Beer

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There's an unspoken prohibition against serving Beer with dinner. It seems people would rather serve any old rot-gut wine than serve a top of the line, micro-brewed Beer. Mexican and Indian food are two of the few foods that you can serve Beer with, without having anyone look askance at you. Perhaps part of what's wrong is the glassware; you can't plop a pint glass on a dinner table.

A "Half and Half" is half a pint of bitter with half a pint of mild Beer added to it.

Lager and lime is lager mixed with Rose's Lime Cordial, in any proportion to taste.

A "Shandy" is ale mixed with ginger ale. To be more accurate, it should be ginger Beer, but most people now, even in England, use ginger ale instead (Schweppes can be better than Canada Dry, which is very sweet.)

A "Black Velvet" is half black stout, half champagne, traditionally served in a silver or pewter mug along with steak, kidney and oyster pie.

Try a slice of lemon in a pale lager -- it's a habit in Munich; in Mexico, a slice of lime is often used instead.

The Myth of Weak American Beer

Many American Beers have their alcohol content measured and indicated as Alcohol by Weight (ABW), which gives a lower number than measuring the Alcohol by Volume (ABV.) Because most people don't understand the difference, it leads to the myth that American Beers are weaker than British, German or Canadian Beers. In fact, when the ABW number of American Beers is converted to an ABV number, a different story emerges.


By WeightBy Volume
American Ales*4.25% - 4.5%5.3% - 5.6%
British Ales (and bitters)2.4% - 3.04%3.0% - 3.8%
American Lagers3.6% to 3.8%4.5% to 4.7%
British Lagers2.6% - 3.2%3.2% - 3.9%
British Stouts and Porters2.8% - 3.2%3.5% - 4%
Guinness Draught3.4%4.2%
Canadian Beershigh 3's to low 4's rangehigh 4's to low 5's range
* A few states mandate that to be labelled a Beer the alcohol content must be less than 3.2 by weight (4% by volume); anything above that for them must be labelled a "malt liquor."

Substitutes for Beer

When a heavier Beer is called for, such as a stout or a bitter, you can try substituting mushroom or beef stock, or red wine. When a lighter Beer such as an ale or lager is called for, try substituting chicken or vegetable stock, white wine, white grape juice, apple juice or ginger ale.

History Notes for Beer

Ale originally had no hops in it. Determined to keep the distinction between ale and Beer, the "Brewer's Company" guild (formed 1437) asked the Lord Mayor of London to enforce that "no hops, herbs, or other like thing be put into any ale or liquore wherof ale shall be made -- but only liquor, malt, and yeast."


The Beer Brewers set up their own guild in London in 1493.

Shortly after the start of the 1500s, almost all ale in England had hops in it, though ale without hops was still being made in Scotland in the 1550s. Henry VIII tried unsuccessfully to stamp out the usage of hops in 1524.

Even the dour Pilgrims brought Beer with them in 1690 to America. They had to, as water would go stale and couldn't be trusted on long sea voyages.

One of the first things the Pilgrims did was organize making Beer. But the Pilgrims weren't the first colonists by far, and Beer production was already flourishing in America: even John Harvard, when he founded Harvard in 1636, had made sure that a brewhouse was built to supply the students.

Vassar Female College was founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar from the proceeds of his Hudson Valley Brewery.

For a while, Beer faced a tough challenge from cider (all cider was "hard", or alcoholic in those days). Prohibition finally killed off hard cider. Nationwide prohibition was in effect from 1920 until 1933. 1,250 breweries went out of business during prohibition; the 750 still around afterwards had survived by making soft drinks and other food products.

Literature & Lore about Beer

The Romans would not drink Beer; they considered it barbarian. Elizabeth Barrett Browning would not drink Porter.


"Cerevisiam bibat!" ("Let us drink beer!") -- Hildegard of Bingen (16 September 1098 – 17 September 1179).

Recipe Suggestions

Acknowlegements

Also called:
Bière (French); Bier (German); Birra (Italian); Cerveza (Spanish); Cerveja (Portuguese)
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It's a myth that American beer is weaker than other beers.