One of the less welcome imports from the USA is the bland lager "Miller Lite" which features in many trendy restaurants and bars. In England there is generally no good reason to drink this stuff anyway, given that you can usually buy some proper ale. Even if you like watery pale yellow lager, you can get much cheaper "Novus Ordo Eurofizz" out of various pumps.
But now there is a special reason to eschew the Miller Lite option. The sponsored last weekend's homosexual "Leather" street fair in San Francisco. At the last minute they got cold feet and asked that their logo be withdrawn from the poster showing Our Lord and his disciples as half naked sado-masochists.
Not enough! I agree with the sentiments of Dad29 who warns that if anyone brings the ghastly brew into his house, the 12-packs will be emptied by a single blast from his .410 shotgun.
Let me hasten to add - for any MI5, Special Branch or anti-terrorsit monitors - that I do not possess any firearms. As we know, in England, firearms are only for criminals.
28 comments:
Ah, a most interesting post.
I didn't know about Miller's nasty advertisement in the U.S.A., but I've seen people drinking "Miller lite" here in England.
It looks unpleasant.
I don't honestly know (and haven't asked) if "lite" means light coloured.
If so, it is what in the old days we called Pilsner.
My first encounter with lager beer was many, many years ago in Austria.
It definitely was not Pilsner.
It was a rich, rather dark colour, with a strange Germanic name ( and very strong for a novice).
Like my fellow students (there were four of us "doing" Austria in the long vac), I was less pernickety in those days about what I poured into my interior.
In fact, the main pursuit at university seemed to be drinking beer.
Essays were poorly researched and written at break neck speed at the very last minute.
But I digress.
Lager beer seems to me a very foreign thing for an Englishman to want to drink.
What's wrong with a good ale ?
Ale is never chilled or super chilled.
And, as far as I know, ale has no associations with any "gay pride" events, or whatever.
I'm quite fond of a glass or two of Morland's "Old Speckled Hen", though I'm happy to sample any fine ale.
I suppose Dad29 is being very American in keeping a shotgun handy.
But, no, I don't need a gun to keep the other stuff at of the house.
I simply wouldn't buy it.
Usually if we have beer in the house it usually ends up being Miller, but not any more.
Miller pulls sponsorship from San Francisco homosexual “Leather Event”
God be praised!
Perhaps there is more to this than meets the eye. I expect some local duffus thought "This would be a great idea" then somebody upstairs handed him or her their respective head.
It's a moot point anyway. I wouldn't touch Miller light with a 10 foot pole as it is.
Father, I really appreciate these periodic updates about companies that support bad things, and I wish more priests would do this sort of things to help us make better purchasing decisions. Keep up the good work!
I was glad to hear Fr. Mitch Pacwa SJ also make a very strong statement against all this nonsense last night on his EWTN live show. Our celebrated American "virtue" of "tolerance" does not apply to Christianity, apparently!
Although I'm an American, I only drink the real stuff, mostly imports, but also a growing number of Micro-breweries in the US. My history professor told us that the "American style" beers are watered down because of the Prohibition in America--before Prohibition, our beers rivaled the European beers, but during the Prohibition, the ingredients for a proper beer were banned. Other ingredients (such as rice) were added to the mix, and the beer was watered down to give more profit for less beer. I guess that some people liked the new mix better, and after Prohibition was repealed, the major brewing companies in the US kept the weakened mixture. I doubt that most Americans today could really appreciate a fine beer--the culture is just too different.
You don't have to worry about this American, Father. I prefer Chimay Grande Reserve from our Trappist brethren.
Wouldn't touch it with a bargepole!
I hate any "Lite" anyway.
JARay
I am an American, of the Catholic clergy variety, and I have informed my RCIA class and others of the Miller "gay pride" on-and-off sponsorship. I have asked them to boycott the company and make a point that Miller Brewery might understand. I am a very moderate drinker of alcohol, and I have to agree that most American beer is just fizzy water. Rob is correct in noting that American beer before Prohibition in the 1930's was as good as any fine European beer. This is no longer the case, sadly, and I only drink
English, Belgian, and German ales.
My latest discovery is German wheat beer especially the one from Weihenstephan brewery, the oldest brewery in the world which has ancient Catholic monastic roots - naturally. Dr. Wright - I feel badly that we Americans are so associated with guns in the minds of our cousins across the sea. In my family there were never any and there are many Americans who would not touch a gun - or a bottle Miller Lite.
Being a longtime resident of Milwaukee I am very familiar with Miller and it beers. I could never stand Miller's "High Life" beer or their Lite beer and only occasionally tolerated MGD - but no more! I would prefer a Guinness anyway...
Years ago in Rome we would occasionally be served Peroni beer (Birra Peroni!) and concluded that while the Italians made good wine, their beer stunk (we used a more earthy expression for it, though).
Now I see that Peroni is sold here in the US as an 'imported beer' - meaning they can charge more for it. I find that amusing.
I'm partial to Spaten, but a good northwest US microbrew also works.
I would drink gunpowder in water before I'd drink Miller Lite.
;)
After having spent just twenty days in the US, I'm already fed up with American lager. Apparently "Miller Lite" is not even the worst, "Natural Lite" has that distinction. Yorkshire bitter cannot be beaten. I just hope Sam Smith doesn't start giving money to Planned Parenthood.
This is a very enjoyable thread.
Well, from the comments, there appear to be some very discerning beer drinkers out there.
I'm glad there's a consensus against "Miller Lite" and other inferior beer.
And, from my days in Italy, I can certainly confirm from what GOR says : the Italians can make wine, but they can't make beer. I would merely say it is probably better than drinking the local water.
What Rob and Father Stephen say about the effect of Prohibition on the quality of American beer is most interesting.
People in England say the same thing about the effect of World War II, with its rationing and shortages, on the quality of English beer.
I like the sound of the wheat beer from Weihenstephan brewery, Bavaria, recommended by Father Stephen.
Although English ale is brewed from barley malt, wheat beer seems to be brewed in a similar fashion, i.e. top fermentation at a higher temperature than lager beers.
I've visited the Weihenstephan website and read up about Weissbier.
I wonder which beer Father Stephen recommends, the Hefe-Weissbier or the Kristall-Weissbier ?
I think we're all onto something better than the modern stuff, very properly derided by Father Tim as "Novus Ordo Eurofizz".
(I hope he doesn't mind the combox turning into a forum for the discussion of fine beers.)
I wonder if Father Z (WDTPRS) might like to start a similar discussion on his blog sometime ?
I'm sure there would be a stimulating debate.
And perhaps we could all vote on it.
Just a thought.
I too discovered the excellence of Spaten, but checked my fridge for anything made by Miller Brewing Company.
There are names they make of which I was unaware. I've got some of them named, and a link in my blog post on this.
I was surprised to learn that Fosters and Red Dog were made by Miller.
I'm done with them. If I had 10 cases in my house I would empty them all without drinking a drop. IMHO, it's no longer even suitable for my hardwood smoker water pan where I normally put beer to flavor meat.
Who's our "Lod"?
Sorry, adod - I'be had a bib of a cod the past cubble of daze. Bust be refwecte id by whiting. Cowwected dow.
It is remarkable how any mention of beer gets a healthy combox going. I agree about German wheat beer. Our supermarkets now sell various makes of this stuff and it is not Novus Ordo Eurofizz.
Good ol' Fr Mitch Pacwa. If anyone sees him, shake his hand for me.
And yes, Birra Peroni... When I was at College, nastro azzurro was the standard offered in the beer machine. Pleasantly cold on a humid Roman evening but that was all that could be said for it.
Dr. Wright -
I prefer the Hefe-Weissbier (sometimes just called Weissbier or Hefe Weissen). These beers are top fermented. It is cloudy because of the particles of yeast floating in it.The Kristall Weissbier is basically the same thing only with the yeast particles filtered out to please modern visual aesthetics. I always get the unfiltered, cloudy weissbier. By the way, wheat beer is brewed with both barley and wheat with the wheat being the larger component. There are many good wheat beers from Germany. I also like Hacker-Pschorr Weissbier.
These breweries also make lagers, so read the labels before buying. God bless. Prosit.
Father Stephen,
Thanks for the advice.
I'm going to buy in some Hefe-Weissbier.
I've read up some more about the ingredients.
You're right about the wheat AND barley.
I didn't know that before you mentioned it.
There seems to be more wheat beer available to buy in England than I had realised.
Well, here's to a successful boycott of Miller & Co.
Good health !
One last comment on Fr. Finigan's Beer Blog - namely that I miswrote
the German word for "Wheat Beer"
It should be Weizenbier (wheat beer)not "Weissen" as I wrote. It also called Weissbier (white beer) also called Hefe Weizenbier (Yeast wheat bier) and....I think that's it or, at least, enough. This kind of beer has it's own kind of glass - rather tall - to accommodate the head, which is considerable at first and then subsides. Drink up - moderately. God bless one and all.
Well, we Deutsche-descended Colonials are legally and happily armed.
And that .410 is only one of several little delights!
You should drop o'er here, mate, and sample the freedom (while WE still have it...)
Beer from a 'beer machine' - Yikes! Fr Tim writes that it was ....'Pleasantly cold on a humid Roman evening but that was all that could be said for it'.
So is the water in the Fontana Di Trevi, and I wouldn't drink that either!
Some comments from a German if permitted: It’s either Weißbier (white beer) or (Hefe-)Weizen ((yeast) wheat); in the latter case, it’s very uncommen to add „beer“, though not incorrect. I actually don’t think the filtering of the yeast in the Kristallweizen is only done for aesthetic reasons: it also makes the beer less satiating. You can drink it year-round obviously, but it is most popular (and I almost only drink it) in summer, especially in beer gardens. Something that has become increasingly popular is to drink it with a slice of lemon – anathema sit!
As for the brands: The Weihenstephan on is quite good (and you are actually helping the Bavarian state by buying it: it used to be first a canonry, then a monastery from about 800 until the secularisation in 1803, and since then the brewery belongs to the Bavarian state and is, because of ist origins, dependent from the ministry for Cultus, i.e. education). The Pope is said to prefer the Franziskaner Weissbier (http://www.franziskaner.info/content.php), which is also good. Like some have said, I also very much like Spaten, which is also served in the most traditional tent at the Oktoberfest („Schottenhammel“). Paulaner is very good as well.
Some interesting (I hope) history: I’m sure you all know about the „Bavarian Purity Law“ (Bayerisches Reinheitsgebot) of 1516 (unfortunately abrogated by EU-law, but still observed by German brewers), but did you know that Weißbier was first prohibited (mid 16th century) because of the scarcity of wheat which was needed for bread, and then readmitted around 1600 – but as a monopoly of the Dukes of Bavaria! So, until ca. 1800, there was a Weißbierprivileg – white beer privilege, which is the reason why you have a Hofbräuhaus, a court brewery, in Munich, which was also the only place that was allowed to brew the Bockbier, a rather strong, but quite tasty beer. And then there is Doppelbock (double bock), the most famous called „Salvator“, which is only brewed and consumed during Lent – but not for the obvious reasons you would guess, i.e. circumventing Lenten fast. Instead it was brewed by the Paulaner monks (the Minims), who brewed it on the day of their Founder, St. Francis of Paula, April 2. Therefore, they called it „Sankt-Vaters-Bier“ (St. Father’s beer), which was corrupted into Salvator.
That's a very interesting comment from Berolinensis.
First of all, thanks for explaining the correct terminology : I should speak of Weissbier or Hefe-Weizen.
Is that right ?
That's a fascinating history about brewing in Bavaria.
And I shall enjoy visting the websites mentioned.
Perhaps I should start with the Pope's preference : Franziskaner Weissbier.
Now I must go and do some research work ...
Prosit.
I viewed,"The Catholic League" with pictures in regard to the Folsom St. Fair. I think a lot of this protest borders on a pruient interest.
I can vividly recall experiences from Catholic grammar school that could have been included in the Fair. The teaching sisters methods of corporeal punishment and how the sisters administerd it, truly were sadistic.
Edward P. Walton
There may have been some such practices - at Catholic and non-Catholic schools. But many of us also recall dedicated priests and sisters who were streets ahead of their secular counterparts in caring for children.
Chaldean Catholics Lead Boycott of Miller
By Robert Delaney11/3/2007Catholic News Service (www.catholicnews.com)
We pray for courageous Chaldean Catholics suffering in war ravaged Iraq, the once, and still, land of Christian Martyrs. Now, it is the Chaldean Catholics in America who lead the way in standing up against commercial hostility and degradation of the Catholic faith demonstrated by Miller.
DETROIT (CNS) - Chaldean Catholic Bishop Ibrahim N. Ibrahim credited the support of Chaldean Catholics in metro Detroit for the success of a boycott of Miller Brewing Co. products that he said resulted in the company pledging to never again support events that insult and offend religious sensibilities. "We were a big factor in that," said Bishop Ibrahim, who heads the Southfield, Mich.-based Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle, the Chaldean Catholic diocese for the eastern half of the United States. In metropolitan Detroit, Chaldean Catholics own about 2,000 party stores -- about 90 percent of the total of the area's independent neighborhood convenience stores that sell food and other items, including alcoholic beverages. Bishop Ibrahim worked with Chaldean ethnic and business groups to boycott Miller products after the company's logo appeared on a poster for a Sept. 30 San Francisco street fair that mocked Leonardo da Vinci's painting of "The Last Supper" and had what critics described as a sadomasochistic theme. The New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and other Christian groups expressed outrage, and the league immediately called for a boycott of Miller until the company apologized for its association with the poster and the fair. On Oct. 31 the Catholic League said it was dropping the boycott and its anti-Miller public relations campaign because the company had extended its Oct. 26 apology over the use of its logo to an acknowledgment of "disrespectful activities" at the fair. The poster featured men clad in the leather outfits common to the sadomasochistic homosexual subculture. Various sex toys were on the table in front of them. The fair itself featured a man dressed as Christ and a stripper who were lifted up over a Catholic church by a piece of construction machinery men dressed in mock nun garb. Bishop Ibrahim announced the boycott Oct. 14 at Mother of God Chaldean Cathedral in Southfield. "I told our people, if they are really believers in Jesus Christ, to boycott Miller products," the bishop said. "Our religion is important for us. I told our people Sunday (Oct. 28), 'Look how it is in Iraq, with all the pressure on them, not one (Chaldean) family has changed their religion. And here we are in the United States, and someone is mocking our religion, and we are going to do nothing?'" Bishop Ibrahim told The Michigan Catholic, newspaper of the Latin-rite Detroit Archdiocese. "I told them that if they support someone who is supporting such activities, it is just as if they were doing those activities too," he said. The bishop and leaders of Chaldean ethnic and business groups were meeting the afternoon of Oct. 29 at the Chaldean diocesan center in Southfield, a Detroit suburb, when they received word from Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee, where Miller is based, that he had just received a new letter from Miller that seemed to agree with the terms. Two days later the league announced it was ending the boycott. Bishop Ibrahim said he is very pleased with the near total participation of Chaldean business owners with the boycott. "I'm happy we defended our faith and our values," the bishop said. On Oct. 29, Saad Kassab, proprietor of the King of Woodward party store in Highland Park, about a half-mile north of Detroit's Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, told The Michigan Catholic he had ordered no Miller products for the store for three weeks. "They disrespected my religion. It's not right; it wouldn't be right to do it with any religion," said Kassab, a member of St. Thomas Chaldean Parish in West Bloomfield Township. His wife, Ahlam Kassab, said that when they explain the reasons behind the boycott to customers, "99 percent of our customers are agreeing with it." - - -Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Post a Comment