Imported beers

I have no idea if it's accurate or not, but what I have heard is that, for whatever reason, brown glass was either in short supply or more expensive to produce (or possibly both) in the years after World War II, and so many of the beers that American GI's had grown to appreciate in Europe started showing up in the States in green glass, creating an association that quality and/or European beer always came in green glass.

Yep, they do. IIRC, so do Pilsner Urquell.

I'll admit, there is a certain aesthetic appeal for green glass over brown. The damage it can do to beer pretty much cancels that benefit out, of course.

I actually can't think of many other canned imports. Tecate is really the only one I can think of right away. Wait, a couple of the Canadians come in cans as well.

-Steve

Yeah, cans weigh next to nothing, and while glass is appreciably heavier, it seems to me it still doesn't measure up to the weight of what's in the glass.

Interestingly enough, I'm not basing that on beer. I'm basing it on water. I really can't drink still water. I vastly prefer sparkling. So, I routinely buy San Pellegrino by the case. It comes in glass bottles. The weight when I bring the full case up three flights of stairs to my apartment is huge compared to the weight of the empty case of bottles I take back down later for disposal. I haven't put full and empty cases on a scale, but the weight differential is huge, just based on physical exertion. Granted, in cans, it's such that almost all the weight is the liquid itself.

I just threw a 12 oz bottle of Sierra Nevada and Starobrno on my Polder kitchen scale. The SN is 1 pound, 3.75 ounces; the Starobrno is 1 pound, 6.5 ounces.

But where'd you get 18 pounds for 18 pints? One gallon of water is ~8 pounds. Which makes a quart roughly two pounds. Which makes a pint ... never mind.

This would all be so much easier if we were metric.

Oh, I'm sure shipping costs would be less with cans v. glass. Enough less that the investment in a canning line would be worthwhile? Dunno.

-Steve

Beck's. Modelo (the pale lager, not the dark one). Wittekerke and Bavik Pils. Oranjeboom and Henninger (particularly if you shop at Trader Joe's stores). Guinness. Murphy's. Greene King's Abbot Ale.

Boddington's. Young's Double Chocolate Stout.

But point taken - the list of decent imported canned beers marketed in the USA is a short one. Not so in a number of other countries, though.

No, I didn't see it- thus the question "All Americans?" because your sentence, as written, implied that.

Well, that's my point, it's not a "general" prejudice that most or many "Americans" have.

What's with the nasty comments like "Calm down" (exactly what do you find "excited" in my reply?) and your previous "You have too much time on your hands" when I corrected you on Miller's ownership of Lienenkugel. If your posts are not to be commented on or disagreed with, please note that when you write.

They should at least give consumers the choice (and give can-buyers a discount because of the lower freight costs).

Why haven't any of you regulars noticed that he was refering to shipping cost? Get it? Huh?

We now know where you are employed.

Hope this helps!

piddy

I didn't know that either of the words calm or down or a combination of the two in any way could be considered "nasty".

Snippage

Lucky you! Your liquor store(s) must be much more receptive to constructive criticisim than the LCBO. 'Our stock turns over so quickly we don't have to worry about skunking or other problems', thus quoth the mouth at LCBO head office. This was in reply to my complaint about green and clear bottled beer stored on top shelves right next to fluorescent lighting and, where one of the beers in question was almost three years past its BB date.

Ross.

In the interest of science, using the Metric system, and from my beer fridge comes the following: A 500 ml bottle of Schneider Weisse with cap and contents weighs 882 grams. A 500 ml can of Lowenbrau Original with contents weighs 523 grams. Since the contents of both weigh 500 grams, it means that the bottle with cap weighs 382 grams while the can holding the same amount of liquid weighs only 23 grams. Conversions:

500 ml = 16.9 fl. oz. 500 ml = 500 grams = 17.6 oz. (weight) so the beer in both containers weighs 17.6 oz. 382 grams = 13.47 oz. (weight) 23 grams = 0.81 oz. (weight) That's a hell of a difference in the weight of the containers in a truck load of beer. It has to be reflected in the shipping costs.

Still got that VHS tape, Lew?

Ross.

I understand that metallic tastes in beer come from mashing caramal malts at normal mash temps and mash times when they should be steeped at higher temperatures and added to the beer further down the track. I've tasted this undesirable attribute in a few specialty beers, most notibly James Squire IPA, an Aus micro. It has nothing to do with the packaging and actually contains no metallic ions but our taste perception says 'metallic'. Steve W.

Bottles, 375ml & 750ml. Cans 375ml SW

Isn't it 330ml for many in Australia? And imported cans are often about

355ml.

Domestic industrial beer use the above sizes, also soft drinks.

Micros use all sorts. Imported use all odd sizes up to 440ml (mainly Irish).

What sizes does Coke come in, in USA? SW

It's 355ml I think.

But anyway, it's like talking about how long a piece of string is.

12 ounces and (recently) 8 ounces in cans. 20 ounces, 1 liter and 2 liters in plastic bottles.

-Steve

Say what? Care to explain that? I _always_ mash caramel malts at normal temps and have never experienced problems. I think someone has their cause and effect relationship screwed up!

---------->Denny

"A pint's a pound, the world around." Water, but beer's damned close.

Bad word.

No, it's losses, breakage, that I'm thinking about. Do shippers lose more bottles or cans to breakage/crush? Dunno.

Heh. Yup. Gawd, I'm such a loser. I'll work on it, Ross, and maybe slip some bourbon in there too. Did you like any of them particularly?