Drinks

[Saanen]

I don't drink much, but I've got two characters in a bar at the moment and I'd appreciate some suggestions about what they might plausibly order.

The book's a fantasy; both characters are young men in their early twenties. One character is from a rather rustic world where he'd ordinarily drink ale. The other's from the big city where this scene is taking place. He's also gay, and the first guy is straight. Neither of them has much money, so they'd be ordering something inexpensive. Neither are particularly heavy drinkers.

This isn't a big deal, but I like details. I know that the drinks people order say something about their personalities, but I don't know enough about drinks to know what connotations each holds. Thanks for any insights!

[gromhard]

The ale guy is gonna want something thick, like Guiness. The gay guy is going to want some sort of foo foo daquiri, no just kidding. Gays drink just like straights, in fact IME they OUTDRINK most straight guys. The gay will probably order whatever the Ale Guy is having because that's generally what two guys do when they go out for a drink, they usually drink the same thing.

The ale guy is going to HATE American beer, everyone else does. See in Canada and Europe they have like 12% alc , in america we stop at 6.5%, they call our beers piss water. If this guy is used to drinking ale(12% and up) then he'll get his beer, swig it and think he got ripped off.

[P.H.Delarran]

draught beer is usually one of the cheapest things to order. a bar will have a few varieties on tap. it's also more likely to leave one hung over than bottled beer.
bars also have something they call well drinks,often at a special price especially during happy hour, which are basic mixed drinks using the 'house" (in other words 'cheap' ) alcohol and usually requiring one simple mixer like cola, juice, etc.
house drinks are things like ..whiskey and coke, tequila sunrise (tequila and o.j. and a splash of grenadine syrup), screw driver (vodka and o.j.), rum and coke, gin and tonic.

[Peggy]

Maybe to distinguish them, you could have the city guy order a "microbrew" from a boutique brewery, while the country guy is at a loss for a specific brand since he's more used to "home brew".

[Peggy]

draught beer is usually one of the cheapest things to order. a bar will have a few varieties on tap. it's also more likely to leave one hung over than bottled beer. Seriously about the hangover? I didn't know that (maybe that's one of my problems :)).

[P.H.Delarran]

Seriously about the hangover? I didn't know that (maybe that's one of my problems :)).
yes. serious as a hangover lol. i don't have any scientific proof of course. but i won't drink more than one draught beer any more. nope. never.

[Saanen]

Thanks, that's already very helpful. The setting is a fantasy world, not America, but the feel is the same. I didn't know guys tend to drink the same thing when they're out together (girls don't, usually!), so that's good to know just in general. The gay guy isn't actually a froo-froo kind of person, but he's used to mixed drinks because of his former job.

Oh wow, by the time I'd written the above paragraph I'd gotten all these other great replies. Thanks, folks! Keep it coming! This is a whole world I didn't know existed! :)

[P.H.Delarran]

ohh now see you can invent alcohol in your fantasy world. fun.
i was gonna come back to suggest a white or black russian for the gay guy, just cause ordering it adds a little inuendo. perhaps you have a region known for a certain type of alcohol (like vodka) that has a drink named after it.

[Haggis]

Frankly, a young American person, gay or straight, is most likely to order a Bud or a Miller Lite. If they're in their early 20s, they haven't learned what's good yet.

[Saanen]

Frankly, a young American person, gay or straight, is most likely to order a Bud or a Miller Lite. If they're in their early 20s, they haven't learned what's good yet.

Maybe they've just been indoctrinated by all those Superbowl commercials. :p

I'm leaning towards just beer, and have the ale drinker make some comments on its quality.

[Haggis]

Maybe they've just been indoctrinated by all those Superbowl commercials. :p


No joke. That's part of it. Also, it's what their friends drink. Most 20 year olds don't know what ale is, or how it's different from beer. Unless one was a regular drinker (which your characters are not) I don't think they'd be commenting on the quality of their drink either (unless they said the head was too big). It's more of an experience thing than an age thing.

[Cat Scratch]

Frankly, a young American person, gay or straight, is most likely to order a Bud or a Miller Lite. If they're in their early 20s, they haven't learned what's good yet.

Wrong.

[Haggis]

Wrong.

How so?

[Cat Scratch]

Who are all these 20-year-olds you know? As a woman in my 20s, I've been privy to more conversations than necessary on the nuances of every type of beer ever brewed. Arguments ensue, and occasionally punches are thrown. Offer a 25-year-old guy a Bud Light in my circle, and dem's fightin' words.

[Haggis]

Who are all these 20-year-olds you know? As a woman in my 20s, I've been privy to more conversations than necessary on the nuances of every type of beer ever brewed. Arguments ensue, and occasionally punches are thrown. Offer a 25-year-old guy a Bud Light in my circle, and dem's fightin' words.

As well it should.

The characters in question though are not big drinkers, and would hardly have that level of knowledge. Your friends are obviously different. Perhaps I saw them at happy hour this evening.:D

Non-drinkers, or light drinkers in general, would not be likely to engage in discussions about the qualities of various beers, regardless if they were 21 or 71.

[waylander]

The ale guy is going to HATE American beer, everyone else does. See in Canada and Europe they have like 12% alc , in america we stop at 6.5%, they call our beers piss water. If this guy is used to drinking ale(12% and up) then he'll get his beer, swig it and think he got ripped off.

Half right. The vast majority of draught ales in Europe are around the same strength as US beers, they just taste a lot different (they actually taste of something unlike most US beers I've had). The really strong ones come in bottles and most have their own special glass.

[gromhard]

Half right. The vast majority of draught ales in Europe are around the same strength as US beers, they just taste a lot different (they actually taste of something unlike most US beers I've had). The really strong ones come in bottles and most have their own special glass.

Don't you guys(Brits) also drink it warm too? Ewwww warm beer.

And by special glass, do you mean like the bar will have a bunch of different mugs or steins to use depending on the beer the customer orders? So like if I sat down with another bloke and we ordered different beers we'd get two different glasses? That's wierd, seems like a big headache having to keep up with not only the different liquor but also it's associated cup.

-G

[dobiwon]

Going back to your original scenario, what about having the second guy order wine. If your intention is to differentiate between the personalities or orientation of the two guys, this might be one way. Beer is often considered harsher and "less couth" than wine, so depending on what you are trying to say about their drinking habits, you might be able to in this way.

I'm not implying anything at all about either beer drinkers or wine drinkers. Drinking wine is often seen as more sophisticated (in the common sense of the word) than drinking beer. [Said as one who will probably never be seen as sophisticated, but still occasionally drinks wine just to keep people on their toes.]

[Steve W]

Hi,

Slang-wise, 'beer' can refer to virtually anything we (Brits) drink by the pint, be it beer, cider, lager, stout...

What you call beer, we may well call piss, yes, but we'd firstly call it lager. Our beer is a different drink - without wanting to upset any real ale aficionados, a simple analogy would be to think of something half way between Bud and Guiness. That'll give you an idea of colour, consistency, head, and even taste with regards to some beers.

Our draft beers are ordinarily 4 - 6%. Anything stronger is in a bottle, unless the pub has a guest beer on - normally only real ale pubs.

You want a rustic drink? Try cider. Very rustic would be scrumpy - strong cider, often cloudy, maybe even bits in it from the vermentation of the apples.

Cheers,
Steve

[waylander]

[quote=gromhard]Don't you guys(Brits) also drink it warm too? Ewwww warm beer.

Yes, we drink ales at room temperature because they taste better at that temperature. We drink lagers cold

And by special glass, do you mean like the bar will have a bunch of different mugs or steins to use depending on the beer the customer orders? So like if I sat down with another bloke and we ordered different beers we'd get two different glasses? That's wierd, seems like a big headache having to keep up with not only the different liquor but also it's associated cup.

This is really a Belgian thing. But yes, you would get a different glass for each beer you ordered. In some bars you have to leave a deposit to stop people running off with the glasses

[Cat Scratch]

As well it should.

The characters in question though are not big drinkers, and would hardly have that level of knowledge. Your friends are obviously different. Perhaps I saw them at happy hour this evening.:D

Non-drinkers, or light drinkers in general, would not be likely to engage in discussions about the qualities of various beers, regardless if they were 21 or 71.

Haggis, I was just responding to your comment that "most" 20-somethings don't know piss from beer (that's a gross paraphrase, I'm aware!), not necessarily to the thread in question.

Cheers!

[darkness]

mmmm, a very Bloody Mary.
Yummm!
LOL!
Darkness

[Peggy]

If the city guy is trying to impress the country guy (or to make himself look trendy) try having him order a dirty martini. I don't know what differentiates it from a regular martini, [. . .] A bit of the liquid from the olive jar :)

[MadScientistMatt]

Yeah, the country guy is definitely going to go for a cheap draft beer.

The city guy? If he likes mixed drinks, does not want something froufrou... Well, how about a margarita? It's cheap, a fairly common mixed drink that is neither as astringent as a Martini nor as sweet as, say, a Pina Colada.

[Billytwice]

Hi,

- strong cider, often cloudy, maybe even bits in it from the vermentation of the apples.

Cheers,
Steve

I'm glad you mentioned vermentation, I've heard of rats being added to scrumpy to provide a little 'extra body.'

see:

http://www.hps.com/~tpg/ukdict/index.php?file=ukdict-7