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3-2 beer?


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Things that pop in your memory.  When a kid in the 50s and 60s I remember a 3-2 beer being available.  Doing some Googling, I confirmed it relates to the alcohol content of 3.2%. I can't remember if it was regulated different or just a weaker beer.  I remember talk about beers that were stronger than 5%. 

 

Townson talked about short beer in olden times. That being the first brewing and having lower alcohol content.  Even kids and women drank it.

 

Any beer history experts out there? 

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Colorado just started allowing grocery stores to sell stronger than 3.2 beers couple of years ago. They still can’t sell wine or spirits. The liquor store lobby is strong here. :angry:

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As I remember it in the late 1970s Minnesota regulated beer to 3.2 percent. I remember Wisconsin being higher.

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The short or small beer you refer to is actually 2nd or 3rd run of the grains. The bulk of the sugars are harvested the first time around, then reduced on progressive runs. Now days we typically target a specific ABV and adjust the grain bill to produce that for a single run. I’m planning to try the older process of pulling the highest concentration of sugars just from the initial mash, then sparge or rinse the grains again to recover a lower concentration, and possibly a third just to see what the resulting progression produces in a finished product. 

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3.2 beer was standard here for decades; all the local and national brands, at least in this state were 3.2 (maybe 3.4). Stronger beers and ales came much later.

 

Over 5% I don't like in beer, myself. Starts to lose its refreshing quality if it's too strong.

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3-2 beer was the only beer sold in West Virginia when I was a teen. I lived in Pennsylvania at the time. In PA the beer had a higher alcohol percentage, but I don’t recall what that was for domestic beers. I believe it was around 5%. 

We could tell if someone brought 3-2 beer to a party or outing because the cans had an extra roll in the contour of the can near the top. If someone showed up at a Country Meeting (somewhere in the country where we would all gather to drink beer and do minor illegal stuff and hang out) and someone showed up with 3-2 beer and didn’t announce that he brought 3-2 beer he was considered a “Cheap-A$$” and was encouraged to never do it again or face shunning. 
If the guy did announce that he brought 3-2 beer he was summarily razzed for an unspecified time then Thanked for bringing beer and then everyone went about drinking his beer but intermittently complaining about it being 3-2 beer. 
Once, a very pretty girl showed up with 3-2 beer. That was the day I learned about Double Standards. :lol:

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I’ve made as high as 17% and as low as 2%, but the majority of the ones I make are 7-9%. The lower percentage has to be consumed pretty quick as the flavors start to go off in a short time. The really high percentage was just an experiment to see what I could make happen with my equipment. 

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Ohio had it for years! You could be 18 and get it. 21 for whatever the % was above 3.2. I think it was around 5% although everyone said 7%! :o

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Had two craft beers with a buddy this winter. 11 percent. Got pretty lit. Too much hoppes for my taste.

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3 hours ago, Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485 said:

Only beer sold in Ohio on Sunday.

Not true, businesses can get a Sunday license and sell liquor from 1 pm to 1am as per change in 2009.

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I think the highest I’ve has was an IPA at 6. 

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from what i hear from local distributer 3.2 is all but extinct these days , there is some that qualify almost but most today are stronger , plays hell with those that have a 3.2 license here ...........dont think there is a lot of close scrutiny if your getting what the distributer calls it 

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23 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Colorado just started allowing grocery stores to sell stronger than 3.2 beers couple of years ago. They still can’t sell wine or spirits. The liquor store lobby is strong here. :angry:

But boy, oh boy, did us Farmington kids come up to Durango to the Copy Cat...the 3.2 beer club.

18 and up.

 

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25 minutes ago, Dirty Dan Dawkins said:

What’s the difference in ales, beers, lagers etc? 

I know I can google it… but it’s more enjoyable here.

Well technically you have to drink Ale from a horn, or the skull of your enemy.

50E3CFC5-D2C1-428A-ACF0-14C0CD8FEAD9.jpeg

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10 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Well technically you have to drink Ale from a horn, or the skull of your enemy.

50E3CFC5-D2C1-428A-ACF0-14C0CD8FEAD9.jpeg

See, Google would have simply given me some boring, long drawn out description about ingredients and temperatures and brewing methods and such, not details that really matter. In The Hobbit, the dwarves drink ale from tankards. Is that ok, or a lack of cinematic due diligence?

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39 minutes ago, Dirty Dan Dawkins said:

See, Google would have simply given me some boring, long drawn out description about ingredients and temperatures and brewing methods and such, not details that really matter. In The Hobbit, the dwarves drink ale from tankards. Is that ok, or a lack of cinematic due diligence?

All bets are off in Middle Earth! Location location location. :D

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4 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

All bets are off in Middle Earth! Location location location. :D

I would not drink ale from an ork skull no matter what?

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In the 70s, if you were 18 you could buy 3.2 beer in Kansas while you had to be 21 in Missouri. Living less than an hour from the border lots of people I knew made the trip and brought back truckloads of the stuff.

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On 5/5/2022 at 9:08 PM, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Colorado just started allowing grocery stores to sell stronger than 3.2 beers couple of years ago. They still can’t sell wine or spirits. The liquor store lobby is strong here. :angry:

Just go the MJ store for edibles to get high.

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On 5/7/2022 at 8:51 AM, Dirty Dan Dawkins said:

I would not drink ale from an ork skull no matter what?

I think a Dwarf would. :lol:

16 minutes ago, J.D. Daily said:

Just go the MJ store for edibles to get high.

I can only handle so many vices. ;)

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On 5/7/2022 at 7:51 AM, Dirty Dan Dawkins said:

I would not drink ale from an ork skull no matter what?

Now that’s the problem with society. Nobody drinks from the skulls of their enemies regularly. 

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A guy in base pic training told me you couldn’t get drunk on 3.2 beer.

He was wrong. 

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