The Odd thing is that though it's not allowed to buy
alcohol for a child,
it's legal for them to drink one, so
long as they are over 5, and that part was
introduced fairly
recently.
I think it's still legal to buy wine beer and
cider for
15-16 year olds if they consume it with a meal. I'm
certainly happy,
and indeed encourage my daughter (10) to
try various alcoholic drinks, so that
she can appreciate
their flavours.
It's my opinion that part of the problem
is that lack of
education of flavour, so one they get to a legal drinking
age,
they just buy the cheapest drink to get themselves
drunk, rather than
appreciate what they are drinking.
If you Americans ever wondered why your
so called 'King
of Beers' contains a large percentage of rice and maize,
rather than malted barley, then it's because of the puritan movement trying to stop beer
production during World War 2 (Yes, I
know that's a
Wikipedia link, but that part is well researched). It's
stuck
since then because rice is much cheaper than barley,
and the large brewers have
a vested interest in keeping the
American palate uneducated.
Luckily, you
have a large craft brewery revival that is
reintroducing the flavour into your
beers, long may it
continue. Oh, and if you want to know what Bud should taste
like, try and find the original, Budweiser
Budvar. :-) [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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