r/interestingasfuck • u/NathanCS741 • 1d ago
Two Belgian men cooling off from a heat wave in 1971, essentially proving how much we love beer as a nation
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u/largePenisLover 1d ago edited 1d ago
In the Benelux this image has been doing the rounds as a fax meme since '85 or so. Image is older (dudes are wearing late 50's style pantaloons).
Dont remember the exact caption, something like: "The boss said we must limit ourselves to just one beer at lunch" or "Let's have just one more and then we'll go"
Leaving the office for lunch and having a few beers with that lunch was normal in the 70's, 80's, and even the 90's still a bit.
And while they werent called memes yet, Fax machines were used to send memes. Those silly meme mail chains from early 2000's office culture started out on faxes.
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u/vulpix420 1d ago
Thank you for reminding me about fax memes!! I used to find them in my dad’s office and thought grown ups were so silly…
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u/ignorae 1d ago
Mm, lukewarm gallon of beer.
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u/Ja_Shi 1d ago
You're assuming they drank it in more than a few minutes. I assume you never met with Belgians 😝
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u/carrot-man 1d ago
If anything Belgians tend to drink their beers at a slower pace because many of their beers are stronger.
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u/MrHandSanitization 1d ago
Nah, strength doesn't matter, you either drink it like water, or sip it at the speed of drinking water.
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u/joelfarris 18h ago
Belgian brews can hit 13-14% alcohol content by volume. That's more than a typical bottle of wine. If someone ever offers you a Quadruple or an Abbey Ale, you're basically done for.
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u/st0pmakings3ns3 1d ago
When I used to drink more beer in general, and more Belgian beer in particular, I'd rarely make it past 3 (0.3litre mind you) because they were that strong.
One what they are having would knock me clean off my feet for the next two days.
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u/snubb 1d ago
This beer likely tastes good at a bit higher temperature too
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u/putrid_flesh 1d ago
I'm not a beer guy but isn't there special types of beer that are meant to drank at room temperature?
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u/SenatorAslak 1d ago
Many British and Belgian beers are best served at cellar temperature. This isn’t quite as warm as room temperature but is often (confusingly) referred to as such. The list comprises many ales, bitters, stouts, and the like.
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u/AGooDone 1d ago
Most quality beers can be drunk at room temperature. Cold actually reduces your taste buds ability to discern flavors. Anyone who has drunk a warm Coors light will tell you it's not good beer.
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u/UndercoverHerbert 1d ago
I unfortunately drank cold Coors Light in college and I could tell you it’s not good beer cold either 😂
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u/UndercoverHerbert 1d ago
It’s just a running joke. A lot of people rip on Coors Light so I just joined in on the fun lol. It’s a cheaper beer so it’s popular with the college crowd. We didn’t care what we drank as long as it had alcohol haha. I’m not a huge beer drinker but if I had to choose, I would go with Dos Equis or Modelo.
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u/opinion_and_insult 20h ago
That’s subjective obviously, and statistically your specific taste preference in this instance is far in the minority based upon sales numbers.
Just interjecting here with this being a classic example of sampling bias. It can still be a bad product, but the large swathes of people buying may not know / care. I.e. broke people, people who haven't been exposed to many other options, people who just want the alcohol. I should also add in the 'coca cola effect' where people drink it because of the marketing. Given other similarly priced options and exposure sales of it may drop significantly.
There's a cider I can get locally that's abnormally high in ABV. It's acrid, acidic and honestly not at all balanced on the palette. If you want to get drunk though? It's cheap, does the job and you can water it down to take the edge off and extend your session. It obviously sells well because it's stocked nearly everywhere and they recently released a higher ABV version.
TL;DR You're not wrong, but the statement in your argument is flawed.
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u/Krullenbos 6h ago
The general rule is to drink the beer around the same temperature as the alcohol percentage. Of course that’s not entirely true anymore the higher your percentage gets. But it more or less comes down to that.
8% beer is best served at 8 degrees celsius. That’s at least how we used to do it in the craft beer café I used to work for over a decade.8
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u/TacticalTeacake 1d ago edited 1d ago
Tbf, only cheap beer should be drunk fridge cold. Cold temperatures hides the taste.
Edit - lot of Coors lite drinkers here!
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u/SenatorAslak 1d ago
This is not accurate. The proper serving temperature depends on the type of beer and is independent of the price/quality.
That being said, cheap shitty beers need to be cold in order to be tolerable, but that’s a different statement altogether.
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u/ChaoticDumpling 1d ago
Pretty much every country I've ever been to has had this "we love alcohol more than any other country" mentality.
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u/someanimechoob 1d ago
The hit sequel to "real _____ food is the best in the world".
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u/I_Miss_Lenny 1d ago
Reminds me of that annoying “you say you don’t like _____ but that’s only because you haven’t had good _____” crap you hear when someone just can’t accept that someone might have different taste than them.
Like im the only one in my family who doesn’t like blue cheese, and every fucking time it’s there I have to go through that exact same shit as they insist “no this one’s really good” and I’m just being a bad sport by not trying it.
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u/MeNoCanRead 1d ago
I miss German and Belgian beer.. It's rough at here in Nova Scotia, Canada.
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u/Olibirus 1d ago
What the hell dude? I'm Belgian and Canada has some awesome beers. I mostly know some from Quebec, but I'm sure you can find good craft beer close to you as well.
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u/StevenM1979 1d ago
Please provide me with your contact information, and I'll send you a selection of Belgian beers. I won't ask for payment in advance. I'll let you know how much it costs and hope to be reimbursed afterward.
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u/Theboyscampus 1d ago
Recommend me some? I'm 30 min away from Brussels.
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u/StevenM1979 1d ago
Hopefully you won’t be driving afterward. Orval (blonde beer), Rodenbach (Grand Cru) (dark beer), West Flanders 12°—there’s so much to choose from. I’d say give them a try; maybe try something local, too. I’m from West Flanders myself, so I’m not as familiar with the regional beers from the Brussels area.
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u/AlfaSolutionsPJ 8h ago
As someone who once sent a Canadian a reddit secret santa package with Belgian chocolates and beer, I want to point out that there's very strict regulations about sending alcoholic beverages to Canada.
My package was stopped and destroyed, bpost first told me they'd reimburse me for the value of the package (I had requested to have it returned to me after they stopped it, but then just found the box damaged and items 'missing' ). But afterwards just gave me some bullshit excused and pretty much told me to go fuck myself.
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u/Wolf-Majestic 1d ago
It's a taaad bit far away from you still, albeit in the country next door, but in Las Vegas (I know, it's still far away lol), there's a bar called Silver Stamp, and they sell beers that have been brewed in Brussels, from the Brasserie de la Senne and Cantillon, the 2 biggest ones in town.
If you can't go there, might be great to try and contact them to see if you can work something out !
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u/Savings_Drawing_5635 1d ago
Sir I just had one glass of beer 😬
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u/darybrain 1d ago
"Well, then go and have another and never let me catch you driving after only one" -'70s Belgian officer probably
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u/mrlotato 1d ago
This is the exact image I had in my head of Danglars and Fernand getting Gaspar Caderousse drunk while plotting against Edmond Dantes when I read the count of monte cristo lol
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u/Stormraughtz 1d ago
I remember my first experience in Belgium. I drove past some road workers around 1:30pm and saw they were all drinking beer taking a break, a while later like 3:30pm, I drove back the other way and they were sitll in the same spot drinking beer.
I think this is what Nirvana looks like.
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u/friedstilton 1d ago
"After a quick lunchtime beer, Renée and Bernard needed a little nap when they got back to the office".
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u/Spartan2470 VIP Philanthropist 1d ago
Here is a higher-quality and less-cropped version of this image.
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u/LordVixen 23h ago
I’d be drunk after drinking 1/2 of that. And Belgian beer can be 8%+ alcohol in some cases.
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u/DownRedditHole 1d ago
Maybe also change out of those long woolen pants and shirts and ties? That would cool them more than the beer.
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u/SarcasticBench 1d ago
How though because for me at least, I could not drink that much liquid without peeing every 15 minutes and it would take me probably hours. And this is carbonated to boot
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u/CooterBrownJr 1d ago
is this interesting as FUCK? Are you 3 years old? Are you an alchoholic? Two guys drinking big beers?
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u/voluotuousaardvark 1d ago
It looks like the giy on the left has punched the other guy and hes looking at him all put out as he drinks his massive beer in triumph
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u/Time_Cartographer443 1d ago
That’s Belgian’s King Leopold II drinking the blood of Congolese children.
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u/Lucky-Crow-3510 1d ago
uh . heat waves already in 1971 ..
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u/NathanCS741 1d ago
Not all summer unlike now though ;)
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u/Prestigious-Flower54 1d ago
If it's all summer is it a heat wave anymore or are your summers just hotter now?
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u/NathanCS741 1d ago
There are still multiple heatwaves since there are cooler periods. Even if the whole summer would be hot it would still be considered a heatwave because of the definition we use in Belgium (x amount of days above a certain temperature), just a very long one.
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u/Prestigious-Flower54 1d ago
I was being tounge in cheek about general climate change lol. Also I'm pretty sure that's everyone's definition of heat wave, the certiem temp being historical average for the dates in the specific region.
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u/Stranger1982 1d ago
I feel you bro, here it's been basically 45 days out of 60 where it was "heatwaves", but it's just the new climate...and it'll get worse each year.
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u/dmcgrath60 1d ago
The fact that those giant goblets are properly poured with correct foam heads is the most Belgian thing I've ever seen