Of Beers

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Tunborough
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Re: Of Beers

Post by Tunborough »

AaronFW wrote:I don't actually drink to the point of being drunk. Perhaps that is why Reinheitsgebot doesn't strike me as an attractive policy and why I have more tolerance and delight for flavorful-beers?
I don't aim for intoxication either. I have a pretty low tolerance, so I tend to be pretty fussy when I do imbibe. In contrast to you, however, I like to see what brewers can accomplish in the way of flavour with the limited palate of ingredients. (Ok, I did admit coffee back there, so I'm not a total purist.)

On the subject of fruit, there's been an explosion of craft cideries starting up here over the last few years. Again, amazing accomplishments in flavour and character with simple ingredients.
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Re: Of Beers

Post by Nanohedron »

AaronFW wrote:
Kade1301 wrote: Finally, to slightly modify the Scottish saying about whisky: There is no such thing as bad beer, they'll all get you drunk!
I don't actually drink to the point of being drunk. Perhaps that is why Reinheitsgebot doesn't strike me as an attractive policy and why I have more tolerance and delight for flavorful-beers?
Doesn't apply in my case. I don't drink to get drunk either, but all the same I have low tolerance for beers outside the Reinheitsgebot standard.
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Re: Of Beers

Post by Peter Duggan »

Kade1301 wrote:Finally, to slightly modify the Scottish saying about whisky: There is no such thing as bad beer, they'll all get you drunk!
Never heard such a Scottish saying, so have to say I doubt its authenticity as well as dispute its sentiment... nobody with any sense drinks quality whisky to get drunk (or wants to drink the really cheap stuff at all)!
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Re: Of Beers

Post by Nanohedron »

I would venture the saying's more Sottish than Scottish. :)
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Re: Of Beers

Post by Thomaston »

Tangential to intoxication discussion, has anyone else managed to square away their personal limitations for maximum music playing? My sweet spot is roughly about 2 beers. Loosens the nerves, but I notice that at 3 my ability to play tunes starts to diminish.
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Re: Of Beers

Post by Nanohedron »

Same here. :)
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Re: Of Beers

Post by benhall.1 »

Thomaston wrote:Tangential to intoxication discussion, has anyone else managed to square away their personal limitations for maximum music playing? My sweet spot is roughly about 2 beers. Loosens the nerves, but I notice that at 3 my ability to play tunes starts to diminish.
I used to be about the same. Now, I seem to play the same roughly up until about 7 or 8 pints of Guinness, after which there is a slight tailing off.
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Re: Of Beers

Post by Kade1301 »

I generally don't drink to get drunk either, but I have noticed that I don't really notice the subtleties of flavour in the second glass (meaning I could very well switch to cheaper stuff). Which is the reason why wine tasters spit...

As for drinking and playing - I prefer no alcohol at all.

Cidre is a French staple (especially here in the northwest, where apples grow easier than grapes), with alcohol contents from 1.5 % to about 5.5 % and so many brands and varieties that I never know what I like from one purchase to the next. Unfortunately all the cidre I know contains sulfite (to stop it turning to vinegar, just like wine) which I don't always react well to (and I never know beforehand whether I'll get a headache or not).
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Re: Of Beers

Post by AaronFW »

Peter Duggan wrote:
Kade1301 wrote:Finally, to slightly modify the Scottish saying about whisky: There is no such thing as bad beer, they'll all get you drunk!
Never heard such a Scottish saying, so have to say I doubt its authenticity as well as dispute its sentiment... nobody with any sense drinks quality whisky to get drunk (or wants to drink the really cheap stuff at all)!
Maybe it is a stereotype of Scotts?
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Re: Of Beers

Post by AaronFW »

Kade1301 wrote:I generally don't drink to get drunk either, but I have noticed that I don't really notice the subtleties of flavour in the second glass (meaning I could very well switch to cheaper stuff). Which is the reason why wine tasters spit...

As for drinking and playing - I prefer no alcohol at all.
Fair enough.

I myself can only drink 1. Since my flute-playing is "intermediate on my best days" (to steal a phrase from C&Fer maestrosid) it is hard to tell whether 1 drink improves or causes my flute-playing to worsen. After two, I'm not sure I'd be able to tell the long side of the flute from the short side.
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Re: Of Beers

Post by Peter Duggan »

AaronFW wrote:Maybe it is a stereotype of Scotts?
What, the Porage [sic] Oats people?
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Re: Of Beers

Post by benhall.1 »

Peter Duggan wrote:
Kade1301 wrote:Finally, to slightly modify the Scottish saying about whisky: There is no such thing as bad beer, they'll all get you drunk!
Never heard such a Scottish saying, so have to say I doubt its authenticity as well as dispute its sentiment... nobody with any sense drinks quality whisky to get drunk (or wants to drink the really cheap stuff at all)!
I have found it quoted in a book by Gavid D. Smith called "A-Z of Whisky". Now, I don't know who he is ... He says, "There is an old Scots proverb which declares that there is no such thing as bad whisky, they all make you drunk."

But previously I hadn't heard the phrase either, and it doesn't seem to me to make much sense.
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Re: Of Beers

Post by david_h »

AaronFW wrote: What do you guys look for in beers and other drinks? Is there something that you find that you prefer or are really into at the moment?
You are not getting much (constructive) comment from this side of the pond. Part of a list of draught beers on the chalkboard at a recent session may explain why. The ABV percentages went 3.2 (that was a mild), 3.6, 3.6, 3.8, 4.0, 4.1, 4.5, 5.0 which is pretty typical of a UK real ale pub. So it doesn't look like we would be talking about the same thing and is maybe why in three trips to the USA the beer has never made much impression on me - I just had one glass of what was most obvious at the time.
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Re: Of Beers

Post by AaronFW »

Peter Duggan wrote:
AaronFW wrote:Maybe it is a stereotype of Scotts?
What, the Porage [sic] Oats people?
Oh, whoops. I meant Scots. Not Scotts Porage Oats.
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Re: Of Beers

Post by Nanohedron »

benhall.1 wrote:I have found it quoted in a book by Gavid D. Smith called "A-Z of Whisky". Now, I don't know who he is ... He says, "There is an old Scots proverb which declares that there is no such thing as bad whisky, they all make you drunk."

But previously I hadn't heard the phrase either, and it doesn't seem to me to make much sense.
A quick Google: As to the man, Gavin D. Smith is a published author on a number of leisure topics including horseracing and beer, but is perhaps best known above all as a whisky maven. As to any authority conferred upon him by the whisky fanciers' community, that is for the informed to tell us, but he appears to be well known. As to his origins, he was born in County Durham of North East England, is Scottish on his father's side, and now lives on the Fife coast. As to the proverb, I've heard it in various guises before and not associated with any one group in particular, so Smith's attributing it to the Scots is likely facetious, or at best anecdotal; it's probably arisen independently in every drinking culture there is. As to it coming from him, it surprises me that a connoisseur would even utter it, but judging by the bits I've read of Mr. Smith, it would seem he also has an irrepressible playful streak. I'm all for that, but it might prove awkward this time, considering he's cracking wise about a people known to hold whisky as high art, whose contributions to it are his bread and butter, and in whose country he resides as well. All in good fun no doubt, but just sayin', Gavin ol' buddy...

Ben, are you in possession of the book? I wonder what the proverb's greater context was. If Smith quoted it in order to disagree with or disprove its spirit as a supposedly Scottish artifact, that would make sense.
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