Beer & Me

Have you ever done this? You order a beer then find yourself wondering, “what’s a beer?” Not what is beer but what does this particular restaurant/bar/pub consider to be A beer?

Too many establishments will pop the top on a bottle and unceremoniously plop it in front of you without even bothering to offer a glass. (This happened to me the other day a Chilis - my first experience with the national chain and very likely my last.) Other restaurants will present their beer in stylized glasses that couldn’t hold more than 6 ounces while charging you the same that the brewpub down the street does for a full and proper pint. Finally there are the good guys who offer their beer in style specific glasses and present a full serving.

But this is all left entirely up to the establishment. There are no laws here in the US like those in England and Europe protecting the beer drinking consumer. In those countries beer servings are standardized and enforced. Here in the US a pint of beer is not necessarily the proper US pint of 16 ounces but any amount of beer served in a glass.

Change may be coming at least to Oregon. There lawmakers are considering legislation that would at least inspect servings that are being sold as pints to make sure that they actually are pints. Even though there will apparently be no real consequences for failing to serve a full pint it’s a start.

I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle here. A fallacy has been creeping into the national psyche. More frustratingly I’ve had to watch it happen.

A very few years ago everyone seemed to know that the prohibition of alcohol in the United States ended on December 5, 1933. The fact that it was in April earlier that year when only breweries in “wet” states were allowed to make and sell 3.2% beer was little more than a footnote.

Then Anheuser-Busch started latching on to the date as a marketing tool. “The Return of Beer,” they called it. It’s understandable. Summer’s just around the corner and a cold Budweiser is a lot more appealing then than in December.

Now that other St. Louis brewer, Schlafly, is holding a Repeal of Prohibition party in April. Ugh!

That’s it. I’m calling for Thanksgiving this Thursday. Turkey and cranberries at my house, everyone! Bring your fireworks for Fourth of July celebrations in the backyard after dinner.