Hondo Gravel

After a week of building a gravel road and riding 122 gravel miles it is time for a cold beer and some fried fish. Keystone Light yes cheap and easy on the head in the morning. No regrets.

LuckySailor

When I was 18-19 years old, all I drank was beer. Hard stuff very rarely. When I was 24, I changed from beer always, to beer just about never, rum being my choice of poison. In 2015, to celebrate my 50th birthday, I rode with a group across Canada. When we stopped to make camp the first evening, all I craved was an ice cold beer. I had brought a full 40 oz bottle of Spiced Rum, and a full box of Cab/Sauv, but all I wanted was beer. This beer craving went on for the entire 72 day trek. I did drain the rum and a couple boxes of red wine, but beer was my fave when we rolled into camp. I wonder if it'll be the same this year riding up to the Arctic Circle........

Hondo Gravel

burnthesheep

You like what you like, but please buy cheapo beer if you're drinking it ice cold. That ruins beer. Don't ruin good beer, let us drink it for you instead.

KraneXL

Fascinating. I remember growing up and watching commercials where kids/families would be shown enjoying certain foods that to me were simply awful. I was so confused. Did any of you not experience a similar phase? Tell me more about what drove you to this initial beer craving. It had to have been more than the taste.

Hondo Gravel

KraneXL

No wonder I never got it. Apparently I've been proceeding from an incorrect premise: it isn't just about the taste.

canklecat

Family and social group culture, genetic and acquired taste.

I don't like most sweet drinks and rarely drink sodas or pops unless I'm seriously thirsty and there's nothing else available. I'd rather drink tepid tap water than a Coke. I drink coffee with a little sugar and cream, but that's about all. I find most electrolyte sports drinks too sweet, but supposedly a little sugar helps with fluid absorption. I usually dilute the powdered electrolyte mixes with twice as much water as recommended.

In soft drinks I prefer unsweetened iced tea and club soda. I like tonic water but would prefer it unsweetened, or less sweet. Ice cold American lagers and pilsners are inoffensive thirst quenchers. Not sweet (other than Miller), very little bitterness or even flavor, pretty much like club soda with a very small amount of alcohol. Good with heavily flavored foods -- Mexican, pizza, grilled burgers, bbq, Thai, Szechuan. I enjoy an occasional pint of strongly flavored local craft beer for the potent flavors, citrus hops or heavily malted -- a couple of friends run a brewery that offers both and they're incredibly good. But it helps to enjoy the complex sensations of bitterness, tartness and layers of flavors. I'm not even sure it's an acquired taste. Some folks have different taste buds and don't enjoy the same things. I know folks who'd rather drink wine, gin, etc., and can't stand the taste of beer. My dad joked the taste of beer made him angry, wondering why anyone would make such stuff, let alone drink it. He preferred good red wines. I enjoy good wine occasionally, but it's not something I'd grab after a hot bike ride.

I'm from a typical Texas background of mutts. We're about evenly split between German, UK and Native American ancestry. Our family joked that we're the typical byproducts of immigrants and natives who were chased out of every respectable state and territory until we end up in the drain catch of the nation -- Texas -- the one place nobody cared anymore who you were or where you came from because we were all misfits and rejects.

The Native heritage was suppressed by the early 20th century by folks who wanted to blend in with a Texas culture that was increasingly emphasizing entrepreneurial enterprise and less accommodating to "foreigners". All sides of my family on my mom's and dad's sides denied any Native American heritage, although later genealogy research showed we had it on both side, as do most Texans who's families have been here since the 19th century. So while my paternal grandfather may have been as much as 50% Native and at least 25%, he wasn't aware of it until my grandmother and dad did the genealogy research. He only knew his mother was part Native American but didn't know how much. It appears she may have been full Cherokee, but ended up in Texas after her family were forced out of the Carolinas. She married a man of mostly Welsh ancestry. They were of the stiff necked teetotaler types who drank only on the sly, regarded life as an unpleasant chore to be gotten through with as little fun as possible. Fortunately my granddad was the youngest of 13 kids and mostly left to his own devices, so he left home as a teenager and wasn't too badly infected by the no-fun rigidity. Other than being a bit of a curmudgeon he was a good fellow.

My grandmother was of strongly Hill Country and East Texas German heritage and proud of it. Like many families they brewed beer, sang and played music, and regarded both hard work and recreational pleasures in equally high regard.

redlude97

Try mixes with maltodextrin as the main or only sugar source. Its significantly less sweet than table sugar or HFCS, but breaks down quickly once it enters the stomach/intestines for fast absorption

KraneXL

As did I. My sister and I would put sugar on them when we were forced to eat them (vegetables). In any event, I'm sure our taste buds change as we mature or become less sensitive to some tastes.
I might agree with the cultural aspects of your perspective, but the genetic not so much.

Hondo Gravel

canklecat

I don't mean to imply there's something inherent to certain races or cultures that influence a genetic predisposition to enjoying beer. But the senses of taste and smell are heavily influenced by genetics and with a very diverse mix in my extended family I've seen equally diverse sensibilities toward tastes and odors.

My dad and I are very similar physically, but I love beer and he hated it. I enjoyed smoking, especially cigars, and as far as I know he never smoked. In that regard I took more after my paternal grandfather, who liked beer and smoked. But he craved salt and I have to force myself to use salt -- for me I have such a low craving for salt I have to force myself to use electrolytes in my water bottles on bike rides to avoid cramps and dehydration. I like rum, but it gave my paternal grandmother painful stomach cramps.

It's genetics, but with such a diverse mix of mutts it's a roll of the dice which sensory quirks turn up.

ionlydrinkbud

KraneXL

Don't worry, I got it. You just presented an irresistible opportunity to hearken to that ages old nature vs nurture debate. But we'll save that one for another thread.

My dad and I are very similar physically, but I love beer and he hated it. I enjoyed smoking, especially cigars, and as far as I know he never smoked. In that regard I took more after my paternal grandfather, who liked beer and smoked. But he craved salt and I have to force myself to use salt -- for me I have such a low craving for salt I have to force myself to use electrolytes in my water bottles on bike rides to avoid cramps and dehydration. I like rum, but it gave my paternal grandmother painful stomach cramps.

It's genetics, but with such a diverse mix of mutts it's a roll of the dice which sensory quirks turn up.[/QUOTE]Neither of my parents smoked, and none of the five kid do. Nature or nurture?