Reflecting on Limes in Beers

[dberry]

Lime in beer? That's the slippery slope to wine coolers.

 

[BrewingDiver]

Good point, especially since those are malt based, not wine

 

[mcohen1021]

Those of us old enough? Who of us DIDN’T have the “Buckwheat say, Corona Otay!” Tshirt?

 

[Magnus Lundstedt]

Their lagers have more flavor than the typical American beer though.

As stated by the Monthy Phyton gang: American beer is like making love in a canoe, f**ing close to water. ;-)

 

[arew+4]

I always thought the citrus in the beer went back to the days of long sea voyages, and the prevention of scurrvy

 

[horn34]

I always thought the citrus in the beer went back to the days of long sea voyages, and the prevention of scurrvy

and that's why we refer to our backwards UK brethren as "limeys"!

 

[dberry]

I always thought the citrus in the beer went back to the days of long sea voyages, and the prevention of scurrvy

I thought they drank grog (rum + water), not beer. But citrus, yes, to prevent scurvy.

 

[arew+4]

From the Smithsonian...
The Dutch had effectively found a cure for scurvy in the 16th century, although at this early date it wasn’t understood why beer and fruits prevented scurvy. John Woodall (1570-1643), military surgeon to the British East India Company, recommended citrus to ward off or cure the debilitating disease. But the first to systematically study the benefits of certain food and drink was James Lind (1716-1794). His seminal work, A Treatise on the Scurvy (Edinburgh and London, 1753), made the concept widely accepted. Beer was certainly a more economical remedy than providing fresh fruits. Only later a fixed amount of lemon juice was decreed by the British Admiralty to be added to the provisions for a mariner. Long before the nickname “Jack Tar,” a British sailor in North America was called a “limey” for the habit of sucking on limes.

 

[ggunn]

As stated by the Monthy Phyton gang: American beer is like making love in a canoe, f**ing close to water. ;-)

Did you do that on purpose? It's Monty Python. Or maybe Monthy Phyton is someone else?

I've heard that joke many times but not told by Eric Idle and friends.

 

[ggunn]

Amen! I don't mind an IPA on occasion, but I don't get this trend over the last few years of breweries trying to out-hop each other. Give me a nice, malty porter any day. Even in the summer.

As for putting lime in a Corona, the issue is the Corona, not the lime.

I've been told that the reason IPAs are so hop-forward is that beer made in England and shipped via sailing ships to India often spoiled on its trip around the tip of Africa, but loading it up with hops tended to preserve it.