How early is too early?

[fretlessman71]

Every wake up and just want to have a beer? Not because you have some sort of twisted addicition that should land you in AA or the paddy wagon... just because it sounds really good right then and there. Maybe you can't because you have to work, or maybe your stomach can't handle alcohol this early, or maybe you're just embarrased to have one before noon. Maybe you'll get the "evil eye" from your significant other if you so much as glance at your beer fridge before the afternoon soaps are over... I'm just really curious! I'm going to have to make a NA batch of beer just so I can have something tasty to drink in the mornings other than soymilk and grapefruit juice! (Hey.... I could mix the two together, and...... nawwwwwwww.......)

[studentofbeer]

i voted for football games are ok, etc. a beer with lunch isn't a problem to me, and Ive been known on the occasional weekend to cook up a goat cheese omelette around 10:30 or 11 am and serve it with a hefeweizen, which is a pretty traditional brunch beer. Ive never been up at 8am and been like, shit, i need a beer, but there have been occasional football games in college where the imbibing started very early (it's one way to pretend to keep warm, and when watching northwestern. helped lower the disappointment factor :-p ). i guess if i had a maxim it would be beer only with food until the afternoon, at which point i will have a beer just for having a beer sake.

[Stodbrew]

It definitely depends on the occasion. When I was in Hawaii a couple of years ago, The Giants first game of the NLDS started at 7:00 am. And while I usually have a beer while watching baseball, I fired one, well several, up. And, if I'm camping, all bets are off. I'll hit the keg first thing and sit around the campfire all day, pretty much just eating and drinking. Other than that, I usually wait until lunch to have a beer.

[Seymour]

Yeah, I voted for weekend mornings. The brunch thing goes as well. I'll usually have a beer with lunch on the weekends if I'm not working. Back when I was a young Turk, I used to crack open one first thing in the morning just to prove I could do it, but it was seldom and it was only one. It usually ruined the rest of the day for me. Now it's only if I'm about to eat something, and even so it's mid-morning or lunchtime.

[ontap78]

Where I come from there used to be alot of old germans who kept a case of Schell's under their beds.I'd say if you hadn't even gotten out of bed yet, that would be a bit early.Just this morning I got up at 7:30 am and scanned the paper for a while and surfed on the computer for a bit.My wife was still in bed for what I figured would be at least another hour and I didn't want to wake her up by grinding coffee and a beer sounded good as an alterative so I went to the fridge and got myself a Schell's Octoberfest.It's a great morning beer. A nice breakfast. Good and malty and sticks to your ribs.As the saying goes around here," a pork chop in every beer".

[Richard English]

We have a problem in England since, for many years, pubs have generally not been able to serve alcohol before 1100. Fortunately that's all changing and you'll soon be able to get a drink whenever a pub chooses to open.

Pubs in Smithfield (London's meat market) have always opened at 0600 to serve the porters when they finish their night shift. However, anyone can use the pubs and I have had some very nice breakfasts, washed down with a pint, at 0800 when I've been in the area prior to an early meeting.

Drinking at specific times is only a habit. There is no reason at all why one should not drink beer for breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper - other than one's learned behaviours.

[b3s]

i didn't vote because this really falls into the "it depends" category. would i have a beer before work? not a chance. would i have a beer after work? it depends. would i have a beer with breakfast? depends on the breakfast, what day of the week it is, if i'm on vacation, and/or how i'm feeling. i do tend to have a few beers while watching sporting events, but that's a tendency, not a hard and fast rule.

[wortchillergoal]

I voted it's 12 some where but I think more like b3s. I have had beer early in the day at the start of what will prove to be a long party. I have had beer with brunch. I believe Richard is correct to in that laws have done much to shape our drinking habits.

My big factor is my time for my boys. I would rather the time for them than beer. We were just talking about this at hockey the other night. One guy said he thought rinks should not have bars in them. One here does. One of the other dads and I saw no problem with it. The first went to talk about setting an example for our kids. He has seen guys having beer while their kids play/practice. The two of us agreed that having beer while watching your kids may not be the best idea, we certainly like being able to get a beer after we are done playing. The point to this long wind is I let my family's needs dictate the time for enjoying a beer no matter what the time.

[corysdad]

Ya know fret this is a great question. People look at me cross eyed when I tell em that I like to drink Stouts with breakfast. Not an every day thing but about once a month we do the "big breakfast" where wife and I and our 8 year old son make bacon,eggs,pancakes and what ever else sounds good, and a pint of Stout just goes great with that.
But usually a nice beer is done with dinner every day during the week and I only wish I could have beer with lunch. On the weekends, first beer is with lunch and maybe a midafternoon treat, then a dinner beer. After that who knows, depends on whats going on.
So I vote for breakfast beer. Breakfast of champions.

[fretlessman71]

I think you've hit upon an interesting point; that any time can be the right time for a brew, mainly because the lot of us (on this board, anyway) aren't drinking for the effect of the alcohol. If champagne brunches are socially acceptable, then why not a blonde ale or a belgian wit instead? (And IIRC, the people I have been to champagne brunches with WERE interested in getting "toasted" - and not like a piece of bread, either.) I've always wondered if my desire to have a beer in the morning (and the resulting inner shame because of it) were the product of society telling me that I was a drunk if I did, and if I wasn't I should have no problem waiting until "an appropriate time". I'm beginning to see that it's a double standard I'll just have to get over in my head. (Although if I started my day with a few barleywines I might be off to something other than a rip-roaring start!)

[b3s]

it's a product of puritanical US society, fret. it's "bad" to drink with breakfast, unless it's a champagne breakfast/brunch. i've always wondered why. i mean, in biblic times wine went with every meal...now granted, it wasn't high octane (one can make wine merely by crushing grapes, it's the yeast skin and the sugar interior). beer just seems like a good breakfast drink -- i can see a nice stout or a hearty dubbel with a good breakfast, or even a bitter to go with a light breakfast.

my last trip to moab, one guy and i had a beer with breakfast and everyone looked at us like we were nuts...it's not like i do that often (usually vacation or a weekend), and the same people the night before were getting bombed...somehow it's ok to tie one on at night, but a beer with breakfast is a bad idea? not sure i buy that one!

[Steve16823]

Originally posted by wortchillergoal
The point to this long wind is I let my family's needs dictate the time for enjoying a beer no matter what the time.

I'm pretty sure putting beer before family is a sure sign of a serious drinking problem -- or a really insufferable family. ;)

I voted for drinking in the afternoon with the exception for football games (which I read as 'special occasions' in general).

I don't see anything fundamentally wrong with having a beer in the morning as long as it doesn't interfere with work or family -- but that applies at any time of the day.

It personally doesn't appeal to me very often because it would interfere with my other obsession -- coffee drinking! I'm a home coffee-roaster as well as a homebrewer.

[wortchillergoal]

Things can change. Some of the younger members may not remember this, but at one point drinking soda in the morning was taboo. People thought you were nuts if you drank a Pepsi or Coke for your morning breakfast beverage. Not anymore. things can change.

[Stahlsturm]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
Maybe you'll get the "evil eye" from your significant other if you so much as glance at your beer fridge before the afternoon soaps are over...

My significant other aka wife is more likely to crack open a beer for breakfast than I am...

And a traditional bavarian breakfast is white sausages and white beer aka Weizen.

So there :P

[Steve16823]

Originally posted by wortchillergoal
Things can change. Some of the younger members may not remember this, but at one point drinking soda in the morning was taboo. People thought you were nuts if you drank a Pepsi or Coke for your morning breakfast beverage. Not anymore. things can change.

I'd drink a good beer in the morning long before I'd drink a Coke.

And I'd rather drink Budweiser in the morning than Pepsi. ;)

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by Steve16823
I'd rather drink Budweiser in the morning than Pepsi. ;) I can safely say I'd rather have battery acid than either of those two....

[sallad]

People thought you were nuts if you drank a Pepsi or Coke for your morning breakfast beverage.

i'd rather have a beer with breakfast than soda. well, i very rarely drink soda anyway, so...

any time can be beer time -- especially while on vacation! it is never too early if you're out camping or something like that. on a few occasions, i've popped off a few pints *before* breakfast.

on a work day? forget it. a beer with dinner (or maybe while i'm cooking dinner) is about as early as it gets.

[unkle bik]

After work and in the afternnon on weekends.

Never during work hours. Not even during lunch. Not to sound too puritanical, but I feel it's "their" time, not mine.
If I can't wait for those times, then I would feel it would be a problem.

BTW, it's "pop", not "soda".
Soda sounds too fruity.

[wortchillergoal]

Originally posted by Steve16823
And I'd rather drink Budweiser in the morning than Pepsi. ;)

With therapy and lots of hard work, we can cure you of such thoughts.

[Steve16823]

Originally posted by wortchillergoal
With therapy and lots of hard work, we can cure you of such thoughts.

I'm just saying my disdain for Pepsi is greater than my disdain for Budweiser. (Especially, I might add, after watching "SuperSize Me!" last night).

In other words, there's little chance i'm drinking either one of them, especially in the morning.

Fretless, pass the battery acid.... ;)

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by unkle bik


BTW, it's "pop", not "soda".
Soda sounds too fruity. "Pop" sounds like you're either taking pills, or you're about to hit someone.

SODA. The liquid mimicks bicarbonate of soda mixed with water, and the only thing that "pops" on it is the bottle cap or the lid to the aluminium can. So the container "pops," but the liquid inside is SODA. Case closed. :)

[wortchillergoal]

Originally posted by Steve16823
I'm just saying my disdain for Pepsi is greater than my disdain for Budweiser. (Especially, I might add, after watching "SuperSize Me!" last night).

In other words, there's little chance i'm drinking either one of them, especially in the morning.

Fretless, pass the battery acid.... ;)

See, I knew there was hope.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by Steve16823

Fretless, pass the battery acid.... ;) Hmmmm... sounds painful - what if I just didn't drink it instead?

[unkle bik]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
[BCase closed. :) [/B]

Wow!! a response.

[fretlessman71]

Surprised? By now I'm sure you know I'm up for just about any argument regarding semantics, spelling (even when I screw up myself), and jargon.... then again, maybe you're just being sarcastic, and that just won't do on this board. Please flog yourself with a wet celery stalk so one of us won't have to come over there and do it for you! :D

[MeridianFC]

In general I like to wait till the afternoon, but sometime you just got to say WTF. During the last World Cup we were at it starting at 4am. Festival days are good for catching a "country buzz" (the opposite of the thing you take a "disco nap" for).

[Fly Creek]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
"Pop" sounds like you're either taking pills, or you're about to hit someone.

SODA. The liquid mimicks bicarbonate of soda mixed with water, and the only thing that "pops" on it is the bottle cap or the lid to the aluminium can. So the container "pops," but the liquid inside is SODA. Case closed. :)

There are those who would say it's neither pop or soda; it's TONIC! (seriously)

I'm sorry, but one thing I have learned from these threads is that the case is never closed (unless, of course, you are staring at 24 empties...).

[unkle bik]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
Surprised? By now I'm sure you know I'm up for just about any argument regarding semantics, spelling (even when I screw up myself), and jargon.... then again, maybe you're just being sarcastic, and that just won't do on this board. Please flog yourself with a wet celery stalk so one of us won't have to come over there and do it for you! :D

Surprised? Yes and no. Yes to that fact that I did get a response. I get the feeling here that unless you are amongst the select six or seven chosen few, you posts won’t get a remark or a response. Unless you ruffle someone’s feathers. Which I apparently did. Won’t tolerate sarcasm? What a shame, heaven forbid that anyone disagree with any of the “good ole boys" here. Perhaps it was the remarks I said previously regarding members drinking, heaven forbid, a macro brew that got me blacklisted. You or one of the other members said you said you weren’t "sanctimonious". You know, at the time, I believed that. Now that opinion has changed. (BTW, your poll proved that most would drink one anyhow.)

Funny, I had high hopes for this board. I thought a person could come here and exchange ideas and thoughts, whether we agree or disagree. Well, I guess I was wrong. It’s just a case of appeasing members high on the food, er, beer chain. Perfect example:

http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4429&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

Read TjsBrew’s remark on page 2. The fellow was friendly and gave out much info about himself. Did anyone follow up with a “hello” or “welcome”. No, but the chosen few got back with their silly chit-chat. Funny actions for why aren't you a Realbeer member. No wonder the guy left after 5 posts.

No need to come over and flog me with a celery stalk, either. Just pull the plug on me and I’ll let the select few sit here and flame me for a couple minutes. Should give you something to do instead of agreeing with each other.

Good luck to the other members outside the “secret circle.” May your remarks and suggestions be positive to the chosen few.

Heaven forbid if a political thread were ever introduced to this board.

Later, and thanx for nothing.

[Steve16823]

Uncle Bik,

I'm not at all interested in flaming you, but I do personally disagree with you. I came to this board very recently when I started homebrewing again and have found it to be a fantastic place to share knowledge. Sure, there are some 'social cliques' but that is to be expected on any message board where people have been members for long periods of time.

I've had many questions answered here, and i've even been able to offer people my own worthless advice. :D I am not afraid to disagree with anyone here, nor do I feel shut out of conversations when I do. I even said I would drink a macro-brew if a friend offered me one -- and I lived to tell about it!

Regretfully, in any message board there will be occasions where someone's post is ignored or forgotten for any number of reasons or for no reason at all. I'm sure everyone feels bad looking at the thread you pointed to that shows a new member being completely ignored. I suspect he was ignored because once people got way off topic with silly Monty Python quotes, most everyone quit reading it -- including me.

Anyhow, that's my view. Don't take things personally. And I am certainly not "one of the chosen few".

Best Regards,

Steve

P.S. Never, ever, ever, EVER mix politics with homebrewing. No good can come from that.

[wortchillergoal]

WOW! This change of topic comes out of right field; or is it left? Uncle bik, I am sorry you feel that way. Yes, I am one of the many members who missed giving that new member a big hello. I think Steve 16823 might be correct on what happened though it does not excuse the commuinty as a whole. I would point out though that I never got a welcome to the board post sent in my direction.

I find the big posters here to be very friendly and full of information. I can same the say same of people with fewer posts.

I have had posts and threads go with no response. I am sorry that I don't understand you placing importance on this point.

As for a political thread, I believe that a few have crossed these boards.

Disagreements do hapen. Fly creek and I did on a subject. We contiued to share info, though it led to no solid answers. We have exchanged friendly PMs since then.

I hope you consider your choice of action and stick around.

[paul84043]

Wow, I leave you guys alone for, uh...6 months, and all he!! breaks loose!!

Forums are funny aren't they? It's really pointless to argue over them, it's like complaining because the sun came up. They are all so different, but at the same time, so alike.

As far as my response to the original post....
I have a hard time drinking early in the day for several reasons, it usually makes me tired if I only have one or two and I'm struggling for the remainder of the day, and then there's the need to go run errands, drive kids around, think, stuff like that. I like to settle in and have all that "other" stuff out of the way so that when I'm done drinking, I can just go to bed...

There are rare occasions, and they are getting even more rare as I get "older"...where popping one open at 10 AM is just what I need....

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by unkle bik
Surprised? Yes and no. Yes to that fact that I did get a response. I get the feeling here that unless you are amongst the select six or seven chosen few, you posts won’t get a remark or a response. Unless you ruffle someone’s feathers. Which I apparently did. Won’t tolerate sarcasm? What a shame, heaven forbid that anyone disagree with any of the “good ole boys" here. Perhaps it was the remarks I said previously regarding members drinking, heaven forbid, a macro brew that got me blacklisted. You or one of the other members said you said you weren’t "sanctimonious". You know, at the time, I believed that. Now that opinion has changed. (BTW, your poll proved that most would drink one anyhow.)

Funny, I had high hopes for this board. I thought a person could come here and exchange ideas and thoughts, whether we agree or disagree. Well, I guess I was wrong. It’s just a case of appeasing members high on the food, er, beer chain. Perfect example:

http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4429&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

Read TjsBrew’s remark on page 2. The fellow was friendly and gave out much info about himself. Did anyone follow up with a “hello” or “welcome”. No, but the chosen few got back with their silly chit-chat. Funny actions for why aren't you a Realbeer member. No wonder the guy left after 5 posts.

No need to come over and flog me with a celery stalk, either. Just pull the plug on me and I’ll let the select few sit here and flame me for a couple minutes. Should give you something to do instead of agreeing with each other.

Good luck to the other members outside the “secret circle.” May your remarks and suggestions be positive to the chosen few.

Heaven forbid if a political thread were ever introduced to this board.

Later, and thanx for nothing. Ok, I'll bite....

Blacklisted? Not at all. I've never had anything at all against you, and have read your posts with interest, whether or not I agreed with you. Yes, my poll proved me wrong - what about it? People here are free to drink what they please, regardless of how I feel about it.

Did you see the big grinning smiley after my post? That is to let you, and everybody else know, that I'm really not serious about what I have to say. If you'll read the post carefully, you'll notice how I mention that "sarcasm will not be tolerated here"... which is a sarcastic comment in and of itself. Are you really that upset at the rest of us that you can't see that?

Regarding TJBrew's comment: What you probably don't know is that TJ had already worn out his welcome with his first 4 posts, which were nothing more than an advertisement for his eBay auction. I suggested that if he really wanted to be a member of the board, he should knock off the spam posts and properly introduce himself, which he did... unfortunately, the damage had already been done.

If you read these posts closely (instead of just waiting for someone to say something to you directly), you'll find that very often we DON'T agree. There have been several threads here that I thought were going to end up with one member flying across the country to beat the crap out of another one. And THEY were able to keep their cool and act like adults about it. This isn't just a secret circle of a few people; there may be about 10-15 that make most of the posts, but to what harm?

And I hate to say this the way you're probably going to take it, but.... if you're going to get worked up over whether or not I use the term "soda" instead of "pop", then yeah... you're probably on the wrong board. Sorry to lose you; hope you have a change of heart.

[paul84043]

This is by far the coolest, most well behaved forum I have ever seen FWIW.

[Beaver]

Originally posted by paul84043
This is by far the coolest, most well behaved forum I have ever seen FWIW.

I'll second that. Most forums get pretty confrontational with a lot of pretty ignorant trolls.

[MeridianFC]

Not to take this off topic bit....er.... off topic but a member, who shall remain nameless (there I didn't rat you out fretlessman...oops), inquired about "disco naps" and "country buzz" which I guess is fairly local paralance around here. A "country buzz" is what you get when you go out drinking early so you can be in bed by 10pm. A "disco nap" is what you take right after work when you want to start partying at 10pm.

I'm usually a country buzz type of fellow. I turn into a pumpkin after midnight. Not that I haven't wrapped the clock around in my day.

[chazwicke]

I enjoy everyone's posts here and have a respect for all of you. If I see a post by someone new I'll almost always welcome them to the board. The more the merrier. I'm not sure about a secret circle but I hang here frequently and have many posts because I have a lot of time to do it.

I'm in favor of drink a beer anytime. The situation dictates it. I rarely have a beer in the morning but have in the past. I'm with Richard on this topic.

Uncle Bik, I hope you hang around. I've enjoyed your posts and perspective in the past.

[Fast_Eddy]

I pretty much will have a beer whenever I feel like it - I just don't usually feel like it early in the morning. But on Sat or Sun, watching football, I oftern indulge early.

Uncle Bik - hope you stick around.

And how come no one has ever shown me this blacklist? Dammit - I'm always the last to know :(

[Steve16823]

Originally posted by Fast_Eddy

And how come no one has ever shown me this blacklist? Dammit - I'm always the last to know :(

Everybody, do you think Fast Eddy is on to us??

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by Steve16823
Everybody, do you think Fast Eddy is on to us??

Actually I was thinking - if you don't know about a blacklist then I'm pretty sure you must be on it :)

It's like that joke about family reunions - "If you don't know about that person(s) at your family reunion that everybody hates to talk to - then you're that person."

[kc_glandt]

Show up for breakfast like you were never gone. It's never too early to tie one on!! There is a shirt that has a great saying relating to this topic at www.kcgteees.com

[wild]

I voted for "When I get home from work". But for me that's 8 a.m. I still get strange looks from folks driving by while saunter out to retrieve the mail with a tall pilsner in my hand that early in the morning. I've found that it’s a complete different crowd seen at the early morning happy hour at the pub.

Wild

[fretlessman71]

Dangit... I slept for 4 hours, got up, showered, decided to check my email, and here I am at 5am and I want a beer. What category does that fit into, anyway? WHO CAME UP WITH THIS STUPID POLL???? Jeez Louise.. they'll let anyone post a poll on this board! I'm goin' back to bed.... ;)

[b3s]

here i am in a hotel room with 1/2 a growler of stodbrew's okto waiting on my breakfast...mmmm, but i'll wait for the evening...stupid mores of society!

[Lamprey]

Any time that imbibing will not interfere with other activities is an o.k. time to imbibe.

That said, rarely have I had one before 1100 hrs, but when I did, it was the right situation and it actually felt right - like on the golf course for a bachelor party at 0900.

Typically though, I have one with or after dinner on the week nights, and one or two or three or...later on the weekends.

After reading the "embedded thread", I realized I never introduced myself to the board - I just tend to pop in once in a while when I have time and provide comment or ask a question that I may have. I hope that's o.k. I enjoy reading the threads and have had all my questions answered. I don't contribute to much to answering folks questions because I really don't know all that much - but maybe that will change. Anyway, I have a big interest in brewing, have brewed, oh, 7 or so extract batches, and hope to hook up soon with someone to show me how to do all grain to get me through the cold winter. I'm a Red Sox fan - and the've almost tied it up! (that's why I'm logged on now, I couldn't watch!), and I enjoy all kinds of brews.

[Lamprey]

and my spelling sucks....

[corysdad]

Originally posted by Lamprey
Any time that imbibing will not interfere with other activities is an o.k. time to imbibe.

That said, rarely have I had one before 1100 hrs, but when I did, it was the right situation and it actually felt right - like on the golf course for a bachelor party at 0900.

Typically though, I have one with or after dinner on the week nights, and one or two or three or...later on the weekends.

After reading the "embedded thread", I realized I never introduced myself to the board - I just tend to pop in once in a while when I have time and provide comment or ask a question that I may have. I hope that's o.k. I enjoy reading the threads and have had all my questions answered. I don't contribute to much to answering folks questions because I really don't know all that much - but maybe that will change. Anyway, I have a big interest in brewing, have brewed, oh, 7 or so extract batches, and hope to hook up soon with someone to show me how to do all grain to get me through the cold winter. I'm a Red Sox fan - and the've almost tied it up! (that's why I'm logged on now, I couldn't watch!), and I enjoy all kinds of brews.

Lamprey, you don't sound any different than most of us, glad to get your input. Welcome to the boards.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by Lamprey
and my spelling sucks.... Don't worry... I've been dubbed the "Happy Helper" because I correct people's speeling all the time. ;) Seriously, though... it's not because I'm arrogant; I simply believe that people who aren't as good at spelling will improve if they see the correct spelling of a word more often than not. It's a visual memory thing.

Anyway, enough about my spelling ranting and raving and back to beer! Welcome to the boards!

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
[B]Don't worry... I've been dubbed the "Happy Helper" because I correct people's speeling all the time. ;) ]

Ahem.....S P E L L I N G

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Ahem.....S P E L L I N G Drat... you caught me! Oh well... that dry sense of humor just isn't for everyone, I guess.... ;)

[chazwicke]

I knew yoo were kidding. :D

[fretlessman71]

Oh, sure... he says that now... :p