Reflecting on Limes in Beers

[Streydog]

Where is this brewery?

From Melgar and Calle 3 by the Thirsty Cougar, walk two blocks back and take a left. It will be on your right in half a block.

 

[dflaher]

Sweet...thanks.

 

[ibj40]

Corona Con Lima

 

[Magnus Lundstedt]

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.

No, it was not on purpose, sorry.

This is where i heard it first, many deccades agoo.

 

[ibj40]

In the 1970s, nobody ever poked a slice of lime down the neck of their beer bottle. Limes were only served with Tecate beer, a beer that only came in a can. Some Mexicans said it was to cover the taste, as Tecate was the cheapest beer in Mexico back then. I suspect it had more to do with Tecate’s ad campaigns which showed a Tecate can with a slice of lime making it seem akin to tequila, but who knows.

My first experience with lime in a beer in Mexico was around 1976. We hauled a race-prepared Lotus Elan from Austin, Texas to Monterrey, Mexico for an event at the Autodromo.

After the race on Sunday, we were loading up the car and all our gear and a beer vendor comes by with a box hung from his neck, dripping the melting ice covering a load of Tecate cans. In a plastic cup on one side of the box were a pile of lime wedges; on the other side was a smaller cup full of those paper salt packets.

It was hot, we were thirsty and not going far that evening, so our driver signaled the guy over and bought a round. The vendor grabbed a beer, a wedge, and a packet and handed them to each of us. When we hesitated, he took one back, opened the salt and sprinkled it on top of the can, took the lime and filled the top of the can with a solid squeeze, and then popped the top of the beer.

The beer was ice cold, and that first sip, under the circumstances, was heavenly. It took several more rounds to finish loading, and we slept in the motor home that we towed the car with, right there at the track that night.

On the way back, we stopped and bought several cases more of Tecate before we got to the border. None of us had seen it domestically, although within the next year or so, both bottles and cans were available through a number of package stores.

 

[WetInPortland]

I've been told that the bottlers won't accept returns with anything in the bottle. My neighbor reports seeing bar staff digging lime wedges out of bottles with a coat hanger in the early morning on his way to the dive shop.

If you want to have lime in your beer (more on that in the next post) squeeze the juice into the bottle, and save the bar staff from having to dig out one more lime wedge.

 

[WetInPortland]

Rather than argue over opinions on various beers, can't we just all get along and respect our differences? (I know, I know, this violates ScubaBoard protocol, but just this once?) The BJCP style guide (BJCP Style Guidelines) runs 93 pages, lists 34 different styles, and with all the derivatives, there are easily over 100 different types of beer. Now go quaff a few and enjoy what you like, with or without the lime!

 

[ibj40]

I've been told that the bottlers won't accept returns with anything in the bottle. My neighbor reports seeing bar staff digging lime wedges out of bottles with a coat hanger in the early morning on his way to the dive shop.

If you want to have lime in your beer (more on that in the next post) squeeze the juice into the bottle, and save the bar staff from having to dig out one more lime wedge.

Back when we owned a house on the island, we bought our Sol (in bottles back then, there were no cans) from a beer vendor up on 65 (just North of the San Francisco grocery store).

I agree, they required the bottles to be free of debris, but what we did was grabbed the empty by the butt end, and holding on to it firmly, flung it toward the ground. I believe we had about a 99% expulsion success rate.

 

[ggunn]

Rather than argue over opinions on various beers, can't we just all get along and respect our differences?

Who was arguing? I made my preferences clear, I believe, but they are just my preferences. To reiterate, I like porters, ambers, and stouts, I dislike lite beers and IPA's, and I like a bit of lime (just the juice) in some, but not all, beers.

YMMV and DSFDF.

 

[grantwiscour]

V-8 isn't a fruit but mixes with beer.