BEER TIDBITS
BY MARK FRISBEE
You know that guy who is always sitting a few stools down from you at the bar? He has had one too many and his inhibitions are no longer in check. But instead of "Beer Muscles" or "Beer Goggles," he has "Beer Cranium" and along with that inevitably comes, "Diarrhea of the Mouth." DM as it is otherwise known, is non-stop rambling about useless things and the belief that everything you say should have been carried down from on high by Moses himself and chiseled onto stone tablets.
So next time you run into the dude with "Beer Cranium," here are a few interesting but totally useless tidbits of information that you can use to combat his diarrhea of the mouth.
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• It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month," or what we know today as the "honeymoon."
• According to a diary entry from a passenger on the Mayflower, the pilgrims made their landing at Plymouth Rock, rather than continue to their destination in Virginia, due to lack of beer.
• A barrel contains 31 gallons of beer. What Americans commonly refer to as a keg is actually 15.5 gallons, or a half-barrel.
• The first beer cans were produced in 1935.
• Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger 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 thumb in the beer is where "rule of thumb" comes from.
• In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's".
• After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brew they called aul, or ale, the Vikings would head fearlessly into battle, often without armor or even shirts. In fact, "berserk" means "bare shirt" in Norse, and eventually took on the meaning of their wild battles.
• 12 oz of a typical American pale lager actually has fewer calories than 2 percent milk or apple juice.
• There are 6,999 drops of beer in a standard 12 ounce bottle, according to the Canadian Ace Brewing Company.
• In Ames, Iowa, it is illegal to take more than three gulps of beer while lying in bed with your spouse.
• In the state of Texas, it is illegal to take more than three sips of beer at a time while standing.
• The Guinness Book of World Records was originally published by the brewers of the same name as a way to settle arguments in pubs.
• In Fairbanks, Alaska, it is illegal to give a beer to a moose.
• It was customary in the 13th century to baptize children with beer.
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