I had a couple of Guinness last night at an Irish pub along with a good many oysters - the Guinness was superb - frothy creamy and fresh. I only have ever had Guinness in Canada so I can't really comment on the variations from around the world, but I was always under the impression (here in Canada at least) that the Guinness we drink is only as good (fresh) depending on how much Guinness the establishment sells. Some places carry it and don't sell so much and the stuff sits for weeks. Also, good establishments will also be diligent about cleaning their lines from the keg to the tap. Best Guinness in TO in IMO is Allen's on the Danforth, incredible Scotch collection too - over 200 different types I believe
Wine is for drinking with meals - for me the best experience is the combinations with food.
Beer, is for quenching thirst.
After thirty years Ric van Boechout re-introduced me to Belgian Trappist beers (Westmalle, Opel, de Verboden Vrucht and, of course, Chimay). Great beers.
Having tried Coors, Budweiser and Millers (all stronger coming out than going in), I was in despair of US brewing. However 25 years ago, I was introduced to Anchor Steam, and it was still up to scratch a couple of years ago. I also had some magnificent beers from micro breweries in Ca., Or. and Va.
On a hot day, try Urquel Pils - dry, acidic and with a crisp crystal malt type flavour and clean bitterings.
And I read that some studies have been made and the result was that men's chance of having prostate cancer was up by 36% or something like that when you consumed beer.
This is incorrect. There have been numerous studies looking at prevalence of various cancers in alcohol drinkers versus abstainers. Most of the studies are scientifically worthless, because the studies, of course, are not randomized prospective trials. Comparing any health measure in drinkers versus non-drinkers is problematic becuase in the drinking population (especially heavy beer drinkers), you tend to have a significant number of people who lead unhealthy lifestyles (i.e., many smokers, people who do not exercise, eat unhealthy diets, work at jobs with industrial exposure to toxins, etc.). In the USA, at least, abstainers as a group tend to have higher numbers of health fanatics. Red wine drinkers in the USA tend to be more health conscious than beer drinkers. So if you look at cancer rates in beer drinkers vs. red wine drinkers, you may see differences which have nothing to do with beer vs. wine.
I am aware of 17 scientific studies that have looked at alcohol and prostate cancer. I believe 14 or 15 showed no correlation between alcohol and prostate cancer, and 2 or 3 showed a weak correlation.
Interestingly, many of the studies showed less liklihood of benign prostate enlargement in drinkers, since alcohol in excess lowers testosterone levels, which then tends to shrink your prostate. Of course, you might also start growing man-boobs and observe your testicles starting to shrivel when your testosterone levels diminish, so don't think that lowering testosterone is a universally good thing!
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Posts: 999 | Location: Southern California | Registered: Mar 01, 2006
Originally posted by Opus Two: Best beers for hot weather are south armericans - light, and refreshing.
O2...I find that some south american beers have a whiff of cat's pee.
I'm so off beer. Belgium, American, Canadian, Brazilian, Guiness (well maybe not Guiness) makes me feel bloated after just one bottle. But a bottle of wine? Ahhhhhh....very nice.
______________________________ Leave the gun...take the cannoli.
Posts: 1988 | Location: Canada | Registered: Jan 17, 2006
Originally posted by TBird: spo, it may appear you don't like beer anymore but i promise, you'll be back. they alllll come back. there IS room for it all.
TBird, I like and respect you, but I just don't know. There is way too much wine to drink. If I do come back, I will give you full credit.
Hank Champagne Member Posted Aug 07, 2006 11:45 PM My friends and i drank about 6 pitchers of Bud Light while watching the red sox lose...then I woke up on the couch.
What are you drinking BudLight for? I thought all you east coast guys drink Rolling Rock and Strohs. Now would somebody please pass me a "Brew 102" while I watch the SoCal team dujour lose? Ten bonus points for anyone who can describe the label of Brew 102, and where it was made.
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Posts: 999 | Location: Southern California | Registered: Mar 01, 2006
Haha i was drinking bud light because i'm 22 years old and in a sports bar. I made it up to myself yesterday at a wine dinner, so i figure it balances out in the long run.
The bar scene is quite dismal actually, however it's impossible to avoid them from time to time. As said before though, i would much rather either stay home or go to a friends house. Usually much more fun and as i'm sure you can imagine, far less bad beer.
Well... you can't choose your birthplace... I was lucky. Jeez, having to pay fourteen Canadian for a bottle of trappist.
There's nothing Belgian about Stella. It's locally brewed following market research. A Brits Stella is a totally different lager than a Belgian one. I guess to further away from Belgium, the waterier the brew gets.
There are a few good Belgian lagers left, but most of them are mass produced by multinationals (not only Inbev) and loose all interest to the real beer aficionado. Pity.
Or maybe you could think of it as your palate has progressed, I don't like either of those beers anymore, not that I don't like beer but I like drinking better beer, like w+a said taste some Belgians.
quote:
Originally posted by spo: Yesterday I went out with some freinds to a Mexican place and then later an Irish pub. I had a Negro Modelo and a Guiness. I used to love Guiness, not anymore. I ended up ordering an EOS Zinfandel and I thought it was very nice. Maybe it was just the beer I had previously but I really liked the Zinfandel, which I normaly do not.
Lifes too short to drink bad wine!! crownliquors.net / msprinkle@crownliquors.net
