Sterling Beer to the Highlands

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/ne ... /79522234/

Submitted for your approval...

[Robin Garr]

Another old-line brand resurrected! Sort of like Falls City, I don't think this is going to be the same Sterling that Dad drank. I hope it's better.

Another old-line brand resurrected! Sort of like Falls City, I don't think this is going to be the same Sterling that Dad drank. I hope it's better.

Most anything would be.

[Robin Garr]

Most anything would be.

Oh, I don't know. The "new" Falls City isn't a cutting-edge microbrew or anything, but I'd sure rather have one at the ballgame than BudMillerCoors swill.

The Sterling Quality Pledge: "We know of no beer made with finer ingredients than Sterling. We use choice grown hops, select 2-row barley and filtered pure water to brew this premium beer. These select malts and hops, together with our natural aging, make Sterling the finest beer obtainable at any price. Sterling, Pure Sterling!"

An ice cold 'Ling at the ball park or after mowing the grass was a fine thing. Looking forward to having this pils once again brewed in its hometown.

I always though Sterling tasted more like the can it came in than anything else. All the old guys I knew who drank it put salt in it.

Exactly! It had a metallic taste. The old timers I recall put salt around the top of Falls City, too. The latter is much improved over the original. No doubt Sterling will as well. It's necessary for survival.

I always though Sterling tasted more like the can it came in than anything else. All the old guys I knew who drank it put salt in it.

An old time working mans bar trick - does nothing but settle the carbonation, allowing you to drink more beer, more comfortably.

I always though Sterling tasted more like the can it came in than anything else. All the old guys I knew who drank it put salt in it.

Wow - a flashback to my single-digit years when my father was a Sterling guy. Salt and all.

Actually, salt in the beer provides additional sites for nucleation and INCREASES the amount of bubbles in beer. The logic being that more stuff for the bubbles to hang onto (added salt) will allow the bubbles to stick around longer. Diet coke and mentos is an extreme example of enhanced nucleation. My guess is salt was just used to make it taste better and perhaps a bit less bitter.

Interesting, Alexis- thanks!
Since I know you are a teacher, I'll ask this follow- up :
I learned a long time ago that putting one finger in a carbonated beverage ( beer or Diet Coke) makes the head/ bubbles dissipate faster. It works- but I'd always been told it was because of the salt content in your finger. So if it's not that, what makes it work?
Deb

Deb, I think it's for the same reason that putting oil in your pasta water keeps it from foaming over. The oil reduces the surface tension in the water, causing the bubbles to form AND pop faster. Your finger (like everyone else's) is coated in oil just by nature of human skin. I'm not as sure about this answer as I was the nucleation one, so if someone knows differently please advise.

Thanks, Alexis!