Beer Trivia

[Baradium]

I thought some of you might enjoy this.

http://www.burp.com.au/beer_trivia.htm

According to The Code of Hammurabi of ancient Babylonia (c. 1750 B.C.) a merchant could be put to death for diluting beer.

In Germany there is a beer ice cream in popsicle form. Its alcohol content is lower than that of classic beer.

In Medieval Europe, brewing and baking went together. Thus women were the first European brewers and were often called ale wives.

1810: Munich establishes Oktoberfest as an official celebration.

King Frederick the Great once banned coffee to bolster sagging beer sales.

In Babylon over 4000 years ago, it was customary for the bride's father to supply his new son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. As mead is a honey beer and their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the 'honey month' – or what we know today as the 'honeymoon'. In fact, Babylonians believed if the groom drank mead for an entire month, it enhanced the chances of his wife bearing a male heir.

In Bavaria, beer is legally defined as a staple food.

After consuming buckets of aul (or ale), the Vikings would head fearlessly into battle, often without armour or even shirts. In fact, "berserk" means "bare shirt" in Norse, and eventually took on the meaning of their wild battles.

The first US lager was brewed in 1840 by John Wagner, who had a small brewery in the back of his house on St. John Street in Philadelphia. Wagner brought the first lager yeast to the United States from a brewery in Bavaria.

Historians report that during the Middle Ages, when monks were brewing their beer in their monasteries, each monk was allowed to drink 5 quarts of beer a day.

Legend has it that Gambrinus, god of beer, challenged the devil to produce a “wine without grapes.” The historical origin of the concoction we know today can be found in 12th-century Belgium, although the Egyptians had already created fermented-grain beverages well before then.

The pursuit of beer changed the course of humanity forever in 5000 BC. Neolithic people abandoned their wandering lives for farming, to grow grain for brewing beer.

In 1116 BC, Chinese imperial edict stated that heaven required people to drink beer.

The Egyptian pyramids were built on beer. Stonecutters, slaves and public officials were paid in a type of beer called 'kash' – which is where the word 'cash' originated.

In English pubs, unruly customers were told to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down – and so began the phrase "mind your P's and Q's". (Another explanation is customers were being warned about the potency of the beer. At 'freehouses' where people could make and sell their own beer, there was less control on the alcohol content.)

The familiar Scandinavian toast sköl derives from scole, the drinking bowl shaped like the upper half of a human skull. Originally, these bowls were fashioned from the actual skulls of enemy killed in battle.

Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold and the yeast wouldn't grow; too hot and the yeast would die. This ancient practice is where we get the phrase 'rule of thumb'.

Saint Arnold, a bishop born in 580, is considered the patron saint of beer. He encouraged people to drink beer instead of water during the Plague. Indeed, the Plague suddenly disappeared once his word spread (though some suggest because beer was boiled in the brewing process, it would have been safer than water, which had previously spread the infection.) When Saint Arnold died in 640, the citizens of his hometown carried his body from Remiremont to Metz for reburial in their church. On this journey, another miracle occurred – when the weary porters stopped to share their only mug of beer, they discovered the mug never ran dry.

The most expensive beer in the world? It’s called “Tutankhamen” and is prepared according to the recipe recovered by a group of University of Cambridge archaeologists in Queen Nefertiti’s Temple of the Sun in Egypt. It costs US $52 a bottle, and is produced in limited and numbered edition.

The pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock because they ran out of beer. Although they planned to continue down the east coast, the Mayflower's log explains the passengers "were hasted ashore and made to drink water that the seamen might have the more beer". On their arrival, the pilgrims immediately built a common house, which included a brewery.

In ancient times, monks who fasted or abstained from solid food subsisted on beer.

The music for "The Star Spangled Banner" was derived from a British drinking song called "Anacreon".

Carlos V: This emperor was the first beer importer, and one of its most illustrious drinkers and aficionados. It’s said that even in his retirement in Yuste, he kept a Flemish brewer in his reduced entourage.

Assyrian tablets from 2000 BC stated that Noah was carrying beer aboard the ark.

The United States two-dollar bill features three brewers: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Samuel Adams. In fact, George Washington installed a brewhouse on his grounds at Mount Vernon.

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

Beer wasn't sold in bottles until 1850. Beer lovers would visit their local tavern with a special bucket, have it filled and then begin the merry journey home.

Ale was brewed for centuries without hops. Before the 1400s, ale was flavoured with herbs such as rosemary and thyme. Yet the antiseptic quality of hops helped to preserve ale from spoiling and later became a vital part of its flavour.

In the Czech Republic, beer is cheaper than Coke. A half litre at the local pub costs just 30 cents (10.50 CZK) while a half litre of Coke costs 85 cents (30 CZK). Beer is a little more expensive than club soda (which costs 29 cents, or 10 CZK, for a half litre).

A labeorphilist is a collector of beer bottles.

Cenosillicaphobia is the fear of an empty glass

A tegestologist is a collector of beer mats.

A flood of beer swept through the streets of St. Giles, England, on 17 October 1814. Caused by a rupture in a brewery tank containing 3500 barrels of beer, the tidal wave killed nine people and demolished two houses.

Universities in Europe and America from the 1300s through the 1700s had in-house breweries to provide beer to the students. Harvard had its own brew house in 1674 and five beer halls, each burned down by rioting divinity students.

The first six-pack of beer was produced by the Pabst Brewery 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.

Ancient Egyptians brewed beer in just three days, due to the hot climate. Served as a still fermenting cereal mash, they would drink it through straws from a communal bowl.

In eleventh-century England, a bride would distribute ale to her wedding guests in exchange for donations to the newlyweds. This brew, known as Bride Ale, is the origin of the word 'bridal'.

One method of checking a beer’s quality is the way in which the foam adheres to the side of the glass after each sip. Beer connoisseurs call this “Brussels lace.”

By 3000 BC, the Egyptians were brewing at least six different types of beer.

1888: Citizens of Munich took to the streets and rioted after a beer price increase was announced.

In 1740, Admiral Vernon of the British fleet decided to water down the navy's rum. The unhappy sailors nicknamed the Admiral 'Old Grog', after his wool grogram coats. The term 'grog' soon began to mean the watered down drink itself.

Czechs drink the most beer in the world per capita – an average of 160 litres a year per person.

In olde England, town inns paid a government tax known as a 'scot' for serving beer. Beer lovers who left town to drink at rural pubs were said to be drinking 'scot free'.

Root Beer was origionally called Root Tea, however the name was changed to Root Beer to get more people to take interest in it.

Beer recipes have been found on Babylonian clay tablets from over 6000 years ago.

Guinness sells an average of 7 million glasses a day.

The British Army supplied its men with a cash allowance for beer, considered a vital nutritional staple on long overseas missions. With this allowance of one penny, soldiers enjoyed six pints of ale every day.

1587: The first beer is brewed in the New World at Sir Walter Raleigh's colony in Virginia, but the colonists send requests to England for better beer

A beer a day... Beer was used to treat over 100 illnesses in Egypt, 1600 BC.

In the 13th century, King Wenceslas convinced the Pope to revoke an order banning the brewing of beer in Czech territories (no wonder he was known as 'Good King Wenceslas).

In Egypt, two containers of beer were the minimum wage for a day's labour.

American beer is predominately made from rice. That is why it tastes so light compared to foriegn beers. This is purely an American invention to increase profits as they hoped a lighter beer would also draw women to purchase.

Beer was often served for breakfast in medieval England.

It was customary in the 13th century to baptize children with beer.

[airtac]

THLANXS, Juss wad I neheeded to (hic) know

[Frank N. O.]

I see, is this partly a joke or at least sort-of reliable? For instance the berserk part since I can't get any modern scandinavian words to fit that, but I guess we could ask a person from Iceland since their language is the one closest to old-norse of the modern nordic languages. I can however tell you that it is indeed correct that we say the word also meaning "bowl" where you say "cheers" however at least in modern days it's spelled "skål" and not "sköl/skøl" (two variants of the same letter, the second is used in danish and possibly also one or both of the norwegian writing systems and the first is used in swedish which is actually the sibling language of danish where norwegian is from the other branch of scandinavian languages). Sköl/skøl doesn't mean anything to my knowledge however it is pronounced the same as the word "skyl" which means rinse/pour and is commonly used to say "værsgo at skyl" (english: go ahead and pour) when you're drinking instead of saying "skål", this is usually used in a friendly and jovial setting.

Note: While I'm at it, I gotta get this one told. In danish and swedish and perhaps also norwegian, when you say: "I am married", you're literally also saying "I am poison" The word for "married" is the same as the word for "poison" The word btw is "gift" 

Back on topic, on tv I once heard that the old danish kings drank tons of beer in the 16th/17th century when they had large 3-day group dinners. However the beer was very light by todays standard (otherwise the amount they say they drank would've killed them). They also did it however because the water wasn't very clean and hazardous to the health.

Frank

[G-man]

Back on topic, on tv I once heard that the old danish kings drank tons of beer in the 16th/17th century when they had large 3-day group dinners. However the beer was very light by todays standard (otherwise the amount they say they drank would've killed them). They also did it however because the water wasn't very clean and hazardous to the health.

Frank

Sounds like a fine idea to drink if you ask me.  Beer dousing and strippers all round....

[Baradium]

I see, is this partly a joke or at least sort-of reliable? For instance the berserk part since I can't get any modern scandinavian words to fit that, but I guess we could ask a person from Iceland since their language is the one closest to old-norse of the modern nordic languages. I can however tell you that it is indeed correct that we say the word also meaning "bowl" where you say "cheers" however at least in modern days it's spelled "skål" and not "sköl/skøl" (two variants of the same letter, the second is used in danish and possibly also one or both of the norwegian writing systems and the first is used in swedish which is actually the sibling language of danish where norwegian is from the other branch of scandinavian languages). Sköl/skøl doesn't mean anything to my knowledge however it is pronounced the same as the word "skyl" which means rinse/pour and is commonly used to say "værsgo at skyl" (english: go ahead and pour) when you're drinking instead of saying "skål", this is usually used in a friendly and jovial setting.

In addition to drinking, I heard before that they sometimes enjoyed special mushrooms.    I remember "berserk" coming from the same reasoning (IE the vikings insane battling),  but didn't remember the original meaning of the word.

It's supposed to be accurate trivia.

[Rooster Cruiser]

That website did a disclaimer at the very top which implied that these stories are not necessarily all true.

We've trawled the web to find these 'facts'. How true they all are you'll have to decide for yourself, but a good read nonetheless. Do you know any others 'Contact Us' & let us in on the secret!

So they are being up front with the fact that these are anecdotal in nature.

Just to punch a few holes in a couple statements, here's one example,

In Babylon over 4000 years ago, it was customary for the bride's father to supply his new son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. As mead is a honey beer and their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the 'honey month' – or what we know today as the 'honeymoon'.

It certainly sounds good when taken at face value.  However, I have very strong doubts that modern English was spoken in Babylon over 4000 years ago, so it was probably called something very different from "honeymoon" in Babylonian.

Frank, you are correct that beer was drank in large amounts partly because water was unsafe to drink.  Before the 20th century public water purification systems and water waste treatment plants were non-existant, and most river systems in Europe and North America were open sewers.  Even in today's Russia, one does not drink the local tap water unless it is boiled for 20 minutes.  Beer's fermentation process helped destroy the unwanted bacteria and parasites present in untreated water, and it helped make the day go by a bit quicker, I imagine. 

[PiperGirl]

Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold and the yeast wouldn't grow; too hot and the yeast would die. This ancient practice is where we get the phrase 'rule of thumb'.

I have heard a different explination for "rule of thumb..." From a college history class:

This has been said to derive from the belief that English law allowed a man to beat his wife with a stick so long as it is was no thicker than his thumb. In 1782 Judge Sir Francis Buller is reported as having made this legal ruling. The following year James Gillray published a satirical cartoon attacking Buller and caricaturing him as 'Judge Thumb'. The cartoon shows Buller carrying two bundles of sticks and the caption reads "thumbsticks - for family correction: warranted lawful!"

[Fabo]

Hmm.... I would love to have a nice half-litre by now...

And yes, beer does cost less than coke around here. In many pubs, rated on litre, beer is the cheapest drink around.
Not three times though. I would say, half to one third cheaper.

[Baradium]

Hmm.... I would love to have a nice half-litre by now...

And yes, beer does cost less than coke around here. In many pubs, rated on litre, beer is the cheapest drink around.
Not three times though. I would say, half to one third cheaper.

One third cheaper than coke... means coke is 3 times as much...   

[gibbo_335]

  Hey there's no Aussie beer trivia in there   

OK then so's here's my favorite bit of beer trivia from over-under here 

In the mid 70's, Australians were the 3rd biggest beer drinkers in the world just behind Germany and Belgium.
BUT in the late 1990's, we fell off the top ten list  !

BUT  we are working on regaining our 3rd spot ranking.... later I'm off to the fridge 

[Fabo]

Hmm.... I would love to have a nice half-litre by now...

And yes, beer does cost less than coke around here. In many pubs, rated on litre, beer is the cheapest drink around.
Not three times though. I would say, half to one third cheaper.

One third cheaper than coke... means coke is 3 times as much...   

  Seems like Europeans think different, 1/3 chepaer means chepar by 1/3, means beer costs 2/3 of coke price... not three times cheaper?

[Rooster Cruiser]

Hmm.... I would love to have a nice half-litre by now...

And yes, beer does cost less than coke around here. In many pubs, rated on litre, beer is the cheapest drink around.
Not three times though. I would say, half to one third cheaper.

One third cheaper than coke... means coke is 3 times as much...   

  Seems like Europeans think different, 1/3 chepaer means chepar by 1/3, means beer costs 2/3 of coke price... not three times cheaper?

It still won't inspire me to drink coke unless it is spiked with Rum.  Cuba Libre, anyone?   

[G-man]

It still won't inspire me to drink coke unless it is spiked with Rum.  Cuba Libre, anyone?   

What about a "Vodka & Coke"?? Its called a "Gorby", after Gorbachev drank one during the peice talks in Reykyjavik on October 11, 1986.. I drink them ALL the time... In recognition opf the talks..even though they did break down last minute. I was actually there in 86, although did not attend..

Of course--I think the talks broke down not because of important missile talks, but because Gorbachev was upset over his "movies" not being shown in the US and all Reagans movies flooing the Soviet market... Here is an excerpt from the talks...

"Secretary General Gorbachev: We are for parity in general. In the information field, for example, or in film. Almost half of the movies showing in our theaters are American. Soviet movies are hardly ever shown in the United States. That is not parity.

President Reagan: We do not have any ban on your movies. The film industry is a free business, and if someone wants to show your films he can do it.

Secretary General Gorbachev: I see that the President avoids this question and goes into talk about business.

President Reagan: Our government cannot control the film market. If you want to inundate us with your movies go right ahead. How our movies get to your country, I do not know.

Secretary General Gorbachev: It is an interesting situation, simply a paradox. In your country, the most democratic country, obstacles arise to showing our movies, while in our country, a totalitarian country, almost half the movies being shown are American. How can you reconcile this, that the Soviet Union is an undemocratic country but your films are being shown? "

Sounds like two kids fighting to me..

Enough of the history lesson--Martooni time..

[airtac]

How about Vodka and hot chocolate ---Ran out of Brandy one time and found I like Vodka in my hot cocoa---me? an alcoholic

[G-man]

How about Vodka and hot chocolate ---Ran out of Brandy one time and found I like Vodka in my hot cocoa---me? an alcoholic

Too funny.. 

What is even scarier--is that I have done the same thing...