Saturday 23 June 2012

Making summer beer drinking safe

This seems very appropriate as I'm in Germany drinking in beer gardens right now.

I'd often wondered why many German steins and glasses had those little tin hats. All about stimulating local industry:


"MAKING SUMMER BEER-DRINKING SAFE.
A novel health edict has recently been issued in Germany. The Bavarian Ministry of Public Health has announced that open beer tankards (steins) are not hygienic for use during the summer in open air, dust-swept beer-gardens, and that they should be exchanged for containers with solid tin-covers. This appeal, which has been made to stimulate the long-established tin-manufacturing industry in Bavaria, is meeting with a ready response."
Brewers' Journal 1934, page 340.

I assumed the lids were there to stop wasps of shit falling off trees getting into your beer. Seems I was wrong.

3 comments:

Elektrowok said...

I often find out about such little things coming from the NSDAP (the Nazis).
Those little reflectors on bicycle pedals are compulsory in German traffic law. Turns out this was introduced because a company owned by the SS produced those pedals (a novelty back then) and so their funding could be improved.

Tin lid Pro/Con:
- It gets in your way
+ It can't be blown off by a gust(whereas a beer mat can)
+ it can be used as a catapult to launch small items (e.g. at oblivious waiters )
+ If you polish the inside, you get a handy makeup mirror

Joe Walts said...

They also help prevent beer from getting lightstruck in the sun.

Andrew Elliott said...

+ Helps retain those delicate aromatics