HT to Keg Works.
13 Beer Facts Worth Knowing
- You should always store bottled beer upright, not on its side. This minimizes oxidation and contamination from the cap.
- Bottled beer is pasteurized. Keg beer is not. That’s why it’s critical for kegs to stay cold (38°F). As the temperature rises, CO2 expands (causing foamy beer) and dormant bacteria may become active and ruin the keg.
- The type of water used for brewing makes a difference. The best ales are produced with hard water (with more natural salts like calcium) while soft water is better for lagers.
- Before the 1400s ales were flavored with herbs like rosemary and thyme. Hops were first introduced to preserve beer but are now a desirable flavor.
- Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch Golden Elixir is made from a 2,700-year-old beer recipe that was found in a royal tomb in Turkey. The tomb is believed to be the burial place of the legendary King Midas.
- In 1814 a brewery tank containing 3,500 barrels of beer ruptured in London causing a beer tidal wave that flooded the streets, demolished two houses and claimed the lives of 9 people.
- Pabst Brewery produced the first six-pack of beer in the 1940s. The brewery conducted numerous studies, which found six cans were the ideal weight for the average housewife to carry home from the store.
- Anheuser-Busch uses rice in its formula and the company alone consumes about 15% of the entire U.S. rice crop.
- Belgium wins the “country with the most individual beer brands” award with more than 400 brands and counting.
- The familiar Bass symbol, a red triangle, was registered in 1876 and is the world’s oldest trademark.
- Hops contain an herbal form of estrogen that is rumored to make men chesty (a syndrome known as “Brewer’s Droop”) and cause other male problems.
- The ’33′ on Rolling Rock bottles was originally a printer’s error. It refers to the 33 words in the original slogan. It has generated enough mystery over the years that the company decided to keep it.
- Guinness sells an average of 7 million glasses a day.
Other also read:
Czechs consume the equivalent of 8.5 bottles per person per week, more than twice that of Canadians (3.7). Americans consume 5.4 bottles per person per week.
Having grown up in the Detroit area and crossed the river a number of times, Canadian beer has a higher alcohol content. (It did decades ago when I was in college, at least!) Maybe our neighbors (neighbours!) in the Great White North only drink 3.7 beers because they get the same alcohol content as Yanks do with 5.4…?
Colleen, maybe it’s because I won’t touch liquor with a ten-foot pole, but I did not know how much alcohol beer had had anything to do with where it was made. I thought, if anything, it had to do with its manufacturer.
Does that mean that a woman going through menopause should drink beer because of the hops or not drink beer…hmmmm….
Plenty of hoppy beer me thinks…!
Good information on how cold to keep your keg beer. I have a keg-o-rator and keep it at 36 degrees, now I know why.
I have been mang beer (on & off) for 20 years,and I grow hopps. Hopps were added to beer as stated in the article as a perservative, but what was not said is why! Hopps were added by the british as a way to get the beer around the horn of Africa for their troops in India. The hopps flavor was hated at first, but since Salors and Soldiers (still today are given a daily “Ration” of beer or Rum) became used to the flavor they requested the Hoppy beer when they returned to England after their tour in Inda, hence India Pale Ale. Also Ale is brewed at higher temperatures than Lagers. This is why Lagers have a smoother taste with less highs and lows. Exceptions are beers like Heiniken which is hopped after fermentation for its character bitter after taste.
Fascinating! Something all Catholics ought to know, Jim.
More useful information. Thanks!
I remember hearing about an Irishman on the Chartres pilgrimage who did not part take in the wine.
“Oh, you’re a teetotaler…?”
I am NOT a teetotaler, I took ‘The Pledge’. Teetotaling is an eeeevil protestant concept. Comparing The Pledge to Teetotaling is tantamount to comparing celibacy to misogyny. The pledge is likewise the giving up of one good for a higher good.