Virtual Biergarten

[piqaboo]

I might be able to pursuade a director to perform and give an alto the solo in the Alto Rhapsody.
Wouldnt be my solo tho. I dont sing in a "solo-ish" way. Maybe Owlice can come and be a ringer for us!

[Shapley]

My hero!

http://cansmartbeercans.com/take_a_tour.html

Haggis, I tried to find a "House of Whisky", but came up blank. Sorry.

V/R
Shapley

<small>[ 04-11-2006, 05:06 PM: Message edited by: Shapley ]</small>

[Shapley]

Paranormal Pub Encounter Freaks Cops Out

I guess they could’ve offered to buy the ghostly gal a stiff drink…

Cops in northern England were scared silly after an eerie encounter with a boozy boogie-lady at a bar.

The detectives were responding to a call about a possible burglary at the Low Valley Arms pub in South Yorkshire, but all they found was a spooked landlord convinced he’d seen a ghost, the Associated Press reports.

The landlord went on to say he’d encountered the white gown-wearing spirit in the ladies’ room, and that she seemed to have misplaced her face.

"I heard the alarm go off for a second time, went into the pub and all the television screens had turned on," the landlord said.

"I went to check the rest of the pub and standing in the women's lavatories was a woman with half her face missing. I was petrified."

Though they didn’t catch a glimpse of the ghastly ghoul themselves, the officers did find a bunch of potties flushing on their own, according to Inspector John Bowler of the South Yorkshire Police. After finding no sign of forced entry, the frightened crew high-tailed it out of the paranormal pub.

But news of the haunt has made the place the talk of the town, even attracting a national TV crew hell-bent on capturing the specter on film, should she appear again.

As for the landlord, he’s sticking to his story but says he and his wife don’t intend to leave.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193242,00.html

http://nwapp.emirates.net.ae/channel/albahhar/english/news/article.jsp?newsid=484426&sourceid=6&channelname=Off-Beat%20News

[DavidS]

If you add an ice cube to a glass of beer, what drops more - the temperature, or the alcohol content?

[Shapley]

If you add an ice cube to a glass of beer, what drops more - the temperature, or the alcohol content?

Interesting question. I'll let you know after some experimentation.
My base instinct tells me the percentage of alcohol will drop more, which is why we don't usually add ice cubes to beer. American beer is watery enough.

V/R
Shapley

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

If you add an ice cube to a glass of beer, what drops more - the temperature, or the alcohol content?

I'm going to approach this using logic and conjecture - to do an experiment I'd have to go buy beer (and I don't like beer) and then ruin it (as if it were possible to ruin something that's already nasty.) ((I take that back. Beer makes good soup.))

You haven't specified enough variables. The freezing/melting point of ice is 32/0 degrees F/C but ice can get quite a lot colder. Let's postulate industrial freezer grade ice, about
-60/-51 deg. Drop this into a beer and the ice cubes will grow, as water from the beer will freeze onto the ice. Wait until the ice cubes stop growing, fish out the cubes and throw them into the sink to melt, and remaining in your beer mug will be very very cold beer with the same alcohol content that you started with. Alcohol percentage (proof) will have risen somewhat, because of the water loss.

Other solutions will vary from this extreme to somewhere else that will have to be determined by experimentation; but temperature of the ice, temperature of the beer, amount of beer, and amount of ice will probably all figure in the necessary variables. Initial alcohol percentage might also be a necessary piece of information.

I think this problem deserves serious attention, we need experimental subjects and probably some equipment and record keepers, too. Graphs. Scholarly dissertations. And a bartender twisted enough to allow ice cubes in the beer.

Good luck on that last requirement.

[Trumpetmaster]

If you add an ice cube to a glass of beer, what drops more - the temperature, or the alcohol content?

When I played with the Colorado Philharmonic... the conductor had a party for the Orchestra.....

Don't know how he did this but he had "Beer Cubes" so you would not
dilute your drink....

I thought alchohol did not freeze..... hicup.. burp... excuse me.......

[Shapley]

T/M

Alcohol freezes, but at a much lower temperature than water.

V/R
Shapley

[Trumpetmaster]

T/M

Alcohol freezes, but at a much lower temperature than water.

V/R
Shapley

Then he must of had a freezer to do that as we sat and drank beer in the hot weather.

I remember him going around with these beer cubes telling everyone
you can't have warm beer....

I know they don't drink cold beer in England.....

Regards,
TM

[Shapley]

I seem to recall that the alcohol tends to evaporate out as it cools, but I might be mistaken. If that's the case, then the alcohol content of the cubes would be lower than it would be for pure beer. But it would still be better for beer than cubes made of water.

I believe the reason for using Mercury in thermometers, instead of alcohol, is that Mercury freezes at a much lower temperature. Alcohol will freeze somewhere around 0 to -5 degrees Farenheit, if I recall correctly, making an alcohol thermometer unusable in the coldest regions. I'm not sure if that is the basis for the 'zero' reading on the Farenheit scale, but it would be easy to look up.

A freezer that will chill to temperatures below zero degrees Farenheit would not be that difficult to find. I believe many household chest-freezers will do the job.

I've heard of 'beer cubes' before, but I've not seen them used.

V/R
Shapley

[Trumpetmaster]

I seem to recall that the alcohol tends to evaporate out as it cools, but I might be mistaken. If that's the case, then the alcohol content of the cubes would be lower than it would be for pure beer. But it would still be better for beer than cubes made of water.

I believe the reason for using Mercury in thermometers, instead of alcohol, is that Mercury freezes at a much lower temperature. Alcohol will freeze somewhere around 0 to -5 degrees Farenheit, if I recall correctly, making an alcohol thermometer unusable in the coldest regions. I'm not sure if that is the basis for the 'zero' reading on the Farenheit scale, but it would be easy to look up.

A freezer that will chill to temperatures below zero degrees Farenheit would not be that difficult to find. I believe many household chest-freezers will do the job.

I've heard of 'beer cubes' before, but I've not seen them used.

V/R
Shapley

Beer Cubes work! Did not dilute the taste!!!!

[DavidS]

T/M

Alcohol freezes, but at a much lower temperature than water.

V/R
Shapley

Correct. I put a bottle of vodka in the freezer, and it stayed liquid.

Then he must of had a freezer to do that as we sat and drank beer in the hot weather.

I remember him going around with these beer cubes telling everyone
you can't have warm beer....

I know they don't drink cold beer in England.....

Regards,
TM

Yes, the British reckon the Americans "freeze the taste out of it".
In the case of American beer, there wasn't much taste there in the first place.
My question arose in the course of a devilish dry Sahara heatwave (a "Hamsin"), when I was trying to cool my already refrigerated 8% alky content Russian lager even more.
I was wondering whether anyone might have had a bit of mathematical fun and come up with an empirical formula on this issue.

[Shapley]

In the case of American beer, there wasn't much taste there in the first place.

In Australia, I had one gentleman in the bar tell me that the best thing you could do with American beer was to 'pour it back into the horse'.

V/R
Shapley

[Shapley]

I think there are far too many variables not yet provided, although some of the mathematically inclined here may take a stab at it. The size of the glass, the size of the cube, the temperature of the beer in the glass, the temperature of the ice cube, and the initial alcohol content of the beer would all affect the formula.

My experience tells me that one ice cube would not produce much of a temperature change to a glass of beer at ambient temperature, but the reduction in alcohol percentage and, more importantly, the reduction in taste, would be enough to necessitate putting it aside and ordering a fresh beer.

Better to order a chilled mug and pour the undiluted beer into it.

V/R
Shapley

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I've found a reference site, for those interested in more "ethanol" lore:

http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/ETHANOL/ethanol.html

Useful info relating to this discussion:

Ethanol melts at –114.1°C, boils at 78.5°C, and has a density of 0.789 g/mL at 20°C. Its low freezing point has made it useful as the fluid in thermometers for temperatures below –40°C.

American beer (which I've heard referred to as "love in a small boat beer") is sufficiently dilute to freeze nicely. I don't know about Russian or Aussie beer. Beer cubes should be easy to achieve in any home freezer. I know chest freezers are generally factory preset at 0°F, which is the usual target temp for keeping frozen food solidly frozen. I also know folk who store their beer mugs/glasses in the freezer, which is probably a lot easier than making beer cubes and then keeping them separate from the chicken stock cubes and the baby food cubes and all the other cubes.

[Shapley]

Selma,

I guess getting your baby food cubes and your beer cubes mixed up could be a major problem. Who would want baby food in their beer?

V/R
Shapley

[piqaboo]

That's why you freeze beer in cubes and baby food in plops.

[Jeff Dutton]

Interesting thread - though I've only read the first and last pages.

I've been a homebrewer for about 3 years now. I've made quite a few different kinds of beer and have a few favorites:

English Pale Ale - Not as bitter as an IPA, but with English hops. Kind of like Sam Adams, but this is an ale, not a lager.
Porter - Full bodied and full flavored - not as dark or roasty as a stout
Scottish Ale - a medium, malty beer.
Strong Scotch Ale (Wee Heavy) - Very strong and dark - 8-9% alcohol by volume (abv).
Belgian Tripel - Very strong, but light colored and kind of fruity - 8-9% abv.

I've built a keg system and currently have 3 beers and some hard cider on tap.

Any other homebrewers out there?

Jeff

[Shapley]

If God had meant for us to brew our own beer, he wouldn't have created taverns.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Yes, the drumstick guy. He's guesting on Emeril tonight (so of course Emeril is making six kinds of drumsticks - chicken and turkey, both) and he played with the band to open the show. Brought his own set of tympani. Turns out he makes peppermills, now, as well as every kind of percussion stick ever imagined.

I decided that this item belonged in the Biergarten, on account of the tequila-lime drumsticks, and the Turbo Dog beer for the turkeyleg posole.

If I'm unusually lucky they'll all get just a tad tipsy and all play on the pots and pans to end the show.