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Beer Added To The Food Pyramid
Alehound writes " Beer Is Food: The US Government labeled beer(alcohol) as a drug, BeerAdvocate.com begs to differ as they inform their reader that beer can be a part of your diet in a healthy way. Beer does a body good? So the "Beer Gut" is a myth? So why the hell do I have a gut? And yes these guys do drink beer for breakfast." It's only 10 in the morning, I'm dumping out the half pot of coffee left, and cracking open a Boddingtons! Do it!
So why the hell do I have a gut? Just a thought but, do you sit in your chair from dusk till dawn? That could it be you know.
Finally I have a chance of getting to the top of something !!
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
I've decided to try one beer with each type of cereal I have in my cabinet. I can honestly say that my cereal is MUCH better with beer!
"Buy my product - it is healthy!" Who do they think they can fool with this crap?
So are we going to start seeing the fancy labels which are on all the other foods? I wonder what they will consider the recommended serving size? Personaly,I would like to see them use 6 cans as the RDA.
And now I quote the Monsters of the Midday from WTKS: Beer, beer, beer! Let it flow like water!
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I actually found a good use for budweiser. Not for drinking, but for cooking. You can make a real good gravy using 1/2 part bud and 1/2 part stock (chicken or beef).
Otherwise, make mine Guiness or Sam Adams. Aside from unfiltered beers or home brew, beer does not contain any yeast, and the carbonation is a result of injecting CO2 into the beer before capping it. You'll know if there's yeast in it if you find crunchies at the bottom of the bottle.
Oh yea, beer is just mostly empty carbs. Almost no nutritional value. At best, I'd put it down in the same category as 'snack food'.
You get that northern slop in the U.S? Odd.
Is this the same Bods that I get on tap in England? If it is I've got to say that Boddingtons is THE most flavorless beer I've ever had in my life. Period. That stuff SUCKS! I'll drink lager before I'll drink a freakin' Bods. No hop bitterness, no maltiness. Nothing. As soon as I see Boddingtons I know I'll be having a Stella or 1664 or something. Unless there's a nice guest ale...
Boddingtons. Oh My God.
The FDA determines the proper adult dose for a drug by giving increasingly higher doses to a bunch of rats until 50% of them die.
I know this because I was told about a supplement that tried to get FDA approval as a drug, but it failed because it could never kill the rats. Therefore it could only be approved as a food (having strange effects on the product's marketability).
So perhaps the FDA got some rats really drunk and they actually got half of them to die...
Now I have an excuse when I show up to work drunk...
"But beer, boss does the body good," I exclaim as I show my boss an upside down picture of the revised food pyramid.
beer is healthy? Who the hell needs a reason like that? It's tasty and there's alcohol in it. All other arguments are redundant.
/me takes another drink of his fresh cold hoegaarden ;)
- Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
What a suprise, beeradvocate.com is trying to promote beer.
/.?
What does advocate mean again?
And why is this news on
Here's a Beer Drinker's Diet that includes beer as a "non-starchy vegetable" in the food pyramid. Note: The link goes to a website that wishes to sell a book on the topic. That seems like quite a reach to me as I don't think beer posesses the antioxidant or vitamin content of other items in this group.
But the fact of the matter is that the carbohydrate content is not listed on the bottles or cans or packaging of beer here in the US. I haven't found a website in my quick searching that listed the carbohydrate content of common beers.
MMORPG fan-boy? Prove your worth
Why didn't tobacco manufacturers try that trick the alcohol industry did with the study that declared beer/wine is good for you?
Call me crazy but I think a cellular poison could never be healthy in any amount. I have no problem with anyone drinking but to call it healthy?
So the "Beer Gut" is a myth?
Much like a girlfriend if you keep suplementing with the physique enhancing beverage!
regardless if its classified as a drug, its a very dangerous substance. Just ask the millions of dead victims of alcohol abuse and drunk drivers. My brother-in-law bled to death in his home at 38 years old because he knew if EMS showed up, they have him detox, the thought of going clean longer than a day was too much and he died curled up in a corner of his house.
The ads for Low-Carb beer show fit-n-healthy folks in the middle of various inviogorating excercises. Alcohol may have some good effects on the body according to recent research, but the ads make beer look like Powerade for chrissake. Moderation is good. Preying on stupidity, suggesting that beer is healthy, is irresponsible.
On a similar note, I saw a print ad for Bud Light that showed a condensation-covered label; on that label was a strategically-placed water drop that just happened to make "Budweiser" look like "Bloweiser". Yeah right, just a coincidence. And no, I wan't looking for it.
-- "You can lead a yak to water, but you can't teach an old dog to make a silk purse out of a pig in a poke" - Opus
Boddington is bad but Budweiser (the US stuff, rather than the tasty Budvar) is truely the worst lager in the world.
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FreeNET user? Comfortable with the adverse selection?
Unfrotunately, beer does itself contribute to the beer belly. It's not just a matter of how much carbs something has but what kind of carbs they are. Beer has maltose, which is actually one of the more troublesome carbs because it is digested quickly, spikes your blood sugar level quickly and brings with it an associated spike in insulin, which then brings your blood sugar level down low, and makes you hungrier. So, it is in fact the other stuff that makes you fat, but the beer often contributes to your wanting the other stuff. Different types of beer have different elements which modify the digestion process, so the effect varies. A nice stout seems to fill me up quite nicely, so it must have something going for it. But I have lost 25 pounds on my low-carb diet, so until I reach my target weight, I'm gonna hold back on the Guinness.
It was originally concieved as a way to preserve grains that would otherwise rot through the winter. Beer is rich in carbs and B vitamins. You could live for months on beer alone if you had to. It certainly has a place in a healthy diet. I think wine might be better for you though...
Not that I'm condoning drinking American beer, mind you... there is real beer just across your northern border, ppl...
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
Fantastic! CmdrTaco drinks Boddies! Do you have gravy wit' chips n'all mate?
In recent news, after the shocking news that beer was good for you a lot of canadians started living on beer alone. This much to the pleasure of a nearby flock of grizzly bears who had a giant feast on the now weakened and permanently drunk population of beer-a-holics.
So why the hell do I have a gut?
Maybe because when you drink beer it's 6-10 at a time and you sit at a desk all day. In large amounts these calories add up.
I doubt that a semi-active person that has a couple beers here and there would get a gut from drinking this tasty beverage. In moderation, beer, just like soda, will not make you fat.
You have a gut, not because of the beer, but what you eat with it. Beer stimulates your appetite. Read about it here.
Jonahweb.com has stuff.
Beer here is counted as "poor food"... which is approxiamatley the same catagory a McDonald's Cheeseburger is in if you scrape off the pickles. Fosters even has section of their web page devoted to the nutritional/health aspects of beer within a healthy diet: http://www.fosters.com.au/beer/about/nutritional/b eer_health.asp
Well, DUH !
"...whiskey count as beer?"
Rock!
A: It's fucking near water!
Try saving the nature:
Save water -- Drink beer
Why the heck don't beer, wine, and liquor have to have the nutriton information label on them like all food does in the U.S.?
-- dR.fuZZo
BTW, you should always pour Boddington's ale into a glass, so that you can see the gorgeous upside-down cascade effect of the foamy bubbles.
"The US Government labeled beer(alcohol) as a drug, BeerAdvocate.com begs to differ..."
Ok, so all of the sudden, advocates don't want to label beer or alcohol a drug, but if you have a website called maryjaneadvocate.com, you are controversial...
A friend who researched the education of the founding fathers (she spent a ton of time reading diaries, etc.) told me that the morning meal for many a US patriot was a cup of ale. Apparently the ale they drank was a lot heavier and meal like than what we drink today.
It makes sense. In the days before chlorinated water and refrigerator, ale would have been one of the more reliable ways of preserving foods.
Well, in the US, beer is just another word for brown water with alcohol, it seems.
I've yet to taste any American beer that has the least bit of flavour to it.
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
It can be a wonderfully complex process and by learning it you are taking part in a time-honored tradition. Plus, you get cheap, good drink.
It starts this Tuesday at London's Olympia, and in previous years is said to be the largest pub in the world in terms of selection of beer, and IIRC, number of customers :)
See you there :-)
ooooooh! What does this button do? - DeeDee, Dexters Lab.
Man, WTF do you eat? Can't be any of those carbrohydrate, protein or fat chemicals? How do you breathe? none of those oxygen chemicals? Get a clue- everything is made of chemicals, some are good, some are bad, but use the word properly, for fucks sake.
There's nothing wrong with drinking in moderation. It's more the amount of activity you put into it. You don't do much more than sit around when you binge drink. Do marathon runners get tossed a bottle of Aquafina or a can of Blue Ribbon?
Libertarians somehow believe that private businesses should be stronger than governments but weaker than individuals.
I've been told by my older and wiser elders that drinking a guinness per day provides protection from impotence.
I also notice that people who drink a couple of glasses of beer each day live longer. I know people who are 80, 90, 100 years old and still drinking, so it must be healthy if people can drink for 100 years with no side effects.
Just dont drink too much.
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Can't remember which ad this came from. Probably a German breakfast beer
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Or so I've been told.
But even if it doesnt, drinking alcohol also lessens your chance of heart attack.
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At least, beer is isotonic, so the fluids are adsorbed quickly.
College taught me one thing;
There's just too much copulation in beer for it to be a healthy part of the food pyramid.
Just think of the STDs and the WMDs.
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
Hahaha, your line "Buy my product" reminds me of video professor begging people to PLEASE buy his software and then trying to convince everyone how useful it is.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
Isn't most american beer pretty low in alchoholic content? I've heard stories of American sailors coming to Australia and getting wasted on a few beers because they're not used to the high alchohol content.
... and lower alcohol content.
... after six months at sea, in close quarters with no one but other sailors ... hell, I'd get wonky on shore leave.
"American Beer" covers a multitude of sins. You can get all kinds of beers here: local and imported, weak and strong, good and bad.
It's true that there's a variety called "three-two beer", after the alcohol content. It's not real beer, in my book, but some people drink it. In fact, I'm sorry to say, a lot of people drink it.
Unfortunately, the big-name mass-marketed beers -- Millers, Bud, Pabst -- are all pretty dreadful, as beers go: filtered, highly processed, force-carbonated
As to American sailors getting wonky in Australia
-kgj
we saw some good sense from an advocacy group around here. As for myself, I'm enjoying the Breakfast of Champions ATM.... another cold one.
C|N>K
along with:
* sugar (gotta get that energy to keep reloading slashdot for t3h frist post; also can be counted as part of beer)
* salt (how else do you raise your blood pressure enough to push blood through your arteries)
* fat (nothing tastes bad with fat)
After all, how else do you get a physique like this without some form of controlled diet.
I've found that belgium beer is usually pretty high in alcohol. Sometimes up to 10 or 11%. I know that gulden drakk is around 9.x% And it is a mighty fine fruitful beer that has a beautiful aftertaste.
Overall commercial american beer is shite. I've heard americans saying that molson's canadian and labatt blue are 'good' beers. Which I guess they could be if you're used to drinking dog pee. But there are a ton of good canadian beers. You just have to look slightly farther than the tip of your nose.
How about removing liver from the food pyramid. Think how much it's like beer: tastes bad, and it's full of toxins.
....
I'm told (by my brother, the hunter) that fresh moose liver has a mood-altering effect. Small wonder, considering that it's full of chemicals the moose was trying to eliminate
-kgj
There is alcohol in American beer? I can drink a 12 pack without getting buzzed. Lousy waste of money. :P
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
. . . .now THIS is a "Nuke" that needs to be proliferated. . .. .
Any fool can take water, malted grain, hops and yeast and come up with something boring like bread, or some such pointless item. It takes a real genius to make a great beer.
I hail from Macclesfield in Cheshire UK, so I was naturally brought up to see beer as a foodstuff, expecially Boddingtons! just one of the local nectars, and never dreamed any misguided folks thought differently until I moved to the USA.
Unfortunately, much as I love the place, beer is quite rare in the USA. The sad liquids called beer here, are usually strange chemical fluids the marketing folks reluctantly pay to put in the cans so their lite-weight flavorings and stabilizers dont just blow off the shelf. US beer is mostly ersatz, semi frozen, colored water, reminiscent of used mouthwash.
Nil Desperandum! Fortunately, Boddingtons is now here in the good ol USA, and better than ever (or maybe I just needed a real beer). Its brewed at the Strangeways brewery Manchester and imported from England by those excellent beer folks at LABATT USA. Boddingtons has genuinely advanced Draughtflow(r) System beer technology. Now thats what using technology is all about!
Any beer distinguishable from Real Draught Pub Nectar, is unsufficiently advanced.
Advanced real beers should be enjoyed cautiously by beer newbies unfamiliar with beer concepts such as having an actual taste, the complex concept of a creamy head (thats bubbles folks) and a reasonable alcohol ratio (thats where the food calories are). A real beer is a freind, treat it with respect and it will feed and look after you.
IANABM (I Am Not A Beer Marketer)
Cheers Slashdot!
There is no god; get over it already! Never exchange a walk on part in the war, for a lead role in a cage.
How the hell can you "crack open" a boddies? It's designed to be drunk from a tap (via a glass if you please).
Why does this joke get modded up every time an article on beer or america or both is posted? Ok ok, maybe its true, but I think it probably reached "In Soviet Russia" levels of saturation long before it even appeared on slashdot.
Why not fork?
In one episode of 'Cheers', Cliff is seated at the bar describing the
Buffalo Theory to his buddy, Norm. (I don't think I've ever heard the
concept explained any better than this....)
"Well you see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as
fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest
and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection
is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the
whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.
In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the
slowest brain cells.
Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But
naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this
way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making
the brain a faster and more efficient machine. And that, Norm, is why you
always feel smarter after a few beers."
Semper ubi sub ubi
IANAB-but craft breweries use my software.
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
People used to drink beer because the water was unsafe to drink. Cholera or Beer? You decide.
Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout is almost a meal in itself. Guinness Stout is pretty darn close too. You might have drink 3 or 4 of them though. Boddington's is an ale but has the same consistency as Guinness. I'm partial to Fat Tire.
Beer. It's the reason I get up in the afternoon!
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
I hate Boddingtons too (smells like puke), but it certainly isn't a LAGER.
I'm quite partial to Bombardier since Brakspear's stabbed us in the back.
That was classic intercourse!
Hrmm... there's many more positives to beer. Beer really is a social drink... it's the man's drink. Beer and pubs go together well.
Contrary to the article though, beer can be fattening... you have to remember that you're only going to put on weight if Ein != Eout - the body processes sugars and carbohydrates are broken down into sugars before being processed - that's why carbohydrates are a long-term energy source and sugary things like fruit and chocolate are short-term energy sources.
Six schooners have enough energy to run your average male for day. So drink in moderation and make sure to keep up the exercise and maintain a balanced diet. (And fat people wonder why they're fat when they eat McDonalds everyday and drive or take the lift everywhere!)
Finally, an article where my signature is at home! =]
--
A few months ago I read about a study (done in England, I think - they seem to do all the weird/cool studies there) that looked at dietary sources of silicon. In years gone by, all the silicon we needed came in our water supplies. However, because of the method we use for water treatment, it all gets removed. In today's world, beer is one of the best dietary sources of silicon and they actually recommended it for young adults to encourage bone strength.
That said, there's always the moderation issue. Let's try not to forget that.
And, just for fun, here's the top google search result for "beer dietary source silicon". I'm sure you really wanted to know that.
the article and the fact that taco is encouraging early sunday morning drinking. the only problem I see is that it's still too early to see drunken' posts, as this would be way more interesting if it came out at say midnight or so...
Have you ever posted drunk? other than all the obvious tactics, it's a great way to drop karma like crazy. Of course you can always post AC, but then you never remember when or where you made the comment you want to see again.
*drinking a sierra nevada pale ale in basement*
Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
Nah, Been living here USA, for a while now, the run of the mill beer is pretty much the same.
There are some wierd laws about the maximum content of alcohol, that differ from state to state. Subsequently even brew pubs will not have a strong (i.e over 7%) ale.
quick google for some figures here.
Oh, we (aussies) definitly drink MORE beer, at FASTER pace, perhaps that why some americans lose their heads (and they think we are AA candidates).
Is that a beer? It sounds like a store selling womens lingerie...
How exactly does the US Government define beer? Anything from the BudMilloor company is not beer. It's more like a carbinated, rice beverage with alcohol.
The only choices Americans have for good beer are local breweries (or micro-breweries) or anywhere outside of the US.
When I first moved from California to Germany and had my first real beer, I didn't like it. Fact is, I didn't realize what beer was because I grew up subjected to marketing blitz by Budweiser, Miller and Coors.
However, after a couple more German Karlburgs, I really started to appreciate what a good beer could be.
Now, I am completely and utterly repulsed by anything from BudMilloors.
Thirty years of research has convinced many experts of the health benefits of moderate drinking for some people. A drink or two a day of wine, beer or liquor is, experts say, often the single best nonprescription way to prevent heart attacks -- better than a low-fat diet or weight loss, better even than vigorous exercise. Moderate drinking can help prevent strokes, amputated limbs and dementia.
Everything is poision in the right amounts. Beer is no different. Matter of fact is that it's loaded with nutritients. As stated, however, in the right amounts it is no longer good for the body. True story: A scientist was once asked what food he would bring to a desert island. What did he answer? Beer. I, on the other hand, suggested to my unit that we should ask our commanders if we could bring a keg out in the field.
"So unmerciful is life, that everything afterwards is too late."
Beer as food was well known through the ages. It's only in modern times that we forget the wisdom of out elders.
The Pilgrums landed at Plymouth because they were running low on beer and needed to land to replenish their supplies. The rest is history.
Yeah, typo, writing about beer and drinking lager is not a good idea.
Bombardier is a nice bitter - and is becomming more and more widespread.
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FreeNET user? Comfortable with the adverse selection?
Beer is the worst thing you can eat/drink. Because of its high glycemic index you get fat from drinking it. Hot tip for all overweight geeks: Read the food book by Michelle Montignac, "Eat Yourself Slim". There you'll find the real truth, how to keep fit just by eating certain stuff. This guy Montignac wrote this book without the main intention of getting any profit, thats why it reveals the truth. If everyone started to listen to this dude a lot of capitalist would be very unhappy, (because then their usless diet pills or other stupid diet "campaigns" will go to hell).
Information wants to be free, piracy rules, bla bla bla..
There's a rather good explanation for this. Not that I'm defending it, but rather explaining it to understand it and adress it at the root cause.
Prohibition was a scary time for Americans, particularly breweries - most of which went out of business. Prohibition was created by women marching in the streets, complaining that their husbands had become drunks in the saloons. Who could blame them - during the depression, there weren't many jobs to keep them occupied.
When prohibition was repealed, the breweries wanted to create beer that would appeal to women, so that they would become consumers and not vote again for prohibition. So they made their beers lighter, and specialized in the lager field that they felt was more approachable for those who weren't accustomed to drinking beer.
Sadly, America's beer development was stuck on training wheels until about the 80s, when certain individuals started experimenting with brewing their own. This launched a movement where people started becoming more interested in flavor rather than just getting drunk.
In case you haven't been to this side of the pond recently, there are many wonderful breweries that severly stomp on most European breweries which are stuck doing things the way they did around the time that America was discovered. I'd highly reccomend checking out some of these breweries:
- passion
Exactly! Thats why I recommend Michelle Montignac's book "Eat yourself slim". He explains all of that stuff in the book.
Information wants to be free, piracy rules, bla bla bla..
You have apparently not tasted any bottles that said "brewed by Samuel Adams Breweries" or something like that. Sam Adams is the king of beers over there IMHO.
(Or you could try one of the many brewery-pubs, I personally liked the products of Steelhead at Fisherman's Wharm, San Francisco.)
Why is American beer like having sex in a canoo?
- It's f*cking close to water.
I'm no longer fed up with MS Windows: I go rid of them
You probably sit in front of slashdot all day eating cheetoes and drinking soda, drive the the bar at night, stuff your face with a basket of chicken wings while drinking beer, drive back home and go to sleep, no? Try walking the long way to the pub. 'Course after all those sodas and cheetoes you are going to have to walk about 100 miles. Maybe eat carrots and drink water while reading slashdot.
Does mixing Arsenic with my cereal make the resulting stuff food ? No ? I thougth you would answer so. Do not forget, Alcohol , is a poison for the organism (particulary for the brain and liver). It does not matter whether there are all vitamin of the universe and all oligo element in your beer. Fact remain this is a poison to your organism and has a negative effect on you. This is what should rule it as a drug, not the rest of its composition. Oh, and before you yell at me by saying alcohol is fun or whatever, we are speaking here not whether people LIEK or DISLIKE beer, but we are speaking of the governement recognizing beer is not an Essential stuff, and can be downright nasty due to its component.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
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visit randi.org
My high school, which is in England, and has been around a long time, used to have a brewery for the students. The top student got around 4 pints a day, IIRC. The brewery shut down about 200 years ago, and is now a library.
Mind you, back then, the senior prefects were allowed to beat the others with canes, so it wasn't all gravy.
Personaly I agree that beer should be labed a food product. Besides the variouse listed reasons the article gives, most of the by products from the brewing process, such as left over yeast is made into world renowned food substances like Vegimite.
Never could figure out why my girl liked my bitch tits, then I found out she was a lesbian.
Reminder for Canucks, Toronto Ontario Beer Festival happens August 8,9,10 at Old Fort York.
Has to be said as a long-term real ale fan born an raised in the beer capital of the world (Burton-on-Trent ;-) I must agree with you on that one. I always found Boddingtons to be so poorly hop'ed it tasted sweet and the smell reminiscent of vomit.
OTOH Marston's Pedigree rocks.
Yah! I've always thought Bods smells of Vomit myself. Nice to find someone else independently with the same opinion.
By extension, no one would question that milk is food, and yet there's no chewing there either. Well shouldn't be, check the date stamp.:-)
I would take that a step further and say it's food for the body as well. If you think about it, in its most basic form (malted barley, water, yeast), it's just liquid bread. But better. I've never heard of a "lawnmower bread." It's nourishing, in limited quantities it's good for you, and it's refreshing.
If you never make mistakes, it's probably because you're not doing anything.
Well, I heard that there is one place here in town that has it, but so far I've had no luck in finding it. And a little bird told me that Coors might be bringing Caffrey's back sometime soon. Who knows if that means within a year, or within five, but the sooner the better.
The US Government labeled beer(alcohol) as a drug
OK...so where in the linked article does it actually say this??? Does anyone else realize the government has nothing to do with this?
Beer (and other forms of alcohol) IS and have been part of a food pyramid for nearly 4 years!
Some Background For The Uninitiated
The concept of the Food Pyramid was proposed by researches at the US Department of Agriculture, who needed to convey the idea of a healthy diet (according to the dogma of the time) in terms of proportion, variety and moderation. Thus, the pyramid graphic was presented. The problem is that word, "dogma".
The USDA is by far not even close to the leading edge of nutrition and dietary research. Their food pyramid represented a diet heavy in breads, with a little less emphasis on fruits and vegetables. Meat was eschewed, as was diary, and fats, oils, and salts were placed at the top of the pyramid to emphasize that they were to be used sparingly.
Two problems with the Food Pyramid were immediately obvious. First, it ignored contemporary research and accepted medical though which stated that diets high in fish and poultry were beneficial. The USDA assumed that all means were bad because of their high animal fat content. But research at the time (and subsequent) proved that not all fat was bad, and not only was some fat good, but actually necessary. Also, the Food Pyramid didn't differntiate between breads that were healthy (whole grains) and those that were unhealthy (white rice, bleached flour, corn startches, pasta, and processed grains in which the fiber had been stripped chemically). They simply lumped all grains together.
The second problem was that the food pyramid tried to convey a sense of proportion by giving recommended serving amounts. But these serving amounts were meaningless to the average person. They needed to know what a serving was. Was it a gram, kilo, cup, pound, ounce, or something else?
Enter the Diet Fads
Actually, "Fad" diets aren't new. The term is used for just about any new diet which proclaims a principal not accepted in contemporary circles - so fad diets are not inherently bad, but most turn out that way. Fad diets did for Americans what the USDA didn't with thier Food Pyramid or "Four Food Groups" of prior years. It gave people a guide to how much of what should be eaten. The other problem is that these fad diets were targeted towards weight loss. Most of them worked for most people who tried them to some degree, but their failure came when the diet was over. Without a sense of proper nutrition, people reverted to their unhealthy ways of eating. Thus was coined the term "Yo-Yo" dieting, where a person loses weight, then gains it back, and loses it again. This constant state of flux is not healthy, and coupled with the sedantary lifestyle of the average American, it has lead to an epidemic of obesity.
The word "diet" itself has become synonymous with "trying to lose weight", and likewise has become eschewed by the very diet industry that gave rise to that misconception. Instead, they are using terms like "nutrition system" or "program".
Fighting Fat With Knowledge
Enter the molecular biologists, who have put the American diet and the human metabolism under a microscope. Some of the results they have come up with are startling, and have been used to construct a New Food Pyramid to counter the USDA's Food Pyramid. A notable development is the recognition that there are cultural differences that prevent a food pyramid for the American diet from being at all practical for other cultures.
Healthy, as in Beer
Beer, and other forms of alcohol, were discovered to be healthy in moderation. Moderation, of course, is the key to everything in a diet. A glass of wine daily can reduce risk factors related to heart disease and stroke. Beer was found to have a phytoprotein that actually aids in repairing cardiac muscle tissues. Red wine, long given to Soviet Nuclear Submariners, can protect the body from low levels of ionizing radiation (though potassium iodide is b
I must drink beer.
Beer is the mind killer.
Beer is the little death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my beer.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me, and when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
When the beer is gone, there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
With due credit to the guy who wrote this, if this is indeed the original.
Understanding is a three edged sword. - Ambassador Kosh Naranek, Babylon 5
As beer was part of their salary, you might even say the pyramid builders worked for beer.
In fact, the workers who built the pyramids took their love of beer to their graves.
"Many workers were also buried with jars of beer, Hawass adds, picking up one such rough red-clay pot lying on top of a nearby grave. 'They made a beer from barley, and that was their daily drink. They didn't want to be without it even in the afterlife, so they often put in one of these jars.'"
/ 11/01/html/ft_20011101.5.html
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2001
= 9J =
Special section on the New Scientist site
Arbitrary sig
it has the suggestion of body, which is more than I can say for Molson, or Labatts.
They still can't compare to a Saranac, or Sam Adams, or most of the microbrews that I tried last night (yummm, Flying Bison Cask Conditioned red, yumm, Southern Tier Hefeweizen).
I understand why everyone wants to bash American beer - it is substandard in MOST cases. But you guys have the facts about these laws COMPLETELY WRONG.
As I posted above somewhere or other, Trippel contains about 9% alcohol. I can go right down the street and buy a 6 pack of this stuff (but it's not actually that great), because only some backwards ass states have laws about the alcohol content of beer, and Nebraska ain't one of them. Most states I have visited lately also would appear to have no such laws governing their beers, so I'm a little confused as to why VERY MANY foreigners in this forum seem to think that all of our beer in this country is 3.2 shite.
We have good shit and bad shit just like anyone else - it's just that only the U.S.'s bad shit seems to get exported. Like I said though, I'm not really defending American beer here so much as trying to provide some clearer facts about the subject.
Why does this joke get modded up every time an article on beer or america or both is posted?
Because American beer is just that awful.Current Karma Status: Roadkill
Don't Do It!! Read the post again -- it's American Beer! Real beer, like Boddingtons, will give vastly different results!
"Wait; don't go! Is's a COOKBOOK!"
Cheers, Peter, W2IRT
Used to be independent Texas made untill Anheiser bought them ought a few years ago.
Got a press release on that? The Spoetzl Brewery (makers of Shiner Blonde, Shiner Bock, etc...) is as far as I know still independent. There's nothing on their labels (got a 12 pack in the fridge right now) or around Shiner (just down the road) to indicate any affiliation with the Microsoft of Beers.
A-B Has their terrible "ZiegenBock" as a competing brand, but i wouldn't use that even for cooking.
Non tam praeclarum est scire Latine, quam turpe nescire
-- Cicero
Hence the link to the table showing typical alcohol content of beers.It clearly shows what you are trying to say (again).
Also check out Silly beer laws for the types of stuff that some unknowing visitor may find if they end up wanting a beer in, say, Georgia.
I know there are good beers here (and defend it when I get visitors), that was what my pint[sic] was meant to be. (any other recommendations other that Trippel?)
Thinking of my gut, I decided to try Natural Ice Light, which conspicuously does not have the alcohol percentage on the label.
I believe it's about half the regular, since I normally drink 6 and I ended up drinking the whole 12 pack! (Yeah, I'm a lush and I need help, but that's a different story...)
I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
> The US Government labeled beer(alcohol) as a drug,
:-P So what's the point of this story?
It affects your body chemistry, so it's a drug
> beer can be a part of your diet in a healthy way
yes, it can.
> BeerAdvocate.com begs to differ
No they don't. The govt say beer is a drug (good drug or bad drug is unspecified), beeradvocate say's it's a good drug.
Just because something is a drug doesn't mean it can't be healthy
I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment
Okay, I'm sick of this.
Look, American beer isn't awful. Yes, Bud, Miller, Coors, and the other megabrews are flavorless, bitterless, little bottles of swill, but if you think that's all American beer has to offer you've demonstrated that you're far too ignorant to even comment on the subject.
If you love beer, I really don't think there's a better country to live in, with the exception of Belgium of course. America has an incredible variety of excellent, excellent beers, in an incredibly diverse range of styles.
You like bitter English ales? Try Hopdevil's IPA or Rogue's Brutal Bitter ESB, or Sierra Nevada's Harvest. You want clean, smooth lagers? Steigmaier's 1857, Brooklyn Brewery's Brooklyn Lager, or Cricket Hill's East Coast Lager will do you. Hefeweizen? Live Oak and Brooklyn turn out excellent ones. Hell, even Coors turns out a decent one, Blue Moon.
American breweries turn out ales, lagers, stouts smoked stouts, rye beers, porters, Scotch ales, barleywines, chocolate stouts, oatmeal stouts, altbiers, kolsch, weizens, weizenbocks, pilseners, bocks, doppelbocks, eisbeers, maibocks, rauschbier, scwarzbiers, vienna lagers, red lagers, amber lagers, ciders, perries, melomels, and even friggin' braggot. With the obvious exception of lambics, if there's a style of beer anywhere on the planet, there's a brewery in America turning out an excellent example of it.
So all of you "fucking close to water" morons can bite it. You have no idea what you're talking about, assholes.
Now for an alternate take on things... Beer is the root of civilization. Yes, that most lovely of liquids: the Wobbly Pop. Hang on to your brews boys.
Most traditional archaeologists tend to think of civilization as a sort of ladder, and the first few rungs were actually quite slippery. Here's one possible ladder: (there are several)
First, if you want to have a town with art, politics, hookers, etc. the first thing you need is a food supply that is reliable and doesn't move around a lot. Deer, elk, tapirs, camels, elephants, etc. all move around most vexingly. Turnips do not. Agriculture seems like the way to go, but first you need a crop to cultivate. 30,000 years ago that wasn't an easy thing to find. Beans, squash, wheat, turnips, you name it, are all highly domesticated plants that we've been selectively breeding for thousands of years. When agriculture was starting out the ancestors of today's crops just weren't that productive. Take corn for example. Today a stalk of corn puts out great big honking cobs chock full of juicy kernals. 30,000 years ago the stuff looked a lot like grass. It is in fact, more than a little bit unlikely that you could have lived off the stuff back then. (more on that later) So if no suitable crops existed, we had to breed one.
Here we hit a major hang up. Breeding massive changes into plants isn't exactly a speedy process when you *know* what you're doing. How exactly our ancestors ever managed to develop a crop suitable for agriculture is actually quite a hot topic of debate! Still, somehow we managed, but it probably took a while. Even for relatively smart people, it is not inconceivable that this took tens of thousands of years before there was any sort of payoff. So what kept our forefathers going?
Beer.
Living off of primitive wild corn would probably have been impossible. However, collecting relatively small ammounts to ferment into chicha (BEER!) for those important social events (religion?) was a much more reasonable undertaking. Of course, excessive beer consumption does tend to make one lazy, so naturally our fastly-becoming-religious ancestors decided to start throwing a bunch of seeds together in one place so they didn't have to look all over the bloody planet to round up enough for a good er... mass. Gradually they tossed the crappier grass out and the better stuff got inbred, mutated all to hell, and gradually become more and more like the corn of today. Eventually, we got a crop good enough to actually become a dietary staple. Someone might then have said "Hey guys! We can eat this stuff too! F@$* this hunter-gatherer walking-around-all-day BS. Let's just stay here all the time. There's BEER!"
So we have a nice town springing forth from the wilderness. Art, culture, and all the trappings of civilization are flowering forth... and people are shitting in the river. This is baaad. People are getting sick! Fortunately, achohol tends to be safer to drink than brownish water! While the high-proof Canadian beers of today would be a tad difficult to live on, the watered down chicha of the day was just the thing for daily consumption. To this day there are still countries where beer is cheaper than safe drinking water. As a beneficial side effect, people with beer tend to be easier to talk into paying taxes, running off to kill people they've never met before, building pyramids, etc...
Of course, archaeology itself would be nowhere without beer. Seriously, how many major archaeological digs are carried out without beer? Almost any site that has ever been completely excavated is within a short distance of a pub. Occasionally people mount expeditions into the jungles of Yucatan, etc. to discover these fabulous lost cities. They dig for a bit, the beer runs out, and they go home. To any government officials out there who are trying to get some remote lost city excavated, build a pub next to it. The archaeologists will come.
Yes, Bud, Miller, Coors, and the other megabrews are flavorless, bitterless, little bottles of swill
You just described the reasons that I like American beer. Bitter has to my least favorite taste ever. I just could never develop a taste for most "real" beers. I like a few, but forget anything that's bitter.
Sure miller light is fucking near close to water, but hey, I like water. It's water that gives you a buzz, and there ain't nothing wrong with that.
Guess I should clarify what's meant by "American beer". There's actually two definitions of as I see it.
1) Bud, Miller, Coors, the megabrews as you call them, these are traditionally known as "American Beers", because Americans invented/perfected them. The reason they're so successful is *gasp* because a lot of Americans like them. Sure there are other beers made in the US, but most weren't invented here, and aren't nearly as popular.
2) Any Beer made in America.
I of course meant definition 1, you're referring to definition 2.
Other favourites include Wadsworths 6X, Gales 5X and HSB (known as 'brown sticky'). I haven't tried the Usher's version but I drank a lot of Gibb's Bishop's Tipple too. I quite like Speckled Hen too. Draught of course.
It may be concluded by our friends in the North that I am a Southern Jessie, but I don't see the point in a head on beer - it should be nearly still with just a little head - that way you can get more beer in the glass.
I hereby inform you that I have NOT been required to provide any decryption keys.
Prohibition was a scary time for Americans, particularly breweries - most of which went out of business. Prohibition was created by women marching in the streets, complaining that their husbands had become drunks in the saloons. Who could blame them - during the depression, there weren't many jobs to keep them occupied.
The 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919, and the Volstead Act was passed in the same year. The Great Depression, which began in 1929, was not the cause of Prohibition.
The Great Depression helped to bring about the repeal of Prohibition, however - the economic benefits of the "new" brewing and distilling industry was one of the arguments in favor of the 21st Amendment, which was ratified in 1933.
ASA
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
Beer is good, beer is great. We all know it
Beer is a venomous slop, which looks and smells like moldering bread. It consists largely of a poisonous chemical, which affects the body by interfering with neurotransmitters which drive the functioning of the nervous system. Its primary physical effect is to cause the nervous system to malfunction, causing disorientation and cognitive impairment. It frequently cases brain and liver damage after enough use. Its users are frequently stupid enough to continue imbibing until the body, recognizing that it is being poisoned, tries desperately to remain alive by expelling the contents of the stomach.
Enjoy.
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
Kinda ironic, I was watchin an interview with an NFL player (Patrick Kerney, a "small" lineman if it matters). He doesn't drink beer because it contributes to him losing weight. Of course, I suppose he gets a bit more exercise than the average /.er???
HenryJamesFeltus.com
but remember, crack addicts are pretty slim.
.
beer isn't that bad, compared to most stuff people drink when they could be drinking water, if you don't drink it constantly, like first on breakfast, then few on some breaks and then few more later. we at finland have long ago learnt(through quite hefty taxation) that beer is best used for getting drunk and not this civilized mumbo jumbo drink along the day(of course unless you're trying to be drunk all day). you can get that beer belly other ways too, a sandwich there and another there, besides than that is beer belly really that bad? it's not like it's huge unless you have some serious other weight problems as well and the ladies don't stay pretty all their life either, so screw their opinion
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Whatever...just keep sucking the tit of big government...
I have a better question, why do the people from our European offices (Ireland and France mostly) ALWAYS order budweiser when they come to the states?
Q.
To put it on the acceptable food pyramid is crazy, if you ask me. That doesn't mean I don't think people should drink beer, I like a few from time to time too. But reality is, it's not very good for you at all.
7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
First, it's pale yellow water with alcohol. But since all you seem to have taken the time to acquaint yourself with are the mass-market American lagers, this clearly isn't an area of expertise for you. Understandable if not forgivable.
Secondly, take a look here for real American beer:
http://www.brooklynbrewery.com/
http://www.bellsbeer.com/
http://www.anchorbrewing.com/
http://www.peteswicked.com/
Go out, try some. Then come back and actually add something to the discussion other than the same old lame, tired-ass meme.
If you never make mistakes, it's probably because you're not doing anything.
Informative, eh? Hardly. Your comment is far more ignorant than informative. The United States should be considered beer nirvana for any true beer fan as American craft brewers have the full spectrum of beer styles covered, from the truly experimental and style-defiant to beers that are so traditional and historical that they're rarely still seen today. Let's see if you've had any of the Top 25 American beers, as rated by the friendly beer geeks at RateBeer.com.
Palaces, barricades, threats, meet promises
Any recommendations?
I like Fat Tire a lot (same company as Trippel). I've had a few good microbrews from Seattle like Red Hook (sold pretty much everywhere) and Pike's Pale Ale, which I've never seen outside of Washington State. And believe it or not, we have a few good beers in Nebraska if you're ever up this way like Cortland Wheat and pretty much anything of the Empyrean line (bottled at a little restaurant/brewery in downtown Lincoln). I find that all of the major American brands are nothing special, though I drink them anyway because they are very cheap compared to imports and microbrews.
Sorry about misunderstanding your post before. I do that sometimes.
Beer made from Hops contain estrogens (plant derived). The estrogen content tends to influence your body to store more fat. The herb, hops, by itself has a 'relaxing effect' in herbal medicine, and, BTW, is in the same family as the cannibis plant -- a family noted as 'advanced' as it has two sexes. I'm not familiar with maltose or how much it is used in beer production, so I can't comment on how much it contributes, but herbal books will warn that phytoestrogens in hops can cause fat to be deposited into the classic "beer-belly" pattern (this effect is independant of alcohol other than alcohol having 7 calories/gram that can be converted to and stored as fat).
;-).
Plant estrogens can also cause gynomastia (breast/nipple development and fat storage around nipple/breast area) as well as lower testosterone levels. They are also linked to erectile dysfunction in some men. I would speculate that they could also lower libido and sperm count.
Women with estrogen related disorders, especially cancer, should avoid phytoestrogens as they can stimulate cancer and/or tumor growth. Also, women who are pregnant should avoid phytoestrogens (not just in hops, but also some soy products, licorice and others) since they can interfere with fetal development.
I could speculate that taking products with extra estrogen effects could especially hinder male fetus development. That's why there are BIG cautions about pregnant women even handling drugs like propecia which block the testosterone derivative DHT (I think that's Di-hydrotestosterone). If testosterones are blocked during fetal development, an XY-"chromosoned" baby might develop as female (since all babies start out as 'female', and only testosterone surges during certain stages of development result in the baby developing male sex characteristics.
It's been noted that there are two large surges of testosterone during male fetus development -- the first is associated with genital development. The 2nd occurs later on during brain development and is _speculated_ to affect how the brain develops.
I'd be cautious about considering 'beer' as some generic food group component,
(which doesn't mean an icy cold beer on a hot day doesn't taste good, though technically, it has a dehydrating effect...:-( ).
Reminds me of problems with chocolate -- how can something that tastes so good be bad for you....
ARGH! Boddington's is shit! Make mine Guinness, Bass or a Sammy. Pilsner Urquell, Red Hook or Old Speckled Hen.
Anything, almost, but a Boddington's!
While I am sure there are worse beers around than Boddingtons, I haven't tasted them yet.
http://jesus.everdense.com/
Look real close at the pictures of the beer guys in the link. What do you see? Looks like the beer is making them lightheaded in more ways than one. Is there a correlation?
I've yet to taste any American beer that has the least bit of flavour to it.
Then I guess you haven't had many American beers then. Ignore the Budmilloors brand, and try some real beer made by people who love beer.
Anchor Steam Beer is probably one of the finest beers in the world. And it's made in San Fransisco. If you're not used to beer with hops in it (and why would you be, drinking that Budmilloors and crap), then try Gordon Biersch Marzen, then work your way up the ladder with Shiner Bock, and Anderson Amber. Graduate with Redhook ESB, Redtail Ale, and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew!
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
Ha! Ha! very funny. Would be accurate if you replaced 'american beer' with 'budmillors' (budweiser, miller and coors) but definately not true for 'american beer'. People, there are plenty of very good american beers out their, in fact I think you will find a greater variety and higher quality beer in america than anywhere else. Ever been to the pacific northwest? Tons of good local beers. Brew pubs and microbreweries across the country have been brewing outstanding beers for over a decade now. For beers that may have a wide distribution, here a few standouts: Sam Adams: not the best but started to break the "american beer is water" routine. Rogue: many high quality beers from light ales to strong ales to porters. Harpoon: Make a standout IPA. Sierra Nevada: Lots of hops for the hop head. Brooklyn brewery: Make an awesome barelywine, a delicious Heffe Weissen (sp?), a solid Pale ale. Dogfish head: My latest favorite. Very good IPA and specialty beers. Ommegang: Belgian style ales brought to you by a brewery in upstate NY. This is just a start, there are many many others. Try something local or not made my Anheiser Bush. For those of you north of the border, Canadian mass produced beer is just as aweful as budweisser.
Today we pasteurize beer - before this practice became mainstream, beer used to be pretty unsanitary.
Pasteurization has nothing to do with sanitary in beer. Homebrewers never pasteurize their beer.
Firstly, let's talk about unsanitary. Unsanitary - back then - meant things like cholera, which lived quite happily in water and was a serious health threat. The alcohol in beer kills things like cholera. There are no known human pathogens that can grow or live in beer, so you can't mess up and brew something that'll hurt you. So, in the context of unclean water, beer _is_ sanitary - the alcohol kills germs.
Secondly, let's talk about pasteurization. In milk, pasteurization kills off certain bacteria that are present in the production chain (read: cow) but bad for humans in some cases. In beer, pasteurization kills off the yeast (not bad for humans, BTW) which insures that the fermentation will stop and the flavor of the beer will reach stasis. It does not kill of nasties; nasties can't live in beer. Again, homebrewers don't pasteurize, they don't need to, and it's too hard to do without killing the flavor. In fact, unpasteurized beer with yeast residue has lots of vitamin B, which helps with hangovers.
In short: beer didn't used to be unsanitary, water did. Beer still isn't. Water may be, depending upon where you live.
So are we going to start seeing the fancy labels which are on all the other foods?
Nope. The BATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) will not allow brewers to put anything that might be (correctly or incorrectly) intepreted as health information. The Yakima Brewery in Washington had to deal with ATF harrassment when they had the temerity to list calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat, cholesterol, sodium and potassium.
Boddington's, Taco? At least it's not swill. Here in Philadelphia we have Monk's Cafe, a freakin' temple to beer. A world-class selection of Belgian beers you've never heard of, tremendous food (the fries rock), and great atmosphere. Try a Rochefort 10--chewy, malt-heavy--it's liquid bread. Brewed by monks who undoubtedly figure that if you can't have sex, you can at least have strong beer. Manly beer, not the pablum the conglomerates brew.
As far as whether beer is healthy, I couldn't give a rat's ass whether it's healthy or not--they can have my Orval when they pry the bottle from my cold, dead fingers.
Life is too short for bad beer.
As far as "American Beer" being more watery, maybe yes, American's like that more. Personally I like beer with my meal occassionally, and a stout is too filling for that.
As far as tasting like urine, I wouldn't know, although there are people who do that.
make coffee, spark up, go to work, remember that I forgot to take the coffee with me.
hehe
-makoffee
Look, but don't touch and all that.
why do the people from our European offices (Ireland and France mostly) ALWAYS order budweiser when they come to the states?
"When in Rome..."?
Unless there's a nice guest ale...
amen to that my friend. After living in Yorkshire for almost 2 years I've been completely converted to real ale and bitter. Love the stuff. I only drink lager if there isn't a decent alternative or guest ale to try. And best of all, ale doesn't seem to give me a hangover!
As for favourites? Well, there's no doubt that Timothy Taylor Landlord is the gold standard, but Ten Gun Salute is also good one and Jennings Snekbiter is a superb drop as well.
"Because it's there." - George Mallory, when asked why he wanted to climb Mt Everest, March 18, 1923 (New York Times)
...I prefer cider.
All things in moderation; including moderation
...but to me all beers smell is reminiscent of vomit.
But that may be because drunken people that vomit (eek) do so under the influence of beer nad not of wine or whiskey?
Who knows...
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Show your eveidence that it si harmful in moderation or shut up.
Or are you one of those religious zealots?
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Aegir, Norse God of the sea's, brewed ale for the gods after Thor brought him a large kettle. Every winter the gods would drink beer at Aegir's home. He was, therefore, famed for his hospitality. Instead of having a fire, gold was put onto the floor of the hall to provide light. Gold is refered to as Aegir's fire. The mugs of beer in Aegir's hall were always full, magically refilling themselves.
Isn't everything.
I prefer beer that tastes good to beer that gets me drunk.
Nothing by Molson, Labatt's, or any of the "major" US breweries with the exception of Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada are even tolerable to me. SA and SN are OK, some of their beers are pretty good, some are just average.
On both sides of the border, the real good stuff is the microbrews.
USA - New Jersey: High Point Brewery brews some *amazing* wheat beers. River Horse is kinda blah, too watery for me. One brewery in NJ (I forget which one, I think it's in Princeton) has a rye ale that is VERY unusual and quite good.
New York State: Lots of breweries all over. In the Finger Lakes region, both Ithaca Beer Co. (Ithaca, NY) and Wagner Valley Brewery (Part of Wagner Vineyards in Lodi, NY) are amazing. Ithaca Stout and Wagner Sled Dog are my two favorite beers.
Up in Canada, there are plenty of good microbrews too. If you're in the Canadian Rockies (Near Yoho National Park in BC), look for a honey pilsner called Fire Weed. Good stuff, the ONLY pilsner I've ever liked.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
I don't know about US, but in Slovenia (and I think EU, also), beer *is* food, along with wine.
Where do I get this information from? There are only two VAT rates in EU: the low one for food and similar and the high one for everything else. Beer and wine are in the "food VAT section". Generally speaking, since the alchohol level is less than 20 it is still considered food (so, strong drinks - Whiskey & co. - are not).
Finally, it is quite normal to drink a glass or two of wine / beer with your meal while drinking a glass or two of Scotch is certanly not :-)
boky
Unibroue has a nice list of beers they make along with % alcohol by volume listed - fin du monde is 9% and still quite good, terrible is 10.5%, but I've never bothered to try it. Judging from the name, not sure I want to
I can't believe the posts arguing over quality of beer in each country... Especially since the mass of the posters tend to sound like they are most interested in the quantity, anyways. There are few of us who seem to disagree that there are better (tasty) and worse (watery) beers.
Few people have gone into the thing that really matters most when it comes to beer -
Do you drink it to get drunk?
Or do you drink it because you like it?
The reason that the three Mega brews in the US (Bud, Miller, Coors) are so popular is because of the vast numbers of folks that drink it for reason #1, and if thats all you want it for then why pay more than $10/12 pack.
Now the Microbrews are definitely good stuff, we don't want to get drunk off of that for many reasons -
i.e. Why spend $50 bucks getting drunk, feel like crap, and have the runs for three days?
The funniest thing about this thread is even as a beer lover (quality NOT quantity) I keep seeing many posts that make me mutter - "LOSER!"