# Without Beer, People are Going to Find Out



## D_W (18 Nov 2022)

That soccer is really boring. 

At least if you're sober enough to be able to realize it!









Qatar bans sale of beer at World Cup stadiums in about-face


DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qatar banned the sale of beer at World Cup stadiums on Friday, a sudden U-turn on the deal the conservative Muslim emirate made to secure the soccer tournament with only two days to go before the opening game.




apnews.com





>>FIFA said non-alcoholic beer will still be sold at the eight stadiums<<

ouch!

At the same time, it was going to be budweiser only and $14 a beer. I just can't even fathom that. 

I remember playing soccer as a kid, and then watching it on TV for the first time, I couldn't make it through 10 minutes. Five or eight pints, and I think I could probably make it through one game.


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## John Brown (19 Nov 2022)

D_W said:


> That soccer is really boring.
> 
> At least if you're sober enough to be able to realize it!
> 
> ...


Now you're definitely being provocative. I mean I find soccer boring, but then again, I find most sport boring. However, American football? WTF is that all about? Is it true that it's only called football because it's played on foot, rather than on horseback?


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## Blackswanwood (19 Nov 2022)

I think it’s an act of mercy not inflicting Budweiser on FOOTBALL fans …. to coin an advertising slogan if Carlsberg made urine they’d call it Budweiser


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## D_W (19 Nov 2022)

John Brown said:


> Now you're definitely being provocative. I mean I find soccer boring, but then again, I find most sport boring. However, American football? WTF is that all about? Is it true that it's only called football because it's played on foot, rather than on horseback?


I held back making a comment on american football, which is a sport itself that i like, but again, the broadcast product is nothing but commercials. 

I actually thought about saying "I haven't sat through a whole football game in a long time, either, and really can't remember any where I stopped paying attention at commercials, and then the next time I remembered I was still watching a game, I looked up and it was on commercial again". 

Sports have been so chopped up to maximize TV revenue, or in europe, just to try to get bets from people who don't have a brain and understand how gambling works (if you bet even odds over and over and the house keeps a share, you'll lose)


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## D_W (19 Nov 2022)

Blackswanwood said:


> I think it’s an act of mercy not inflicting Budweiser on FOOTBALL fans …. to coin an advertising slogan if Carlsberg made urine they’d call it Budweiser



Can't disagree - when I first saw the headline, I thought, "this will be like the time I went to see cover bands sober in college and realized they weren't very good - having seen them dozens of times thinking they were great prior". 

And then, I saw "inbev has excusive rights", and thought "well, it's not like they were serving actual beer before, anyway". 

The $14 part is .....jeez, is it being served in a penthouse in tokyo? I wouldn't give a dollar a bottle for it here. 

They jacked up the price of beer at baseball games to something like $10 here, but at least last time I was at a game this year, the cans were 24 oz. Admittedly, some other watery concoction like budweiser made to try to give people who don't like the taste of beer something that they'll be able to tolerate. Miller or something. 

It is extraordinarily rare that I don't drink a "real" beer. I've had budweiser once, coors light - couldn't make it through one beer, and I had miller lite once (tasted like seltzer). 

I'd rather be sober at a wedding than drink any of the above.


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## D_W (19 Nov 2022)

I guess we could say at least that the american and English government workers who travel to the games for fun will be less likely to spill secrets to chinese and russian coverts who pretend to be westerners.


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## Orraloon (19 Nov 2022)

They are doing the fans a great service by not serving up budweiser. Who picked up the brown envelope when bud got sole rights to serve beer at the event.
Regards
John


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2022)

It'll be interesting to see if any of the morons attempt to get the ubiquitous cocaine into Qatar, and how much (of our) government support the drunks will expect when arrested.


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## Blackswanwood (19 Nov 2022)

I guess misbehaving after getting drunk at the World Cup may demonstrate an alternative use of the term “being lashed” …

Putting aside that it should be being held at a more suitable venue I’m looking forward to the World Cup.


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## daftdog (19 Nov 2022)

Balls wrong shape anyhow


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## selectortone (19 Nov 2022)

American football - motorcycle helmets, knickerbockers and Joan Collins shoulder pads, each play lasts 10 seconds, then they all fall down, get up again and pat each other on the buttocks.


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2022)

daftdog said:


> Balls wrong shape anyhow


A glut of the right shaped ball on Amazon Prime all afternoon.


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## Doug B (19 Nov 2022)

D_W said:


> I guess we could say at least that the american and English government workers who travel to the games for fun will be less likely to spill secrets to chinese and russian coverts who pretend to be westerners.


I’m sure the government officials who go to the games will be in the private boxes at the grounds which are allowed to serve alcohol, just shows the hypocrisy of this last minute decision which should have been sorted before the event was awarded but why let decisions like that get in the way of corruption


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2022)

It wouldn't have gone down very to have said no alcohol at the very beginning, would it? Qatar wouldn't have got the W.C. in the first place.


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## guineafowl21 (19 Nov 2022)

Orraloon said:


> They are doing the fans a great service by not serving up budweiser. Who picked up the brown envelope when bud got sole rights to serve beer at the event.
> Regards
> John


Bud - “our beer tastes of nothing, so you won’t hate the taste.”


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## Doug B (19 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> It wouldn't have gone down very to have said no alcohol at the very beginning, would it? Qatar wouldn't have got the W.C. in the first place.


It wouldn’t surprise me if it had always been the plan, just leave it till it’s too late to do anything about it. I also very much doubt Budweiser would have invested $75 million if they’d been told that at the start


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## Thingybob (19 Nov 2022)

D_W said:


> Can't disagree - when I first saw the headline, I thought, "this will be like the time I went to see cover bands sober in college and realized they weren't very good - having seen them dozens of times thinking they were great prior".
> 
> And then, I saw "inbev has excusive rights", and thought "well, it's not like they were serving actual beer before, anyway".
> 
> ...


Well Boris if you had thought of admitimng to drinking any of the above "beers" you would still be in power and we would not of had Truss Fuss


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2022)

guineafowl21 said:


> Bud - “our beer tastes of nothing, so you won’t hate the taste.”


The Czech Budweiser is an excellent beer, it's the American stuff that's dire.


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## Distinterior (19 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> The Czech Budweiser is an excellent beer, it's the American stuff that's dire.


Is that the " Budvar" variant...?


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2022)

Yes, Budvar - where it came from originally. The name was disputed for years but the Czech brewery was bought out by Anheuser Busch (afaik), primarily for the name. There is no comparison between the beers.


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## Spectric (19 Nov 2022)

I think that like so many things like football it all went wrong when it converted from being a sport played for enjoyment to nothing more than a business to make money where the players are just porns in a bigger game. 

Why has there not been a windfall tax on the excessive wages given to people just for kicking a ball, we should reward true skills like that of a surgeon and not ball kickers.


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## Distinterior (19 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> Yes, Budvar - where it came from originally. The name was disputed for years but the Czech brewery was bought out by Anheuser Busch (afaik), primarily for the name. There is no comparison between the beers.


Agreed..!


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## D_W (19 Nov 2022)

Spectric said:


> I think that like so many things like football it all went wrong when it converted from being a sport played for enjoyment to nothing more than a business to make money where the players are just porns in a bigger game.
> 
> Why has there not been a windfall tax on the excessive wages given to people just for kicking a ball, we should reward true skills like that of a surgeon and not ball kickers.



may not have been clear from my first or later post, but I actually liked it playing. The game is a fun one to play until you get too competitive adults with day jobs in it and people end up with ACL injuries and stuff. But as a kid, fantastic. On TV, it's the shites.

Football here somehow has more appeal to me on TV, but it's not like I can find the actual game between the commercials, so whatever appeal it would have is lost. The fact that american football literally leads to more than 99% of the players having serious long term brain injuries is kind of a buzz kill, too.


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## D_W (19 Nov 2022)

I'm not going to watch any of the soccer - fortunately. But because I am talking about this, google's cookie sniffers just know that I want to see the stories. I see today that the FIFA guy is chiding people who would criticize anything about Qatar. 

Again, knowing little about soccer, all I can remember is some controversy because FIFA had real serious honesty problems a few years ago. 

I'm guessing if you head it up, you have to be pretty good at kayfabe. Like pro wrestler not breaking character good. 

"it's real, man. Real!!"


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## Jorny (19 Nov 2022)

D_W said:


> remember is some controversy because FIFA had real serious honesty problems a few years ago.


That is probably the understatement of the year!


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## sploo (19 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> Yes, Budvar - where it came from originally. The name was disputed for years but the Czech brewery was bought out by Anheuser Busch (afaik), primarily for the name. There is no comparison between the beers.


Got some Czech friends; it's a bit of a sore point with them. Especially considering just how good Czech beers are.


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## D_W (19 Nov 2022)

Jorny said:


> That is probably the understatement of the year!


My recollection isn't great given that I don't watch soccer, and sometimes I get FIDE and FIFA confused. 

I vaguely recall the FIFA stink being pretty big. 

The NCAA in the US also falls into that. Harvesting money off of underprivileged athletes for decades and telling them they cannot make any money or accept any gifts, pretending that they're were virtuous. Would love to see them gone.


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## D_W (19 Nov 2022)

sploo said:


> Got some Czech friends; it's a bit of a sore point with them. Especially considering just how good Czech beers are.



My neighbor (laborer) drinks bud ice or whatever mountain graphic swill they make with the highest alcohol content, but most people here who aren't just drinking without thinking understand what bud actually is. It's a foreign owned company that does whatever they can to manipulate distribution and placement in stores to try to squeeze out actual good beers.

Seemingly, there isn't any new brewer too small to be manipulated (or the retailers) by them.

Not sure if I said it earlier, but the one that I drank once in florida left me with the thought "I can see why people who don't like beer would like to drink this." You almost taste it and it goes away - none of the snap or pleasant bitterness of a good beer is there. Just empty nothing. It's the muzak of beer, more or less.


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## Blackswanwood (19 Nov 2022)

Spectric said:


> I think that like so many things like football it all went wrong when it converted from being a sport played for enjoyment to nothing more than a business to make money where the players are just porns in a bigger game.
> 
> Why has there not been a windfall tax on the excessive wages given to people just for kicking a ball, we should reward true skills like that of a surgeon and not ball kickers.


I agree that the money involved is eye watering but it has never stopped being a sport.


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2022)

Coors is just as bad.


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## D_W (19 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> Coors is just as bad.



I'd bet it is - the last coors that I drank was in 1999 because it was $1 draft specials when I was working an internship. I paid full price after that.


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## TRITON (19 Nov 2022)

Estrella Damm is currently where it's at.


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## Jameshow (19 Nov 2022)

John Brown said:


> Now you're definitely being provocative. I mean I find soccer boring, but then again, I find most sport boring. However, American football? WTF is that all about? Is it true that it's only called football because it's played on foot, rather than on horseback?


Or formula 1!!!


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## Thingybob (19 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> Yes, Budvar - where it came from originally. The name was disputed for years but the Czech brewery was bought out by Anheuser Busch (afaik), primarily for the name. There is no comparison between the beers.


Always drank it in Weatherspoons large bottle


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## Ollie78 (19 Nov 2022)

John Brown said:


> Now you're definitely being provocative. I mean I find soccer boring, but then again, I find most sport boring. However, American football? WTF is that all about? Is it true that it's only called football because it's played on foot, rather than on horseback?


American football is called football because the ball is a foot long.


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## Daniel2 (19 Nov 2022)

Spectric said:


> I think that like so many things like football it all went wrong when it converted from being a sport played for enjoyment to nothing more than a business to make money where the players are just* porns* in a bigger game.
> 
> Why has there not been a windfall tax on the excessive wages given to people just for kicking a ball, we should reward true skills like that of a surgeon and not ball kickers.



Was that a deliberate typo ?


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## johna.clements (19 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> The Czech Budweiser is an excellent beer, it's the American stuff that's dire.


Yes the real Budweiser from the the Czech republic is good. The US stuff is rubbish.


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## johna.clements (19 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> Yes, Budvar - where it came from originally. The name was disputed for years but the Czech brewery was bought out by Anheuser Busch (afaik), primarily for the name. There is no comparison between the beers.


They claim they are independent









Homepage - Czechvar







budweiserbudvar.com


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## johna.clements (19 Nov 2022)

Daniel2 said:


> Was that a deliberate typo ?


They made a documentary in Dallas .


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## Spectric (19 Nov 2022)

Daniel2 said:


> Was that a deliberate typo


The good old english language, two words porn and pawn both sound the same with multiple different meanings !


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## John Brown (19 Nov 2022)

Spectric said:


> The good old english language, two words porn and pawn both sound the same with multiple different meanings !


Not in all regional dialects. In Scotland, I have heard, the words "floor" and "flaw" are not homophones. Nor are they for my wife, who is from Washington State. She, however, pronounces "Mary", "merry" and "marry" identically.
Luckily, I can usually work out the intended meaning from the context.
Fats Waller exploits the "merry" "Mary" thing in his song about Mr Christopher Columbus.


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## John Brown (19 Nov 2022)

When I was in the video game business, many moons ago, Taito(IIRC) produced an arcade/pub video game called Field Goal, which was based on American football. It was a resounding flop in the UK, and we bought a number of the PCBs for next to nothing, and wrote some code to repurpose them as RTTY (Radio Teletype) and Morse decoder/displays.
I really can't remember what sort of beer I drank at the time, but I'm 100% certain it wasn't Budweiser. Probably Fuller's London Pride.


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## D_W (19 Nov 2022)

John Brown said:


> When I was in the video game business, many moons ago, Taito(IIRC) produced an arcade/pub video game called Field Goal, which was based on American football. It was a resounding flop in the UK, and we bought a number of the PCBs for next to nothing, and wrote some code to repurpose them as RTTY (Radio Teletype) and Morse decoder/displays.
> I really can't remember what sort of beer I drank at the time, but I'm 100% certain it wasn't Budweiser. Probably Fuller's London Pride.



Can you translate what fuller's london pride is for an American?

I can't imagine that anything football would've gone over well in the UK. I know there have been a sparse few american football fans over there, but talk about trying to make market share make sense in a place where nobody would be interested!!

We did have fifa soccer...I think. Maybe not. 

Tecmo bowl was the nintendo football dominator over here and there were a couple of baseball games that did well - the original Nintendo one did OK, and then RBI baseball also did well. 

Selling football over there would be like selling Cricket here. Nobody would know what the rules are except people in academia from asia and england.


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## D_W (19 Nov 2022)

(though I wouldn't be surprised if the NFL itself paid video game distributors to try to introduce its product there. There have been more NFL games broadcast from europe and England lately than I can remember. Maybe you can make some laws about 10% advertisement time or something so that the games would actually be watchable here).


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## D_W (19 Nov 2022)

Side comment while waiting for "london pride's" description - in the US, anything that has the words "pride" or "deluxe" is not usually well named. 

Unless they mean for people who have "no pride" and who on the deluxe side of things, wouldn't know what deluxe is. Car makers started pretty early on calling the really cheap stripped models "custom" or "custom deluxe" to try to make people think they weren't entry level, or make it feel better "well sir, we really don't have an entry level. We only sell nice things - the custom deluxe is the lowest priced model we have".


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## John Brown (19 Nov 2022)

https://www.fullers.co.uk/explore-our-beers/london-pride


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## Phil Pascoe (20 Nov 2022)

Spectric said:


> The good old english language, two words porn and pawn both sound the same with multiple different meanings !


They both sound the same? Not where I live they don't. Ooh arrrr ...


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## Phil Pascoe (20 Nov 2022)

I don't find it at all odd that American football, basketball and baseball have virtually no following anywhere else in the world. I am surprised, though, that soccer and cricket have any following at all - I'd sooner stuff bees up my nose than watch either.


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## D_W (20 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> I don't find it at all odd that American football, basketball and baseball have virtually no following anywhere else in the world. I am surprised, though, that soccer and cricket have any following at all - I'd sooner stuff bees up my nose than watch either.



basketball is fun to play - makes you feel like you're doing something. baseball, also fun to play, and fun to watch in person if you played it. But I get enough of it with a game every couple of years - it's more a spectacle of unusual elite athleticism, like some guy picking a ball up near a fence and throwing it 300 feet in the air. but I think the real purpose of it is to have something to put between commercials on cable TV, too. I can't imagine that even as expensive as tickets are now, they are a large share of the total revenue. 

To watch basketball on TV for me is intolerable, same with hockey (look away Tony Z if you ever venture down here!) and maybe it's the phone thing, but baseball has gone all to cable TV local sports channels now, anyway, that I refuse to pay for. By the phone thing, I mean where I grew up, I could get three different MLB markets over the air (literal aerial) and there probably was a little less commercial time and more between inning commentary, but also, I hadn't been exposed to smart phones to make a 2 minute break an instant mental demand for something else to do. 

With cricket, the automatic reaction here is "why don't they just play baseball", and for cricket fans, probably the same about baseball players who would be better off playing cricket.


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## Blackswanwood (20 Nov 2022)

johna.clements said:


> They claim they are independent
> 
> 
> 
> ...


There were two local Czech breweries wrapped up in the dispute over the name. AB InBev own only one of them. The other was state owned and I think still is. 

Basically if it’s in a green bottle it’s proper Czech beer either called Budvar or Budweiser Budvar and okay to drink. If it’s in a brown bottle it’s the US recipe of fizzy watered down urine that in the UK is produced in Enfield, Lancashire and South Wales.


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## D_W (20 Nov 2022)

untappd (a site I've admittedly never heard of before) puts it around the same as yuengling lager here in terms of score, which is solid middle of the road.

Something like average 3.5 of 5 stars.

budweiser is 2.6.

there's a whole lot of territory to get down to that low.

Budvar is 3.3

Gives me a good idea.


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## D_W (20 Nov 2022)

following up that post, which was saved in my text box and I forgot to post earlier - come to find out, getting much above 3.5 isn't so easy. 

The bad beers are in the 2s. 

Budweiser carefully curates their "american" red label beer and such stuff, and they are just outright (my opinion on this word) predatory in distribution in the US - a nasty example - my opinion again - of practicing "we have the bigger wallet" and requesting other beers to be moved around on shelves out of the line of sight, etc. 

And they are not an american company. They're belgian owned - it looks like they long ago absorbed miller, but none of those are a threat to drain energy from my fridge.


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## MikeJhn (20 Nov 2022)

D_W said:


> but I think the real purpose of it is to have something to put between commercials on cable TV


Meant to say above, that's funny.


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## Jester129 (20 Nov 2022)

@Spectric most of the Premiership big team players apparently have their wages paid into offshore accounts so that they pay zero tax!
No wonder Ronaldo et al are so rich, eh?


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## Johnwa (20 Nov 2022)

I wouldnt think it was Budvar, if the morons drank real beer like that then the Quatari's would have some trouble on their hands!


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## PhilipL (20 Nov 2022)

Doug B said:


> It wouldn’t surprise me if it had always been the plan, just leave it till it’s too late to do anything about it. I also very much doubt Budweiser would have invested $75 million if they’d been told that at the start


They have had plenty of global PR now.


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## Doug B (20 Nov 2022)

Read this this morning by Mark Steel, made me smile








'Qatar is a tour de farce in world of football and unsuitable for a tournament' — The Mirror


There is currently no excitement or festivities surrounding the World Cup in Qatar and the country is only hosting it because it offered the most money, writes Mark Steel




apple.news


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## John Brown (20 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> I don't find it at all odd that American football, basketball and baseball have virtually no following anywhere else in the world. I am surprised, though, that soccer and cricket have any following at all - I'd sooner stuff bees up my nose than watch either.


I'd pay to watch that. With a pint or two of Mena Dhu.

Not if there were commercials, though.


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## MrBear (20 Nov 2022)

D_W said:


> I held back making a comment on american football, which is a sport itself that i like, but again, the broadcast product is nothing but commercials.
> 
> I actually thought about saying "I haven't sat through a whole football game in a long time, either, and really can't remember any where I stopped paying attention at commercials, and then the next time I remembered I was still watching a game, I looked up and it was on commercial again".
> 
> Sports have been so chopped up to maximize TV revenue, or in europe, just to try to get bets from people who don't have a brain and understand how gambling works (if you bet even odds over and over and the house keeps a share, you'll lose)


As a lapsed American Football fan, I'd like to stand up and defend the sport and it's use of commercials.

I'd like to but I just can't, well maybe I can a little. Having sat through a live game in Leeds (Leeds Cougars I think, but can't remember who against, it was back in the 80s) that the commercials would have been a blessing. It was 10 seconds of action followed by a minute or 2 of faffing around then another 10 seconds of action. It was quite frankly torturous in it's pacing. So having adverts pop up for Shackleton's high seat chairs, seeing Darth Vader stop children from running out into the street, and having Charley the cat telling us not to take sweets from strangers would have nicely broken things up between plays.

So after that I stuck to watching the coverage on Channel 4 which was great as they cut out all the boring stuff and showed us the action and then it become something not only watchable but enjoyable. However after Channel 4 lost the rights, I think it either vanished from mortal TV or it went to Channel 5, I know it ended up there at some point where it was shown at randoms times, generally when normal people were asleep so they could show live games to people who didn't have work the next day or who didn't mind having their sleep pattern messed up and then they would have a highlights show at some awkward time in the morning where they imported not only the games but also some of the tacky American style of presenting that doesn't really work over here. And so I gave up. Still I was a Raiders fan so I haven't really missed anything.


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## Kinz (20 Nov 2022)

MrBear said:


> As a lapsed American Football fan, I'd like to stand up and defend the sport and it's use of commercials.
> 
> I'd like to but I just can't, well maybe I can a little. Having sat through a live game in Leeds (Leeds Cougars I think, but can't remember who against, it was back in the 80s) that the commercials would have been a blessing. It was 10 seconds of action followed by a minute or 2 of faffing around then another 10 seconds of action. It was quite frankly torturous in it's pacing. So having adverts pop up for Shackleton's high seat chairs, seeing Darth Vader stop children from running out into the street, and having Charley the cat telling us not to take sweets from strangers would have nicely broken things up between plays.
> 
> So after that I stuck to watching the coverage on Channel 4 which was great as they cut out all the boring stuff and showed us the action and then it become something not only watchable but enjoyable. However after Channel 4 lost the rights, I think it either vanished from mortal TV or it went to Channel 5, I know it ended up there at some point where it was shown at randoms times, generally when normal people were asleep so they could show live games to people who didn't have work the next day or who didn't mind having their sleep pattern messed up and then they would have a highlights show at some awkward time in the morning where they imported not only the games but also some of the tacky American style of presenting that doesn't really work over here. And so I gave up. Still I was a Raiders fan so I haven't really missed anything.


I agree that the Channel 4 coverage was really good during the early years, as they cut out all the boring bits, explained the rules, and showed highlights of multiple games. However, as usual, some TV ‘expert’ interfered & changed the format to live games in the middle of the night & killed it for anyone even vaguely interested. I liked the SF49ers with Joe Montana ’back in the day’ but I don’t watch any sport on tv these days !


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## Blackswanwood (20 Nov 2022)

Jester129 said:


> @Spectric most of the Premiership big team players apparently have their wages paid into offshore accounts so that they pay zero tax!
> No wonder Ronaldo et al are so rich, eh?


No they don’t. They pay tax on their wages through PAYE just like any other employed person in the UK. This means it’s deducted at source before it reaches their bank account (on or offshore).

Image rights, sponsorship and licensing deals are currently subject to scrutiny by HMRC but these involve the use of service companies rather than hiding money in offshore bank accounts (which is tax evasion and illegal)


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## Thingybob (20 Nov 2022)

D_W said:


> Can you translate what fuller's london pride is for an American?
> 
> I can't imagine that anything football would've gone over well in the UK. I know there have been a sparse few american football fans over there, but talk about trying to make market share make sense in a place where nobody would be interested!!
> 
> ...


Well D W if you need London Pride explaining try some of the names of ales here Doom Bar, Jail Ale, Fraidknot,Propper Job to name just a few unless you like cider then there's Old Moot


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## nickds1 (20 Nov 2022)

Jester129 said:


> @Spectric most of the Premiership big team players apparently have their wages paid into offshore accounts so that they pay zero tax!
> No wonder Ronaldo et al are so rich, eh?


It's not that simple. You are taxed where you are resident for tax purposes... you can't just live and work in the UK and be paid for that work in another tax domain.

I've worked as a "non-resident for tax purposes" and it's a tightly controlled environment. Messing with HMRC is not a great plan

Lots of misinformation and uninformed speculation about this sort of stuff. Mind you, it's the sort of casual throwaway comment that's good for stoking unwarranted prejudice, resentment and envy.


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## Just4Fun (20 Nov 2022)

John Brown said:


> I really can't remember what sort of beer I drank at the time, but I'm 100% certain it wasn't Budweiser. Probably Fuller's London Pride.


Around 1987 I lived a few hundred yards from their brewery so it was the obvious beer to drink in the local pubs, but I soon learnt not to do that. I don't know why but just half a pint of the stuff would give me the most awful headache next morning. I haven't drunk any of it since, even though it is one of the few British beers I can easily buy here. It makes me shudder to think of it.


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## D_W (20 Nov 2022)

Thingybob said:


> Well D W if you need London Pride explaining try some of the names of ales here Doom Bar, Jail Ale, Fraidknot,Propper Job to name just a few unless you like cider then there's Old Moot


Actually, I was lucky to find that the local distributor retail shop has London pride, so I will try a case.

Thanks for the suggestions, though.


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## sploo (20 Nov 2022)

D_W said:


> I can't imagine that anything *handegg* would've gone over well in the UK.


Fixed that for you 

TBH I used to quite enjoy watching the game. Wouldn't claim to have understood that much of what was going on though.


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## sploo (20 Nov 2022)

But back on topic


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## D_W (20 Nov 2022)

sploo said:


> But back on topic
> 
> View attachment 147618


Overpriced!


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## JimJay (21 Nov 2022)

Blackswanwood said:


> No they don’t. They pay tax on their wages through PAYE just like any other employed person in the UK. This means it’s deducted at source before it reaches their bank account (on or offshore).
> 
> Image rights, sponsorship and licensing deals are currently subject to scrutiny by HMRC but these involve the use of service companies rather than hiding money in offshore bank accounts (which is tax evasion and illegal)


Funny how trying to keep your money in your own pocket is illegal but HMRC demanding money with menaces is apparently okay. It's not as though it's actually going to be put to good use either - if my accountant were to take as little care of my money as HMG does, I'd fire him and then sue for the return of his fees for the last few decades.....


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## MikeJhn (21 Nov 2022)

D_W said:


> Actually, I was lucky to find that the local distributor retail shop has London pride, so I will try a case.
> 
> Thanks for the suggestions, though.


And there is always Shepard and Neame's "Bishops Finger"


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## Blackswanwood (21 Nov 2022)

JimJay said:


> Funny how trying to keep your money in your own pocket is illegal but HMRC demanding money with menaces is apparently okay. It's not as though it's actually going to be put to good use either - if my accountant were to take as little care of my money as HMG does, I'd fire him and then sue for the return of his fees for the last few decades.....


I don’t get your point JimJay.

In the UK there is an underlying legal principle that you can arrange your affairs so as to minimise the tax that you pay. A good example is the choice some people who own their own businesses to be remunerated by dividends versus salary as the tax and national insurance implications can be advantageous. This is called tax avoidance.

Non disclosure of taxable income is different - it’s called tax evasion and is illegal. 

Our elected government can change the rules and the electorate can change the government if they don’t like the tax system. If we didn’t have rules on taxation paying taxes becomes voluntary which defeats the point.

HMRC enforce the rules. They don’t demand money with menaces.

As for how effectively our taxes get spent we’ll all have an opinion on that and of course we all get a vote as well if we don’t like it and want to change it.

It may be different where you live but that’s a very high level overview of the system in the UK.


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## John Brown (21 Nov 2022)

MikeJhn said:


> And there is always Shepard and Neame's "Bishops Finger"


Just had one of those last night. Eagerly waiting for Lidl to have the Shepherd Neame Double Stout on special offer again.


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## Phil Pascoe (21 Nov 2022)

MikeJhn said:


> And there is always Shepard and Neame's "Bishops Finger"


And very good it is, too. The double stout is superb. The oldest brewery in the Country, in case you ever get asked in a pub quiz.


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## Tris (21 Nov 2022)

Can't believe no-one mentioned Old Peculiar


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## D_W (21 Nov 2022)

Saving all of these beers - not a big beer drinker - makes me sleepy and then wakes me up to pee, but definitely do like to try stuff that hasn't had its nuts removed to make it palatable for the budweiser segment of the market.


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## Phil Pascoe (21 Nov 2022)

Tris said:


> Can't believe no-one mentioned Old Peculiar


Old Peculier, for those searching.


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## Tris (21 Nov 2022)

Thanks Phil, autocorrect struck again


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## Phil Pascoe (21 Nov 2022)

Several pints of








Merlin's Muddle (case of 12 bottles, price includes VAT) | tintagel-brewery


Case of 12 bottles (price inclusive of VAT).




www.tintagelbrewery.co.uk




on draught went down well last night.


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## D_W (21 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> Old Peculier, for those searching.



Thankfully, google knows what we're like. It returned a beer bottle without having to have a correct spelling.


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## MikeJhn (21 Nov 2022)

Has Directors had a mention? During my youth the beer of choice was Watneys Red Barrel, not a great beer, but the only one available in many public house's in those days.


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## treeturner123 (21 Nov 2022)

MikeJhn said:


> Has Directors had a mention? During my youth the beer of choice was Watneys Red Barrel, not a great beer, but the only one available in many public house's in those days.


And available in places such as Ibiza in the 70's!!


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## John Brown (21 Nov 2022)

Santa's Stout. And so will I be if I drink too much of this.


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## johna.clements (21 Nov 2022)

There will be plenty of Christmas names on the beer soon.


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## Thingybob (21 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> Old Peculier, for those searching.


Didn't think he was commenting on this thread


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## Thingybob (21 Nov 2022)

MikeJhn said:


> Has Directors had a mention? During my youth the beer of choice was Watneys Red Barrel, not a great beer, but the only one available in many public house's in those days.


If we're being nostalgic Chesters dark mild on draught creme del last creme but no longer brewed


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## Thingybob (21 Nov 2022)

Thingybob said:


> If we're being nostalgic Chesters dark mild on draught creme del last creme but no longer brewed


Auto correct not me del la should of been


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## D_W (21 Nov 2022)

Thingybob said:


> Well D W if you need London Pride explaining try some of the names of ales here Doom Bar, Jail Ale, Fraidknot,Propper Job to name just a few unless you like cider then there's Old Moot



Funny thing about the English language, we used to have a Scot who visited here every year or two. He's gone and gotten married and had kids, so it's infrequent now. 

But any time I hear about "proper" I think of him. I'm pretty sure he said "should get a proper job" and "he's a proper knob" or something like that several hundred times. 

Or maybe proper and knob weren't in the same sentence. The kids haven't got a clue why he's talking about door parts.


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## D_W (21 Nov 2022)

And...."duh ye have any savorrdddy fuuuud heauuhhre.....or is it all just suuuugarrrrr?"

"aye?"

...."I think we have some foods that add salt to the sugar......that's as close as you get".


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## MikeJhn (21 Nov 2022)

You can keep your Chlorinated chicken.


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## Superduner (22 Nov 2022)

Norwich, where I was born and grew up used to smell of beer from the Watney's brewery and chocolate from Rowntree Mackintosh.
We used to say that Watney's going down tasted like any other beer coming up.........


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## Blackswanwood (22 Nov 2022)

Superduner said:


> Norwich, where I was born and grew up used to smell of beer from the Watney's brewery and chocolate from Rowntree Mackintosh.
> We used to say that Watney's going down tasted like any other beer coming up.........


I never knew Rowntrees were in Norwich. Their last original building in York is currently being converted to flats. Another great British brand that ended up owned by a big conglomerate!


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## Blackswanwood (22 Nov 2022)

Okay beer lovers - nothing better than this local lager out here in Cambodia (I hope it cold and wazzing down in the UK )


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## Superduner (22 Nov 2022)

My mum worked in the accounting office there and could buy "rejects", I think every week. They were chocolates that failed the quality control tests and came in a one pound brown paper bag.
Tasted fine, but looked a bit iffy.


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## Blackswanwood (22 Nov 2022)

Serious addition on the topic of beers. 

I find most beers taste much better when made and consumed locally. I assume all Doom Bar is made in Cornwall - on draughty doesn’t taste as good once it gets past Bristol. Equally the “brewing a brand” in multiple places is rowlocks. Kingfisher tastes much better in Mumbai rather than the stuff that gets brewed somewhere in middle England. It looks the same but isn’t. Has anyone had a pint of Guinness anywhere in the world that tastes like it does in Dublin? 

I do wonder if @D_W is going to fully appreciate London Pride in Philadelphia.


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## 1steven (22 Nov 2022)

Blackswanwood said:


> Serious addition on the topic of beers.
> 
> I find most beers taste much better when made and consumed locally. I assume all Doom Bar is made in Cornwall - on draughty doesn’t taste as good once it gets past Bristol. Equally the “brewing a brand” in multiple places is rowlocks. Kingfisher tastes much better in Mumbai rather than the stuff that gets brewed somewhere in middle England. It looks the same but isn’t. Has anyone had a pint of Guinness anywhere in the world that tastes like it does in Dublin?
> 
> I do wonder if @D_W is going to fully appreciate London Pride in Philadelphia.


I agree local beer always taste best locally, my local one is Orkney brew


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## GuitardoctorW7 (22 Nov 2022)

Blackswanwood said:


> Serious addition on the topic of beers.
> 
> I find most beers taste much better when made and consumed locally. I assume all Doom Bar is made in Cornwall - on draughty doesn’t taste as good once it gets past Bristol. Equally the “brewing a brand” in multiple places is rowlocks. Kingfisher tastes much better in Mumbai rather than the stuff that gets brewed somewhere in middle England. It looks the same but isn’t. Has anyone had a pint of Guinness anywhere in the world that tastes like it does in Dublin?
> 
> I do wonder if @D_W is going to fully appreciate London Pride in Philadelphia.


Kingfisher in India gives you a tremendous hangover as it's full of sulfites, and believe me it's a nasty hangover. Guinness in the UK tastes the same as it does in Dublin/Ireland as it's all brewed over there now. The secret to good Guinness is how the lines are maintained.


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## Chippyjoe (22 Nov 2022)

Superduner said:


> Norwich, where I was born and grew up used to smell of beer from the Watney's brewery and chocolate from Rowntree Mackintosh.
> We used to say that Watney's going down tasted like any other beer coming up.........



Rowntree Mackintosh was called Caley's when I was a lad growing up in Norwich, If I remember correctly it burnt down once in the 60's I believe.
I can remember the smell of chocolate when you walked anywhere near it.


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## Phil Pascoe (22 Nov 2022)

Blackswanwood said:


> Has anyone had a pint of Guinness anywhere in the world that tastes like it does in Dublin?


My daughter and her partner did the tour of the brewery and the guide asked if the Guinness tasted any better to them, they replied that it was definitely the best they'd had. He told them the only reason it tasted better was because it was fresher, not because it was any different - it had be brewed only a few hours. Of course, it's a little like sangria in Spain or ouzo on a beach in Greece - it tastes better than it does at home because you want it and expect it to.

I was speaking to a Guinness rep I dealt with a few decades ago and said I'd had a few pints in Irish pubs in London (my mother always said I was like my father - if there was one pub in a city you shouldn't set foot in, that's where I'd be found), and that Guinness there was excellent - I had been told that it was because it was Dublin brewed and not Park Royal where our came from. He said this was nonsense it was all Park Royal - it was just that they served such vast amounts of it it was always fresh and clean. It's all Dublin now, Park Royal ceased brewing in 2005. They might be in Dublin for a while, though - in 1759, at the age of 34, Arthur Guinness signed a lease for the St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin. He leased the brewery for 9000 years at an annual rent of £45.


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## Phil Pascoe (22 Nov 2022)

GuitardoctorW7 said:


> The secret to good Guinness is how the lines are maintained.


I used to clean all the lines every week and every 4 - 6 weeks I'd strip the taps and couplings and soak them in hot water and detergent, then flush them and the lines with strong salted water to get rid of any detergent taint.
A couple of times a year the Guinness rep visited and checked the quality and temperature of the draught and the date codes on the bottles, then he would go to the cellar and strip the couplings down. One morning I'd just - literally five minutes - finished the big clean when who should walk in ......... yes, the Guinness rep. He went through the normal routine and asked to go to the cellar where he stripped the couplings down. He stopped and looked at me. Is there anything wrong? I asked. He burst out laughing and said no, it's just that I've never seen a clean one before.


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## Phil Pascoe (22 Nov 2022)

Smells? Decades ago a part of Truro early in the morning smelled wonderful - the Furniss factory baking gingerbreads. It was worth walking that way just for the smell.


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## Jester129 (22 Nov 2022)

@Blackswanwood - of course it is - cold and wazzing it down here!


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## treeturner123 (22 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> Smells? Decades ago a part of Truro early in the morning smelled wonderful - the Furniss factory baking gingerbreads. It was worth walking that way just for the smell.


Smell?

I used to go through Banbury quite often and the aroma of coffee was great. Glad I didn't live there though!

Phil


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## Misterdog (22 Nov 2022)

D_W said:


> Admittedly, some other watery concoction like *budweiser* made to try to give people who don't like the taste of beer something that they'll be able to tolerate.



Though not to be confused with Budweiser Budvar, the original Czech beer which is superb.

The Yanks just stole the name and attached it to some pish water.

The same with Stella Artois, the original Belgian brew was superb but then the bean counters reduced the ABV ( twice) and brewed it in London, now Wales.

It's now pish water.

A local brewery to me Thornbridge has done the same with Jaipur.

It was an award winning beer for many years, now it is not.


A great small brewer is Pictish, if you can find it. (Lancashire)

Or the Marble brewery (Manchester)

Or the Buxton brewery ( Derbyshire)


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## Tris (22 Nov 2022)

I'm reminded of the old joke: tourist in London to a passerby 'what's the best way to Cockfosters?' reply comes back in an Aussie drawl 'let a pom brew it'


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## johna.clements (22 Nov 2022)

Blackswanwood said:


> Serious addition on the topic of beers.
> 
> I find most beers taste much better when made and consumed locally. I assume all Doom Bar is made in Cornwall - on draughty doesn’t taste as good once it gets past Bristol. Equally the “brewing a brand” in multiple places is rowlocks. Kingfisher tastes much better in Mumbai rather than the stuff that gets brewed somewhere in middle England. It looks the same but isn’t. Has anyone had a pint of Guinness anywhere in the world that tastes like it does in Dublin?
> 
> I do wonder if @D_W is going to fully appreciate London Pride in Philadelphia.


Doom Bar is no longer brewed in Cornwall, now Burton on Trent. Taste has changed slightly different water. I think its taste is not as distinctive now but it is still reasonable.


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## D_W (22 Nov 2022)

Blackswanwood said:


> I do wonder if @D_W is going to fully appreciate London Pride in Philadelphia.



I'd have to drive 300 miles to figure that out. If the distributor's site is honest and it's not just something they *could* carry, I'll appreciate it from Pittsburgh, though. I like almost any good beer, as long as they're not weird (not a fan of flavored beers that have intentional food like flavors - strong berry flavors, spices, etc).


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## D_W (22 Nov 2022)

Superduner said:


> My mum worked in the accounting office there and could buy "rejects", I think every week. They were chocolates that failed the quality control tests and came in a one pound brown paper bag.
> Tasted fine, but looked a bit iffy.



when I was a kid, both of my parents were teachers, which is a pretty solid profession from the northeast through the rust belt, but my mother always felt like they needed to spend all of their time making and selling on the craft circuit on top of that. 

Two of the venues had looser constraints and allowed non-craft vendors at their discretion. No imports or booths selling imported stuff that was made to look like craft circuit wares, BUT, in those, mother's booth was always next to a bulk candy seller / salvage, whatever. He managed to get anything that was cast aside for being broken or damaged, usually around a third of first quality cost. The area where I grew up was a little south of Hershey, PA and west of a whole bunch of candy and chocolate makers going toward philadelphia. It was like heaven. I'd save my pennies and buy pounds of stuff from the guy. Strangely, I was a skinny little kid and didn't get fat until I got married - and wouldn't think of eating bags full of candy.


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## D_W (22 Nov 2022)

Misterdog said:


> Though not to be confused with Budweiser Budvar, the original Czech beer which is superb.
> 
> The Yanks just stole the name and attached it to some pish water.
> 
> ...



I think you're right - I would guess the second line below the name on each listing suggests the belgian owned, former american budweiser. 








budvar | Search


Search beeradvocate.com for beers, taprooms, and more.




www.beeradvocate.com





Separately, when I looked up the budweiser company information on wiki to confirm that inbev is belgian, I was surprised to hear that budweiser and miller were the two most consumed brands of beer in the world. But they do serve the domestic car parking lots here. 

By that, I mean one of the things my English friend who moved here to the states taught me was if you go to a restaurant that claims to be italian or greek or whatever, check the parking lot. Assuming you've not been there, of course. If the parking lot is almost entirely domestic cars, the food will be boring or terrible. It's not 100% reliable, but it's not a bad test.


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## Phil Pascoe (22 Nov 2022)

I remember reading in a trade mag some 40 years ago that Whitbread (iirc) was to start brewing San Miguel under licence. It was to be identical to the original except that the s.g. would be reduced from 5.2% to 3.5% - how anyone with a brain thought that a beer brewed so much weaker with different water was going to be the same, who knows? Besides which its tasting wonderful on a Spanish beach on holiday doesn't mean it'll taste wonderful in your kitchen on a rainy winter's day. I don't think it ever came off, though.
The local brewery, Devenish Redruth brewed the excellent, popular Wessex PA until they decided to move its production to a sister brewery in Weymouth - it was brewed with totally different water and the quality and sales fell off a cliff.
One of the Watney's beers - Starlight - was so weak that if it was 0.1% weaker it could have legally been sold to children.
Doom Bar is brewed by Molson Coors - our best local brewery, Skinner's has just gone bust.


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## Misterdog (22 Nov 2022)

Pink dye added to farmed Salmon, smoked kippers - contains 'liquid smoke'.

Brewers alter the local water to resemble that of native brews, those that can be bothered of course.

It's all much of a race to the bottom in my opinion.


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## Thingybob (22 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> I remember reading in a trade mag some 40 years ago that Whitbread (iirc) was to start brewing San Miguel under licence. It was to be identical to the original except that the s.g. would be reduced from 5.2% to 3.5% - how anyone with a brain thought that a beer brewed so much weaker with different water was going to be the same, who knows? Besides which its tasting wonderful on a Spanish beach on holiday doesn't mean it'll taste wonderful in your kitchen on a rainy winter's day. I don't think it ever came off, though.
> The local brewery, Devenish Redruth brewed the excellent, popular Wessex PA until they decided to move its production to a sister brewery in Weymouth - it was brewed with totally different water and the quality and sales fell off a cliff.
> One of the Watney's beers - Starlight - was so weak that if it was 0.1% weaker it could have legally been sold to children.
> Doom Bar is brewed by Molson Coors - our best local brewery, Skinner's has just gone bust.


So Phil it is still brewed in Cornwall says so on the pump in the Newquay here


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## johna.clements (22 Nov 2022)

Thingybob said:


> So Phil it is still brewed in Cornwall says so on the pump in the Newquay here


I don't know what the pumps say in the Newquay Inn says but it appears to have been brewed elsewhere for nearly ten years.

Place of provenance: Brewed in Burton Upon Trent in Partnership with Molson Coors



https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/ale-stout-/doom-bar-amber-ale-10x440ml


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## Thingybob (22 Nov 2022)

johna.clements said:


> I don't know what the pumps say in the Newquay Inn says but it appears to have been brewed elsewhere for nearly ten years.
> 
> Place of provenance: Brewed in Burton Upon Trent in Partnership with Molson Coors
> 
> ...


Is bottled the same brewery ?


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## johna.clements (22 Nov 2022)

This site conferences bottles brewed, contents, in Burton.









Sharp's Doom Bar Amber Ale 500ml


DescriptionDoom Bar Amber AleBrussels Beer Challenge - Pale & Amber Ale - Bitter Bronze 2013 & 2015International Beer Challenge Bronze (Design and Packaging) 2014Taste of the West Award Bronze 2013Taste of the West Award Silver 2014At the mouth of the Camel Estuary in Rock, Cornwall, lies th




www.helloonlineshoppers.co.uk


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## Phil Pascoe (22 Nov 2022)

Is it brewed in Rock? I don't know. I don't drink northern beer.


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## MikeJhn (22 Nov 2022)

The tragedy with farmed Salmon in Scotland is the farms are now operated by Swedish and Norwegian companies where the farming of Salmon is now illegal.


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## Misterdog (23 Nov 2022)

Smoking used to be promoted as having no harmful effects for decades. ££££££££££££££

Factory farmed salmon is promoted as being healthy due to it's Omega 3 fatty acid content.

Others have a different view.
Most Toxic Food in the World? Farmed Salmon.​Food testing reveals farmed salmon is one of the most toxic foods in the world, having more in common with junk food than health food.

Sunny delight anyone ?


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## MikeJhn (23 Nov 2022)

Farmed Salmon is full of chemicals to try and off set the sea lice and and damage done in the cages, if you ever saw the condition of these fish fresh from the cage you would never eat farmed Salmon. Ohh and the un-eaten food thrown into the cages that accumulates on the bed of the water course which festers and rots contaminating the downstream water.


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## D_W (23 Nov 2022)

Misterdog said:


> Factory farmed salmon is promoted as being healthy due to it's Omega 3 fatty acid content.



Just an off the cuff comment, but isn't the fatty acid balance less favorable (more omega 6, less omega 3?)

I may be confusing this with grass fed vs. grain fed beef.


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## D_W (23 Nov 2022)

apologies if anyone already posted this - Budweiser has now stated that they'll give the beer to the world cup winner. Told you 100 pounds for a warehouse full of it was overpriced. 









Budweiser says it will award that unconsumed Qatar beer to World Cup winner Argentina


Qatar, a culturally conservative Muslim nation, announced it would not allow the sale of alcohol during the World Cup.




www.marketwatch.com





If that's not readable, you can open an "incognito window" and it will allow you to read it.


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## D_W (23 Nov 2022)

Would be fabulous if the winning country said "no thanks. We're concerned that if everyone pours it down the drain at the same time, it may overwhelm the the wastewater treatment center".


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## Phil Pascoe (23 Nov 2022)

Why would they presume the winner wanted it?


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## johna.clements (23 Nov 2022)

It would be funny if Saudi won, but its very unlikely. They were on about 500 to 1 now maybe 200 to 1.
What would happen to the "beer" then.


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## D_W (23 Nov 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> Why would they presume the winner wanted it?



"no thanks. If we aren't at a venue that's contracted to only have one beer available, most people still feel it's better off to buy something they'd actually like and pay for it".


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## Thingybob (24 Nov 2022)

johna.clements said:


> It would be funny if Saudi won, but its very unlikely. They were on about 500 to 1 now maybe 200 to 1.
> What would happen to the "beer" then.


Bring back the the old craze of embedding glass bottles in concrete walls and use the contents to mix the concrete How very green


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## johna.clements (24 Nov 2022)

Thingybob said:


> Bring back the the old craze of embedding glass bottles in concrete walls and use the contents to mix the concrete How very green


There used to be a bottle wall outside The Passage House, beside the footpath next the river. Have not been there sine the hotel was built so do not know if it is still there


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## Blackswanwood (25 Nov 2022)

D_W said:


> apologies if anyone already posted this - Budweiser has now stated that they'll give the beer to the world cup winner. Told you 100 pounds for a warehouse full of it was overpriced.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Perfect excuse for when we lose on penalties in the semi’s


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