America (Q & A Thread)

[Pedronicus]

This is a thread where every non American can ask little known questions regarding America that Americans can answer (either seriously or joking)

My question is:

When did the Wild West stop being Wild?

[KoolBak]

It is nice of you to say something about my home that isn't nasty You must have taken your meds like a good boy today Pedro (love ya man!)...lol

Well....generally, I would say about 1900. Jesse James was killed, the last great Indian buffalo hunts were over, the Daltons were killed and stagecoach robbery was virtually over. There was still plenty of violence that seems absurd today, but I would say that is as good a turning point as any.

[MeDeFe]

Why are you not capable of brewing a good beer on large scale despite all those German immigrants?

[CrazyAnglican]

It's probably not as important culturally that we do so. When one thinks of Germany, beer isn't usually far from their mind. There is a heritage of high quality beer in Germany that just doesn't seem to be that important to most Americans. Micro Brews can be quite good here though. It's a mixed heritage, our Chinese food isn't typically as good on a large scale as the Chinese make it either.

[Iz Man]

Why are you not capable of brewing a good beer on large scale despite all those German immigrants?

While I personally am not a fan of the "Big 3", heretofore known as BMC (Bud Miller Coors), I will defend what they have done as far as contributing to the beer world.

Ready? Here we go......

1 out of every 10 beers drank WORLDWIDE is what brand?
You guessed it. Budweiser.

That is a MASSIVE quantity of beer.

To make beer on such a huge scale as that AND maintain its consistency day after day, year after year is a major achievement.
What makes it even moreso is the fact that Budweiser is a light Pilsner. Which means any "faults" in the brewing process are amplified; that is, a Pilsner is much less forgiving in hiding off-flavors than any ale is. This makes it that much more difficult to maintain consistency. Its hard to do as a homebrewer brewing 5-10 gallons at a time, let alone millions of barrels per year.
Anheuser Busch goes so far as to ensure the water in its breweries throughout the world match St. Louis' water in every tiny aspect: calcium, sodium, magnesium levels, etc.
The breweries take their water (the largest ingredient in beer) and bring it down (through reverse osmosis) to nothing but plain old H2O.
Then they add all the minerals to exactly match those of St. Louis water.....To the scale of MILLIONS OF BARRELS PER YEAR !!
This is unmatched by any brewery in the world.

Every beer has its place in the beer lovers community, and that includes BMC. One cannot deny the fact that more people drink Bud WORLDWIDE than any other beer. Therefore, they must be doing something right.

So now I think you must define "large scale", because there are hundreds of breweries throughout the U.S. that produce just as much beer as many of our European brethren...
With just as good quality.

[CrazyAnglican]

Iz Man,

I am thoroughly impressed and yield to your superior beer knowledge.

[Pedronicus]

Why is it common in America to call your son by the same forename as the father and then add Jnr. ?

[FarangDemon]

Why are you not capable of brewing a good beer on large scale despite all those German immigrants?

I guess for a long time the demand for good beer was not very high. Seems like the last 10-15 years micro brews have popped up all over the place offering a large selection of quality locally brewed beers to pubs across America.

Btw, Thailand, where I currently reside, has shite beer selection. I miss my IPAs and my Guinness. Beer Lao is quite good though, in my opinion.

[oVo]

I've never been an appreciator of the "flavor" of Budweiser and I figure a significant componant of their massive beer sales is superior advertising and brand recognition. I did drink Michelob for a while which is also an Anheiser Bush product, so I too succumbed to their sexy sales pitch. You can pretty much find a local pub in any large American city --and probably many smaller ones too-- that carry all your favorite brews. I tend to lean towards Guiness nowadays or a Heineken if I'm in the mood for something light and there's a place nearby with a good black & tan as well.

I'm confident that beer ads make a big difference, since a premium beer like Pabst Blue Ribbon used to be cheaper than Bud and still couldn't keep pace in sales. I have a few friends that drink Schlitz, which is a cheap 12=pack of tallboys... while a common Mexican brew like Corona used to sell so well here that distributors had to ration their deliveries locally because they could barely meet the demand. Along comes Corona Light? Ha Ha Ha, aren't all Coronas light? When I lived on the east coast I consumed large quantities of Rolling Rock (probably the original premium light beer) which at the time was only sold in a 24 count case of 7 oz. ponies, and is probably where Miller "originated" the idea for little Miller Lites.

The Wild West? Hmmm... the Colt 45 had a lot to do with it's taming, but I think you'll find the Southwest was still pretty damn wild even after 1900. I've been in Texas for awhile and am still surprised by what I learn in my travels here and farther west in New Mexico and Arizona. About fifteen years or so before the American Civil War much of this region was still part of Mexico and during our Civil War, Napoleon III (Napoleon I was at Waterloo) sent French armies to Mexico and installed Maximilian I as Emperor...
but I'm getting sidetracked here. Pancho Villa was still running around the southwest in 1916.

[MeDeFe]

Marketing can beat quality, Warsteiner tastes crap (and I know many who agree that it's among the worst beers in Germany) but still sells.

Large scale... I've seen Erdinger Weißbier in all European countries from Finland to Spain, and that's one tasty beer. Annual production is, unless I miscalculated somewhere, 150.000 cubic meters. About 300 million pints I'd say.

[apey]

Why is it common in America to call your son by the same forename as the father and then add Jnr. ?

because edward jonathan cornelius hampshire the tenth is a bit redundant but i could be wrong

[MeDeFe]

Why is it common in America to call your son by the same forename as the father and then add Jnr. ?

because edward jonathan cornelius hampshire the tenth is a bit redundant but i could be wrong

What's wrong with "Eddy"?

[KoolBak]

Why is it common in America to call your son by the same forename as the father and then add Jnr. ?

Interesting question. I have always thought the passing of the same name was an ego thing (at least in America where royalty isnt an issue). I have seen both "II" and "Jr" used (TV, news, history), but personally never known any of either. Hank Williams and Dale Earnhardt come to mind...Hank Jr and Dale Jr are their NAMES....lol. I do not know.

BUT.......another example....my middle name has been passed from grandpa to dad to me to my son, all with different first names. My grand dad and I are the only ones that went / go by it......hmmmmm. And Pedro, you will be happy to know it is an English last name my great grandparents gave as middle to their first born son in recognition of the family that helped them escape poverty....

I am sure you will sleep better tonight knowing that

[Johnny Rockets]

Why does the U.S. refuse to adopt the metric system, considering now more than ever they are one of the last countries to do so?


J

[KoolBak]

Too many hillbillies

[HapSmo19]

Why does the U.S. refuse to adopt the metric system, considering now more than ever they are one of the last countries to do so?

Probably because there are already millions upon millions of inspection tools and process machines based on the inch standard floatong around. Conversion is only a calculator away anyway. And it's stupid

[oVo]

Why is it common in America to call your son by the same forename as the father and then add Junior?

Junior . . . Jr. is named after the father and the second or II, is named after the grandfather.

[Backglass]

Why are you not capable of brewing a good beer on large scale despite all those German immigrants?

I assume you only know of American Lagers such as Budweiser, Coors and Miller. There are thousands of beers brewed in the US of all styles, but unfortunately these three are (sadly) the most popular and thus you may believe they are ALL like this. They are not...just as all Hamburgers made in the US do not taste like Big Macs.

This belief is not exclusive to the US...most Americans believe that Mexico only has Corona and Dos-X but there are many fine beers from that country as well that actually have flavor.

Why is it common in America to call your son by the same forename as the father and then add Jnr. ?

Junior is just a cute way to refer to "The 2nd" to avoid confusion.

Even more goofy is in the Southern US, it is popular to call the third son "Trey"...as in three. Silly rednecks.

Why does the U.S. refuse to adopt the metric system, considering now more than ever they are one of the last countries to do so?

Habit....plain and simple.

It is changing slowly though. When I was a kid NOTHING was metric. Now, all food & beverage products are. All auto speedometers have both marking as well. Weights and Fluids such a gasoline are still old school however, as is the "Mile" for distance.

[Iz Man]

This belief is not exclusive to the US...most Americans believe that Mexico only has Corona and Dos-X but there are many fine beers from that country as well that actually have flavor.

Shameless plug of an old thread:
World Beer Review: Mexico

[luns101]

Why is it common in America to call your son by the same forename as the father and then add Jnr. ?

So that we can distinguish between them in case they both happen to be all-stars on the same team.

[oVo]

Junior is just a cute way to refer to "The 2nd" to avoid confusion.

Not true, as they are not the same. The distinction is that junior is named after the father
and the II (the 2nd) is named after the grandfather.

Hey Ray! Dinner's ready.

Our family had friends in Cleveland, Ohio who had four sons who all had the first name Ray,
just like their father... Ray Jr. and Ray III and Ray IV and Ray V.
which made it simple to call the family to dinner.

[pimpdave]

Hey Ray! Dinner's ready.

Our family had friends in Cleveland, Ohio who had four sons who all had the first name Ray,
just like their father... Ray Jr. and Ray III and Ray IV and Ray V.
which made it simple to call the family to dinner.

Well that's just silly.

They should have been named, Ray, Egon, Peter, and Winston.

Then, to call them to dinner, just yell, "Who you gonna call?!"

[naxus]

Junior is just a cute way to refer to "The 2nd" to avoid confusion.

Not true, as they are not the same. The distinction is that junior is named after the father
and the II (the 2nd) is named after the grandfather.

I disagree as I'm a third myself.My Grandfather is senior,father is junior and i' m the third. But in relevence to the original question I don't know how it started but people do it differently across america but these are the main 2 ways that people do it.

[oVo]

So.. your dad is named after his dad and thus is Jr.
Do you all have the exact same name?

[naxus]

yes