap (or some pseudo-American chain), listening to Kayne West and drinking Budweiser... and bitching about George Bush.
What makes it funny is that the same group of Americans would be wearing Dale Earnhardt T-shirts and cutoffs, listening to Toby Keith, and bitching about George Bush... and Democrats.
Um... Us Midwesterners did this first, and it wasn't because it was "cool," it was because it was cheap.
Well, yeah, that's my whole point. These hipsters don't want to be into the microbrews, but they're not drinking Bud, either. PBR is national, yet small. Ditto Schlitz. High Life I'm not sure why it's popular again, other than it actually tastes like something.
And now, it's not cheap. Even odder, I can't get any of these on tap at a hipster place in Belltown. When Seattle turned away from Rainier, it turned away from all lagers.
posted by dw at 8:16 AM on May 13, 2007
What makes it funny is that the same group of Americans would be wearing Dale Earnhardt T-shirts and cutoffs, listening to Toby Keith, and bitching about George Bush... and Democrats.
Um... Us Midwesterners did this first, and it wasn't because it was "cool," it was because it was cheap.
Well, yeah, that's my whole point. These hipsters don't want to be into the microbrews, but they're not drinking Bud, either. PBR is national, yet small. Ditto Schlitz. High Life I'm not sure why it's popular again, other than it actually tastes like something.
And now, it's not cheap. Even odder, I can't get any of these on tap at a hipster place in Belltown. When Seattle turned away from Rainier, it turned away from all lagers.
posted by dw at 8:16 AM on May 13, 2007
If you're looking for excellent craft beers, the Anderson Valley Brewing Company, based in Boonville, California, makes some really good stuff. I particularly like the Boont Amber and the Oatmeal Stout.
Pretty easy to find in California, but gets steadily scarcer as you go east.
posted by Malor at 8:19 AM on May 13, 2007
Pretty easy to find in California, but gets steadily scarcer as you go east.
posted by Malor at 8:19 AM on May 13, 2007
Copyright in the right or not, there's no denying that American Budweiser is to Czech Budweiser as Kenny G is to John Coltrane.
After mulling it over, I've decided the correct analogy is:
American Bud:Czech Budvar::Kenny G:David Sanborn
The Budvar I've had in America and Europe just doesn't rise to the level of other European lagers. And it always struck me as a hipster "giving a finger to the Americans and the Euro-beer conglomerates" sort of purchase and not as a "I buy it because it's good" purchase.
posted by dw at 8:19 AM on May 13, 2007
After mulling it over, I've decided the correct analogy is:
American Bud:Czech Budvar::Kenny G:David Sanborn
The Budvar I've had in America and Europe just doesn't rise to the level of other European lagers. And it always struck me as a hipster "giving a finger to the Americans and the Euro-beer conglomerates" sort of purchase and not as a "I buy it because it's good" purchase.
posted by dw at 8:19 AM on May 13, 2007
Such things are a matter of taste or preference of course, and I to really don't care for Budweiser, hot day grass cutting or not. I've tried it. I think it's awful. But it's a dream compared to Labatt Blue, a dream I say.
posted by juiceCake at 8:27 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by juiceCake at 8:27 AM on May 13, 2007
So in Nova Scotia the Bud you drink tastes completely different than the Bud you drink in Missouri. Etc. Brewing beer is surely a science that makes it possible to replicate a taste consistantly, if you cared to do so, but I am sure that the contract breweries don't.
Um, actually, they do. Contract breweries are very very carefully monitored to ensure that the exact same product is coming out in, as you say, Nova Scotia as in Missouri. Quality control in the brewing industry (where 'quality' means 'exactly the same') is exceedingly strict.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 8:32 AM on May 13, 2007
Um, actually, they do. Contract breweries are very very carefully monitored to ensure that the exact same product is coming out in, as you say, Nova Scotia as in Missouri. Quality control in the brewing industry (where 'quality' means 'exactly the same') is exceedingly strict.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 8:32 AM on May 13, 2007
who mows grass on a hot day in Florida. That is what illegals are for. Sit back and guzzle your Bud and let others do the work that Americans--even Fsloridians--won't do.
posted by Postroad at 8:33 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by Postroad at 8:33 AM on May 13, 2007
I'm very lucky to live in a place where the beer of choice is something GOOD: Yuengling Lager.
Mm... that's a mighty fine beer.
posted by SansPoint at 8:34 AM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
Mm... that's a mighty fine beer.
posted by SansPoint at 8:34 AM on May 13, 2007 [2 favorites]
Budweiser: It gets ya drunk.
Seriously.. do you continue to drink expensive beer after you've have 3 or 4? I'm too tipsy at that point to even taste a difference, so I switch to the cheap stuff.
And yes.. a cold cheap beer is great on a hot day. I'm a big fan of cheap beer, my favorite being Miller High Life and, of course, PBR.
posted by triolus at 8:34 AM on May 13, 2007
Seriously.. do you continue to drink expensive beer after you've have 3 or 4? I'm too tipsy at that point to even taste a difference, so I switch to the cheap stuff.
And yes.. a cold cheap beer is great on a hot day. I'm a big fan of cheap beer, my favorite being Miller High Life and, of course, PBR.
posted by triolus at 8:34 AM on May 13, 2007
Boy, I second Yuengling all the way.
And I'm a little surprised none of you snobs brought up Chimay yet.
posted by phaedon at 8:40 AM on May 13, 2007
And I'm a little surprised none of you snobs brought up Chimay yet.
posted by phaedon at 8:40 AM on May 13, 2007
"No, bollocks to your “microbreweries”. These so-called “craft brewers” are a newfangled modern invention and have very little to do with the traditions of the brewing industry"
There were over 20,000 breweries in the United States before prohibition, according to most beer books. Some of them say that American can beer was a result of minimal alcohol laws after prohibition. But what is certain is that the modern microbrewery was reviving the traditional ones in Europe, the one's they could see and visit (and then they went from there to what sells best). During the 1980's when the trend was exploding, all conversations by those who wanted to own a microbrewery were largely reminiscing about small pubs in Ireland and Bavaria, and they first sold beers that had very old names when they followed the recipes exactly. Samuel Adams was the first major success of this trend that branded themselves under the idea of patriotic early American homebrew. A stroke of marketing genius there.
posted by Brian B. at 9:02 AM on May 13, 2007
There were over 20,000 breweries in the United States before prohibition, according to most beer books. Some of them say that American can beer was a result of minimal alcohol laws after prohibition. But what is certain is that the modern microbrewery was reviving the traditional ones in Europe, the one's they could see and visit (and then they went from there to what sells best). During the 1980's when the trend was exploding, all conversations by those who wanted to own a microbrewery were largely reminiscing about small pubs in Ireland and Bavaria, and they first sold beers that had very old names when they followed the recipes exactly. Samuel Adams was the first major success of this trend that branded themselves under the idea of patriotic early American homebrew. A stroke of marketing genius there.
posted by Brian B. at 9:02 AM on May 13, 2007
Well, yes, but he's not saying that there weren't small breweries in the past. The "newfangled modern invention" here is their ability to brew beer that's consistently good.
posted by moss at 9:20 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by moss at 9:20 AM on May 13, 2007
rice in Bud is not a modern cost cutting development but is an essential ingredient in brewing an American pilsner.
Ah, yes, the essential ingredient that gives me one of the worst hangovers I have ever had. Indeed, all of the beers he list with rice in them make me feel like I've been hit by a truck the next day. It's one of the principle reasons I don't drink any Budweiser. Budweiser is actually not a bad pilsner, especially given the size of the batches they make it in.
Pilsners skirt a very fine line between great beer and horse piss all the time. It's just the nature of the style. It doesn't seem to be very forgiving of mistakes in brewing or storage.
I don't think he knows what "craft" brewing means, either. Nobody said it was about tradition. It's about beer you like.
And some of us don't like lagers very much. We prefer ales (and porters, and stouts), which are easier to make at home and by small breweries than lagers. Americans like lagers, though. They like light beers. Often so they can drink more. So they can drink more. Which basically defeats the entire purpose of supposedly drinking light beer (which is to have fewer calories). I absolutely prefer two, three tops, very full bodied ales over six light beer that lose their palatability if I don't gulp it down while it's still freezing cold.
Ah, but this is all part of the retro backlash. The PBR and Budweiser drinkers drinking it because it harkens back to some lost nostalgic era of time that's hipper or somehow better than now. when there weren't any fancy microbrews and beer was made and drank by REAL MEN working in factories and putting blood and sweat into their beer and their work everyday. It's a silly romantic notion, just like "craft" brewing done as some sort of fancy, snooting thing is silly notion. (My favorite microbrewery in San Francisco makes their beer in 35 gallon plastic garbage can containers in the basement of the pub. I can see them through the grate in the floor.) Some of us just don't like lager. *shrugs*
posted by smallerdemon at 9:26 AM on May 13, 2007
Ah, yes, the essential ingredient that gives me one of the worst hangovers I have ever had. Indeed, all of the beers he list with rice in them make me feel like I've been hit by a truck the next day. It's one of the principle reasons I don't drink any Budweiser. Budweiser is actually not a bad pilsner, especially given the size of the batches they make it in.
Pilsners skirt a very fine line between great beer and horse piss all the time. It's just the nature of the style. It doesn't seem to be very forgiving of mistakes in brewing or storage.
I don't think he knows what "craft" brewing means, either. Nobody said it was about tradition. It's about beer you like.
And some of us don't like lagers very much. We prefer ales (and porters, and stouts), which are easier to make at home and by small breweries than lagers. Americans like lagers, though. They like light beers. Often so they can drink more. So they can drink more. Which basically defeats the entire purpose of supposedly drinking light beer (which is to have fewer calories). I absolutely prefer two, three tops, very full bodied ales over six light beer that lose their palatability if I don't gulp it down while it's still freezing cold.
Ah, but this is all part of the retro backlash. The PBR and Budweiser drinkers drinking it because it harkens back to some lost nostalgic era of time that's hipper or somehow better than now. when there weren't any fancy microbrews and beer was made and drank by REAL MEN working in factories and putting blood and sweat into their beer and their work everyday. It's a silly romantic notion, just like "craft" brewing done as some sort of fancy, snooting thing is silly notion. (My favorite microbrewery in San Francisco makes their beer in 35 gallon plastic garbage can containers in the basement of the pub. I can see them through the grate in the floor.) Some of us just don't like lager. *shrugs*
posted by smallerdemon at 9:26 AM on May 13, 2007
And thus the revival of PBR, Schlitz, and Miller High Life among West Coast hipsters.
Old Style for the Midwest and Chicago area hipsters :)
posted by dead_ at 9:32 AM on May 13, 2007
Old Style for the Midwest and Chicago area hipsters :)
posted by dead_ at 9:32 AM on May 13, 2007
We had a Anheuser Busch brewery in my hometown when I was growing up, quietly brewing away every day.
If the wind was right you could smell the slightly sweet aroma of ferminting hops on the wind, a reminder of the gigantic industrial plant out by the edge of town, right next to their own theme park that served alcohol (take that Disney!) and their own gated community with its own PGA classic.
As a child, I used to enjoy the taste of Budweiser, out of a kind of local loyalty.
However, as I got older, and my palette matured, I realized that Budweiser tastes like ass, and has the head of soda.
I'm more into Chimay Red these days. Mmmmm... monk beer!
posted by MythMaker at 9:37 AM on May 13, 2007
If the wind was right you could smell the slightly sweet aroma of ferminting hops on the wind, a reminder of the gigantic industrial plant out by the edge of town, right next to their own theme park that served alcohol (take that Disney!) and their own gated community with its own PGA classic.
As a child, I used to enjoy the taste of Budweiser, out of a kind of local loyalty.
However, as I got older, and my palette matured, I realized that Budweiser tastes like ass, and has the head of soda.
I'm more into Chimay Red these days. Mmmmm... monk beer!
posted by MythMaker at 9:37 AM on May 13, 2007
"And some of us don't like lagers very much. We prefer ales (and porters, and stouts), which are easier to make at home and by small breweries than lagers."
Well, yeah. One of the great disappointments about going anywhere outside of the US that I've been (which excludes England, but covers a good deal of the continent, and a couple places in Asia) is how hard it is to get a good ale. Pilsners and lagers are all there are, and they're just not as good to my tastes. I've been trying to find a good, solid beer in LA on my couple trips out there, and I'm afraid that I'm either gonna be starved of flavor or brewing in the bathtub.
posted by klangklangston at 9:40 AM on May 13, 2007
Well, yeah. One of the great disappointments about going anywhere outside of the US that I've been (which excludes England, but covers a good deal of the continent, and a couple places in Asia) is how hard it is to get a good ale. Pilsners and lagers are all there are, and they're just not as good to my tastes. I've been trying to find a good, solid beer in LA on my couple trips out there, and I'm afraid that I'm either gonna be starved of flavor or brewing in the bathtub.
posted by klangklangston at 9:40 AM on May 13, 2007
I like my beer like I like my women: drunk.
I like my women like I like my Scotch, 18 years old and mixed up with coke.
posted by jonmc at 9:46 AM on May 13, 2007 [3 favorites]
I like my women like I like my Scotch, 18 years old and mixed up with coke.
posted by jonmc at 9:46 AM on May 13, 2007 [3 favorites]
Try Toronto, klang. Mill Street Brewery makes a delicious ale, as well as a coffee porter. Beer + coffee. Hooray!
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 9:55 AM on May 13, 2007
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 9:55 AM on May 13, 2007
Hit post too soon.
jonmc, mixing a good 18 year old Scotch with Coke is just wrong.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 9:55 AM on May 13, 2007
jonmc, mixing a good 18 year old Scotch with Coke is just wrong.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 9:55 AM on May 13, 2007
dirtynumbangelboy, you are mistaken: mixing a good 18 year old woman with coke is just wrong.
Mixing a good 18 year old Scotch with Coke is fucking criminal.
posted by Skeptic at 10:05 AM on May 13, 2007 [3 favorites]
Mixing a good 18 year old Scotch with Coke is fucking criminal.
posted by Skeptic at 10:05 AM on May 13, 2007 [3 favorites]
Americans like lagers, though. They like light beers. Often so they can drink more.
Actually, Americans who like light beer drink it because it's "Diet Beer." It's less about drinking more and more about college girls thinking that Keystone Light will help them watch their weight.
But that's not why Americans like lagers. Americans like them because they like cold drinks. Like 45F or less cold. And darks and ambers and ales and IPAs taste terrible when they're too cold. (At least, to me. Cold seems to diminish the hoppy/grainy flavor components, which really brings out the bitter. And isn't CAMBRA's recommendation for ale somewhere around 55F?) Lagers, OTOH, are perfect cold.
And if you look in the comments, why are people saying they like Bud and Miller? Because it's perfect on a hot day.
Tied up in there as well is that thing Brits kept complaining to me about ordering a Coke in the US -- too much ice.
posted by dw at 10:15 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
Actually, Americans who like light beer drink it because it's "Diet Beer." It's less about drinking more and more about college girls thinking that Keystone Light will help them watch their weight.
But that's not why Americans like lagers. Americans like them because they like cold drinks. Like 45F or less cold. And darks and ambers and ales and IPAs taste terrible when they're too cold. (At least, to me. Cold seems to diminish the hoppy/grainy flavor components, which really brings out the bitter. And isn't CAMBRA's recommendation for ale somewhere around 55F?) Lagers, OTOH, are perfect cold.
And if you look in the comments, why are people saying they like Bud and Miller? Because it's perfect on a hot day.
Tied up in there as well is that thing Brits kept complaining to me about ordering a Coke in the US -- too much ice.
posted by dw at 10:15 AM on May 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
Budweiser is 'inoffensive,' I guess, but I hated the excessive carbonation and lack of taste. For 'bad tasting beer' - ugh, I couldn't stand Rolling Rock. It tasted like what urine from someone with liver disease smelled like.
As for "getting used to it," I drank a ton of Molson and Kokanee beer in highschool but I now never drink those if I have a choice.
During first year in college (in the Midwest), I built a wall in my dorm room with empty MGD cans. Cheap, not overly carbonated, and had some body and flavour. Funny; exported Canadian macrobrews in the US is a lot lighter-bodied than the same macrobrews sold in Canada.
As for PBR in Wisconsin - why don't people drink Leinenkugel? iirc, I could get 24 brown bottles in awesome cardboard cases for, like, $10 at most gas stations.
posted by porpoise at 10:45 AM on May 13, 2007
As for "getting used to it," I drank a ton of Molson and Kokanee beer in highschool but I now never drink those if I have a choice.
During first year in college (in the Midwest), I built a wall in my dorm room with empty MGD cans. Cheap, not overly carbonated, and had some body and flavour. Funny; exported Canadian macrobrews in the US is a lot lighter-bodied than the same macrobrews sold in Canada.
As for PBR in Wisconsin - why don't people drink Leinenkugel? iirc, I could get 24 brown bottles in awesome cardboard cases for, like, $10 at most gas stations.
posted by porpoise at 10:45 AM on May 13, 2007
"For 'bad tasting beer' - ugh, I couldn't stand Rolling Rock. It tasted like what urine from someone with liver disease smelled like."
Yeah, it's the green bottles— Same as Heineken. Doesn't block enough light; makes 'em skunk early. Miller, far as I recall, uses some sort of chemical evil to fight that. Still, if I'm drinking a Miller product, odds are that it's in a can.
Dirtynumb— It's hard to get Canadian micros down here. I get Labatt and Molson and even occassionally that Moosejaw or whatever, but it's rare to see anything else. Maybe that's because Michigan has so many micros (which is awesome).
posted by klangklangston at 11:46 AM on May 13, 2007
Yeah, it's the green bottles— Same as Heineken. Doesn't block enough light; makes 'em skunk early. Miller, far as I recall, uses some sort of chemical evil to fight that. Still, if I'm drinking a Miller product, odds are that it's in a can.
Dirtynumb— It's hard to get Canadian micros down here. I get Labatt and Molson and even occassionally that Moosejaw or whatever, but it's rare to see anything else. Maybe that's because Michigan has so many micros (which is awesome).
posted by klangklangston at 11:46 AM on May 13, 2007
Actually, Americans who like light beer drink it because it's "Diet Beer."
I am sure that is the case for some folks. Nevertheless, I have heard from many, many people that I consider to be more 'drunken frat boy' style drinkers (comparied to people who enjoy beer varieties) that they specifically don't like microbrews (and when they say this, they means they don't like non-lager beer usually, even though, yes, plenty of microbreweries make lagers) because they are "too heavy" and that that they can "only have a couple of them". As said, for me, I love that. It makes me choose carefully about what I'm going to drink when I know I'm going to be having a maximum of three pints, and usually at most I'll be having two.
A lot of beer drinking also seems to be mostly serving a social function, which is fine, and I can see how cheap, non-filling, low alcohol beers fulfill the function of being a sociable beer for consuming happy 'mericans, as opposed to a slow-roll sip on your pint or two all night sociable beer with low alcohol but great flavor that doesn't go weird as it gets warmer.
posted by smallerdemon at 12:01 PM on May 13, 2007
I am sure that is the case for some folks. Nevertheless, I have heard from many, many people that I consider to be more 'drunken frat boy' style drinkers (comparied to people who enjoy beer varieties) that they specifically don't like microbrews (and when they say this, they means they don't like non-lager beer usually, even though, yes, plenty of microbreweries make lagers) because they are "too heavy" and that that they can "only have a couple of them". As said, for me, I love that. It makes me choose carefully about what I'm going to drink when I know I'm going to be having a maximum of three pints, and usually at most I'll be having two.
A lot of beer drinking also seems to be mostly serving a social function, which is fine, and I can see how cheap, non-filling, low alcohol beers fulfill the function of being a sociable beer for consuming happy 'mericans, as opposed to a slow-roll sip on your pint or two all night sociable beer with low alcohol but great flavor that doesn't go weird as it gets warmer.
posted by smallerdemon at 12:01 PM on May 13, 2007
Yeah, it's the green bottles— Same as Heineken. Doesn't block enough light; makes 'em skunk early.
Miller gets away with it by brewing with hop extract rather than actual hops. The extract doesn't contain the volatile elements that react with Ultraviolet light. This is why a lot of ciders (and other non-hop alcoholic beverages) are bottled in clear glass. I'm fairly confident that this is now true for Rolling Rock as well - since AB bought Rolling Rock last year, the brewery at Latrobe has been closed, and RR has been brewed in Newark. I would be shocked if AB kept the original recipe, and didn't immediately move to hop extracts.
posted by god hates math at 12:04 PM on May 13, 2007
Miller gets away with it by brewing with hop extract rather than actual hops. The extract doesn't contain the volatile elements that react with Ultraviolet light. This is why a lot of ciders (and other non-hop alcoholic beverages) are bottled in clear glass. I'm fairly confident that this is now true for Rolling Rock as well - since AB bought Rolling Rock last year, the brewery at Latrobe has been closed, and RR has been brewed in Newark. I would be shocked if AB kept the original recipe, and didn't immediately move to hop extracts.
posted by god hates math at 12:04 PM on May 13, 2007
According to the now famous taste tests from Consumer Reports (1996), Old Milwaukee rated tops.
Old Spills tops? They must have had those last after getting their beer palates on.
As for PBR in Wisconsin - why don't people drink Leinenkugel?
That is actually one of the best of the American style pilsners, but is not cheap outside of Wisconsin. I am not paying the same for Leinies as I am for Sam Adams.
posted by caddis at 12:14 PM on May 13, 2007
Old Spills tops? They must have had those last after getting their beer palates on.
As for PBR in Wisconsin - why don't people drink Leinenkugel?
That is actually one of the best of the American style pilsners, but is not cheap outside of Wisconsin. I am not paying the same for Leinies as I am for Sam Adams.
posted by caddis at 12:14 PM on May 13, 2007
I once stayed at a small hostel in Czeske Krumlov, about 50Km from C. Budejovice. We would walk over to the local Budweiser distributor, and buy cases of the stuff, for like 0.3 USD a bottle.
I ended up staying 2 weeks.
posted by signal at 1:32 PM on May 13, 2007
I ended up staying 2 weeks.
posted by signal at 1:32 PM on May 13, 2007
As for PBR in Wisconsin - why don't people drink Leinenkugel?
$10 or $11 here in Minnesota for 12 pack, which is less than the $13 I just paid for the Sam Adams.
For bad tasting beers, Naddy Light or The Beast still tops my chart.
posted by jmd82 at 2:47 PM on May 13, 2007
$10 or $11 here in Minnesota for 12 pack, which is less than the $13 I just paid for the Sam Adams.
For bad tasting beers, Naddy Light or The Beast still tops my chart.
posted by jmd82 at 2:47 PM on May 13, 2007
Besides, in Wisconsin, Joseph Huber is the way to go. Cheap and tasty!
posted by klangklangston at 5:18 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by klangklangston at 5:18 PM on May 13, 2007
PBR? There's two reasons its the hipster favorite.
1) It is purportedly fairly honest and pro-union. While this is neither necessarily true nor relevant to lefty hipsters, it beats Coors and Busch's awful social track record and it isn't Bud (read:Wal-Mart beer)
2) As was said before, it's cheap. Often cheaper than Miller. And it tastes better than Naty Ice or Millie's Beast.
On Bud, My great uncle came visiting from Germany, so me and my father got together some respectable American beer to offer him. The old coot dug through the Sam Adams, the Redhook, and the Newcastle before looking up at us and asking, "Budweiser?"
He then went on to drink about a case every two days for a week. He called it "Bierwasser," and he loved it. Like beer flavored soda, I 'spose.
posted by es_de_bah at 7:01 PM on May 13, 2007
1) It is purportedly fairly honest and pro-union. While this is neither necessarily true nor relevant to lefty hipsters, it beats Coors and Busch's awful social track record and it isn't Bud (read:Wal-Mart beer)
2) As was said before, it's cheap. Often cheaper than Miller. And it tastes better than Naty Ice or Millie's Beast.
On Bud, My great uncle came visiting from Germany, so me and my father got together some respectable American beer to offer him. The old coot dug through the Sam Adams, the Redhook, and the Newcastle before looking up at us and asking, "Budweiser?"
He then went on to drink about a case every two days for a week. He called it "Bierwasser," and he loved it. Like beer flavored soda, I 'spose.
posted by es_de_bah at 7:01 PM on May 13, 2007
PBR? There's two reasons its the hipster favorite.
I always thought that, aside from the corporate marketing push of putting pretty collega age folks in bars drinking that swill, that it was tied to David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" in which Jeffrey is offered a beer and asks for a Heinekin, whereupon Frank says something along the lines of "Fuck that shit, PBR."
posted by caddis at 7:28 PM on May 13, 2007
I always thought that, aside from the corporate marketing push of putting pretty collega age folks in bars drinking that swill, that it was tied to David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" in which Jeffrey is offered a beer and asks for a Heinekin, whereupon Frank says something along the lines of "Fuck that shit, PBR."
posted by caddis at 7:28 PM on May 13, 2007
One thing I have noticed about budweiser (and bud light, for that matter) - out of a can or bottle, it is not especially interesting but not offensive. Out of a tap or keg, it is foul.
I think it depends much more on being carbonated and cold than normal.
posted by Mitrovarr at 7:32 PM on May 13, 2007
I think it depends much more on being carbonated and cold than normal.
posted by Mitrovarr at 7:32 PM on May 13, 2007
phaedon: "Boy, I second Yuengling all the way."
Yea, Yuengling!
posted by octothorpe at 7:43 PM on May 13, 2007
Yea, Yuengling!
posted by octothorpe at 7:43 PM on May 13, 2007
I've just shifted out of the season for Great Lakes Brewing's Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, which is the best goddamned porter in the world
My corner store is still selling Eddie Fitz's in Columbus, klang. And you're absolutely right on quality; we should meet halfway in Cleveland next winter and get toasty. Have you tried the Great Lakes IPA they've started selling, "Commander Something-Or-Other-I-Can't-Remember-The-Real-Name?" I find it to be quite tasty.
posted by Kwine at 10:37 PM on May 13, 2007
My corner store is still selling Eddie Fitz's in Columbus, klang. And you're absolutely right on quality; we should meet halfway in Cleveland next winter and get toasty. Have you tried the Great Lakes IPA they've started selling, "Commander Something-Or-Other-I-Can't-Remember-The-Real-Name?" I find it to be quite tasty.
posted by Kwine at 10:37 PM on May 13, 2007
in which Jeffrey is offered a beer and asks for a Heinekin, whereupon Frank says something along the lines of "Fuck that shit, PBR."
I think you're on to something there, caddis. Like, a real Amurkun is proud to be fucking ignorant about beer! None of this pansy-ass Yurpeean high-tone bullshit! We drink piss and we don't know no better and we're gaht-damn proud of it!
Even some folks here on MeFi! Who'da thunk it?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:48 PM on May 13, 2007
I think you're on to something there, caddis. Like, a real Amurkun is proud to be fucking ignorant about beer! None of this pansy-ass Yurpeean high-tone bullshit! We drink piss and we don't know no better and we're gaht-damn proud of it!
Even some folks here on MeFi! Who'da thunk it?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:48 PM on May 13, 2007
Flapjax— You could shove that Heinie up yer ass. They're invariably skunked here, and even folks in Amsterdam look down on 'em. PBRs are pretty tasty. Anyone standing on imported Heineken has no room to lecture on beer. It's ignorant snobbery, which is the worst kind. Hell, even an Amstel is better, and an Amstel is bullshit too. (As is Corona, arguably the worst premium beer available. After maybe Michelob).
Kwine— The Commander Perry? Yeah, that's pretty tasty. I also like their Burning River, but I don't care much for the Dortmunder, probably because it's another one of those light Pilsners. I don't remember if they make a wheat or not...
Once upon a time, I did a tour where my father, brother and I hit a bunch of micros around the Midwest and East Coast, and I'd love to do it again and include Great Lakes. I hear they've got all sorts of fantastic stuff at the actual pub.
posted by klangklangston at 11:27 PM on May 13, 2007
Kwine— The Commander Perry? Yeah, that's pretty tasty. I also like their Burning River, but I don't care much for the Dortmunder, probably because it's another one of those light Pilsners. I don't remember if they make a wheat or not...
Once upon a time, I did a tour where my father, brother and I hit a bunch of micros around the Midwest and East Coast, and I'd love to do it again and include Great Lakes. I hear they've got all sorts of fantastic stuff at the actual pub.
posted by klangklangston at 11:27 PM on May 13, 2007
klang, you got a thing for me or something? If so, it'd help if you were better informed, cause I never said anything about Heineken. I don't even like Heineken. You one irritable muhfucker, bwah, with some kinda serious chip on your shoulder. But go buzz around someone else's ear, little mosquito, ok?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 11:55 PM on May 13, 2007
posted by flapjax at midnite at 11:55 PM on May 13, 2007
"in which Jeffrey is offered a beer and asks for a Heinekin, whereupon Frank says something along the lines of "Fuck that shit, PBR."
I think you're on to something there, caddis. Like, a real Amurkun is proud to be fucking ignorant about beer! None of this pansy-ass Yurpeean high-tone bullshit! We drink piss and we don't know no better and we're gaht-damn proud of it! "
I assumed that since you quoted someone refusing a Heinie for a PBR, and that you used that to make a broad comment denigrating American tastes, you were, you know, at least mentioning Heineken. Which is a shitty beer, and I saw the reflexive dismissal of PBR in comparison as the type of thing someone who was an ignorant beer snob would trot out.
Feel free to correct my mistaken assumptions.
posted by klangklangston at 12:04 AM on May 14, 2007
I think you're on to something there, caddis. Like, a real Amurkun is proud to be fucking ignorant about beer! None of this pansy-ass Yurpeean high-tone bullshit! We drink piss and we don't know no better and we're gaht-damn proud of it! "
I assumed that since you quoted someone refusing a Heinie for a PBR, and that you used that to make a broad comment denigrating American tastes, you were, you know, at least mentioning Heineken. Which is a shitty beer, and I saw the reflexive dismissal of PBR in comparison as the type of thing someone who was an ignorant beer snob would trot out.
Feel free to correct my mistaken assumptions.
posted by klangklangston at 12:04 AM on May 14, 2007
And furthermore, telling someone on MeFi to shove something up their ass is stupid, rude and juvenile. In other words, exactly what I'd expect from you.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:05 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:05 AM on May 14, 2007
Hmm, shoulda previewed.
Feel free to correct my mistaken assumptions.
In this case, at least, I'm not concerned enough about your mistaken assumptions to spend the time and energy correcting them.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:09 AM on May 14, 2007
Feel free to correct my mistaken assumptions.
In this case, at least, I'm not concerned enough about your mistaken assumptions to spend the time and energy correcting them.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:09 AM on May 14, 2007
Ah, you have the time and energy to comment twice responding to a perceived insult, but not once to admit that you did mention Heineken and that you were being an ignorant snob about it.
posted by klangklangston at 12:13 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by klangklangston at 12:13 AM on May 14, 2007
OK klang, I'm an ignorant snob. Ignorant as hell. I deserve your fullest and most unreserved contempt. You'd be wise to avoid anything I post here at MeFi from now on, and I suggest you do so! You are the first MeFier to tell me to shove something up my ass, and by your avoiding my posts and comments in the future, and not responding to them, I feel relatively certain that you will be the last to have made such a suggestion. Even us ignorant snobs don't appreciate being talked to like that.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:23 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:23 AM on May 14, 2007
You are the first MeFier to tell me to shove something up my ass
look at it this way ... you've made an enema for life
posted by pyramid termite at 7:15 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
look at it this way ... you've made an enema for life
posted by pyramid termite at 7:15 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
PT: Ok, that was hilarious.
Flapjax: I tried to email you this, but it doesn't appear to be working.
Look, what pissed me off was the contempt I was seeing FROM YOU. When you start your riffin' on "Amurkans" as a lazy stereotype and doing so because of blinkered beer biases, you should at least bother to be right. Otherwise, it's like, man, who's this fucker coming in to tell me what I like is wrong, and that I like it because I'm stupid. If you can't see why that'd get you a big "fuck you, buddy," well, I don't know what to tell you. It's like hearing some dumbshit comment like how metal (or punk, if I recall your hobbyhorse) is too simple to be worth listening to— it instantly marks you as someone who doesn't know enough about the topic to be spouting off about it in generalities.
It's that attitude I have contempt for— your posts are usually pretty good, and I like a lot of the same music that you do. It's just that I don't bother goin' off on how the blues is just a bunch of morons who couldn't bother to learn an extra chord, or how '20s jazz is for folks who like juleps and lynchings. I have plenty of strong opinions about things that I do and don't like, and hell, even more than a handful are ignorant. But I don't mind getting called out on that and I don't mind learning more about things that I don't appreciate now.
So, hey, you can keep thinking that I'm juvenile and peurile, and I can keep thinking you're a narrow-minded prig. But I hope you're clearer on what exactly rankled the hairs on my ass, and I hope you think twice the next time you want to score cheap points with hollow elitism.
posted by klangklangston at 8:15 AM on May 14, 2007
Flapjax: I tried to email you this, but it doesn't appear to be working.
Look, what pissed me off was the contempt I was seeing FROM YOU. When you start your riffin' on "Amurkans" as a lazy stereotype and doing so because of blinkered beer biases, you should at least bother to be right. Otherwise, it's like, man, who's this fucker coming in to tell me what I like is wrong, and that I like it because I'm stupid. If you can't see why that'd get you a big "fuck you, buddy," well, I don't know what to tell you. It's like hearing some dumbshit comment like how metal (or punk, if I recall your hobbyhorse) is too simple to be worth listening to— it instantly marks you as someone who doesn't know enough about the topic to be spouting off about it in generalities.
It's that attitude I have contempt for— your posts are usually pretty good, and I like a lot of the same music that you do. It's just that I don't bother goin' off on how the blues is just a bunch of morons who couldn't bother to learn an extra chord, or how '20s jazz is for folks who like juleps and lynchings. I have plenty of strong opinions about things that I do and don't like, and hell, even more than a handful are ignorant. But I don't mind getting called out on that and I don't mind learning more about things that I don't appreciate now.
So, hey, you can keep thinking that I'm juvenile and peurile, and I can keep thinking you're a narrow-minded prig. But I hope you're clearer on what exactly rankled the hairs on my ass, and I hope you think twice the next time you want to score cheap points with hollow elitism.
posted by klangklangston at 8:15 AM on May 14, 2007
You know why I like Budweiser? You can get an 18 of longnecks for about $13 at the "Gas N Go" on the way to your party.
Oh you don't like Bud? Ok how about we make a deal; you don't keep bitching about how people need to bring shit to your party, and you stop coming over to my house with a 6 of Black & Tan (which we already have a shit-ton of) as a curteousy before you dump all my top-shelf liquor into a red plastic cup filled with Coke and drink until pass out in my goddamn bathroom?
Wait, what were we talking about?
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 8:34 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
Oh you don't like Bud? Ok how about we make a deal; you don't keep bitching about how people need to bring shit to your party, and you stop coming over to my house with a 6 of Black & Tan (which we already have a shit-ton of) as a curteousy before you dump all my top-shelf liquor into a red plastic cup filled with Coke and drink until pass out in my goddamn bathroom?
Wait, what were we talking about?
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 8:34 AM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
A friend of mine threw a party, and didn't call ahead to get the keg. All they had left was a keg of Bud Light.
My friend, being the genius he is, put a bowl of cut up limes near the beer, hid any trace of the brand, and let the party go.
Everyone swore up and down they were drinking Dos Equuis.
Here in my corner of Texas, Budweiser is referred to as "River Beer". If you accidentally drop one while floating in the river, you don't really worry, as it's already water. And the taste would probably be improved.
That's not to say you actually want to drink out of the Comal or Guadalupe rivers.
posted by fnord at 8:48 AM on May 14, 2007
My friend, being the genius he is, put a bowl of cut up limes near the beer, hid any trace of the brand, and let the party go.
Everyone swore up and down they were drinking Dos Equuis.
Here in my corner of Texas, Budweiser is referred to as "River Beer". If you accidentally drop one while floating in the river, you don't really worry, as it's already water. And the taste would probably be improved.
That's not to say you actually want to drink out of the Comal or Guadalupe rivers.
posted by fnord at 8:48 AM on May 14, 2007
This pro-Bud moron can go screw himself backwards, as far as I'm concerned. I've had Budvar, in its hometown, no less. I've drank Pilsner Urquell in Pilsen, with a bunch of good ol' Czech boys (I acquitted myself favorably, impressing the locals by holding my beer quite well compared to the American boys who were also with it). I've lived in Bavaria, the Czech Republic, Salzburg...
American Budweiser tastes like goat testicles in comparison to any -- and I mean ANY -- beer from any of those three countries.
Seconding, by the way, the Great Lakes Brewing Company love above -- they're my local brewery and everything there is good.
My two favorite beers, ever? Neither of which can be obtained in the USA, alas? Gambrinus (Czech Republic) and Augustiner (from a wee brewery in Salzburg with the world's best beer garden / deli attached).
posted by bitter-girl.com at 9:16 AM on May 14, 2007
American Budweiser tastes like goat testicles in comparison to any -- and I mean ANY -- beer from any of those three countries.
Seconding, by the way, the Great Lakes Brewing Company love above -- they're my local brewery and everything there is good.
My two favorite beers, ever? Neither of which can be obtained in the USA, alas? Gambrinus (Czech Republic) and Augustiner (from a wee brewery in Salzburg with the world's best beer garden / deli attached).
posted by bitter-girl.com at 9:16 AM on May 14, 2007
Gosh, I'm not cranky or anything today, am I? I think it's time for lunch and a LOT more coffee.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 9:28 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by bitter-girl.com at 9:28 AM on May 14, 2007
Old Style for the Midwest and Chicago area hipsters :)
posted by dead_ at 11:32 AM on May 13
Please tell me how there's anything wrong, at all, with a 6'er of Old Style tallboys for $3.50. You can't, can you.
posted by ninjew at 11:24 AM on May 14, 2007
posted by dead_ at 11:32 AM on May 13
Please tell me how there's anything wrong, at all, with a 6'er of Old Style tallboys for $3.50. You can't, can you.
posted by ninjew at 11:24 AM on May 14, 2007
telstar asked 'What next, "in praise of Count Chocula"?'
You leave the Count out of this, he's a good man.
The biggest beer producers in the world meet for a conference, and at the end of the day, the presidents of all the beer companies decide to have a drink together at a bar.
The president of Budweiser naturally orders a Bud, the president of Miller orders a Miller, Adolph Coors orders a Coors, and so on down the list.
Then the bartender asks Arthur Guinness what he wants to drink, and to everybody's amazement, he orders tea!
"Why don't you order a Guinness?" his colleagues ask suspiciously, wondering if they've stumbled on an embarrassing secret.
"Naaaah," replies Guinness. "If you guys aren't going to drink beer, then neither will I."
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 3:08 PM on May 14, 2007 [2 favorites]
You leave the Count out of this, he's a good man.
The biggest beer producers in the world meet for a conference, and at the end of the day, the presidents of all the beer companies decide to have a drink together at a bar.
The president of Budweiser naturally orders a Bud, the president of Miller orders a Miller, Adolph Coors orders a Coors, and so on down the list.
Then the bartender asks Arthur Guinness what he wants to drink, and to everybody's amazement, he orders tea!
"Why don't you order a Guinness?" his colleagues ask suspiciously, wondering if they've stumbled on an embarrassing secret.
"Naaaah," replies Guinness. "If you guys aren't going to drink beer, then neither will I."
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 3:08 PM on May 14, 2007 [2 favorites]
American Budweiser tastes like goat testicles
Why the hell would I take beer advice from someone who licks goat testicles?
posted by ikkyu2 at 3:12 PM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
Why the hell would I take beer advice from someone who licks goat testicles?
posted by ikkyu2 at 3:12 PM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]
Cuisine / drink is almost as subjective as music.
posted by chuckdarwin at 12:17 AM on May 15, 2007
posted by chuckdarwin at 12:17 AM on May 15, 2007
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posted by flapjax at midnite at 11:23 PM on May 12, 2007 [6 favorites]