SOT - General public misconceptions...

[dcbrewmeister]

I've been brewing for some time now and always get a bunch of questions about my brews when people find out... A lot of uninformed type of questions, but this one takes the cake. I was in a local bar playing in a pool tourney. The place was having a "sale" on the Smirnoff ice malt liquors;

guy #1 - "How do they make malt liquor?"

guy #2 - "they take a light beer and filter it until it's clear."

guy #1 - "Oh - kewl, so it's just beer."

guy #2 - "Yup"

ME - Wiping the Shiner Bock draft that I blew threw my nose off my face.

Any others?

 

[homebrewer_99]

Plus malt liquor, as defined in the US, is over 5%...

 

[Evan!]

guy #1 - "How do they make malt liquor?"

me - "They round up a bunch of vagrants and street bums, harvest their urine, add Homer Simpson's special "Glass and Rocks" table sugar, and ferment until alcohol exceeds 5%."

guy #2 - "But what about those Smirnoff flavored things?"

me - "Oh, that's even easier to make. They round up a bunch of female vagrants and prostitutes, harvest their ******l fluid, add sugar, ferment until alcohol exceeds 5%, then they mix in some jolly ranchers for the flavoring"

guy #1 - Mmmm...that's some good stuff!

 

[Torchiest]

One that bothers me is just the general lack of understanding of flavor versus color in beer. People just assume dark beer is going to be really bitter/harsh or whatever, and avoid it like the plague. They don't understand the difference between, say, the dryness of Guinness versus the hoppiness of SNPA, or how darker beers can actually be easier drinking.

That actually has been really funny for me the last week or so at my bartending job. I don't know if Shiner is available all over the country, but here in Texas is a big deal. People drink tons and tons of Shiner Bock. The last couple years, Shiner has been releasing special edition beers in anticipation of their coming 100th anniversary.

So two years ago it was Shiner 96, which was an märzen style beer, and last year it was Shiner 97, which was a Black Lager. Really dark beer, very easy drinking though. They stopped making it, and we ran out. I replaced the beer with a coffee porter, and every time someone comes in asking for Shiner 97, I suggest the porter instead. Almost everyone likes it. Four months ago, no one would've even wanted to taste it after seeing that black color. Funny how much of it psychological.