8
votes
How to open a beer without a bottle opener?
Almost anything can be used to open a bottle of beer. What we used as university students: spoon (fork, knife), key, table, park bank, fence, another bottle of beer.
My preferred way (when there's no ...
- 1,042
7
votes
Why do steins have lids?
The steins with their lids seem to have come about as a result of the
bubonic plague to serve as sanitary measure and thus keep flies and other insects (fleas) out of the beer.
From about 1340 ...
- 10.8k
7
votes
Ice cubes in rum
When it comes to what is socially accepted in the US, ice is mostly reserved for the harsher stuff like bourbon and scotch. The ice serves a purpose of diluting the liquor, thus making it smoother on ...
- 186
6
votes
When does the pour matter?
This is very broad so I will stick to wine in my answer. There are many considerations for pouring, you have the aesthetic aspects and presentation, and you have the mechanical aspects which can ...
- 523
6
votes
Accepted
Red wine service
As a safe bet, dry still red wines should be served between 18-20°C
Of course exceptions apply...
Opening time prior to service depends on the vintage, older wines (4+ years) need to breathe longer ...
- 130
6
votes
What kind of alcoholic beverages would've been common in a 1950s-1960s USA home?
What kind of alcoholic beverages would've been common in a 1950s-1960s USA home?
As far as beer goes in 1950, the top brewer was Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co., produced 3.4 million more barrels than the ...
- 10.8k
5
votes
Accepted
Can I re-use a spirits measure cup for different spirits?
A purist would say always rinse.
A normal person would say don't worry about it.
A pragmatist would say measure the vodka before the gin and no one will be able to tell the difference.
- 255
5
votes
Accepted
Is chilling champagne in the freezer detrimental to its taste?
English is not my native language and I am not sure of the meaning of the word freezer. I believe it is the part of the fridge that goes under 0°C.
In France, according to my habits, the champagne ...
- 321
4
votes
Accepted
Why does/should my bartender let the ice cube sit before pouring?
I don't have an answer based on prior knowledge, but based on the info in your question about preventing cracking, it makes sense that it would also prevent ice melt.
Each crack increases the surface ...
- 255
4
votes
Is chilling champagne in the freezer detrimental to its taste?
I don't know if it somehow hurts the carbonation in a freezer, but I do believe that chilling in a bucket of water and ice is faster than chilling in the freezer. Heat transfer to air is much slower ...
- 1,237
4
votes
Accepted
Why is some beer kept in/served from a firkin in a bar?
Yes the same beer from a cask and a keg will be VERY different.
To your first point, breweries and bars will often have specially treated casks in ways that are impossible to do with kegs. Stuff ...
- 3,407
4
votes
Accepted
Why are some beers warm and some cold?
Why is it that some beers are served Cold and why are some served Warm?
At what temperature should a beer be served can be answered by the following statement:
Most beers have an ideal serving ...
- 10.8k
4
votes
Why are some beers warm and some cold?
I don't think anyone would deliberately or professionally serve warm beer, if by warm you mean something close to body temperature. Generally speaking, cask ale (as opposed to pressurised keg beer) is ...
- 141
4
votes
When does the pour matter?
Guinness' perfect-pour is actually a marketing scheme that gives them an exclusivity factor. They have training courses and will invite patrons that visit Guinness to become masters of The Perfect ...
- 2,364
4
votes
Accepted
The King's Shilling
The origins of the King's Shilling seems to have appeared about the time of the War of 1812, because of the need for recruitment was so necessary due to the fact that the English were already at war ...
- 10.8k
3
votes
Why is it important to have foam on a beer?
One of the most important tasks of the foam is to protect the beer against oxidation. This is why some beer glasses have a rough patch at the bottom so the bubbles will have place to "sprout" from. In ...
- 71
3
votes
How to open a beer without a bottle opener?
The most common method that I have seen and used is "ye ol' lighter trick." With which, one uses the butt of an igniting lighter as a lever and one's own finger as the fulcrum. Technique is important ...
- 1,690
3
votes
What does the absinthe ritual do?
What does the absinthe ritual do?
It is a tradition and it makes the absinthe go cloudy!
It is simply the traditional way of drinking absinthe.
Absinthe is a distilled highly alcoholic drink. It ...
- 10.8k
3
votes
Ice cubes in rum
Ice in any spirit is always about personal preference. Adding ice does two things to any spirit, regardless of category:
It lowers the temperature, slowing down evaporation of the ethanol, making the ...
- 316
3
votes
Ice cubes in rum
I find rum good when it is served neat, but then I am far from a connoisseur on the subject of rum. It really is an amazing drink because it’s made in so many different places and in so many different ...
- 10.8k
2
votes
How to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew?
DO NOT risk the alcohol! Push cork slowly into bottle. Use a nail or something metal not a stick. A stick risks the alcohol!
- 21
2
votes
How to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew?
A technique that is rarely thought of is to simply push the cork slowly down into the bottle (like with the end of a fork or with a stick,) instead of attempting to pull the cork out of the bottle. (...
- 1,690
2
votes
Why is it important to have foam on a beer?
Here in the Netherlands, we mostly drink poured beer with like 1/4 of the glass filled with foam and we think the beer is not as good anymore when there is no foam in it as the carbonation is gone. ...
- 48
2
votes
The King's Shilling
When you joined the army the final part of recruitment was to be paid a shilling. When the recruiters came to a village they would go to the local bar to try to persuade young men to join. One way ...
- 564
2
votes
Accepted
Tap it or Pump it!
Collating Darwin and jalynn's answers and some experience running a real ale bar:
In the UK, real ales will always be served from a hand pump, as per the definition from CAMRA:
Real ale is a beer ...
- 1,872
2
votes
Red wine service
An excellent practice is also read the wine back label. In some cases there is information about the "serving temprature" and also this maybe can be found on the winnery webpage. Some wineries web ...
- 21
2
votes
The King's Shilling
I have a pewter tankard exactly the same as the one pictured.
It has engraving on it which says: “Mike
Congratulations for 3-6-65 21st Birthday from Reg” It was a gift to my father from his best buddy ...
- 21
2
votes
How to batch a cocktail with a muddled ingredient?
How to batch a cocktail with a muddled ingredient?
For your Gin Basil Smashes, try using a Basil Simple Syrup, but in order to use less less syrup in your mix triple the amount of basil leaves you use ...
- 10.8k
2
votes
How to batch a cocktail with a muddled ingredient?
If you are batching for a single event and all of your batch is to be used all at once, there is no reason why you can't just blitz blanched basil syrup into your gin and lemon mix and then ...
- 56
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