Beer

[Michaelangelica]

Why beer?

Good question.

Why do we have it?

 

I don't know.

I just thought it might make an interesting thread

History, science, sociology, psychology, road safety, chemistry, nutrition, home brew, preferences, drugs, stories etc???

 

For those in Tasmania - a Phd sociology student wants volunteers to drink beer for his thesis.!!!!

[email protected]

and

BEER CAN REDUCE RISK OF HEART DISEASE: STUDY (The World Today: 12/09/2006)

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1739322.htm

[InfiniteNow]

My understanding...

 

Water quality back in the day was very poor, and bacteria caused a lot of deaths. As a way around this, the process of fermentation came into greater use, and those who drank more beer lived longer due their drinking of fermented beer (w/o bacteria) instead of local water (w/bacteria).

[Turtle]

When my meds have run out,

and I'm startin' to pout,

there is less for to fear,

if I crack open a bier.

:)

 

Not only is bier a substitute for water, it contains a lot of calories, and it's medicinal.:)

[sanctus]

As in the middle age in most of the monastery there were breweries, maybe beer was a reason to become a monk and there were so many monks in the middle age that now everyone has at least one ancestor who had a brother as a monk and therefore we all have the urge to have a beer in our blood...

I don't think I would defend this thesis anywhere else unless here in the watercooler.

 

But serious have you already hought about how drunk the monks must have gotten every night? Maybe this explains some visioins some of them had :)

[InfiniteNow]

There is also evidence that beer brewing goes back to Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, more than 5,000 years BC (and potentially before that, but the evidence doesn't warrant such as a conclusion).

 

Wiki has pages for both "beer" and the "History of Beer." Check 'em out! :evil:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_beer

[Michaelangelica]

http://www.unogateway.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/09/22/451370fd74ac4cer

 

A beer a day may keep the doctor away: Brew could benefit health

 

Patrick Doty

September 22, 2006

 

“Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, ‘It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.’”

 

These words, written by the wise Jack Handy of SNL fame, are what I think about every time I drink beer. I’m just taking one for the team. But recent studies have claimed that beer isn’t as bad for your health as you may think. Sure, it will maim your liver when consumed in obscene quantities, but when you really look at what beer is and how it is made, moderate consumption can be beneficial to your health.

 

Alco-heal

 

More than 100 studies have found alcohol to consistently reduce the risk of heart-related ailments by 25 to 40 percent,

[Michaelangelica]

This guy nearly qualified for a Darwin Award:)

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/entertainment/15569781.htm

Posted on Fri, Sep. 22, 2006

email this

print this

HE HAD BEER, THEN HE HAD BEAR

 

Officials at the Beijing Zoo said they won't punish a drunken Chinese migrant worker who jumped into a panda enclosure, was bitten by the bear and retaliated by chomping down on the animal's back, state media said Wednesday.

 

The Beijing Morning Post said Zhang Xinyan drank four jugs of beer at a restaurant near the zoo before visiting Gu Gu the panda on Tuesday.

 

"He felt a sudden urge to touch the panda with his hand" and jumped into the enclosure, the newspaper said.

 

The panda, who was asleep, was startled and bit Zhang, 35, on the right leg, it said. Zhang got angry and kicked the panda, which then bit his other leg. A tussle ensued, the paper said.

 

"I bit the fellow in the back," the newspaper quoted Zhang as saying. "Its skin was quite thick." Other tourists called a zookeeper, who got the panda under control by spraying it with water, reports said.

 

Newspaper photographs showed Zhang lying on a hospital bed with blood-soaked bandages and a seam of stitches running down his leg.

 

The Beijing Youth Daily quoted Zhang as saying that he had seen pandas on television and "they seemed to get along well with people."

 

"No one ever said they would bite people," Zhang said.

[TheFaithfulStone]

We have threads about Beer and "Put-Out Day."

 

This forum needs girls but BAD.

 

TFS

[Michaelangelica]

We have threads about Beer and "Put-Out Day."

 

This forum needs girls but BAD.

 

TFS

I agree.

 

but are the wimps winning?

Lemon flavoured ! low alcohol beer!!

Is this blasphemy?

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2372662,00.html

 

The Sunday Times - Britain

 

The Sunday Times September 24, 2006

 

New brews launched as drinkers lose taste for strong ale

Marc Horne

BRITISH drinkers are snubbing strong continental lagers, forcing brewers to launch weaker versions of them.

 

Lagers such as Stella Artois and Beck’s, which contain about 5% alcohol, will soon be sold alongside weaker sister brands with an alcohol content of 3-4%.

 

Beck’s Green Lemon, a citrus-flavoured beer containing 2.5% alcohol, is to be launched shortly. And Budweiser recently announced Bud Silver, a 4% beer that will be sold in a pint bottle with a “gripper” handle so as not to appear to be a wimp’s drink.

 

The trend is being fuelled by a slump in demand for premium lagers

[eric l]

This quote brings me to the point why Belgian beers (like Stella Artois) are generally on the strong side compared to other "standard" beers or ales.

 

Different countries had different ways to deal with alcoholism : closing time for pubs like in the UK, prohibition like in the US or very high taxes. In Belgium we had a law in 1919 prohibitting the sale of "strong" alcohols or liquors in pubs (actually anything stronger than port wine). The tradition of "beer plus beer chaser" ("Bier und Schnaps" in German) disppeared completely.

 

Up to that time, beers were generally in the 3 to 4 % alcohol range. Now some brewers created the "specials", that went into the 5 to 6 % alcohol range. Starting the brewing proces with more solids allowed more differentiation in the tastes. In due course, 5° became the standard for lager (e.g. Stella Artois) and stronger beers (like the famous "abbey-beers") got a growning share of the market.

 

Sanctus's posting states that most medieval monastries had a brewery, but the beer they brewed for their own use was a very weak stuff (I have seen quite a number of recepies). Most of them also brewed strong beers, but they were (and still are in a small number of cases) intended as moneymakers. Indeed the monks ware smart enough not to count exclusively on donations from pilgrims or donations for masses for their material survival.

[Racoon]

And in addition, Beer will make you more successful! :)

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aZ6Zcbub1N7c&refer=canada

Drinking Alcohol Can Lead to Fatter Pay Checks, Study Says

 

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Drinking alcohol can fatten your pay check, according to a Reason Foundation study published in the Journal of Labor Research.

 

Men who visit a bar at least once a month to drink socially bring home 7 percent more pay than abstainers, and women drinkers earn 14 percent more than non-drinkers, according to the study by economists Bethany Peters and Edward Stringham.

 

``Social drinking builds social capital,'' Stringham, a professor at San Jose State University, said in a press release. ``Social drinkers are out networking, building relationships, and adding contacts to their BlackBerries that result in bigger paychecks.''

 

:hyper:

[InfiniteNow]

Beware of spurious relationships... :sad:

[Michaelangelica]

5° became the standard for lager (e.g. Stella Artois) and stronger beers (like the famous "abbey-beers") got a growning share of the market.

 

Sanctus's posting states that most medieval monastries had a brewery, but the beer they brewed for their own use was a very weak stuff (I have seen quite a number of recepies). Most of them also brewed strong beers, but they were (and still are in a small number of cases) intended as moneymakers. Indeed the monks ware smart enough not to count exclusively on donations from pilgrims or donations for masses for their material survival.

 

Monastery beer was probably a lot more nutritious than today. Most likely a meal in itself with lots of B vitamins. (Can you post a recipe?)

It could have also been safer to drink than the water.(?)

 

As for alcohol content isn't there an upper limit with beer because too high a % would stop fermentation?

[Racoon]

Monastery beer was probably a lot more nutritious than today. Most likely a meal in itself with lots of B vitamins. (Can you post a recipe?)

 

As for alcohol content isn't there an upper limit with beer because too high a % would stop fermentation?

 

Thats a very good point Micheal. :eek:

 

And, when I visited a friend in Austria, we partook a beer that was 26% ;)

Thats the highest alcohol percentage I've seen,... and experienced :)

[Turtle]

Monastery beer was probably a lot more nutritious than today. Most likely a meal in itself with lots of B vitamins. (Can you post a recipe?)

It could have also been safer to drink than the water.(?)

 

Monks in the 17th century fasted during Lent and found their nourishment from a strong, hearty doppelbock they referred to as "liquid bread." Munich monks called this brew Salvator ("Savior" in Latin).

http://www.thedailypage.com/going-out/eats/news/managedit.php?intEatsNewsID=364

 

I often refer to bier as liquid bread, but never took the time to find the phrase's origin...'til now. Cheers with beers, sweet salvator. :hihi:

[HydrogenBond]

By the laws of brewers, beer can only be 3-5% alcohol. Beyond that it is called Ale. One of the things that places the limit on beer is the choice of yeast one uses. If one used sherry yeast one could get the beer up to 20+%. These strains of yeast don't seem to get drunk that easy. To utilize sherry yeast, this one would have to suppliment the barley malt (enzyme digested barley seeds to make natural sugar) with additional sugar, to have enough to make all that extra alcohol. But, in doing so, it would not offically be called beer or ale anymore, but something like sherry malt. Doesn't sound that good but it would sure pack a kick.

[eric l]

By the laws of brewers, beer can only be 3-5% alcohol. Beyond that it is called Ale. One of the things that places the limit on beer is the choice of yeast one uses.

 

The distinction between "beer" and "ale" is rather specific to the English language. And even in English, it is related to the type of yeast (ale is brewed with "top-fermenting yeast"), it is only indirectly related to alcohol content (top-fermenting yeast allows a higher percentage of alcohol than bottom-fermenting yeast).

 

The difference between top-fermenting and bottom-fermenting is mainly that top-fermenting yeast rises to to top when the alcohol-level is reached, and bottom fermenting yeast will sink to the bottom. The optimal temperatures are different, too (15 tot 24°C for top-fermenting, 7 to 12°C for bottom-fermenting yeast).

 

Alcohol levels as high as 21% can only be reached with other yeasts than brewer's yeast (such as the sherry yeast) or by adding destilled alcohol. According to German law, such a drink could not be called beer : the German "Reinheitsgebot" (purity law) forbids other ingredients than water, barley, barley malt and brewer's yeast.

 

In the Middle Ages (actually even well into the 19th century) beer was a safer drink than water, because the brewing proces starts with boiling the "wort" (liquid obained by filtering the mixture of barley + sometimes other cereals and malt). Addition of hops in a later stage had a antibiotic effect on less desirable microorganisms.