<div dir="ltr"><div>I am relieved to know that I am not the only one who has found the pale Ales and IPAs to less than palatable. Mostly found oatmeal stouts be among my favorites. Are there any good dark recommendations people have? Running on low in my beer drawer. <br><br></div>Jonathan<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Mar 24, 2018 at 7:45 PM, Putnam, James M. via Ale <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ale@ale.org" target="_blank">ale@ale.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><br>
In 1986 I was in the Vancouver for the World's Fair (hey, I just noticed<br>
that Outlook Web App Lite(tm) recognizes Emacs key bindings... I wonder<br>
how the hell that happened?) when I noticed what seemed to be a<br>
relatively sober young Canadian gent take a long guzzle out of a paper bag<br>
and become visibly intoxicated in what would have been record time for me.<br>
<br>
He tossed the bag at a trash can, predictably missed, and unsteadily wandered<br>
off, presumably in search of more of whatever it was.<br>
<br>
Being curious and a little thirsty, I retrieved the bag and had a look. Inside<br>
was an empty generic beer can labeled "Carling-O'Keefe Extra Old Stock"<br>
marked at 6% ABV, which while high wasn't a record breaker of any kind.<br>
<br>
An older man standing nearby said "A word of advice, young man. That stuff is<br>
called High Test and I wouldn't touch it if I were you."<br>
<br>
I thanked him for the warning and seduced by the romance of being at least<br>
momentarily unchaperoned in a foreign country headed straight for the nearest<br>
package store where I asked for and was given a can of High Test.<br>
<br>
The woman behind the counter blanched, which was kind of a good trick for a<br>
Canadian, but she handed it over in a paper bag without comment.<br>
<br>
I stepped outside, popped it open and tried a swallow. It was cold and went down<br>
OK at first, but when it warmed up the nose hit me and I almost gagged. It smelled<br>
and tasted like somebody had carbonated a can of creamed corn and added a<br>
shot of pure grain alcohol. The aftertaste was cloyingly sweet, and for the<br>
the first and only time in my life I threw away a can of beer without finishing it.<br>
<br>
This frankly kind of killed the appeal of the famed Canadian beers for me, and<br>
when I tried a Molson later that day I had a similar reaction, but managed to<br>
choke it down.<br>
<br>
I gather High Test is no longer made, and I learned a valuable lesson that<br>
day in which street advice about foreign libations probably ought to be paid attention<br>
to.<br>
<span class=""><br>
--<br>
James M. Putnam<br>
Visiting Professor of Computer Science<br>
<br>
The air was soft, the stars so fine,<br>
the promise of every cobbled alley so great,<br>
that I thought I was in a dream.<br>
______________________________<wbr>__________<br>
</span>From: Ale [<a href="mailto:ale-bounces@ale.org">ale-bounces@ale.org</a>] on behalf of Steve Litt via Ale [<a href="mailto:ale@ale.org">ale@ale.org</a>]<br>
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2018 2:09 PM<br>
To: <a href="mailto:ale@ale.org">ale@ale.org</a><br>
<span class="im HOEnZb">Subject: Re: [ale] Way-the-hell-and-gone off topic<br>
<br>
</span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5">On Fri, 23 Mar 2018 20:42:03 +0000<br>
"Putnam, James M. via Ale" <<a href="mailto:ale@ale.org">ale@ale.org</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
> May be a little West Coast, but Ranier Ale, aka Green Death. Equal<br>
> parts cheap, strong, vile, and slightly caustic.<br>
><br>
> Came in a cute green barrel-shaped bottle with a wide mouth. A<br>
> couple would reduce you to a sort of stomach-churning nauseous haze.<br>
> Too many more than that induced a hangover epic for duration and<br>
> depth.<br>
<br>
Yeah, in Venice CA Green Death was the main competitor of my favorite,<br>
King Cobra. I had a buddy who drank too much green death over too many<br>
years and it killed him.<br>
<br>
<br>
SteveT<br>
<br>
Steve Litt<br>
April 2018 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques<br>
of the Successful Technologist<br>
<a href="http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.troubleshooters.<wbr>com/techniques</a><br>
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