Pickled Eggs & Cold Beer: Episode 11: Budweiser with Jumpin' Joe Reiff

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Episode 11: Budweiser with Jumpin' Joe Reiff

What's the difference between a Methodist and a Baptist?

I. Introduction

The ancient Greeks argued there were three fundamental types of ethical government, distinguished by the number of people allowed to participate in the legislative process – democracies, aristocracies, and monarchies. They argued that for each of these forms of government there was a parallel, but fundamentally exploitative negative equivalent – mob rule, oligarchy, and tyranny. Today we’re going to determine whether one beer, one of the most financially successful in the history of beverage, is a properly called the King of Beers – or the Tyrant of Tipples.

That’s right, today on Pickled Eggs & Cold Beer, we’re talking about Budweiser.

Bogus Ben Covington’s 1928 “Adam & Eve in the Garden."

II. Our Guest, the Reverend Doctor Jumpin' Joe Reiff

Two professors, three beards.

III. Rubric

BeerAdvocate: 2.66 of 5

RateBeer: 1.48 of 5

Untappd: 2.54 of 5

ABV: 5.0%

Ingredients: Two and six row barley malt, filtered water, hops, yeast (descended from the original Budweiser culture) and rice (grown in Jonesboro, Arkansas).

Costs: $ - inexpensive, though sometimes pricey outside of the United States.

IV. Our Reviews and Talking Points

Appearance: Yellow gold, translucent, carbonated but not heavily. Light head that rapidly recedes.

Aroma: Inoffensive, largely absent.

Flavor: American-style lager that in leans towards a traditional European style. Light, mild aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Not too heavy, but with enough body that it definitively is "beer-like." Carbonation isn't overwhelming, but present.

Authenticity, Marketing, and Other Factors: Ubiquitous, though often eclipsed by that of Bud Light. The visual language remains classical, rather beautiful. And those horses, guys. Those horses.

Overall: The good Professor Reiff gave Budweiser a 3.1, Clayman a 3.0, and Eric a 3.25 for an average rating of 3.12 of 5.

V. Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by two wonderful local businesses:

Leben Farms of Abingdon, Virginia

Providing Local Fresh Vegetables in Weekly Boxes to community-supported agriculture members (CSA) in Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee using organic and regenerative practices to grown nutrient dense food. Community-supported agriculture is a food production and distribution system that directly connects farmers and consumers. In short: people buy "shares" of a farm's harvest in advance and then receive a portion of the crops as they're harvested. Check them out on Facebook or Instagram.

Glade Pharmacy in Glade Springs, Virginia

33472 Lee Hwy, Glade Spring, VA 24340

Locally owned and managed, providing the highest quality pharmaceutical service in the Emory/Glade Springs area.

VI. Plugs