It occurred to me, in a discussion of nostalgia and freedom at AVI's place, that I couldn't think of any reason why it should have been a Federal crime to move Coors Beer east of the Mississippi. It turns out the reason was that the beer wasn't pasteurized.
It also turns out that bootlegging Coors was not just the business of truckers, but of Presidents and celebrities. There's an interesting story, as often there is with bootlegging.
7 comments:
"Smokey and the Bandit pretty much sums up the past 400 years of redneck history. Illegal alcohol. Fast cars. Bad girls in cutoff shorts with a checkered past (Sally Field is a runaway bride). Defiance of the law. Twisted humor. “Insider” language so the authorities don’t know what you’re talking about. (Trucker CB lingo.) Our own genre of music. (“East Bound and Down.”) Risking your life rather than submit to a police officer. Lots and lots of twisted metal. And the whole theme of the movie is “We’re gonna drive 1,800 miles through enemy territory to enforce our right to drink illegal alcohol at a party.” Joe Bob Briggs
Coors was always a mystical beer to us in New England. A rumor of secret high country goodness. Of course, the competition back then was pretty poor.
The increase in the quality and variety of American beers has been one of the great innovations of the last few decades.
Coors was always a mystical beer to us in New England.
It must have been its out-of-town-ness. Coors, like most big-brand American beers, is just too much like making love on the beach. Or maybe I just got spoiled in Germany.
Eric Hines
Yeah, those German purity laws make a fine beer. You'll never get hung over on it, though you'll never get drunk either. Not that getting drunk is praiseworthy.
Still, I approve of long-held tradition.
Not sure what purity laws you're talking about. German beer is brewed to taste, not to alcohol content. 'Course with professional tasters, the alcohol content does come out pretty consistently.
Eric Hines
I'm talking about the Reinheitsgebot. Because they limit the ingredients, they limit the amount of alcohol that can be produced by the yeast.
Of course, the kind of yeast has a lot to do with it too, since some yeasts can tolerate a higher percentage of alcohol in their environment before they die.
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