Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather

My friends have the best ever in their collection ... the Hamms Bear -- a 5 foot tall styrofoam bear that hold a case in his arms....too cool.

Sadly, it's a bit of a testament to advertising with 'cartoons' impacting children, much like the camel.

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I never smoked or drank because of cartoons. I smoked and drank because my dad did.

I can't say I have either - but a friend of mine said that Hamm's Bear did influence her. But was it brand choice at that point, or the actual 'vice' -- which isn't a vice.

The attitude that it is comes from our puritan foundations in this country. Its actually a good because it is pleasurable to drink by taste (though possibly acquired), and it provides a relaxing effect. The 'bad' comes in over use, when you exchange your faculty to make decisions responsibly. THAT is the dragon that must be slayed.
 
I can't say I have either - but a friend of mine said that Hamm's Bear did influence her. But was it brand choice at that point, or the actual 'vice' -- which isn't a vice.

The attitude that it is comes from our puritan foundations in this country. Its actually a good because it is pleasurable to drink by taste (though possibly acquired), and it provides a relaxing effect. The 'bad' comes in over use, when you exchange your faculty to make decisions responsibly. THAT is the dragon that must be slayed.
Wasn’t it Ben Franklin that said beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy?

I don’t have a drinking problem however I do have a beer sign buying problem.
 
I can't say I have either - but a friend of mine said that Hamm's Bear did influence her. But was it brand choice at that point, or the actual 'vice' -- which isn't a vice.

The attitude that it is comes from our puritan foundations in this country. Its actually a good because it is pleasurable to drink by taste (though possibly acquired), and it provides a relaxing effect. The 'bad' comes in over use, when you exchange your faculty to make decisions responsibly. THAT is the dragon that must be slayed.
Always kind of liked the "From the land of sky blue waters" Hamm's Bear commercials as a kid, but never developed much of a taste for their beer. I prefer a good IPA myself.
It didn't start out that way, but back in the 80's when my dad decided to invest in a new start up brewery in St. Paul called Summit Brewing, all they made were full flavored craft brews. The one dividend it did pay was two cases of free beer a month. It was whatever they had made more of than they could sell that month and so there were various Ale's, IPA's, Porter's and Lager's from month to month. Some were pretty hoppy, some were pretty bitter, others not so much, but the IPA's that were hoppy, but not too bitter was what I ended up developing a taste for.
 
Summer of ‘81 was the first time I had Hamm’s beer when I was 13. My uncle taught forestry at Utah St and it was his last year there. My aunt and uncle had me and brother come that summer too see that part of the country before they moved to California. The forestry students had to do a summer camp and the USU one was somewhere way down the canyon the Logan River ran through. My uncle took us and my one cousin with him for several nights down there. Someone sabotaged the water system and the water wasn’t safe to drink. The one thing 2 or 3 college professors and around 30-40 college age kids had plenty of was beer. So for the next couple of days, my 9 year old brother, me at 13, and my 15 year old cousin got handed one Hamm’s beer at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My aunt went ballistic when we got back to their house in Logan and he told her. I’m not positive I’ve ever had a Hamm’s beer since then.
 
Wasn’t it Ben Franklin that said beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy?

I don’t have a drinking problem however I do have a beer sign buying problem.
I think it’s been attributed to several people,
Summer of ‘81 was the first time I had Hamm’s beer when I was 13. My uncle taught forestry at Utah St and it was his last year there. My aunt and uncle had me and brother come that summer too see that part of the country before they moved to California. The forestry students had to do a summer camp and the USU one was somewhere way down the canyon the Logan River ran through. My uncle took us and my one cousin with him for several nights down there. Someone sabotaged the water system and the water wasn’t safe to drink. The one thing 2 or 3 college professors and around 30-40 college age kids had plenty of was beer. So for the next couple of days, my 9 year old brother, me at 13, and my 15 year old cousin got handed one Hamm’s beer at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My aunt went ballistic when we got back to their house in Logan and he told her. I’m not positive I’ve ever had a Hamm’s beer since then.
great. Theres a new jingle to have echoing in my head.

That is the Puritanism. In Europe, it’s not tabu like it is here….and the kids aren’t attracted to the forbidden fruit. Besides, my home…let me manage and teach my kids. I know what is best for the, far more than a bureaucrat …
 
I think it’s been attributed to several people,

great. Theres a new jingle to have echoing in my head.

That is the Puritanism. In Europe, it’s not tabu like it is here….and the kids aren’t attracted to the forbidden fruit. Besides, my home…let me manage and teach my kids. I know what is best for the, far more than a bureaucrat …
We’re normally not beer drinkers, but found the beer on tap in Europe to be more pleasing to us. Normally beer tend to leave us feeling bloated; but didn’t experience that with the European beers. A friend from Europe said the reason is beers over there have less preservatives in them than American brewed beers. I have never followed up on that theory. Maybe someone here knows?
 
We’re normally not beer drinkers, but found the beer on tap in Europe to be more pleasing to us. Normally beer tend to leave us feeling bloated; but didn’t experience that with the European beers. A friend from Europe said the reason is beers over there have less preservatives in them than American brewed beers. I have never followed up on that theory. Maybe someone here knows?
Less carbonation too.
 
We’re normally not beer drinkers, but found the beer on tap in Europe to be more pleasing to us. Normally beer tend to leave us feeling bloated; but didn’t experience that with the European beers. A friend from Europe said the reason is beers over there have less preservatives in them than American brewed beers. I have never followed up on that theory. Maybe someone here knows?

I think a lot of it goes back to checicals used in farming --- Europe doesn't use the same methods we use here.

I was listening to Joe Rogan - who is a huge 'body hacker' and he talks often about eating an entire pizza in Italy thinking "OH, I'm going to pay for this..." but he never does. I'd love to see roundup and pesticides addressed....
 
We’re normally not beer drinkers, but found the beer on tap in Europe to be more pleasing to us. Normally beer tend to leave us feeling bloated; but didn’t experience that with the European beers. A friend from Europe said the reason is beers over there have less preservatives in them than American brewed beers. I have never followed up on that theory. Maybe someone here knows?
I'm a home brewer and have been to Europe several times just to drink beer (and see a few sights between beers). No brewery adds preservatives to beer here or there. The caveat is that hops are a preservative and flavor enhancer. People used to drink beer and wine instead of water because it was safer - the alcohol killed the bacteria. Hops is not so much a preservative as a flavor stabilizer. Of course with all the hop breeding programs now, hops contribute a lot more to the flavor than ever before. Carbonation is more related to beer style than region. The high end of carbonation would be saisons and weiss beers. Pilsners here and in Europe will be about the same. Ales will have a little less and porters and stouts less still.

Cheers
 
I'm a home brewer and have been to Europe several times just to drink beer (and see a few sights between beers). No brewery adds preservatives to beer here or there. The caveat is that hops are a preservative and flavor enhancer. People used to drink beer and wine instead of water because it was safer - the alcohol killed the bacteria. Hops is not so much a preservative as a flavor stabilizer. Of course with all the hop breeding programs now, hops contribute a lot more to the flavor than ever before. Carbonation is more related to beer style than region. The high end of carbonation would be saisons and weiss beers. Pilsners here and in Europe will be about the same. Ales will have a little less and porters and stouts less still.

Cheers
Does Europe pasteurize their beer like we do here?
 
I'm a home brewer and have been to Europe several times just to drink beer (and see a few sights between beers). No brewery adds preservatives to beer here or there. The caveat is that hops are a preservative and flavor enhancer. People used to drink beer and wine instead of water because it was safer - the alcohol killed the bacteria. Hops is not so much a preservative as a flavor stabilizer. Of course with all the hop breeding programs now, hops contribute a lot more to the flavor than ever before. Carbonation is more related to beer style than region. The high end of carbonation would be saisons and weiss beers. Pilsners here and in Europe will be about the same. Ales will have a little less and porters and stouts less still.

Cheers
I think you'll find that the carbonation will generally be higher in bottled/canned beer than in tap beer, and can be somewhat reduced by pouring the bottled/canned beer into a glass, but will still be higher than a kegged beer poured into a glass.

My bachelor neighbor at the airport got into brewing about 10 yrs ago. He started with a home brew kit he got for Christmas, and bottled it into about 2 cases, and shared it with his neighbors at beer-thirty in the late afternoons/evening hours when all flying was done for the day.

Eventually, as his beer became popular, and bottling got old, it grew into him buying a 20 gallon boil pot, a 10 gallon mash tun, several 5 gallon Carboy's for fermentation, several 5 gallon kegs, and a CO2 bottle. He converted an old full sized fridge into a kegerator with a couple of taps coming out the side.

He recruited me to help him on brew day, which was a full day process. We would do a batch about once a month or so which started with 17+ gallons of water, 25lbs of Briess two row malted barley, 2lbs of carmelized barley, brewers yeast and Falconers Flight hops, after which we would end up with about 12+ gallons of beer in about 2-3 weeks.
We found we could make a really nice IPA that was pretty hoppy, but not too bitter if we dry hopped the beer with about half or more of the hops added after the first week of fermentation in the Carboy's rather than adding them all during the boil of the mash, which would bring out too much of their bitterness. It would usually end up about somewhere between 7 & 8% ABV. Needless to say, his hangar became quite the popular place for the locals in the late afternoons / evenings. This went on for several years until he found a new sweetheart who owned a bar & grill in a small SD town, and moved out there. Lots of good memories, but life goes on.
 
Does Europe pasteurize their beer like we do here?
The short answer is yes. They do it to make bottles and cans shelf stable. Kegs, both here and there tend to not be pasteurized because they are kept refrigerated and consumed quickly. Your small craft brewery is not pasteurizing because of the equipment required. They are counting on the beer being sold relatively quickly. A quick google search confirms that brands like Stella, Heineken, Guinness and Paulaner all pasteurize (except for the Hefe from Paulaner). Bottle conditioned beers probably aren't pasteurized because it would kill the yeast needed for conditioning.
 
I’m thirsty after reading this. I think I shall walk to the fridge.
Skoal! This talk of beer lit up my brain with hazy memories of Shiner Bock and a cheekful of Redman, from a couple times with a wild girlfriend met in flight training in TX...

Something something ...cowboy bars - the ones with chicken wire in front of the stage...and the horse trough in the mens room... thst stuff will make you wanna hit yo daddy!
 
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