>>>>>I discovered, many years ago, that I'm a happy-mean drunk and it's probably best if I don't overindulge in public. And, since I'm the one generally driving, I don't drink much outside the house. Maybe a cocktail before dinner - or a beer if I'm somewhere I'm gonna be for a while and I'm famous for nursing a beer for a couple of hours or so. Good thing I drink beers that don't turn nasty as they come to room temp.
>>>>
>>>>Same here - I'm the designated (or shall we say cursed) driver, and as a rule, never drink alone. Absolutely never. It's a kind of a dire warning here, once you catch yourself drinking alone, you know you're down the drain, and you know everyone else knows the same warning. I didn't even get drunk when our children were born - had to drive the grandparents around. OK, a bit for the third, had half a liter of white wine and soda water at work (aka špritzer - schpritzer), as I was bicycling that day.
>>>>
>>>>I'll keep my opinion on the american so-called beer to myself :). OK, Schiner and Negra Modelo are fine, and the americanized versions of a few european beers aren't bad.
>>>
>>>Wasn't a big beer drinker until I visited Germany and the Netherlands and I have developed a severe dislike of extremely 'hoppy' beers, so not a big fan of most pilsners. Domestic, I drink Shiner Bock, even if they do sell it at import prices.
>>>
>>>"Whaddya mean 'imported'? The brewery is less than 60 miles away!"
>>
>>Do they still make Pearl Beer in Texas? When I was in Texas (1960-66) it seems that it was very popular. Some bars only sold Pearl. I even found it in North Central Oregon.
>>
>>Originally, Pearl was brewed in Germany by Kaiser–Beck Brewery. They still make Becks beer, which I dislike. It may be Germany’s number one export but they can keep it! :)
>
>My favorite beer, when I lived in Texas (mid-70s), was Shiner Premium beer. I was a college student student, so price was a factor ($1.19/sixpack), but it sure tasted better than the other inexpensive options at that time (Pearl, Buckhorn, Lone Star, Texas Pride, etc)

Yanno, I'd pretty much managed to forget that those existed....thanks for the group hate-shiver :-)