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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Beer thread redux
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quantpole
Shipmate
# 8401
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Posted
I don't really believe that thing with Fullers. Seems like an awful lot of effort and I'm not sure how changing the recipe a bit would affect how well it lasted.
Anyway, to get a few things off my chest:
- Mild does not mean weak, it means fresh as opposed to aged, though the few milds available now do tend to be pretty weak.
- 150 years ago, beers were typically much stronger than they are now. 6 or 7% abv and higher was not unusual. You can get that sort of strength now but it is rather specialist. People also drank a lot lot more than we do now. Small beer was weak, and was drunk by children as it was safer than water. Beers became weaker in the 20th century mainly because the wars limited the amount of barley that could be used in brewing, and it never recovered to the pre-war strengths. (Also interesting to note that 'premium' lagers have reduced in strength over the years. Supposedly this is to be healthier, but really it's to reduce the tax they have to pay. Stella used to be 5.2% but is now 4.8%)
- Ale originally meant unhopped as opposed to beer that was hopped. Over time they eventually merged to have similar hopping rates. It is nothing to do with being top-fermented.
- Belgian beers do not typically use wild yeasts, though they are famous for it.
Having 5 units is not binge drinking! Even the NHS don't define it as that. I think they say more than 6 units for women and 8 for men is binge drinking. Don't get me started on the government attitudes to alcohol. Over the last 10 years, consumption has actually dropped considerably yet you'd think that half the country was walking around pissed from reading reports. The government guidelines are not based on medical evidence. There is no proof that drinking say 30 units a week will damage your health (there is proof that drinking 100 units a week will though). I'm not saying that everyone should go out and drink more, and clearly there are problems caused by excessive consumption, but don't necessarily believe the propaganda the government tells you either.
Posts: 885 | From: Leeds | Registered: Aug 2004
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
Had a few beers down the local Irish-owned pub yesterday - new American varieties. My favourite was Rotater, an IPA. I also had one from Boulder Beer, a company I helped take public when I was a stockbroker back in the late 80s. The brew was named Sweaty Betty, a hefeweizen.
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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