Beer and Heat

It seems the first thing one wants to do when it's hot outside is to try to cool down inside by consuming cold beverages. At times a cold beer can be the most refreshing thing, ever.

Not necessarily my personal favorite beer, Corona has a place in my heart as the brew that once picked me up most. After a torturous 11 hours of tuckpointing a south-facing brick wall -- on a scaffold as high as thirty feet - my buddies and I grabbed a half-gallon of beer (a growler) at the local liquor store.

In frosted glasses, to the ice-cold brew we added sliced limes.

After the first pint I felt much better, the beer rehydrating my dry skin and bones. The second one wasn't so bad either.

As with everything, all things good must be taken in moderation. In small doses, beer can whet ones whistle while providing a little nutritive value. After the second beer, the adverse effects begin: liver and kidney disease, high blood sugars, pressures on the pancreas.

Especially in the heat, beer can be tricky. It feels good at first; soon it becomes too good to be true. The cumulative effects of alcohol on an already-taxed body can be devastating.

Thank goodness beer doesn't brain your damage.

Heat destroys beer, creating off flavors brewmasters stridently work to avoid. Oxidation is quite destructive and ages beer prematurely: over 40 degrees F, beer deteriorates approximately 8 times faster every thirty degrees warmer in storage. As noted before, light is a bother to beer too.

In the summer heat try sipping a shandy or radler for effect, halving the alcohol content, maybe adding some vitamin C to keep the body fresh and lithe.

The moral is: keep your beer cool and in the dark. Beer can help you beat the heat.