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From: rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn)
Newsgroups: net.wines
Subject: Re: Real Ale &   yech,spit yuck "ANCHOR STEAM"
Message-ID: <1692@opus.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 13-Aug-85 01:03:40 EDT
Article-I.D.: opus.1692
Posted: Tue Aug 13 01:03:40 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 17-Aug-85 05:51:46 EDT
References: <960@houxf.UUCP>
Organization: NBI,Inc, Boulder CO
Lines: 71

Let's set the stage by noting that "real ale" (i.e., cask-conditioned) and
Anchor Steam are two different breeds--Steam isn't an ale or anything like
it.

> After seeing several postings extolling the virtues of Anchor Steam
> and when some turned up in the local liquor store I broke down and
> purchased some [  $ 7.50 a six pack ].
> [ I don't recall if this was Anchor Steam Beer or the Liberty Ale ]

That's a good start--let's critique a beer without knowing which beer it
is!  Steam and Liberty Ale are only different in that they're made with
different malts, different hops, different yeasts, by different processes,
and Liberty is dry-hopped.  (But gee, they come in the same shape bottle
from the same brewery and both contain water:-)

> Well let me tell you folks, this is the kind of gnats p*ss that got
> CAMRA started. It was a putrid pretentious bottle of bilge water.

Well, let me tell you, folks, this fellow's palate seems to have been
destroyed by drinking gnat's p*ss.  And CAMRA began as a campaign against a
distressing sameness and lackluster character of beers brewed in ever-
larger breweries--all of which are antithetical to Anchor, whether you like
their beer or not.  (The fact that CAMRA was also fighting to preserve the
tradition of cask-conditioning ales is irrelevant; Steam isn't an ale and
isn't supposed to be cask-conditioned.)

I'd like to know what the fellow didn't like about the beer, but he didn't
seem to have the time to tell us.  (Aside to those new to beer tasting in a
serious sense:  Beer is evaluated according to standard criteria which
evaluate the quality and balance of various flavors, off-tastes from the
brewing process, and handling faults.  If there's something wrong with the
beer, there are ways to describe it that say lots more than "gnats p*ss" and
"bilge water.")

So what's the deal?  Virtually everyone who KNOWS beer will tell you that
Anchor Steam is one of the best beers brewed in the U.S.  In fact, they
will tell you that regardless of whether they, personally, happen to like
the beer.  All the stuff about "bilge water" boils down to refusing to make
the distinction between "this is bad" and "I don't like this."

> I'm a firm believer in the statement "there's no such thing as bad beer"
> but this was as close to bad as I want to get. The taste was so close to
> non-existant that I was reminded of Piels beer...

Now I KNOW he's had too much of that gnat's p*ss--Steam, with at least
twice the hops of a standard domestic beer, has ANYthing but nonexistent
taste.

> My preferred North American beers are:
> 
>       1) Dos Equis  or Tres Equis ( or their Christmas beer Buenos Nochas)
>       2) Ballantines Ale

There's something to be said for Ballantine if, as I read the net address,
this posting came from the East Coast:  Buy beer brewed close to home if
you want fresher (=better) beer (particularly ale).  I can't compare, since
I don't think it comes out this way (tho IPA does).

But "Dos Equis or Tres Equis"?  Unless Moctezuma has done some acquisition,
those two aren't even made by the same brewer.  [Need I add, "someone
correct me if I'm wrong"?:-]  And it's not Buenos Nochas (sic) or even
Buenas Noches, which means "good night", but Noche Buena, which means
Christmas Eve.  Good night!

And anyway, what do any of these have to do with Anchor Steam?  Dos Equis
is a decent beer and so is Steam, but they're of such different styles as
to be incomparable.  Sounds a lot like the complaint is, "When it comes to
apples, I prefer oranges."
-- 
Dick Dunn	{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd		(303)444-5710 x3086
   ...Cerebus for dictator!