On beer sizing at restaurants, generally...
07-15-2015, 08:51 AM
#26
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It's a matter of preference, of course.
Personally, I don't drink a lot of soda, but when I do, I actually like ice in it, which is something that many people find absurd.
I've just never been fond of alcoholic beverages served too cold. I do like my Martinis straight up, but no brown spirit shall have touched ice on its way to my glass, be it rum, scotch, bourbon or tequila. It dulls the flavor, no matter what the people who advocate adding a splash of water to their whiskey claim.
Personally, I don't drink a lot of soda, but when I do, I actually like ice in it, which is something that many people find absurd.
I've just never been fond of alcoholic beverages served too cold. I do like my Martinis straight up, but no brown spirit shall have touched ice on its way to my glass, be it rum, scotch, bourbon or tequila. It dulls the flavor, no matter what the people who advocate adding a splash of water to their whiskey claim.
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07-15-2015, 10:02 AM
#30
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<p>But less so. Keystone has a more watery taste. Maybe like if you vomited after drinking too much water. Where is mostly clear with some chunks.</p><p>Warm Kirkland is like one of those horribly full vomits, like you just had a giant burrito, and then drank too much tequila vomits. The kind with texture.</p>
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07-15-2015, 11:20 AM
#32
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I have not.
I have also not licked the sweat off of a camel's *****, nor do I plan to try it.
That having been said, I feel it necessary to illustrate that there is a distinction between warm beer, beer served at the proper temperature, and freezing beer.
Warm beer, that served at or near room temperature, is fairly unpalatable. I doubt that very many people would espouse serving beer at this temperature.
Freezing beer (that chilled down into the 30s and served in a frozen mug) isn't particularly appealing to me. A bit of beer history is in order here:
Prior to the prohibition of alcohol in the US, there existed a great many small breweries, producing a wide variety of beers which were mostly native to the various European nations from which the first and second-generation immigrants who made them hailed. This spanned everything from the light-bodied Pilsners of Bavaria, to the bitters and brown ales of northern England, to the wonderful golden ales of Belgium all the way to the dark porters originally native to London.
After the passage of the 18th Amendment which enacted prohibition, the vast majority of these breweries went out of business, with a few converting over to the production of non-alcoholic beverages. During this time, much knowledge and experience in beermaking was lost, with many brewers actually electing to emigrate from the US.
Subsequent to the repeal of prohibition, a great demand for beer existed, coupled with an almost nonexistant supply. Those individuals and companies still able to do so quickly re-started beer production, but elected to focus principally on the production of pilsner lagers, as this style of beer is relatively inexpensive and efficient to produce quickly. The pilsner, during the 1940s, came to define "American" beer, and is the style produced almost exclusively by the major-label macrobreweries of today.
Americans in the mid to late 1930s were obviously thirsty for a drink and not especially picky about what they were being served, and so little demand existed for what, by that time, would have been considered "exotic" beer styles; those which we today identify as craft beer. And it was during this time that the practice of serving beer chilled down to nearly the freezing point became fashionable, a technique developed in no small part because it slightly dulled the flavor of the beer, masking the more bitter aromatics and making cheap beer more palatable to drink.
Beer served at the proper temperature is another matter entirely. Perhaps incidentally, beers rich in flavor and aromatics seem best when served at the upper 40s to mid 50s, a temperature setting rarely found on conventional refrigerators but easily accommodated by dedicated beverage coolers, and one which is commonly referred to as "cellar temperature" by both beer and wine snobs alike, as it reflects the temperature range commonly experienced in the cool underground cellars which were commonplace in both the New England region of the US as well as the northern countries of Europe prior to the advent of commercial refrigeration.
Now, I'm not totally against the idea of drinking cheap beer cold. If I'm out mowing the lawn or working on the car, chances are that I'll have either a light wheat beer or an American-style lager by my side. And for these beers served under these circumstances, chilling into the 30s is entirely acceptable. The conditions dictate the beer, so to speak.
Just don't serve me a Belgian abbey ale in a frozen mug.
Prost.
I have also not licked the sweat off of a camel's *****, nor do I plan to try it.
That having been said, I feel it necessary to illustrate that there is a distinction between warm beer, beer served at the proper temperature, and freezing beer.
Warm beer, that served at or near room temperature, is fairly unpalatable. I doubt that very many people would espouse serving beer at this temperature.
Freezing beer (that chilled down into the 30s and served in a frozen mug) isn't particularly appealing to me. A bit of beer history is in order here:
Prior to the prohibition of alcohol in the US, there existed a great many small breweries, producing a wide variety of beers which were mostly native to the various European nations from which the first and second-generation immigrants who made them hailed. This spanned everything from the light-bodied Pilsners of Bavaria, to the bitters and brown ales of northern England, to the wonderful golden ales of Belgium all the way to the dark porters originally native to London.
After the passage of the 18th Amendment which enacted prohibition, the vast majority of these breweries went out of business, with a few converting over to the production of non-alcoholic beverages. During this time, much knowledge and experience in beermaking was lost, with many brewers actually electing to emigrate from the US.
Subsequent to the repeal of prohibition, a great demand for beer existed, coupled with an almost nonexistant supply. Those individuals and companies still able to do so quickly re-started beer production, but elected to focus principally on the production of pilsner lagers, as this style of beer is relatively inexpensive and efficient to produce quickly. The pilsner, during the 1940s, came to define "American" beer, and is the style produced almost exclusively by the major-label macrobreweries of today.
Americans in the mid to late 1930s were obviously thirsty for a drink and not especially picky about what they were being served, and so little demand existed for what, by that time, would have been considered "exotic" beer styles; those which we today identify as craft beer. And it was during this time that the practice of serving beer chilled down to nearly the freezing point became fashionable, a technique developed in no small part because it slightly dulled the flavor of the beer, masking the more bitter aromatics and making cheap beer more palatable to drink.
Beer served at the proper temperature is another matter entirely. Perhaps incidentally, beers rich in flavor and aromatics seem best when served at the upper 40s to mid 50s, a temperature setting rarely found on conventional refrigerators but easily accommodated by dedicated beverage coolers, and one which is commonly referred to as "cellar temperature" by both beer and wine snobs alike, as it reflects the temperature range commonly experienced in the cool underground cellars which were commonplace in both the New England region of the US as well as the northern countries of Europe prior to the advent of commercial refrigeration.
Now, I'm not totally against the idea of drinking cheap beer cold. If I'm out mowing the lawn or working on the car, chances are that I'll have either a light wheat beer or an American-style lager by my side. And for these beers served under these circumstances, chilling into the 30s is entirely acceptable. The conditions dictate the beer, so to speak.
Just don't serve me a Belgian abbey ale in a frozen mug.
Prost.
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07-15-2015, 12:15 PM
#35
OK, now we can agree.
Cold is a relative term. I was thinking you were one of the people that enjoy room temperature beer (damn Brits).
One of my friends in college had an old beverage fridge (the little ones that go under a bar) that he kept around 38F. Was a good temperature for most everything.
I also found this temperature guide online:
Serving Beer - The Beer Temple
Can't say I agree with it, but it is inline with what you are saying.
Cold is a relative term. I was thinking you were one of the people that enjoy room temperature beer (damn Brits).
One of my friends in college had an old beverage fridge (the little ones that go under a bar) that he kept around 38F. Was a good temperature for most everything.
I also found this temperature guide online:
Serving Beer - The Beer Temple
Can't say I agree with it, but it is inline with what you are saying.
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07-15-2015, 12:25 PM
#37
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While I wouldn't offer it to guests this way, it is often how I drink my beer. It sits outside the fridge due to space constraints, and I rarely remember to stick some in to cool. Therefore, when I want some, it's either wait or drink as is.
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