<p>zeebamom-PBR and Miller High Life are THE beers for hipsters everywhere. Our friend in the restaurant businesses stocks them at all of his venues, right alongside the craft beer and fine wine. H thinks it’s hysterical that they do this, when those two beer were what they sold at their illicit HS keggers, with red Solo cups, of course.</p>
<p>We always had Rainier at our keggers in the woods.
( I never liked Bud/Coors/Miller, I did like Lucky. When H drank beer, he liked Heineken or Labatts, but he stopped almost twenty years ago)
Will the " hipsters" still drink PBR now?
<a href=“Do Russians Drink Beer? Russia Buys Pabst, Twitter Outraged Over Sale of PBR Beer”>http://www.ibtimes.com/do-russians-drink-beer-russia-buys-pabst-twitter-outraged-over-sale-pbr-beer-1692187</a></p>
<p>OP here! </p>
<p>I haven’t been on CC since I first posted (work and wedding details keeping me VERY busy!) and was shocked to see how long this thread has gotten. I thought I was asking a SIMPLE question!</p>
<p>First, thanks for all the good suggestions. I’ll have to distill (no pun intended) them down into a working list and take it with me when we go to buy the beer.</p>
<p>I’d love to put this decision on the bride & groom but they don’t care. (Believe it or not.) Neither drinks very much and they claim to have no special knowledge about beer. (Yes, they did go to college!!)</p>
<p>The wedding is, I guess, semi-formal. (Cocktail attire.) It’s at a gentleman’s farm. Very lovely venue; somewhat rustic. I never questioned the need for beer. I know many people who only drink beer, some of whom will be at the wedding! I’m a wine and vodka girl myself and could count the number of beers I’ve had in my life on 2 hands. </p>
<p>We will be serving wine with dinner, there will also be a champagne toast, but during cocktails and the rest of the evening the bar will be open and people can have what they want. Our supplier (does that sound vaguely druggie?) will take back unopened bottles of liquor (or, in the case of beer, untouched six-packs or cases) so I feel somewhat free to have a variety people can choose from but I agree with a number of posters here, to try to keep things simple so not too many choices!! </p>
<p>Again, thanks for all the great suggestions and for the commentary. I knew I could count on CCers for help and a laugh or two!!</p>
<p>Get something (just one option) that isn’t strong on hops. If it’s available in your area and financially reasonable ($15/4-pack) I’ve been drinking is Pilgram’s Dole by New Holland (should be available all around the Great Lakes, maybe some nationally but could be a little harder to find) but I think the season is ending for it, but it’s a very good generally non-offensive choice. When will you be having the wedding? It’s also fairly high on alcohol, so people won’t be drinking half a dozen of these. </p>
<p>OP, hope the farmer knows, they are there!
<a href=“Farmer Chases Fifth Wedding Party Out Of Barn This Month”>http://www.theonion.com/articles/farmer-chases-fifth-wedding-party-out-of-barn-this,36787/</a></p>
<p>"Maybe you want Bourgeoisie?</p>
<p>Does stainless steel affect the taste of the beer?
I need to get one of those for D and BF.
She thinks up names for the offerings of her microbrewery, like some girls think up baby names."</p>
<p>Ah, come on - you pitched it to me, I’m going to hit it – Beergeoisie. </p>
<p>Stainless doesn’t seem to affect the taste. What H likes about the stainless growlers is that you can do a much tighter seal and the beer lasts longer. I didn’t go this route, but you can order custom designs and monograms on some of them.Right now, though, his favorite is the UW glass one that’s painted purple with a big “W” on the front. It’s football season, after all.</p>
<p>Westvleteren - A beer to suit even the monocle wearing, wine and spirit connoisseur Lord Peter Whimsey:</p>
<p><a href=“Crafty Belgian Monks Have Americans Scrambling for Beer”>Crafty Belgian Monks Have Americans Scrambling for Beer;
<p>Obviously you can’t serve it at the wedding but the idea of beer not aimed at the masses was just too much for me to pass on commenting…</p>
<p>I know a lot of high-faultin folks really serious about their beer.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about growlers (we don’t have them around here) but I did look them up. Seems the stainless ones while great to look at don’t always get filled up because you can’t see into the bottle. and I guess they cool off fast but don’t retain the cold like glass does but are much lighter.</p>
<p>Alh–, Belgium is the place for beer. It’s all good (well, the majority). 650 different options–all with their own particular flavor, glass, story… It drove my H nuts–he likes wine. I told him to go to France–I was staying in Belgium…</p>
<p>So many people saying no hoppy beer! :sad: I like a nice IPA myself. But I definitely wouldn’t only have IPAs available. If we are listing I’d get a local microbrew in a lager and an IPA and maybe something dark (Porter, Stout, Guiness) and then I’d get a national brand in a regular and light version. Five choices is certainly more than enough, and I’d skip the dark beer if I wanted to limit it to four. And I’d definitely forgive you if you didn’t have the IPA!</p>
<p>Bourgeoisie is not the opposite of the hoi polloi either. I don’t think we have a good word in America. Traditionally it would be gentry. But you could say upper crust or elite. Back when I was in college I was at a summer class in Europe. I said something and this guy said, “How bourgeois!” I countered, “Well I <em>am</em> bourgeois.” He was shocked that anyone would admit such a thing. (I’m pretty sure he was every bit as bourgeois as me BTW.)</p>
<p>Well, it’s clear to me that my association of beer with backyard BBQ’s and watching the football game are out of date! Live and learn! </p>
<p>Gouf-a person who knows how to fill growlers properly will know how to avoid a partial fill with a stainless one. It involves a little waste-you let it fill until it overflows clear (no suds) and do it slowly. I has asked H about that because I was concerned with them not being filled up. He keeps them in the fridge once filled so it’s not necessary for them to maintain the cold. There are koosies for growlers, though, if that’s an issue.</p>
<p>I have been trying to think what the opposite of hoi polloi is and landed gentry seems about right to me. Doesn’t the idea come from the greeks/romans? And weren’t those societies made up of a small class property owing citizens, able to hold political office, and the rest of the population. A classicist could help us out here.</p>
<p>I suspect the poster may have meant hoity-toity, which is an expression I haven’t heard in years! </p>
<p>I use hoity toity pretty regularly in everyday speech. I try not to use hoi polloi. I thought the poster might have understood exactly what hoi polloi means and was kind of making fun of the pretension of others: the wine drinking snobs who don’t understand there are beer drinking snobs out there as well.</p>
<p>patrician</p>
<p>opposite of hoi polloi : )
I’m ready for jeopardy</p>
<p>I am a woman who prefers beer to wine. Wine give me headaches! I would totally drink beer at a wedding if it was available. For a a likely value brand that might have broad appeal, how about Yeungling? I think that has been mentioned. Also, Stella Artois was mentioned, and I think that is a good bet. Myself, i would go for the Sam Adams. I agree to not solely serve IPA. Too bitter/rich-tasting for many. Will you be going to CostCo? You could get a selection.</p>
<p>Patrician is Roman, hoi polloi is Greek. (Something many people don’t realize is that “hoi” means the, although I note that many posters on this thread seem to avoid saying "the hoi polloi…) The opposite of patrician is–I think–plebeian. :)</p>
<p>But anyway, beer is no longer plebeian. At least, now craft beers and micro brews. Bud Lite is still down there.</p>
<p>I love hoppy IPAs. There’s one made by a local brewer called Fuggles IPA that is my fave.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Just one option that isn’t hoppy. Not everyone who likes beer necessarily likes hops.</p>
<p>Always thought patrician implied that the person made their fortune through trade or finance, so Bill Gates would not be a patrician. I think “aristocrat” would be appropriate. </p>