4 ms·

Grandpa's Beer

91 points by neonate 8y ago

jonquark 8y ago
I'm English. A lot of beer here was traditionally served at cellar temperature even though today, most beer is served cold. I've been known to complain about the temperature of beer too. This well-written tale should be a salutary lesson to me about getting too fixed in my opinions :)
- jstanley 8y ago
  > today, most beer is served cold It depends what you're drinking & where you're drinking it. Almost all the beer I order is served at room temperature.
  - eru 8y ago
    Eg it would be quite a waste to drink the 16.1% ABV Mikkeller Black (https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/mikkeller-%E9%BB%91-black/83833/ https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/mikkeller-%E9%BB%91-black/8383...) straigth from the fridge.
  - chrisseaton 8y ago
    'Room temperature' is a funny thing - people say you should drink most red wines at 'room temperature' but apparently people's ideas of room temperatures has changed and increased by more than a couple of degrees over the last century. A small and hot dinner party kitchen certainly isn't what is intended by 'room temperature.' Many sommeliers really recommending serving 'room temperature' red wines closer to cellar temperature or have fridges that just reduce temperature by a couple of degrees from the dining room in order to get what they want.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
benbristow 8y ago
Don't understand how people can drink beer at room temperature. I've been to the CAMRA beer festival in Paisley a few times with some friends and we usually go to a pub afterwards as tradition. That cold pint of Tennents is heavenly after dealing with all the lukewarm ale.
- eru 8y ago
  Heavier bodied and more complex beers do better with warmer temperatures. Eg a lager is best drunk cold, a stout (or lambic) should be a bit warmer. Whether that should go all the way to room temperature depends on how warm your room is. (And how you like your beer.) Eg https://belgium.beertourism.com/belgian-beers/duchesse-de-bourgogne https://belgium.beertourism.com/belgian-beers/duchesse-de-bo... suggests you drink the Duchesse de Bourgogne at 8-12C. If you start at 8C and let it warm up as you sip, you'll notice the taste change over time and the flavours and aromas develop. If you sip your lager slowly, you are just going to have an insipid drink. Especially if you started with something as bland as Heineken.
  - benbristow 8y ago
    I don't think Heineken is bland. It's got quite a unique aftertaste.
    - eru 8y ago
      Well, it's definitely not as complex as a lambic. But that's OK, sometimes you want a simpler beer and sometimes a more complicated one. (Though to be snobby again: there are way better lagers around than Heineken..)
      - benbristow 8y ago
        > (Though to be snobby again: there are way better lagers around than Heineken..) Definitely. I do like a lot of the craft lagers/IPAs. Scotland is great for them. We've got tons of great brewers like Innis & Gunn, WEST Brewery, Williams Bros etc.
sodosopa 8y ago
I like a good cool beer or stout, but get disgusted at cold beer. It's not enjoyable, so it gives me time to talk with friends as the beer warms to a proper temp.
- ido 8y ago
  I like my Lagers & Pilsners cool but Americans (generally!) really do sometimes take the cooling to extreme measures (such as keeping even the glasses refrigerated). In Central Europe a least even the cool-served beers aren’t served at quite the near freezing temperatures you’d sometimes get in the US.
- eru 8y ago
  Whether that strategy works depends on the carbonation of your beer (and your preferred level of carbonation). The warming up curves and going flat curves have to play together nicely.
dep_b 8y ago
In the US a bar served me Mort Subite at the same temperature as they served lager. In a plastic cup. I think that really kills the brand over a longer time.
- alamortsubite 8y ago
  A travesty, for sure, but unlikely to tarnish that brewery's reputation given the nationality of the perpetrators. Another serious problem with ordering such beers on tap in the U.S. is that the beer in the line is often flat and stale, having sat for perhaps days due to its unpopularity here. Compounding this, I've found our bartenders are sometimes unfamiliar with the beers, and may add insult to injury by denying there's any problem. If you're drinking in anything other than a true specialty bar in North America, from my experience it's best to stick to bottled beer from one of our excellent local alternatives, such as Ommegang or Unibroue.
JasonFruit 8y ago
It's a treasure to find someone who can have an elder act rudely toward them and reflect, "I also felt like, hey, this is a great moment, sad and interesting and funny. This is what old people do. You will do this one day, and you will not know you are doing it." It's easier when, like the writer, you are not around that person all the time, but it's an excellent viewpoint that allows people to enjoy older people who are losing perspective, but still have much to offer.
- martinpw 8y ago
  Thanks for calling out the deeper aspect of the article rather than the superficial beer-related aspect. > You will do this one day, and you will not know you are doing it. That is a profound statement. I see older people behave in certain ways and think I will never be like that. Then I realize that I will be, and that when I am like that I will not know it. And therefore maybe I already am like that.
  - rkuykendall-com 8y ago
    > I see older people behave in certain ways and think I will never be like that. Then I realize that I will be, and that when I am like that I will not know it. And therefore maybe I already am like that. The problem is that this isn't always true, and it's hard to know when, since there's another thing that causes all old people to do something: They all lived at the same time. There are certain ways that older people relate to food that is based not around being old, but having lived through the great depression. The same with the baby boomers, etc. We can already see that people who grew up around 9/11 and the recession will be different in certain aspects. Even hobbies, may have much less to do with being old, and more to do with carrying over hobbies from an earlier age. Think of it like 'old people names'. Those aren't old people names, they're 'teenager names' 65 years later.

91 points by neonate 8y ago

I'm English. A lot of beer here was traditionally served at cellar temperature even though today, most beer is served cold. I've been known to complain about the temperature of beer too. This well-written tale should be a salutary lesson to me about getting too fixed in my opinions :)

jstanley 8y ago
> today, most beer is served cold It depends what you're drinking & where you're drinking it. Almost all the beer I order is served at room temperature.
- eru 8y ago
  Eg it would be quite a waste to drink the 16.1% ABV Mikkeller Black (https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/mikkeller-%E9%BB%91-black/83833/ https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/mikkeller-%E9%BB%91-black/8383...) straigth from the fridge.
- chrisseaton 8y ago
  'Room temperature' is a funny thing - people say you should drink most red wines at 'room temperature' but apparently people's ideas of room temperatures has changed and increased by more than a couple of degrees over the last century. A small and hot dinner party kitchen certainly isn't what is intended by 'room temperature.' Many sommeliers really recommending serving 'room temperature' red wines closer to cellar temperature or have fridges that just reduce temperature by a couple of degrees from the dining room in order to get what they want.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

benbristow 8y ago

Don't understand how people can drink beer at room temperature. I've been to the CAMRA beer festival in Paisley a few times with some friends and we usually go to a pub afterwards as tradition. That cold pint of Tennents is heavenly after dealing with all the lukewarm ale.

eru 8y ago
Heavier bodied and more complex beers do better with warmer temperatures. Eg a lager is best drunk cold, a stout (or lambic) should be a bit warmer. Whether that should go all the way to room temperature depends on how warm your room is. (And how you like your beer.) Eg https://belgium.beertourism.com/belgian-beers/duchesse-de-bourgogne https://belgium.beertourism.com/belgian-beers/duchesse-de-bo... suggests you drink the Duchesse de Bourgogne at 8-12C. If you start at 8C and let it warm up as you sip, you'll notice the taste change over time and the flavours and aromas develop. If you sip your lager slowly, you are just going to have an insipid drink. Especially if you started with something as bland as Heineken.
- benbristow 8y ago
  I don't think Heineken is bland. It's got quite a unique aftertaste.
  - eru 8y ago
    Well, it's definitely not as complex as a lambic. But that's OK, sometimes you want a simpler beer and sometimes a more complicated one. (Though to be snobby again: there are way better lagers around than Heineken..)
    - benbristow 8y ago
      > (Though to be snobby again: there are way better lagers around than Heineken..) Definitely. I do like a lot of the craft lagers/IPAs. Scotland is great for them. We've got tons of great brewers like Innis & Gunn, WEST Brewery, Williams Bros etc.

sodosopa 8y ago

I like a good cool beer or stout, but get disgusted at cold beer. It's not enjoyable, so it gives me time to talk with friends as the beer warms to a proper temp.

ido 8y ago
I like my Lagers & Pilsners cool but Americans (generally!) really do sometimes take the cooling to extreme measures (such as keeping even the glasses refrigerated). In Central Europe a least even the cool-served beers aren’t served at quite the near freezing temperatures you’d sometimes get in the US.
eru 8y ago
Whether that strategy works depends on the carbonation of your beer (and your preferred level of carbonation). The warming up curves and going flat curves have to play together nicely.

dep_b 8y ago

In the US a bar served me Mort Subite at the same temperature as they served lager. In a plastic cup. I think that really kills the brand over a longer time.

alamortsubite 8y ago
A travesty, for sure, but unlikely to tarnish that brewery's reputation given the nationality of the perpetrators. Another serious problem with ordering such beers on tap in the U.S. is that the beer in the line is often flat and stale, having sat for perhaps days due to its unpopularity here. Compounding this, I've found our bartenders are sometimes unfamiliar with the beers, and may add insult to injury by denying there's any problem. If you're drinking in anything other than a true specialty bar in North America, from my experience it's best to stick to bottled beer from one of our excellent local alternatives, such as Ommegang or Unibroue.

JasonFruit 8y ago

It's a treasure to find someone who can have an elder act rudely toward them and reflect, "I also felt like, hey, this is a great moment, sad and interesting and funny. This is what old people do. You will do this one day, and you will not know you are doing it." It's easier when, like the writer, you are not around that person all the time, but it's an excellent viewpoint that allows people to enjoy older people who are losing perspective, but still have much to offer.

martinpw 8y ago
Thanks for calling out the deeper aspect of the article rather than the superficial beer-related aspect. > You will do this one day, and you will not know you are doing it. That is a profound statement. I see older people behave in certain ways and think I will never be like that. Then I realize that I will be, and that when I am like that I will not know it. And therefore maybe I already am like that.
- rkuykendall-com 8y ago
  > I see older people behave in certain ways and think I will never be like that. Then I realize that I will be, and that when I am like that I will not know it. And therefore maybe I already am like that. The problem is that this isn't always true, and it's hard to know when, since there's another thing that causes all old people to do something: They all lived at the same time. There are certain ways that older people relate to food that is based not around being old, but having lived through the great depression. The same with the baby boomers, etc. We can already see that people who grew up around 9/11 and the recession will be different in certain aspects. Even hobbies, may have much less to do with being old, and more to do with carrying over hobbies from an earlier age. Think of it like 'old people names'. Those aren't old people names, they're 'teenager names' 65 years later.