You start out drinking like everyone else.
Later you find yourself to be the last one at the party, or drinking before you go out for the night. There are alcohol related incidents.
Your family starts to complain about your drinking. Then your friends start noticing and mentioning that you seem to be drinking too much. Your friends mean a lot to you. You don't want them thinking you are some kind of loser, and you resent your family's remarks and criticism about you drinking too much. So you start hiding your drinking.
You start drinking alone so no one really knows how much and how often you drink.
At first you still talk to everyone on the phone while you are drinking alone so you still feel connected. That is until you realize the conversation is degenerating on your end and everyone still knows you are drinking too much. So you stop answering the phone when you are under the influence.
Every spare moment you can, you drink. Now you are drinking alone the majority of the time. You start to develop a relationship with alcohol. It has become kind of a friend. It eases tensions, helps you cope with unpleasant or upsetting situations, and not only can you count on it to be there, you know exactly what to expect as you drink, because the feeling and outcome is predictable. There's a certain amount of comfort in that predictability. So you come to depend on alcohol as a cushion and a kind of insulation from the unpleasantries and sometimes pain of life.
You will do most anything to protect your drinking. You want to be sure it is not threatened in any way because you want to continue to drink, which by now has become a daily ritual.
When you feel lonely because drinking has isolated you from other people in your life, you will notice that when you get drunk yet again, those feelings of loneliness are amplified. They get bigger. You wish there was someone around to keep you company while you are drinking. But there are no takers.
So you drink alone.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Alcoholism and it's stages
Saturday, August 9, 2008
5 Over the Top Beer Jokes for you
1)So this guy walks into a bar carrying a moving box, and he says to the bartender "If I show you the coolest thing you've ever seen, will you give me a free beer?" And the bartender says, "Well, sure, but I've seen some pretty cool things in my life, so as long as it tops that, you get a free beer." So the guy puts his box ontop of the bar and opens it, and inside there's a little man playing a piano. Now the bartender says, "Woah, that's so amazing, where did you get that guy? Here's your beer" And the guy says "Well, I ran into this lamp here," and he pulls out the lamp, "and I rubbed it, and the genie gave me this" Now the bartender is so amazed and he says "Dude, can I try it?" And the guy lets him, and the bartender rubs the lamp and the genie pops out and gives him the three wishes schpiel and the bartender says "Okay, I wish for a million bucks" And right away, a million ducks appear in the bar, and through the ducks, the bartender says "You didnt tell me this genie was hard of hearing!" and the guy takes a sip of his beer and says "Yeah, I didn't wish for a ten inch pianist either."
2)An Irishman, And Englishman and a Scot are in a bar when a fly lands in each of their beers. The Englishman, disgusted, pushes the beer away and demands a new one. The Scot, picks the fly out and keeps drinking. The Irishman grabs the fly, sqeezes it, and shouts, "Spit it out you little bastard!"
3) A man walks into a pub in ireland and orders three pints of guiness. The bartender gives them to him and the man walks to the back of the bar and sips on each of them. When he is finished the man walks up and orders three more. This time the bartender asks why he doesn't just order one at a time. The man explains that he has a brother in the US and in Australia and when they left home they agreed to each drink like this to remember when they used to get boozed up together. The bartender agrees this is a nice custom and pours three more pints. The man returns to the bar night after night and soon becomes a regular. One night he goes up to the bar and only orders two pints. All of the other regulars and the bartender stop drinking and express their concern for his loss. The man then explains "oh no, everyone's fine I just quit drinking!"
4) An Irishman named O'Malley went to his doctor after a long illness. The doctor, after a lengthy examination, sighed and looked O'Malley in the eye, and said, "I've some bad news for you. You have cancer, and it can't be cured. I'd give you two weeks to a month to live." O'Malley was shocked and saddened by the news, but of solid character. He managed to compose himself and walk from the doctor's office into the waiting room. There, he saw his son who had been waiting. O'Malley said, "Well son, we Irish celebrate when things are good, and we celebrate when things don't go so well. In this case, things aren't so well. I have cancer, and I've been given a short time to live. Let's head for the pub and have a few pints." After three or four pints, the two were feeling a little less somber. There were some laughs and more beers. They were eventually approached by some of O'Malley's old friends who asked what the two were celebrating. O'Malley told them that the Irish celebrate the good and the bad. He went on to tell them that they were drinking to his impending end. He told his friends, "I've only got a few weeks to live as I have been diagnosed with AIDS." The friends gave O'Malley their condolences, and they had a couple more beers. After his friends left, O'Malley's son leaned over and whispered his confusion. "Dad. I though you said that you were dying from cancer??? You just told your friends that you were dying from AIDS!" O'Malley said, "I am dying of cancer, son. I just don't want any of them sleeping with your mother after I'm gone."
5) One day a drunk man told the bartender, "I'll bet you $100 that I can bite my right eye." The bartender grinned and said, "Okay, you drunk." The drunk pulled out his right fake eye and bit it. After more drinks the drunk said, "I bet you $200 I can bite my left eye." The bartender knew it could not be fake, so he said, "Okay." The drunk pulled out his dentures and bit his left eye. The bartender, by now was really mad. After a few more drinks, the drunk said, "I'll bet you $500 that if you slide a shot glass down the bar, I can hop on each stool and pee in it without getting a drop on your bar." The bartender knew he could not do it so he said okay. The bartender slid the shot glass as fast as he could. The drunk jumped on stools and peed all over the bar. The bartender jumped up and screamed in joy because he won $500. In the back he heard, a man yelling in frustration. He asked the man why. The man replied, "That drunk fool bet me $1000 that he can pee on your bar and you would be happy about it!"
Thursday, June 26, 2008
beer brewers latest problem - microbrews killing King of Beers
Will microbrews kill the King of Beers?
If Robin Ottaway, sales manager and co-owner of the Brooklyn Brewery, wants to know how popular his company's beer is, he need only check his e-mail. In his inbox last month were requests from interested parties in Costa Rica, Panama and India asking how to get Brooklyn's brews (already sold in China, Turkey and Finland, among other countries).
"Just people inquiring about our beer," he says. "We have a pretty well-established international market."
Indie "craft" beer makers such as Brooklyn Brewery are where the action is these days. American craft brewers are small (producing fewer than 2 million barrels annually), independent (not controlled by an industrial brewery such as Anheuser-Busch) and traditional (using at least 50% all-malt ingredients in their beers). And their success is striking fear into the mass-market brewers who dominate the $97 billion U.S. beer industry.
Although craft beers account for only $5.7 billion of the industry, they have seen a 58% increase in dollar sales since 2004, according to the Brewers Association in Boulder, Colo. Last year, while imported and noncraft beer both experienced a growth rate of 1.4% in volume, craft beer enjoyed a 12% growth rate in volume, according to the Brewers Association.
The shift in consumer tastes -- along with a commodities boom that has put pressure on profits throughout the beer industry -- has put the jumbo players on the defensive. The industry's No. 2 and 3 players, SABMiller (SBMRY, news, msgs) and Molson Coors (TAP, news, msgs), respectively, are merging their operations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Their new company – MillerCoors – is expected to go into effect in July and will have a combined market share of nearly 30%.
And the nation's self-titled King of Beers, Anheuser-Busch (BUD, news, msgs), has been dogged by the possible takeover by Belgian global powerhouse InBev.
Click here for more on the possible takeover.
Craft beers are nothing new to Anheuser-Busch: For the past decade, the company has been buying its way into the sector with minority stakes in producers such Redhook Ale Brewery (HOOK, news, msgs) in Seattle and Widmer Bros. in Portland, Ore.
Anheuser-Busch has also been revamping its Michelob line, which includes flavors such as Honey Lager, Amberbock and Marzen, an Oktoberfest-style beer. Several of Michelob's brews have been winning awards at both the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup.
But the craft sector has proved particularly thorny for Anheuser-Busch since April 2007, when its second-
largest American distributor, Ben E. Keith Beverages of Texas, broke an exclusivity deal with the brewer after taking over the Texas operations of C.R. Goodman Distribution, a Colorado-based network that specializes in craft and import beers.
"We saw a great need to expand our portfolio into the craft and import segments," Kevin Bartholomew, the president of Ben E. Keith, which has been carrying Anheuser-Busch beverages since 1933, said in an e-mail. "This segment has been growing in mid-single to double digits, although at a lower base, for at least 10 years."
Ben E. Keith now carries more than 60 brands of craft and import brands, including Belgium's Duvel and Chimay as well as Brooklyn and Delaware's Dogfish Head. The distributor has seen greater than 12% growth in the category since January, Bartholomew said.
The Ben E. Keith move was "a jailbreak," with serious implications for Anheuser-Busch, said Bump Williams, the general manager of Chicago market research firm Information Resources. "If (Ben E. Keith) is breaking their exclusivity," he said, "then everyone else is going to be breaking it."
If one major brewer has an edge with craft-beer consumers it might be Molson Coors, which has created its own successful craft-style beer.
The company sent brewer Keith Villa to Belgium, which has a far more varied beer tradition, to earn a doctorate in brewing chemistry at the University of Brussels. When Villa returned to the U.S., he created Blue Moon Belgian White Ale, which looks, tastes and is marketed like a craft beer but is mass-produced -- a detail the Colorado company isn't going out of its way to promote.
Initially, drinkers were skeptical. "People said, 'There's something wrong with my beer -- it's cloudy,'" said Villa. But once they tasted it, he said, "we couldn't brew enough of it."
Even without national advertising, Blue Moon has seen double-digit growth since 2002, according to a spokesperson. In April, it was named the No. 1 beer in U.S. supermarkets for 2007, according to IRI's Top 30 Beer Brand Performers (which featured 20 craft and imported brands among its ranks). "This beer is on fire," said Williams, of Information Resources.
Williams says the major brewers seem to be taking the right steps to adapt to the changing beer market. "When you're as big as these three companies, you're not going to see the double-digit growth like in the craft beer market," Williams says. "But all three (Anheuser-Busch, SABMiller and Molson Coors) are doing the right things to capitalize on that part of the beer industry."
As the tectonic plates of the U.S. industry shift, some smaller brewers -- Boston Beer (SAM, news, msgs),
Heineken U.S.A. (HINKF, news, msgs) or D.G. Yuengling & Son, a regional brewer in Pottsville, Pa., that bills itself as America's oldest brewery -- might find themselves in a position to grow their market shares. "They're under the radar of the big brewers," Williams says. "But people are watching them." Still, he adds, until the St. Louis brewery is dethroned, Anheuser-Busch remains king. "They're still the one to beat."
That might sound like bad news for most smaller brewers, but not to Tom Peters, co-owner of Philadelphia's Monk's Café. Peters pours only Belgian, German or American craft beers.
"The big boys are opening the market," says Peters, one of the first people to sell Belgian beer in the U.S. "What Coors and Anheuser-Busch are doing is growing the market share, and that's going to trickle down to smaller brewers."
From Peters' vantage point, Blue Moon is "a gateway beer or an introductory beer to Belgian beer and other craft beers."
And craft brewers, certainly, will drink to that.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Why Drinking beer is the best out of life
Why beer is best
Ale is probably the world's most misunderstood drink
It would soon be time for dinner and I proposed a glass of the very hoppy Shepherd Neame Spitfire as an aperitif. My friends MsTimidityThinlady and her laddish boyfriend, Jack Behaving-Badly were horrified at such a suggestion. They had all sorts of reasons why a classic British ale was inappropriate. After that, I spent a long winter evening mulling over the extraordinary resilience of the great beer myths. Here are a dozen that drive me to drink (I'll calm my nerves with an Old Peculier if you don't mind).
Beer is too filling: You don't have to drink it by the pint. Before dinner serve yourself an appetisingly hoppy beer in a decent-sized burgundy glass or goblet. Perhaps an Orval, from a famous Belgian Trappist monastery; the aforesaid Spitfire, from Kent; or Anchor Liberty from San Francisco.
Beer doesn't go with food: Tell that to the Belgians, who have restaurants devoted to cuisine a la biere. If that sounds too elaborate, treat yourself to a porter with oysters; a Pilsner Urquell with fish; a Westmalle Trappist Triple or a Duvel with asparagus: a Samuel Smith's Nutbrown Ale with a crunchy salad; a reddish ale with red meat; a Trappist Chimay Grande Reserve with cheese; an Imperial Stout with a chocolate dessert.
I don't drink beer - I drink lager: You drink beer every time you raise a glass of lager. Beer is a drink made from grain, usually malted barley, and spiced with hops. The most widely available type of beer both in Britain and worldwide is lager. Yes, it's beer - what did you think it was?
Lager is better because it's lighter: In colour? Body? Taste? None of the above. Not necessarily. The first lagers were mahogany in colour (look out for Staropramen Dark from the Czech Republic - try it with noodle dishes). Some are very full-bodied and malty (Paulaner Salvator from Germany), or hoppy (St Christofrel Blond - another great aperitif - from The Netherlands). The term "lager" just means that the brew was fermented and matured at cool temperatures. This makes for cleaner rounder flavours, but arguably less complexity than is found in ales.
Beer is bitter: Yes and no. All beer has some bitterness. That is one reason for the hops: their herbal, resiny dryness balances the sweetness of the barley malt. Many beer-lovers enjoy the appetising bitterness of very hoppy brews: the bitterness arouses the gastric juices. Some would argue for balance, as exemplified by English classics such as Fuller's London Pride or Marston's Pedigree. Others like sweeter malt-accented brews such as the classic Scottish ales from Caledonian, Belhaven or Maclay's. Both the malt and the hops should be detectable: what's the point of beer that tastes of nothing?
Women don't drink beer: Disappointing news for Sister Doris, the Bavarian nun who makes Mallersdorf lager or for Lady Catherine Maxwell Stuart, whose Traquair House brewery, in the Scottish Borders, produces a fine strong ale. Fortunately, it is not true. The most feminine women I have met in a lifetime's appreciation all drink beer. So does the Queen Mother (that should clinch the argument). Our national matriarch has been photographed with pints of both Young's and Fuller's bitters.
The rest of the world prefers lager: So what if it did? But that is not true. Foreign beers are not necessarily lagers: not the wheat beers of Bavaria, Berlin and Belgium; Trappist brews; the Altbier of Dusseldorf the Kolschbier of Cologne or Antwerp's superb De Koninck ale; most of America's fashionable micro brews. Get out and about, and broaden your palate.
All ales are dark: You weren't paying attention when you drank the golden Kolschbier. Try that innocent-looking Duvel if you are scared of the dark.
Dark beer is stronger: There is no connection whatever between colour and strength. That golden Duval has 8.5 per cent alcohol volume; the famously black Guinness stout has 4.2 per cen.t The colour in beer comes from the toasting of the malts, and that does not contribute alcohol.
Dark beer is fuller bodied: Colour has nothing to do with body, either. Guinness is measurably less full-bodied than some golden lagers. The fullness of body or otherwise, depends upon the density of grain with which the brewer started, and the degree of fermentation. The more the beer is fermented, the more the body diminishes. The body-building sugars are converted to alcohol. Unfortunately, alcohol is very calorific (see below).
Dark beer is fattening: No more than pale beer. Colour does not contribute calories. A modest glass or two of beer with dinner is less fattening than a shared bottle of wine. Everyday beers have fewer than half the calories of most wines, because the latter are two or three times as strong. The extra calories lurk in the alcohol. By the way red wine is usually less fattening than white. This is because most reds are lower in alcohol than most whites. So why do the figure-conscious so often drink white? Go figure.
If it is a good beer, it must be strong: There is no connection between quality and strength. One of the world's great brews is the Berlin style of wheat beer crisply refreshing at a mere 2.5 to 3.0 per cent The famously sociable, drink-it-by-the-pint, everyday British bitter typically has only 3.5-4.0. On the other hand, if you want a beer with a book at bedtime, settle down with a classic such as Thomas Hardy's Ale, at around 12.5. Serve this one in a snifter.
Published Online: MAR 21, 2000
Published in Print: FEB 22, 1997
In: The Independent
Monday, May 12, 2008
High 5 - Beers 5 distinct advantages and 5 proven disadvantages revealed
High 5 - Beers 5 distinct advantages and 5 proven disadvantages revealed
Beer is one of the oldest and probably the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world. It is sometimes even referred to as "liquid bread". Brewer's yeast, one of the beer's main components, is known to be a rich source of nutrients and this means that beer may have some health benefits. But on the other hand, beer contains alcohol, which is known to cause some serious negative effects on our health.
First, let's look at the beer's benefits.
- Source of vitamins, minerals and flavonoids. Beer is rich in many vitamins of the B group and in minerals such as magnesium. Barley and hops used in the production of beer are rich in flavonoids, which have powerful antioxidant effects.
- Coronary heart disease (CHD). There is quite strong evidence that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption has cardio-protective properties. Many research studies demonstrate a lower coronary heart disease incidence among moderate beer drinkers. Moderate drinkers are at lower risk of CHD-related mortality than both heavy drinkers and abstainers. Vitamin B6 in beer also seems to prevent the alcohol-induced rise in blood homocysteine, a probable heart disease risk factor.
- Cholesterol. Moderate alcohol drinking affects many processes in the body, one of which is the significant increase in HDL cholesterol - the good cholesterol. There is supporting evidence for beer's cardio-protective effect and for its help in altering the ratio of beneficial HDL cholesterol to the LDL cholesterol.
- Kidney stones. Beer consumption may reduce the risk of developing kidney stones. Finnish researches found that there was a 40% lower risk of kidney stones in beer drinkers.
- X-Rays radioprotection. Japanese researchers found that beer helps reduce chromosomal damage from radiation exposure.
And now some of the negative effects you may expect from regular beer drinking:
- "Beer belly". Heavy beer drinking may promote abdominal obesity in men, so called "beer belly".
- Heartburn. Beer contains powerful stimulants of gastric acid secretion and may provoke gastroesophageal reflux and cause heartburn.
- Blood pressure. Daily beer consumption (approximately 40 g of alcohol) may increase blood pressure.
- Intoxication & Dehydration. Alcohol is a dehydrating agent and downer that reduces activity of the central nervous system. High amounts of alcohol can turn into dehydration, intoxication, and hangover.
- Impairment of driving-related skills. Even small amounts of alcohol can have adverse effects on attention and motor skills. Many serious accidents are alcohol related.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Basic BEER trouble Troubleshooting
Beer Trouble? Here's a few Beer troubleshooting Tips!
We all love Beers, and too much love can sometimes lead to drunkiness hehe, So if one of these days you got into some kind of beer trouble, use the tips below to troubleshoot your way out! Beer Troubles No more!
Symptoms: Feet cold and wet.
Fault: Glass being held at incorrect angle.
Action: Rotate glass so that open end points toward ceiling.
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Symptoms: Feet warm and wet.
Fault: Improper bladder control.
Action: Stand next to nearest dog, complain about house training.
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Symptoms: Beer unusually pale and tasteless.
Fault: Glass empty.
Action: Get someone to buy you another beer.
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Symptoms: Opposite wall covered with fluorescent lights.
Fault: You have fallen over backward.
Action: Have yourself leashed to bar.
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Symptoms: Mouth contains cigarette butts.
Fault: You have fallen forward.
Action: See previous action.
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Symptoms: Beer tasteless, front of your shirt is wet.
Fault: Mouth not open, or glass applied to wrong part of face.
Action: Retire to restroom, practice in mirror.
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Symptoms: Floor blurred.
Fault: You are looking through bottom of empty glass.
Action: Get someone to buy you another beer.
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Symptoms: Floor moving.
Fault: You are being carried out.
Action: Find out if you are being taken to another bar.
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Symptoms: Room seems unusually dark.
Fault: Bar has closed.
Action: Confirm home address with bartender.
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Symptoms: Taxi suddenly takes on colorful aspect and textures.
Fault: Beer consumption has exceeded personal limitations.
Action: Cover mouth.
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Symptoms: Everyone looks up to you and smiles.
Fault: You are dancing on the table.
Action: Fall on somebody cushy-looking.
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Symptoms: Beer is crystal-clear.
Fault: It's water. Somebody is trying to sober you up.
Action: Punch him.
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Symptoms: Hands hurt, nose hurts, mind unusually clear.
Fault: You have been in a fight.
Action: Apologize to everyone you see, just in case it was them.
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Symptoms: Don't recognize anyone, don't recognize the room you're in.
Fault: You've wandered into the wrong party.
Action: See if they have free beer.
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Symptoms: Your singing sounds distorted.
Fault: The beer is too weak.
Action: Have more beer until your voice improves.
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Symptoms: Don't remember the words to the song.
Fault: Beer is just right.
Action: Play air guitar.
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Symptoms: Feel cold and naked and under some sheets and a cozy bed feeling
Fault: You have just been laid
Action: See to it if it's a male or a female beside you, if it's a female, all is good, if it's a male, check your arse the next morning with a physician
Free Beers Stuff and info of more beer!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Top Beer Myths Busted
It seems like there is always that guy in the bar that has a crazy story about the beer he's drinking. The worst part, sometimes its believable, so you tell someone, then they tell someone, and thats a beer myth. Here are ten of the more outrageous myths about beer and what you need to know to set that guy in the bar straight.
Beer Myth 1: Beat the Beer Belly with Light Beer
OK, light beers have maybe 90-100 calories, regular beers generally have less than 200 calories. A beer lover would say the difference is comparable to the difference between McDonalds and a 5 star restaurant. A dietician would tell you the difference is negligible. So unless you are drinking 300 beers a week, I would drink the good stuff.
Beer Myth 2: The darker the beer, the more alcohol it contains
Not even close. Guinness is black, and has 4.2% alcohol. The color of a beer comes from the toasted malts, which has no effect on alcohol content. Ingredients like rice syrup, honey, and corn syrup add alcohol to beer, but do not influence the color.
Beer Myth 3: Beer is ruined if warmed and then refrigerated
This can be true, if you do it many, many times, and it will happen gradually. People think re-chilling beer will cause it to be "skunked". Beer can be ruined by air, light and time. Temperature won't ruin a beer unless it's extreme. Get fresh beer and store it in dark place, and it will be fine.
Beer Myth 4: Imported beers have more alcohol than domestic beers
This comes from the way US beers reported their beers' alcohol content. The rest of the world uses "Alcohol by Volume", here is the US they used "Alcohol By Weight". Since beer weighs less than water, US beers had smaller numbers, but not less alcohol.
Beer Myth 5: The Guinness they serve in Ireland is better
It seems widely accepted that beer in "the old country" is better than what they export to the rest of the world. The brewing process is cheap, so why would a brewery risk their reputation by brewing a different beer for export? It doesn't make sense, and it's not true. With few exceptions, the beer that is exported is the exact same beer that they serve in the bar across the street from the brewery. The difference is purely freshness. It takes two weeks for a keg of Guinness to get from Dublin to your favorite bar in the states. Some beers, like Fosters, is brewed in Canada under a license for sale in the US. But it is clearly stated on the bottle when this is the case.
Beer Myth 6: Beer shouldn't be Bitter
The bitterness of a beer comes from the hops. Hops are in all beers to balance the sweet malts and to act as a preservative. Some beers have a lot of hops, like India Pale Ales (IPAs) and some beers have less hops, like Wheat Beers. Hops can give a beer complexity and add all sorts of flavors and aromas, like pine, citrus, and earthiness. Hops are why people say beer is an acquired taste, but they also make beer delicious.
Beer Myth 7: The best beers are in green bottles.
As it turns out, brown bottles protect the beer from the light much better than green bottles or clear bottles. This myth comes from when there was a shortage of brown glass in Europe after WWII. The European beers were bottled in green instead, so green bottles came to represent imports. This certainly isn't the case anymore.
Beer Myth 8: The Thai beer Singha has formaldehyde in it
It seems widely believed that Singha is brewed with formaldehyde, as is Chang beer, San Miguel, Vietnamese 33, and Singapore's Tiger Beer. The most believable explanation for this one is that Singha is much more bitter and contains more alcohol than most lagers. When American or British expatriots and soldiers were drinking beer in Thailand, they got drunk much more quickly then they were used to, and it was much more bitter flavor then they were used to. To explain this it was suggested that it contained formaldehyde. Crazy.
Beer Myth 9: Corona is Mexican Piss
In the 1980s there was a rumor that Mexican workers were peeing in the Corona tanks that were destined for the US. Certainly alarmingly disgusting... if true. As it turns out this myth was started as a result of Corona's rising popularity in the US market, and who was jealous? Heineken. This was nothing more than a rumor started by a Heineken wholesaler in Reno. It all worked out, the guy from Heineken admitted his wrongdoing, and Corona continued it's rise to popularity. But the rumor can still be heard today in bars across the country.
Beer Myth 10: Women don't like beer
Thats crazy! My wife loves beer almost as much as I do. Women have brewed more beer than men in the history of beer. Sister Doris in Bavaria brews Mallersdorf lager. Fortunately, this myth is far from true.
Australia Teens Sold Self For Beers
Melbourne: Alcoholism is so rampant among Australian youngsters that girls as young as 11 get into prostitution just for a couple of cans of beer, a report by Sydney's Odyssey House revealed.
The annual report said children as young as 10 were being admitted to Odyssey's treatment program for alcohol abuse.
According to Sydney youth campaigner and head of Youth Off the Streets, Father Chris Riley, it was not surprising that the report showed that kids as young as 10 were abusing alcohol. Father Riley said that his personal experiences helping troubled kids were echoed in the report.
"In some of the communities we're working in at 9.30 in the morning, 12- (and) 13-year-olds have bottles of Jack Daniels in their hands, and it is just shocking the way these things are available to kids," news.com.au quoted Father Riley, as saying.
He added: "In one of our communities we work in, a group of girls aged between 11 and 16 go down to the bars and clubs at 1am, because that is when they will close, and will prostitute themselves simply for a can or two of beer. This is common throughout the communities we're working in."
"We're opening more and more liquor outlets, more and more access to alcohol... and we just don't get it, we just keep making it more available," said Father Riley."These kids can get access to alcohol whenever they want, and that is just not good enough,” he added.
He supported product labelling that warn kids about the dangers of drinking and called for alco-pops to be banned.
"I keep saying: 'Let's put labels on alcohol products saying that alcohol does brain damage to adolescents'," he said.
He added, "Let's take away those alco-pops which are targeting teens. Kids don't like the taste of alcohol, they like the effects that alcohol has on them, but they can get an alcoholic drink that tastes like a soft drink."
German Beer
German Beer
By Michael Russell
In Germany, beer is large part of the culture. There are over 1300 breweries in Germany, the most in any country in the world. Beer produced in Germany must adhere to the Reinheitsgebot (German purity law) which dictates what ingredients can be used. The only ingredients allowed are "Wasser, Hopfen, und Gerstenmalz" or water, hops and barley-malt in English. Cultured yeast was also included in the law after its invention. Today, most breweries from around the world have incorporated the Reinheitsgebot into the production of their own beer. Because of this purity requirement, which was law until 1988, German beers are recognized for their quality. There are many types of German beer. A few of the styles of ale include Altbier, Koelsch, Rauchbier and Weizen. German lagers include Helles, Maerzen, Bock, Pilsener, Schwarzbier and Dunkel. The colors, aromas and flavor of each type can vary widely, but all are drunk in large quantities: only the Czechs and Irish drink more beer per capita than the Germans.
Altbier, primarily drunk in the Lower Rhine region of Germany is a dark ale that is top-fermented. Its name, sometimes shortened to Alt, means simply "old beer". Koelsch is locally brewed in Cologne. It is yellow in color with a distinct flavor of hops. Rauchbier, meaning literally "smoke beer" is said to have a smoky flavor and color. Weizen is an ale made from malted wheat that is mild in flavor and has a light color.
Helles is a lager brewed in southern Germany, primarily in Munich and surrounding Bavaria. The name Helles, or Hellbier means "light beer" and has a light yellowish color. Maerzen beers are traditionally brewed for the famous German celebration of Oktoberfest and are traditionally a dark reddish-brown with a sweet malt flavor. Bock is a very strong-flavored beer dark in color, brewed in Munich during the winter. Pilsener, or Pils, is the most familiar of German beers, its flavor being slightly more hoppy and less malty than that of Helles. It was first brewed in the Bohemian city of Pilsen. Schwarzbier, meaning black beer, is a bottom-fermented lager with a chocolate flavor and dark color. Finally, Dunkel, or "dark beer" is a dark lager with a smooth flavor.
There are many companies in Germany that produce its over 5000 brands of beer. Some of the larger breweries in the north of the country include Beck's, St. Pauli Girl, Bitburger, Oettinger, Warsteiner and Krombach. The south has a higher concentration of breweries, but most are smaller, locally owned and operated. The Benedictine abbey Weihenstephan in southern Germany is supposedly the oldest brewery in the world: it began producing beer in the year 1040!
Oktoberfest is an annual festival held in Munich, Germany in the state of Bavaria. It begins in late September and goes on for two weeks into early October. Here, people from around the globe travel to celebrate German beer. Over six million attend the event annually. Only local breweries from Munich are allowed to serve their beers in the large tents (Bierzelt). These six breweries are Loewenbraeu, Hofbraeu, Hacker-Pschorr, Spaten, Paulaner and Augustiner. Other cities worldwide mimic this fair and hold their own versions of Oktoberfest. Some major cities in the U.S. that hold Oktoberfest celebrations include Appleton, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Ohio, Hickory, North Carolina and Campbell, California.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Beer
Friday, February 8, 2008
San Miguel Beer - Beer Flagship of the Philippines
San Miguel Beer is the best-tasting beer in the Philippines, carefully brewed to satisfy the distinct preferences of the resilient and unpretentious Filipino drinker. Its unique heritage is representative of a friendship between the Filipino drinker and his beer that has lasted over a hundred years!
San Miguel Pale Pilsen, the brewery's best-selling beer and the 14th largest-selling beer in the world! My personal fave along with Super Dry. :)
San Miguel, the unofficial National Beer of the Philippines, as now been on Thailand's beer shelves for several months in farang populated areas such as Phuket, Samui, Bangkok and Pattaya and is proving to be a popular brew.
San Miguel is brewed in a number of countries including the Phillipines, Nepal, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Australia and is also exported to over 40 countries. In the Philippines and Hong Kong the beer is the number one market leader but in Thailand they are marketing it more as a premium beer with a select but better financed consumer.
San Miguel Corporation (SMC) first began its jaunt into Thailand by purchasing Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd. for US$102 million. Included in the deal was a 21.75-hectare brewery in the Pathum Thani province, 30 kilometers north of Bangkok. The state of the art brewery has a capacity of about 1 million hectolitres with room for significant expansion.
The first two beers launched by SMC, Red Horse and Blue Ice, were aimed more for the Thai market but San Miguel Pale Pilsen is squarely aimed at the foreign residents market. It is a well-balanced beer that has a lot of flavour. There is a taste that is not available in most other beers on the market, a bitter yet not too mature body that is perfumed by a malt aroma.
Currently in promotion mode this beer is available in taste tests in TOPS supermarkets and various bars in farang populated areas. So far the beer has proved popular and it has few rivals in terms of quality in the price range it resides. That said the Thai beer market is extremely competitive and beers like Heineken and Tiger have a strong grip on the higher end of the market.
Personally I welcome the addition of a flavoursome beer to the market and am making sure to purchase the beer regularly so as to prove to Thai supermarkets and convenience stores that there is demand for decent beer.
San Miguel Beer commercial Beer that started in the Philippines and has now become the leading beer in Hong Kong and South China.
Electrifying Sabado nights commercial theme of San Miguel Beer's TVC year 1995 with young footages of Ina Raymundo and Paolo Abrera.
one hand and a fork in the other; you use the fork to push food onto the spoon. And if you’re paranoid about food safety like I am, you wash everything down with San Miguel, which is a pretty good beer considering that I pretty much hate beer. (Even Jet Li and Stephen Chow like it, so who can argue?) As for nonnative food, well I have to laugh, because there are heaps of American chains in Manila, and I studiously avoided them all just like I do at home. Shakey
San Miguel Beer Division (SMBD) a division of San Miguel Corporation, the largest food and beverage company in Southeast Asia. SMBD manufactures and distributes San Miguel Pale Pilsen, the undisputed leader in the Philippine market and the leading beer in Hong Kong.
San Miguel also produces a wide range of popular beverage products that are runaway market leaders in their respective product categories.
SMBD Overseas
J. Boag & Son, San Miguel's Australian brewer, is a leader in the fast-growing premium beer segment with James Boag Premium lager, while Anker Bir is the second-largest selling beer brand in Indonesia. Blue Star, one of its brands, is declared Baoding's Official Beer in 2001 as it is the best-selling beer in the city. Another brand, Dragon, outsells its closest rival in Shunde district's affordable section three to one.
In the Philippines, SMBD garnered a staggering 90% market share in the beer market, its closest rival is Asia Brewery, with local brand Beer na Beer and licensed brands Colt 45 and Lone Star. In Hong Kong, it garnered 24% share as it is more affordable than European rivals, and perhaps the number of Filipinos who enjoy San Miguel Pale Pilsen contributed to its success.
San Miguel is also produced in Nepal through a licensing agreement. San Miguel Beer Division also brews Miller Genuine Draft and Löwenbräu beers under license.
SMBD has facilities in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia.
Trivia
* San Miguel Pale Pilsen is featured in the anime feature Ghost in the Shell. The movie has scenes wherein Bateau (one of the leading characters) drinks a can of San Miguel Beer, which was recreated onscreen faithfully to its real life appearance.
* During the Japanese era, and Andres Soriano was in America with the exiled Commowealth Government, San Miguel became the Balintawak Beer Brewery, Funded and supported by the Japanese until the liberation. Andres Soriano ordered the beer to be consumed by the Americans and the Filipinos to the last drop rather than be labeled under the name San Miguel.
* People in Hong Kong often assume San Miguel Pale Pilsen is brewed locally (although it does have a brewery factory there).
* San Miguel in Spain has the same origins as San Miguel in the Philippines. However, since 1953 the brewery in Spain has been under separate ownership and no longer has any connections with San Miguel Corp. Philippines. The beer in Spain is brewed by San Miguel Fábricas de Cerveza y Malta S.A., part of the San Miguel-Mahou group.
* San Miguel has a cult following in the United States, especially among Filipino "Balikbayans."
* In the movie Shaolin Soccer, Fung is drinking a can of San Miguel Beer when he meets Steel Leg for the first time.
* Latest commercial endorsers of San Miguel Beer include Kris Aquino, Manny Pacquiao, Erik Morales, and Jet Li.
* In the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Korea 'white label' San Miguel is available. However in other areas, only the 'gold label' is available. The difference? Gold label is a gold colored paper label. White label is painted on white lettering. SMC has started shipping the gold paper labeled bottles, at least in Manila and might be phasing out the painted bottles. You might want to hold onto some of those old painted bottles as they may soon become collectable.
* San Miguel Beer Division held a 3-day drinking contest in Makati, Philippines. The winner of this 1994 drinking bout is no other than 20 year old Carlo Decena Bilbao, who still holds the record of 83 bottles of pale pilsen. Take note, this was all consumed without the use of his hands. He would simply pick up the bottle with his mouth and start pounding one after the other. The second placer for this event was no other than the German Gulper himself, Roland Hiitzer, who downed 15 pilsens.
