Does downing a surfeit of Guinness at a session improve one’s playing of the Trad Irish music? It’s well known proven fact that copious amounts of Red Stripe, Smith & Nephew and ganga improve one’s ska playing, mucho Jack Daniels and (maybe a soupcon of smack) is necc for decent BLooZ & metal renditions, sulphate & lager for proper punk and you can’t beat a nice cup of tea and nice quiet sit down to improve your Morris Music performance. So what about stout and the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff?
Firstly what morris team drinks tea ?
Secondly stout at £7 a pint over here in France does not have the same effects as £3 in Tyneside Irish centre some how
A pint of the black stuff costs £3-50 at B B King's Wig Museum and £3-40 at Mr Choudhry's Halal Deep Space Nine (although Mon- Fri, 5- 7 pm- The Old Gentlemen's Club- it is £2-50).
Well, I test out this theory at least once a week at our local session, and have found my playing to be consistently mediocre throughout the entire evening, regardless of quantity of Guinness imbibed.
I have also tried drinking water throughout a session; that doesn't appear to help either.
Mattias, you might be an exception, but most of the players that I've heard saying they need a lot of beer to get "relaxed" can't play a damned thing drunk or sober.
For a while, we could get a canned draught style Guinness that was a fairly decent stout, all things considered, but it seems to have gone away, to be replaced by, well, what Jon said.
My wife and I use to drink Guiness whenever it was available on tap. Lovely stuff, it was.
However, in the last 4 years or so, we have noticed a significant change in the stuff pumped here in New England. Different taste, different aroma, and we do not feel good later, almost like the chemical formula does not agree with our systems anymore.
(Were it just one of us, no major issue - people age, our tastes change, our bodies change, all that. But both of us? I do not think so.)
Does anyone know what changes have been made to the Old Family Recipe in recent years? We have asked a few Guiness distributors at fleahs and fests (where i became "Perfect Pint" certified), but they claim there have been no changes.
This is no crisis, mind you - Budweiser, the King Of Beers, is now available nearly everywhere.
Well, of course the playing gets lousy if one would drink too much, but one or two stouts definitely puts me in the write mood for ITM!
However, my bottom line is that a person obviously is a better musician sober than DRUNK, but on the other hand there are states between completely sober and completely drunk, aren't there?
With beer, lots depends on freshness, cleanliness of lines and taps, etc. And Guinness is brewed in many locations worldwide, so there's bound to bit a bit of difference now and again. Usually, though, master brewers do an excellent job controlling the variables and producing a consistent product. Piece, have you noticed this effect only from your favorite watering hole, or at multiple locations?
Jon: you don't like US Guinness and you think all red meat overpowers everything else on the plate? Get yer taste buds checked mate--this sounds serious!
while we are on the subject of stout - Can someone shed a litte light on a mystery for me?
My wife and I use to drink Guiness whenever it was available on tap. Lovely stuff, it was.
However, in the last 4 years or so, we have noticed a significant change in the stuff pumped here in New England. Different taste, different aroma, and we do not feel good later, almost like the chemical formula does not agree with our systems anymore.
(Were it just one of us, no major issue - people age, our tastes change, our bodies change, all that. But both of us? I do not think so.)
Does anyone know what changes have been made to the Old Family Recipe in recent years? We have asked a few Guiness distributors at fleahs and fests (where i became "Perfect Pint" certified), but they claim there have been no changes.
This is no crisis, mind you - Budweiser, the King Of Beers, is now available nearly everywhere.
I'm always bemused by otherwise intelligent and curious people who like to know stuff about the world in which we live who know nothing of big business. Diagio is a monster. They use horrible bullying tacticts towards publicans to get them to stock their products.
I suspect that when it comes down to it, Irish music cannot really be practised authentically outside an environment of loads of little pubs which are open, available for music and selling Guinness or Murphys pretty well 24 / 7. These establishments will mesh and merge mysteriously with the insides of various people's houses when procedings have been going on for a long time, and again after a long time you will find yourself back in the pub again but not know how or when you got there. A little further down the line, all the ingredients of the experience will have merged like stuff in a casserole and you will no longer know where you are or what you are doing, or care very much.
The opacity of Guinness is enough to tell any person of sensibility that its gifts are buried deep in its bosom and cannot decently be expected to be imparted to those who insist on instant gratification - i.e., those unwilling to put in so much as four days' sustained drinking. I don't believe I have ever put in four days' sustained drinking, but that's beside the point.
Guinness is just burnt malt with very little hop content. Only for drinking in beer deserts. Drink proper beer instead and you'll play better, and your harmonicas won't block up so fast either.
Perhaps we should define "surfeit of Guinness" and "copious".
If one were to play for two hours on a weeknight, perhaps
five or so Guinness would be adequate. These being the British pint which is on the order of 21 oz. US. Four to six would be
adequate, more than seven or eight is perhaps surfeit. If
people clap on maybe they had the surfeit.
Of course these figures do not include the Jameson tasting
offered free by the hooch society from time to time.
Scientists studying memory discovered that the brain places "tags" on things, which helps it find them when it needs to recall them.
One tag, as it happens, is blood alcohol level, and the brain can recall a bit at maximum efficiency when the blood alcohol level is the same as when the bit was initially learned.
It explains why people who learn their music sober don't play as well after a few drinks, while those who learned their music after a few drinks play at their best after a few drinks.
Does this mean that it takes longer to, uh
get up to speed on Saturday morning
trying to remember tunes and play /
practice. Or does coffee work the same
way. There are at least the same number
of tunes I've learned under coffee, and
then later when I skipped lunch. That's
some of my best work ...
Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Does downing a surfeit of Guinness at a session improve one’s playing of the Trad Irish music? It’s well known proven fact that copious amounts of Red Stripe, Smith & Nephew and ganga improve one’s ska playing, mucho Jack Daniels and (maybe a soupcon of smack) is necc for decent BLooZ & metal renditions, sulphate & lager for proper punk and you can’t beat a nice cup of tea and nice quiet sit down to improve your Morris Music performance. So what about stout and the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff?
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Firstly what morris team drinks tea ?
Secondly stout at £7 a pint over here in France does not have the same effects as £3 in Tyneside Irish centre some how
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by bazouki dave
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
The Typhoo Tetley Teetotal Team in Thetford, Telford and Tynecastle.
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Ah yes, let's portray diddley music as the ultimate diageo ad. Great.
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by Prof. Prlwytzkofski
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
A pint of the black stuff costs £3-50 at B B King's Wig Museum and £3-40 at Mr Choudhry's Halal Deep Space Nine (although Mon- Fri, 5- 7 pm- The Old Gentlemen's Club- it is £2-50).
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Had to look up what 'Diageo' was!!
No, I don't think Trad Irish music needs to promote Guinness when they already have St Patrick's Day doing that for them already.
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
I definitely play A LOT better after a couple of stouts!
I guess it's all about getting relaxed and comfortable!
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by Mattias Holm
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Well, I test out this theory at least once a week at our local session, and have found my playing to be consistently mediocre throughout the entire evening, regardless of quantity of Guinness imbibed.
I have also tried drinking water throughout a session; that doesn't appear to help either.
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by Rick Payman
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
What? You can play without a pint of the black schtuff? Never knew... must try that.
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by saltcast
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Mattias, you might be an exception, but most of the players that I've heard saying they need a lot of beer to get "relaxed" can't play a damned thing drunk or sober.
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
As for Guinness, the stuff we get here looks very attractive and tastes like dirty water, so I generally skip it.
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
For a while, we could get a canned draught style Guinness that was a fairly decent stout, all things considered, but it seems to have gone away, to be replaced by, well, what Jon said.
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by Bob himself
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Can someone shed a litte light on a mystery.
My wife and I use to drink Guiness whenever it was available on tap. Lovely stuff, it was.
However, in the last 4 years or so, we have noticed a significant change in the stuff pumped here in New England. Different taste, different aroma, and we do not feel good later, almost like the chemical formula does not agree with our systems anymore.
(Were it just one of us, no major issue - people age, our tastes change, our bodies change, all that. But both of us? I do not think so.)
Does anyone know what changes have been made to the Old Family Recipe in recent years? We have asked a few Guiness distributors at fleahs and fests (where i became "Perfect Pint" certified), but they claim there have been no changes.
This is no crisis, mind you - Budweiser, the King Of Beers, is now available nearly everywhere.
Oh boy oh boy.
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by Piece
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
@ Jon
Well, of course the playing gets lousy if one would drink too much, but one or two stouts definitely puts me in the write mood for ITM!
However, my bottom line is that a person obviously is a better musician sober than DRUNK, but on the other hand there are states between completely sober and completely drunk, aren't there?
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by Mattias Holm
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
With beer, lots depends on freshness, cleanliness of lines and taps, etc. And Guinness is brewed in many locations worldwide, so there's bound to bit a bit of difference now and again. Usually, though, master brewers do an excellent job controlling the variables and producing a consistent product. Piece, have you noticed this effect only from your favorite watering hole, or at multiple locations?
Jon: you don't like US Guinness and you think all red meat overpowers everything else on the plate? Get yer taste buds checked mate--this sounds serious!
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by NewToItAll
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
while we are on the subject of stout - Can someone shed a litte light on a mystery for me?
My wife and I use to drink Guiness whenever it was available on tap. Lovely stuff, it was.
However, in the last 4 years or so, we have noticed a significant change in the stuff pumped here in New England. Different taste, different aroma, and we do not feel good later, almost like the chemical formula does not agree with our systems anymore.
(Were it just one of us, no major issue - people age, our tastes change, our bodies change, all that. But both of us? I do not think so.)
Does anyone know what changes have been made to the Old Family Recipe in recent years? We have asked a few Guiness distributors at fleahs and fests (where i became "Perfect Pint" certified), but they claim there have been no changes.
This is no crisis, mind you - Budweiser, the King Of Beers, is now available nearly everywhere.
Oh boy oh boy.
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by Piece
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Maybe you've both got liver problems?
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by ...
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
"Had to look up what 'Diageo' was!!"
I'm always bemused by otherwise intelligent and curious people who like to know stuff about the world in which we live who know nothing of big business. Diagio is a monster. They use horrible bullying tacticts towards publicans to get them to stock their products.
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by ...
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
"Maybe you've both got liver problems?"
What a kindly suggestion, sir.
# Posted on November 18th 2011 by Piece
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
I suspect that when it comes down to it, Irish music cannot really be practised authentically outside an environment of loads of little pubs which are open, available for music and selling Guinness or Murphys pretty well 24 / 7. These establishments will mesh and merge mysteriously with the insides of various people's houses when procedings have been going on for a long time, and again after a long time you will find yourself back in the pub again but not know how or when you got there. A little further down the line, all the ingredients of the experience will have merged like stuff in a casserole and you will no longer know where you are or what you are doing, or care very much.
The opacity of Guinness is enough to tell any person of sensibility that its gifts are buried deep in its bosom and cannot decently be expected to be imparted to those who insist on instant gratification - i.e., those unwilling to put in so much as four days' sustained drinking. I don't believe I have ever put in four days' sustained drinking, but that's beside the point.
# Posted on November 19th 2011 by nicholas
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Guinness is just burnt malt with very little hop content. Only for drinking in beer deserts. Drink proper beer instead and you'll play better, and your harmonicas won't block up so fast either.
# Posted on November 19th 2011 by Steve Shaw
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Perhaps we should define "surfeit of Guinness" and "copious".
If one were to play for two hours on a weeknight, perhaps
five or so Guinness would be adequate. These being the British pint which is on the order of 21 oz. US. Four to six would be
adequate, more than seven or eight is perhaps surfeit. If
people clap on maybe they had the surfeit.
Of course these figures do not include the Jameson tasting
offered free by the hooch society from time to time.
# Posted on November 20th 2011 by dogmageek
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
I just checked and the British pint is only
20 oz. US. Aw. But the math above still
checks out. Sure.
# Posted on November 20th 2011 by dogmageek
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Scientists studying memory discovered that the brain places "tags" on things, which helps it find them when it needs to recall them.
One tag, as it happens, is blood alcohol level, and the brain can recall a bit at maximum efficiency when the blood alcohol level is the same as when the bit was initially learned.
It explains why people who learn their music sober don't play as well after a few drinks, while those who learned their music after a few drinks play at their best after a few drinks.
# Posted on November 20th 2011 by Richard D Cook
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
Does this mean that it takes longer to, uh
get up to speed on Saturday morning
trying to remember tunes and play /
practice. Or does coffee work the same
way. There are at least the same number
of tunes I've learned under coffee, and
then later when I skipped lunch. That's
some of my best work ...
# Posted on November 21st 2011 by dogmageek
Re: Stout & the twiddeley diddley dudley stuff...
I prefer to drink Shiner Bock and I think it costs about $3.50 a bottle here.
Laurence
# Posted on December 1st 2011 by fauxcelt