An Old Beer Drinker - The way it was
Many of you younger guys probably don't know how beer was made and packaged in the old days - if you wanted draft beer it came in wooden barrels - hooked up to a tap filled with ice - when a glass was poured out of the tap you would let stand for awhile and then use a wooden stick to wipe off the excess head and then fill it up again to the top of the glass - the white foam was thick and creamy -you always got a nice head on each glass of beer - and I'll tell you something many of you guys never have and in all likelihood never will taste a real good beer- in the old days companies didn't add all kind of chemicals to the beer - it was made from all natural stuff - I remember when I was a young man and worked for a contractor - there was a gin mill right near where we worked - so after work we would all stop in for a few beers before going home - this place only had one beer on tap and there was always a lot of guys in there - the beer was as fresh as you can get - the bartender had to hook up a couple fresh barrels each day - man I'll tell you something - that was good beer - we couldn't wait for the end of the day so we could have a few - beer like that just isn't available today -
Other than the barrels you could get it in returnable bottles but like all bottled or canned beer - the beer was pasteurized so it wouldn't spoil - that beer didn't taste like draft beer for that reason - at one time you could only get beer in bottles - then the cans can out along with the aluminum barrels - you had to open the cans with a church key there was no twist off tops like today - you probably have to go to Germany to get a good glass of draft beer today - they have laws against putting crap in your beer - have one on me tonight even though it isn't as good as the beer in the good old days - because of your age you won't know the difference
