It's sort of like my thoughts on learning to like iceberg lettuce. It's not that good for me (iceberg lettuce was developed to have the least amount of nutritious value possible, so as to avoid depleting the soil; and of course, alcoholic beverages aren't great for you either), so why should I make myself ingest it?

So, why should Cebu learn to like any sort of beer? The good kinds are expensive and hard to find, and they aren't a source of anything good that he can't get elsewhere.

Dolmena

I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.
- Louisa May Alcott

Have you read "The Botany of Desire"? It's much better than it sounds, about plants' influence over people. It had a section about apples/Mr. Appleseed. I now know more about apples than I'll ever need to know.

The section on marijuana ("herbal jazz cigarettes") was fascinating.

The other two sections were potatoes and tulips. Interesting read!

okay, I know about the Tulips but...Potatoes? Nobody really lusted after potatoes in Ireland so much as the landlords wanted the rest of the dirt for animal feed. might have to read that book next eon when there's time for fun reading.

No comment.

OK, I will comment on the marijuana. I found out last night that emu poop is very healthy for that particular plant. Not that I'll ever try it out, but it was an interesting tidbit.

*grin*

Here.

Same place I found Delerium Christmas Ale and the Chimay Magnum.

Well since you like tea so much, Cebu, might I suggest ordering a Long Island Iced Tea, or perhaps a Tokyo Iced Tea? Quite on the sweet side, or so I've heard.

Matt, could you explain to me what is in a Long Island Iced Tea? I had a sip from one over Christmas, but no one could tell me what it was. Being a non-drinker, it seemed sort of silly to flag the bartender over when all I wanted was an ingredients list.

A Long Island Iced Tea, basically, is a tall, narrow glass with ice, filled with 1/2 oz. each of gin, rum, tequila, triple sec, and vodka, with 1 oz. of sour mix, then a dash of cola for color. Stir once.

I mentioned it to Cebu as a kind of cruel joke, since both those "iced teas" are iced tea in appearance only (having a kind of cloudy, caramel color in the Long Island version). They are quite high in alcohol but don't taste it, which makes it easy to get hammered quickly without really tasting the alcohol.

I've never had one, as I enjoy tasting my liquors.

I once spent at least an hour keeping someone who had drunk too many LI teas away from (his friend's mother's) BMW. I have a great respect for the beverage... as I do for all organic poisons.

Dolmena

I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.
- Louisa May Alcott

I'm quite aware of the Long Island ice tea. I had it once years ago. I guess it didn't leave much of an impression on me. Didn't do it for me I guess. I'm very particular about flavors.

say the same about all sorts of stuff huh? Cheese, you mean that plastic cheese (american) doesn't taste as good as brie or parmasean? What do you mean they are all about the same right? Milk and some mold so why should they taste different.

Do you guys recognize the difference in wines?

Of course! But only Australian wines. For instance, "Black Stump Bordeaux" is rightly praised as a peppermint flavored Burgundy, whilst a good "Sydney Syrup" can rank with any of the world's best sugary wines. "Chateau Bleu", too, has won many prizes; not least for its taste, and its lingering afterburn.

Lingering afterburn. Yummy!

In case you didn't get it, marinerd, Yuri's quoting from the King Solomon's Wines sketch by Monty Python, made famous on their Final Rip-Off album.

Lines like, "This is a bottle with a message on, and the message is, Beware. This is not a wine for drinking. This is a wine for laying down and avoiding."

"The Australian Wino Society recommends a nice coq du Rodlever (sp), which has a kick on it like a mule. 8 bottles of this, and you're really finished. At the opening of the Sydney Bridge Club they were fishing them out of the main sewers every half an hour."

Or something.

"Another good fighting wine is "Melbourne Old-and-Yellow", which is particularly heavy, and should be used only for hand-to-hand combat."

Them's is Fighting Words.

You know, Saint, I sat here, read your quote, and waited a full minute, trying to restrain myself.

I failed.

I hypothesize part of the basis for your opinion is the general lack of microbreweries in the middle part of this country.

Could also depend on what constitutes "expensive." I've been known to pay $9 for a really good six-pack and upwards of $8 for a 750ml Belgian. I also just bought a magnum (1.5 liter) bottle of Chimay Blue for $35. 1999 vintage. Yes; they date their magnum bottles.

So I don't think anyone would find much relation between, say, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Gulden Draak or Piraat or Chimay or Anchor Porter or Dixie's Blackened Voodoo or.... yeah.

The best thing about Christmas is the seasonal beer selection.

The basis for my belief is that I'm not wild about beer. It does what it's supposed to do, and it's okay, but it isn't something I would ever drink for the taste alone. I know some people do. I know a recovering alcoholic that drinks nothing but near-beer because she misses the flavor so (though I would question whether it's really the taste she's missing). But on the whole, anyone who has enough taste for beer to be picky about the flavor is probably not someone who would order by the pitcher. The beers you would recommend usually don't even come in pitchers. Or am I mistaken?

I know some people feel passionately about beer; I just don't. That's why I threw the *grin* in there.

Chimay Blue. So how is it? the '99 I mean

I don't know how it is. I'm not planning on opening it anytime soon.

Paul, a lot of beers age well. Any beer that's still "alive" (the yeast hasn't been autolyzed) will continue to improve as long as the yeast has something to consume. And generally, the larger the volume of beer in the container, the better it can mature. I'm sorry I don't have scientific specifics to explain it. I've personally experienced improved taste--particularly an expansion of the flavors in the palate of the beer--with Corsendonk, Delerium Nocturnum, Stone Brewing's Vertical Ale, Chimay Grande Reserve (750ml bottle), Gulden Draak, Stone Brewing's Imperial Stout, North Coast Brewing's Old Stock Ale, and San Francisco Brewing Company's Alcatraz Stout.

Typically the opening of the palates of those beers is accompanied by an increase in alcohol, but no surprise there.

I just realized that 99% of the people who read this site never made it through the second paragraph.

A science question! So perhaps I can contribute to this discussion. Matt's correct about the yeast continuing to 'thrive' as long as there's something to 'consume' (that'd be sugars, also known as carbohydrates). But there's an important caveat to that. Yeast can't live in more than about 12% alcohol (unless it's a very specialized yeast, some of which can make it up to 18% or so). So what happens is that the yeast thrives until it dies of it's own 'end product' (alcohol). (Make your own analogy here for other organisms).
So to get higher levels you have to do add pure alcohol externally (giving malt liquor). And to get the 'pure' alcohol (actual only 90.5% pure or so, the famous 181 proof) you have to distill (heat up the mixture, boil off the alcohol and then recondense it).
So anyway, that's why wine and beer are only so 'strong'. The yeast that makes their alcohol, eventually dies. Wine changes though when it's aged in barrels, as it absorbs the tannins from the wood. Note sure about beer, but I'm sure Matt and Paul know.
/ end science class. There'll be a quiz on Friday.

Beer and other alcoholic beverages are yeast shit.

Ever seen "Antz"? I love the bar scene where Woody Allen's character is saying to Sylvester Stallone's character that he refuses to drink from another creature's anus as Stallone is drinking an aphid. Absolutely revolting, astonishing that it got left in, and utterly hilarious...

Typically beer does not age well- you want to drink it fresh. Is a '99 Chimay better than a more recent one?

Chimay blue is a favorite of mine as well, along with La Fin Du Monde and Duvel, but they have to be consumed in the cooler months. In the summer they're just way too intense.

I would never drink anything called La Fin Du Monde. If it's called "The End of the World," imagine how you'll feel the next day. Then again, I don't drink anyway.

The name comes from the fact that they go to the "ends of the Earth" for their ingredients. But yeah, if you drink too much of it you'll feel like you've had your own personal apocalypse.

That sounds like a breed of dog.
No, but go ahead and enjoy your 5 yr-old dog in a glass.
*grin*