Monday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1950, and is one of a series of three panels ads that Schlitz created through the 1940s and 50s using as captions for the panels, “I was curious …,” “I tasted it …,” “No wonder Schlitz is …” blah, blah, blah. This one shows a country musical group. The fiddle player/snger tries some Schlitz and then the whole band starts smiling and playing again.
In another missive from the increasingly well-named Professor David Nutt, today in the UK Guardian he announed that There is no such thing as a safe level of alcohol consumption and then proceeded to claim that the reasons he believes that “the idea that drinking small amounts of alcohol will do you no harm is a myth” are fourfold:
He elaborates slightly more on each of these, though not much more, and then follows up those grand sweeping pronouncements with the following:
“Hopefully these observations will help bring some honesty to the debate about alcohol.”
That’s one of those comically-spit-out-your-drink sort of statements, because what he just said was nowhere near honest. It would almost be funny except that mainstream media in Great Britain keep giving him a bully pulpit to proselytize from and people seem genuinely uncritical of what he has to say, which is even more baffling. Some of the comments to the Guardian article from supporters are downright scary, as they seem to believe he has science and evidence to support his wackadoodle claims. He doesn’t. Last year, when he proclaimed, to equal fanfare, that beer is more dangerous than heroin, his scientific evidence consisted of gathering together a group of like-minded individuals (that is people already predisposed against alcohol), many of whom were members of the made-up organization he started after the UK government sacked him — The Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs — and they sat together in a room one weekend and assigned arbitrary numbers for the amount of harm to society for various drugs based on their life experience, no actual data necessary. That’s what passes for science, and that they got the previously respected Lancet to publish it is downright bewildering.
Just a few thoughts about what’s wrong with every one of his four “proofs,” off the top of my head. At least I’m admitting I’m not researching these.
1. Sure, 100% rubbing alcohol will kill you. It’s 200 proof. Most chemical substances, compounds, etc. will kill you in sufficient doses. Most of the medicines we use to treat diseases will kill you if the dose is too high. That’s why they have warning labels and are doled out by doctors and pharmacists with specific instructions of how many, and when to start and stop taking them. For alcohol, we have the TTB and various state agencies to perform that role. Even things that are good for us become bad for us in higher doses — red meat, salt, vitamins, bacon (well, maybe not bacon). If we got rid of everything in the world with the potential to kill us, we’d be left with pretty much nothing.
2. Since Nutt claims we can’t predict who will become addicted to alcohol with the very first taste, then he suggests “any exposure to alcohol runs the risk of producing addiction in some users.” And that differs from everything else how? Assuming his anecdotal “evidence” that such immediate addiction is even possible — which seems unlikely at best — it’s hardly a basis for public policy. Not everybody reacted well to penicillin when it was introduced; should we have left all those people with diseases who could be cured by penicillin die just because less than 1% had an adverse reaction to it? This is just a post hoc fallacy of the worst kind.
3. Saying that the cardiovascular benefits are not proof ignores the many, many, many other studies that show positive health benefits for a myriad range of health concerns. The big enchilada, of course, is the numerous studies that show that total mortality is improved by the moderate consumption of alcohol; that is you’ll most likely live longer if you drink moderately than if you either don’t drink at all or drink too much. And a recent study seems to suggest that given a choice, drinking too much instead of abstaining will still lead to a better result. The FDA in its most recent dietary guidelines acknowledges this fact, yet Nutt completely ignores it and every other study that doesn’t fit his world view. Singling out one study to bash — his straw man — is about as dishonest a way to “bring some honesty to the debate” as I can imagine.
4. He concludes by just dismissing the vast body of medical and health studies that do in fact conclude there are health benefits to the moderate consumption of alcohol. He does this apparently by simply pretending they don’t exist, saying “there is no evidence of any benefit of low alcohol intake.” But just saying there are no benefits in the face of a mountain of contrary evidence is not, as his supporters seem to believe, scientific proof of any kind. It’s just the opposite, in fact.
I’m all for an honest debate about the positives and negatives surrounding alcohol, but if this is what passes for “honesty,” I think I’ll have to wait a little longer for that conversation.
Here’s an interesting op-ed piece by Wisconsin historian John Gurda entitled Smashing ‘Demon Government’ in which he examines the many parallels between the current political climate in his state and the temperance movement that led to Prohibition. Thanks to Wisconsin Bulletin reader Jason H. for sending me the link. Subtitled “Walker’s small-government zeal resembles that of the prohibitionists,” here’s a few choice excerpts below:
In its moral fervor, its contempt for compromise, its demographic base and even its strategies, today’s new right is the philosophical first cousin of prohibitionism.
Consider a few of the parallels. The prohibitionists went after “Demon Rum,” while the tea party attacks Demon Government. The Anti-Saloon League preached that barrooms were destroying America’s moral fiber, while the new right declares that onerous taxation and excessive regulation are doing precisely the same thing. Carrie Nation smashed whiskey barrels, while today’s conservatives want to smash the welfare state. Addiction to spending, they might argue, is ultimately as destructive as addiction to alcohol.
Like the temperance movement of the last century, the tea party draws heavy support from Protestant evangelicals such as Walker himself, and their political playbook is a throwback as well. The prohibitionists were media-savvy opportunists, taking advantage of every opening to advance their cause.
When the United States entered World War I, they wasted no time demonizing beer as “Kaiser brew” and even accused Milwaukee’s producers of spreading “German propaganda.” When food shortages loomed during the conflict, the dry lobby convinced Congress to divert America’s grain supply from breweries and distilleries to less objectionable industries. The result was “wartime prohibition,” a supposedly temporary measure that went into effect in 1919 and soon gave way to the 18th Amendment. The national drought would last for 14 years.
It’s worth noting that America wasn’t alone in using the conflict of World War I to push anti-alcohol agendas. Like-minded measures in several countries led to similar alcohol prohibitions, many of which lasted far longer than ours, such as Australia, Canada, Finland, Hungry, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and Russia. In each of those nations, temperance groups took advantage of wartime circumstances to push their plans on the rest of the populace in their respective places.
In much the same way that prohibitionists turned World War I to their advantage, the current crop of conservatives is making political hay from another temporary phenomenon: the global economic recession. The need for fiscal austerity has rarely been more obvious, but it’s being used as a pretext for advancing the new right’s legislative agenda.
We’re seeing that happen in most, if not every state, with anti-alcohol groups turning our nation’s economic adversity into an opportunity to raise taxes on beer, already the most heavily taxed consumer good (along with tobacco). The Marin Institute has even created propaganda showing the “worst” ten states, with “worst” meaning the states with the lowest taxes on beer, completely out of context and with no understanding whatsoever of why each individual’s states excise taxes are set where they are. Shortly after Governor Walker created Wisconsin’s deficit by giving tax cuts to the wealthy, Michele Simon of the Marin Institute tweeted that beer should make up the difference. “Dear Gov. Walker: Wisconsin has not raised its beer tax since 1969. At .06/gallon, among lowest in nation. Just one of many ideas.” If that’s not what Gurda was talking about, I don’t know what is. That’s using a grave political situation to further an unrelated agenda.
Walker began with a demand that public employees pay more for their pensions and health insurance – a necessary step to which they have agreed – and then proposed to strip them of their collective bargaining rights. That’s an epic non sequitur that makes sense only when you invoke tea party logic: If taxes are bad, then the people we pay with tax dollars must be brought to heel, even if it means freezing a new teacher at first-year wages until retirement.
But the new right’s agenda goes far beyond public employee unions. With solid majorities in the state Legislature, Walker first declared a budget emergency and then cut taxes by $140 million, which is equivalent to taking blood from a patient with severe anemia. In last week’s budget message, he pronounced the patient so sick that amputations are necessary. Walker’s juggernaut of tax cuts and service cuts, combined with his no-bid privatization plans, trends in one direction and one direction only: dismantling government one line item at a time, regardless of the consequences.
It is here, finally, that prohibitionism and tea party conservatism find common ground: Both are ideologies. They represent fixed, blinkered views of the world that focus on single issues and dismiss all other positions as either incomplete or simply wrong-headed. Get rid of alcohol, the prohibitionists promised, and the U.S. would become a nation of the righteous and a beacon of prosperity to the world. Just cut government to a minimum, the new right contends, and you will usher in a brave new era of freedom and opportunity.
And that’s how I see all of the neo-prohibitionist and anti-alcohol groups, as “ideologies.” All of the anti-alcohol groups that I’m aware of do everything in their power to punish alcohol companies because of their perceived sins and because they want to tell you and me how to live our lives. They do so without thinking through the consequences and overall use an “ends justify the means approach,” especially in the way they frame and distort their propaganda. Simply put, I believe that they think they know better than everybody else, there’s a certain smugness in their position; in its unwavering certainty, their righteousness that borders on religious fervor.
They’re convinced that there’s no free will, people are incapable of ignoring advertising, or knowing their limits when drinking. And while there are a few tragic figures who may fit that description, they’re the tiny minority that such groups are fixated on to make their case. The vast majority who drink alcohol do so responsibly and in moderation. Most people take personal responsibility for their actions, as they should. But personal responsibility rarely, if ever, figures into alcohol abuse if you listen only to anti-alcohol rhetoric and propaganda. It’s always the fault of the alcohol itself, and usually beer because it plays better to the people with money who fund such organizations (they drink wine after all). An op-ed piece in the UK Telegraph by Brendan O’Neil recently shed a light on the class issue in anti-alcohol efforts. If they’re not going after the children, then they’re preying on the weak-minded with the most effective advertising the world has ever wrought. Earlier this year, the hue and cry was because there were 3.5 minutes of beer commercial during the nearly four hours of the Super Bowl and — gasp — the little kiddies might see it.
But anti-alcohol rhetoric single-mindedly focuses on only the negative. I’ve never heard any of them say one word that was positive about any alcohol company. Even when Anheuser-Busch packaged cans of water and sent then to earthquake-ravaged Haiti, one anti-alcohol group criticized them for the deed, because they put their logo on the cans and sent out a press release (oh, the horror). Let no good deed go unpunished, indeed. That alone should convince us they’re idealogues.
I suspect they might say the same of me, but I understand and acknowledge that there are some people who should not drink. That such people can and do cause problems for themselves and often the people around them. I don’t write about it very much because I don’t have to; there’s plenty of lopsided anti-alcohol rhetoric already. I’m just trying to balance the conversation, though more often than not I feel like the lone voice in the wilderness.
But back to Wisconsin. My wife is a political news junkie, and she informs me that a careful reading of the facts reveals that Scott Walker’s entire political career has been in service to a single ideology: union busting. He apparently promised that was not his agenda throughout his campaign for governor, and the media swallowed that wholesale with few examining or reporting the discrepancy between what he said while campaigning and his entire career leading up to that point. In that, there’s yet another parallel between the new prohibitionists and the new political conservatives. Most mainstream news media also take the side of the well-funded anti-alcohol groups and parrot their propaganda without questioning it or providing any meaningful views from the other side of this debate.
As to Gurda’s comparisons, I think he’s right about anti-alcohol groups’ unwillingness to compromise and being self-righteous with “blinkered views of the world that focus on single issues and dismiss all other positions as either incomplete or simply wrong-headed.” That’s certainly been my experience. So as if there wasn’t enough reasons to support the protesters in Wisconsin, if this political test case is successful, not only will we see more unions busted in other states, but I suspect anti-alcohol groups are also closely watching this to see how they might use the same bullying tactics in furtherance of their own agenda. And that may be the scariest prospect of all. As usual, I’m with the Green Bay Packers on this one.
This week’s work of art is by a French illustrator, Michael Marcinkowski, who created a fun play on a portion of Michelangelo’s painting of the Sistine Chapel. He calls his work Le Nectar Des Dieux or Nectar of the Gods and it shows God giving beer to Adam, presumably right after he gave him life.
Today is actually the birthday of Michelangelo (a.k.a. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simon), who was born in 1475 near Tuscany in what today is Italy. Marcinkowski took the hands from a portion of Michelangelo’s painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which is meant to represent God giving life to Adam.
That scene makes up the central portion of the fresco in the Vatican showing Adam and God.
The folks at Ska Brewing, from Durango, Colorado, have made a hilarious spoof of Sam Calagione’s Discovery Channel series Brew Masters. In fact, Sam even makes a cameo appearance in the 22-minute video. The plot of the video involves making a special commemorative beer for the 30th anniversary of one of their favorite ska bands, The Toasters, using — you guessed it — toast. Ska co-founder David Thibodeau is great in it, and I especially loved his “there’s Adam Avery.” Don’t worry, it will make sense when you see it. Enjoy.
The March 2011 standings have just been released for Wikio’s Beer Blogs. For an embarrassing fourth straight month, I’m still clinging to the top spot. Here’s what happened to the Top 20 over last month:
| 1 | Brookston Beer Bulletin (+/-0) |
| 2 | Beervana (+/-0) |
| 3 | Brewpublic (+/-0) |
| 4 | The New School (+/-0) |
| 5 | Appellation Beer: Beer From a Good Home (+/-0) |
| 6 | Drink With The Wench (+5) |
| 7 | A Good Beer Blog (+/-0) |
| 8 | Washington Beer Blog (-2) |
| 9 | Beer 47 (+4) |
| 10 | Stone Blog (Not in Top 20 for Feb.) |
| 11 | Seen Through a Glass (+6) |
| 12 | The Session Beer Project (+4) |
| 13 | Seattle Beer News (-3) |
| 14 | BetterBeerBlog (-2) |
| 15 | The Daily Pull (Not in Top 20 for Feb.) |
| 16 | It’s Pub Night (-7) |
| 17 | Brewer’s Log (Lost Abbey Blog) (Not in Top 20 for Feb.) |
| 18 | The Not So Professional Beer Blog (-10) |
| 19 | Brewed For Thought (-5) |
| 20 | Jack Curtin’s Liquid Diet (Not in Top 20 for Feb.) |
Ranking made by Wikio
I again added the relative movements of each blog from last month. This month, four new blogs cracked the Top 20 (though one has been here before but dropped off) and four dropped off. There was also very little movement near the top, as the first five blogs stayed in their same places from last month. And fellow curmudgeon Jack Curtin finally made the Top 20 this year. It will interesting to hear his thoughts on being successful and cracking the top twenty. Again, I will continue to stress that this is just a bit of fun and that we shouldn’t take it too seriously.
Our 58th Guinness ad shows a farmer and his pigs, with one in particular being significantly larger, presumably from drinking Guinness. After all, as the tagline reminds us, it’s “Guinness for strength.” Or it may be the man carrying the largest pig who is able to do so thanks to the strength-giving properties of Guinness.
Friday’s ad is rather newer one, from 1996, is for Boddington’s, whose nickname — at least in ads — was “The Cream of Manchester.” It was a very popular imported brand for a time, though almost exclusively in the 16 oz. can. I always thought the ads with the ice cream scoop were a clever way to communicate the idea of its creaminess.
One of the great things about beer is the many colors that beer can have, though it’s a more limited rainbow. Beer color tends to be in the “fall” family of colors, ranging from yellow to amber, orange, brown and finally black. A Japanese brewery on the island of Hokkaido is trying to change the beer color rainbow to more closely match the more familiar ROYGBIV color spectrum. I’m not sure that’s an entirely welcome idea, but here’s what the Abashiri Brewery is up to:
RED: Hamanasu Draft
Hamanasu Draft Translated from Japanese (via Google Translate):
Summer flowers image of Hokkaido “Hamanasu” the brightness of “Ruby Red” was able to express clear and shining brightly colored gems such as rubies concept. By use of secondary materials Hamanasu fruit, finished with a tap Hamanasu aroma and fruity flavor. Pour into a glass and there are wildflowers bloom to decorate the jewel-studded coast of Okhotsk in the summer.
This “Hamanasu DRAFT” brew under the technical guidance of the Tokyo University of Agriculture, the thing to use natural materials from the fruits of Okhotsk Hamanasu local representation could Hamanasu aroma and fruity taste. The petals of “Ruby Red” commitment as well, we succeeded in expressing in clear and shining bright red that you use the natural pigment anthocyanin.
Next up, skipping any yellow, golden, amber or orange beers from the spectrum to reach green.
GREEN: Shiretoko Draft
Shiretokko Draft Translated from Japanese (via Google Translate):
“Was established as a world heritage, everyone would like to deliver the magnificent nature of Shiretoko” Carefully selected to match the dye-based pigment spirulina, natural shade of green in a clear expression of the Shiretoko the fresh green of spring, As for the unprecedented low-malt beer “smell” the theme is an article created.
As to the third bullet of the Four Seasons series, Hokkaido, sparkling wine become the season of the fresh green “Shiretoko draft” was able to produce. In order to have a scent of this feature, deliberately suppressing the use of hops, by using low-malt beer find a match for this fragrance in a number of aroma components to reproduce the natural feel the rich aroma of Shiretoko for. In addition, in order to close the shade and majestic scenery of Shiretoko, from the natural pigment various “Draft ice” used “Spirulina,” By using natural pigments in three, including the depth and clarity than succeeded in expressing in conjunction with the mystic hue.
Can anybody say “Saint Patrick’s Day?” Now onto the blues.
BLUE: Tyuhyou Draft
Tyuhyou Draft Translated from Japanese (via Google Translate):
Okhotsk Sea ice image of a sky blue “Okhotsk” light and refreshing finish to the faucet has a rich brewing water used to the concept of drift ice in the Sea of Okhotsk. It is developed under technical guidance of Biology, Faculty of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Industry, and granular foam by bubbling pure bright blue sea of Okhotsk ever, causes the image of floating on the sea ice in the slightly blue.
Pour into a glass and there are romantic wider Sea of Okhotsk in winter. The article has created feelings of pride in our plant material to stick to local produce. DRAFT Niatari ice brew, wanted to express in a bubble floating in the sea ice.
I was looking for there for a good foaming, Shima Hisashi professor of Tokyo University of Agriculture, has proposed the use of yam. The Chinese yam, including components that improve the bubbling has been demonstrated in Shima Hisashi’s research.
The commitment also blue Okhotsk, spirulina is said to be the plant’s oldest (and ingredients that many are taking a healthy food), using trial and error many times, the color of the bright sea in clear to reproduce successfully.
Though it’s not stated here, the blue color comes from the addition of seaweed in the beer.
Okhotsk Blue Draft stands out for its cool color and interesting (yet not off-putting) ingredients. The brew is made using water melted from icebergs that float each year onto Hokkaido beaches from the chilly Sea of Okhotsk, an arm of the North Pacific ocean bordered by Japan and Russia.
Then Abashiri went one step further and used seaweed to give their brew and icy blue tint. Perhaps not the greatest selling point but it does make Okhotsk Blue look, well, different. As for the taste… reports state that Ryuho isn’t at all bad as beers go, and if you didn’t know there was seaweed in it, you likely wouldn’t guess there was.
So if those weren’t weird enough, here’s the final one, a pink beer made with potatoes.
PINK: Jyaga Draft (or Potato Draft)
Jyaga Draft Translated from Japanese (via Google Translate):
The series culminates in Abashiri seasons, the fall harvest is the land of the north Okhotsk. Representation of low-malt beer purple potatoes colorful petals bloom on the ground of the North “draft Potato” When I die pretty flowers that come autumn harvest, the potatoes using the “Fall of Okhotsk,” guests feel the dish.
The fourth season series, “Autumn Harvest” Okhotsk from the Omoi want to express that began with the material sticking to it. Met there is “newly harvested potatoes” and “specialty Abashiri” Silvervine passion fruit called the North was. Abashiri produced by massive potato flavor and ripe “Silvervine” finished in a faucet has been moderately fruity fermented by Yoshiyasu matches.
Be afraid. be very afraid.
Our 49th Session is hosted by Stan Hieronymus from Appellation Beer, bringing things full circle back to the very beginning of the Sessions, when Stan first proposed them four years ago. Stan was also the very first host and as we begin the fifth year on monthly Sessions, he again assumes the mantle, taking on the topic A “Regular” Beer. What is a “regular” beer, you may be wondering? Take it away, Stan:
In March of 2007 I couldn’t have guessed the topic March 4, 2011 might be “regular beer.” How vague is that? But when in December I was motivated to post my defense of “regular beer” the course was set.
Please write about a regular beer (time to lose the quotation marks). You get to define what that means, but a few possibilities:
- It might be your “go to” beer, brewed commercially or at home. The one you drink regularly.
- I could be a beer your enjoy on a regular special occasion. When in San Francisco I always like to start with draft Anchor Liberty Ale. But it might be your poker night beer.
- It doesn’t have to be a “session beer,” but it can be.
- It probably shouldn’t have an SPE of more than $25 (that’s a very soft number; prices may vary by region and on premise further confuses the matter). Ask yourself, is it what somebody in a Miller High Life TV commercial in the 1970s could afford? Because affordability matters. I’m all for paying a fair price (which can mean higher than we’d like) to assure quality and even more for special beers, but I’m not ready to part with the notion that beer should be an everyman’s drink.
- Brewery size, ownership, nationality do not matter. Brew length doesn’t matter. Ingredients don’t matter. It feels a little strange typing that last sentence, since the Mission Statement here says ingredients matter. But I hope you get the point. I prefer beer that costs a little more because its ingredients cost more, because there’s more labor involved. You don’t have to. Beer should be inclusive.
To me, the idea, concept, notion, whatever of “a regular beer” is most closely aligned with the European idea of “table wines” and the mostly Belgian “table beer,” or at least that’s what I’d like to see here. The closest thing in the States to table beer is, sadly, probably macro lagers, who’ve essentially hijacked the low-calorie beer for everyday drinking. And it’s the absurd low-calorie light beers that are the most popular of those. It’s not that they’re not well made — they are — but they have so little flavor and what flavors they do have I find personally unpleasant for the most part. But they’re the beers that a grand majority of the populace drinks for everyday occasions, whether on the table or other ordinary circumstances. And their popularity I have to think is partly the reason why we don’t think of more full-flavored, but light-bodied, beers as “table beers.”
The closest analogue in craft beer is probably the “flagship” beer, the best-selling beer that each microbrewery sells. Flagship beers tend to outsell every other beer that the brewery makes exponentially. For most, the flagship accounts for week over half of total sales. In a sense that makes them regular beers. And while that’s no doubt desirable for any business, for craft breweries it can also be a problem because it can make the brewery appear stale since so much of craft beer sales is centered on the “new.” But without those flagship sales, most couldn’t afford to make the specialties, seasonals and one-offs that make their reputations. Both are equally important, and in fact striking that balance is perhaps the most important strategy a brewery needs to work out to maintain success.
A few years ago I was walking the hall at the Great American Beer Festival, trying to get somewhere in a hurry, when I got caught behind a group of young men and couldn’t get around them. So as I patiently waited for an opening, I started listening to their conversation. We were passing the Sierra Nevada booth when one of the young men elbowed his friend, and pointing to the Sierra Nevada stand, said “my Dad really likes that beer.” “Oh, that’s going to be a problem,” I though to myself and indeed it was. I’ve since had conversations with people from the brewery who’ve acknowledged that the perception of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale as “your Dad’s beer” was a problem. That’s at least part of the reason that Sierra Nevada has launched so many new projects, collaborations, new series, the anniversary beers, beer camp, etc. And it’s worked. They’ve struck a nice balance between the near ubiquitous pale ale and some pretty exciting new stuff.
But back to the table. Throughout many countries in Europe, wine is not the snobfest it often is over here. Ordinary table wine sits in every home for every meal. But it’s not the low quality box wines we think of, but very flavorful, though slightly lower in strength, wine. It tastes great, but is also ideal for drinking every day, no special occasion necessary. Table beer used to be very common in Belgium, too, until recently when it’s been replaced on the table by bottled water or — ugh — soda pop. In fact, until the 1970s, table beer was served in school to children, but now has also been replaced by soda. Although there is a movement to get rid of soda and replace it once more with low-alcohol table beer, with advocates arguing that beer is more healthy than soda, something I’ve said for years. I’d like to see that tried here, but oh the hue and cry would be swift and noisy to be sure.
But the reality is table beer would be more healthy for kids than all the chemical-laden soda pop, and those are still sold in many schools, despite their role in juvenile obesity and other health problems for kids. The fact that in this country, alcohol is the bogeyman but soda companies are not only allowed but celebrated strikes me as hypocrisy run amuck. Serving table beer at home wold also educate children about alcohol and quite possibly would lead to less abuse and binge drinking as young adults and/or in college.
Here’s how Table Beer was described in the World Beer Cup guidelines for 2010.
50. Other Belgian-Style Ale
A. Subcategory: Belgian-Style Table Beer
These ales and lagers are very low in alcohol and traditionally enjoyed with meals by both adults and children. Pale to very dark brown in color. Additions of caramel coloring are sometimes employed to adjust color. They are light bodied with relatively low carbonation with limited aftertaste. The mouth feel is light to moderate, though higher than one might anticipate, usually because of unfermented sugars/malt sugars. Malted barley, wheat and rye may be used as well as unmalted wheat, rye, oats and corn. A mild malt character could be evident. Aroma/flavor hops are most commonly used to employ a flavor balance that is only low in bitterness. Traditional versions do not use artificial sweeteners nor are they excessively sweet. More modern versions of this beer incorporate sweeteners such as sugar and saccharine added post fermentation to sweeten the palate and add to a perception of smoothness. Spices (such as orange and lemon peel, as well as coriander) may be added in barely perceptible amounts, but this is not common. Diacetyl should not be perceived.Original Gravity (ºPlato): 1.008-1.038 (2-9.5 ºPlato) ● Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (ºPlato): 1.004-1.034 (1-8.5 ºPlato) ● Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 0.4-2.8% (0.5-3.5%) ● Bitterness (IBU): 5-15 ● Color SRM (EBC): 5-50 (10-100 EBC)
The abv actually puts table beer below where most people define even session beers, making it closer to small beer. And in that sense, it barely even exists in America. There’s non-alcoholic beer — an abomination in my mind — at 0.05% or less and then there’s a very few beers that are between 3.5% and 5% but virtually nothing in between. That’s a niche waiting to be filled, as far as I’m concerned. C’mon people, let’s get this party started. Bring back “Table Beer.”