Problems with Beer Foam in the Golden Era?

[Talbot]

I was going to post this in The Connoisseur section, but figured it may have more to do with WWII.

Watching one of my favourite films last night 'Donovan's Reef'

It was made in 63. John Wayne and Lee Marvin play vets from the war in the Pacific.

There are a number of scenes in a bar where they drink beer from bottles, but not before tipping out the first bit from the freshly opened bottle. Why?

I've never seen this anywhere else. Is it a hold over from the quality of beer rations in the islands?

 

[alden405]

maybe tipping the bottle for absent comrades?

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"Nibble Nobbys Nuts"

[YOUTUBE]NbJr0FXbL_4[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Talbot]

maybe tipping the bottle for absent comrades?

In one scene, one of the extra's tips a bit out and then spits out the first mouth full.

Didn't seem that reverential.

 

[lolly_loisides]

When my father in law was in the Pacific, he took a swig from a bottle of beer that someone had poured crushed glass into & resealed.

Perhaps that was why they poured the beer out - to check for broken glass?

 

[Tomasso]

They may just be pitching out the foam head that can sometimes accrue at the bottle neck after opening just as some would blow the foam off their beer mug back in the day. Just a guess.....[huh]


BTW, this query might get more action in the Connoisseur section after all.

 

[Talbot]

When my father in law was in the Pacific, he took a swig from a bottle of beer that someone had poured crushed glass into & resealed.

Perhaps that was why they poured the beer out - to check for broken glass?

I hope your father in law was OK.

Great avatar BTW!

 

[Talbot]

They may just be pitching out the foam head that can sometimes accrue at the bottle neck after opening just as some would blow the foam off their beer mug back in the day. Just a guess.....[huh]


BTW, this query might get more action in the Connoisseur section after all.

That sounds pretty plausible. I wondered if the foam had some kind of impurity in it, as I'd never seem this before.

Was beer foam once considered undrinkable?

There are plenty of bartenders here that are judged on their ability to get a good head of foam on a sherbert, but only after the glass has been filled properly first.

 

[Silver Dollar]

I think they blew off the foam so they could get directly to the liquid beer. Who wants to have a beer mustache. lol I used to remember some veterans talking about San Miguel beer from the Phillipines that was reported to have formaldehyde in it. I wonder if it pooled on top of the beer. Ah, who knows.

 

[rumblefish]

Perhaps yeast residue wound up at the top of the bottle, instead of at the bottom where it usually resides? Or maybe bits and pieces of the malt due to shoddy filtering?

 

[Talbot]

Perhaps yeast residue wound up at the top of the bottle, instead of at the bottom where it usually resides? Or maybe bits and pieces of the malt due to shoddy filtering?

Hence my comment wondering about the quality of beer rations in the islands.

 

[Undertow]

Just an educated guess - I'm sure it was to get to the beer instead of wasting time on the foam.

However, hopefully it has nothing to do with this:

The Straight Dope: Does Budweiser Beer Contain Chicken Hearts?

 

[dhermann1]

Very interesting. My mom once told me that my dad, whose father was born in Germany and came here at age 11, always said you should never put beer into a glass that's ever had milk in it. Maybe our modern detergents have eliminated that requirement, but that story explains why he said it. Innnnteresting.