• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

6. Various lagers originating abroad are brewed under licence in GB. Name the parent country of:

(a) Stella Artois

(b) Kronenbourg

(c) Carlsberg

(d) Heineken (e) Vaux.

7. Name the Big Six brewers in GB.

8. Here are five outstanding English beers. Give the home town of each.

(a) Greene King Abbot

(b) Gale’s Prize Old Ale

(c) Brakspear’s Pale Ale

(d) Adnam’s Bitter

(e) Fuller’s ESB.

9. Identify:

(a) bock

(b) kvass

(c) saké

(d) erdbeer

(e) lambic.

One is odd man out.

10. Four London pubs have given their names to districts, reputedly, at least. Can you name them?

VODKA

It was in the early 1950s that vodka began its amazing progress to popularity in the Western world, doubly amazing when you consider what a dull drink it is, no good neat, unsuitable for cocktails. Its only respectable role is as a kick-provider in what would otherwise be soft drinks; I once recommended its sparing use as a stiffener for the cold punch at a Darby and Joan Club party. These remarks of course apply only to Anglo-American vodka. Many Eastern ones are flavoured, often with what may seem bizarre substances like cayenne pepper or chocolate, but even the straight ones have some character.

1. What does the word “vodka” mean literally?

2. What is the drink made from?

3. When and where was vodka first made? Approximate answers permitted.

4. Name the leading firm of vodka-producers in Imperial Russia. Not an unfair question, as you will see.

5. Name the Polish vodka of which every bottle contains a blade of so-called bison grass, supposedly brought from the forests of east Poland where the surviving beasts are said to roam.

6. There are Russian and Polish vodkas distilled out at 96 per cent alcohol, and legally too. What is the reason (or excuse) for this?

7. Most people know the delicious (but rather indigestible) Bloody Mary with its tomato-juice, Worcester sauce and other juices and spices stirred up in vodka, but can you describe:

(a) a Bullshot

(b) a Hotshot

(c) a Bloodshot?

8. How can you tell a White Russian from a Black Russian?

9. One of the least offensive drinks made with vodka is the Moscow Mule—vodka, ginger beer and lemon-juice traditionally served in a copper mug. In what circumstances did it come into being, and what is the historical significance of its arrival?

10. Name the famous Russian who, while on a visit to Paris, wrote home to his wife, “There’s only one bottle of vodka left; I don’t know what to do.”

APERITIFS AND SUCH

A disagreeable word, aperitif, but eighty years or so after its introduction into English it can surely be considered naturalized and lose its French pronunciation and accent. No native word will do its job; taking its anglicization a stage further and talking and writing about an aperitive is quite inoffensive, indeed admirable as far as it goes, but seems unlikely to catch on. And now, on to the quiz, lest I fritter away what information I have about this, to me, less than wildly exciting province of alcohology.

1. When a waiter or a host mentions an aperitif he means one thing; a man in the drinks trade means another, more specific. Give:

(a) the broad and

(b) the narrow senses of the term.

2. Apart from wormwood and many other herbs and spices and such, what are the main constituents of vermouth?

3. Wormwood and vermouth. Are the two similar-sounding words related?

4. French vermouth is dry, Italian sweet. True or false?

5. What is:

(a) Chambéry

(b) Chambéryzette?

6. (a) What is the name of the popular mixed drink made from Campari and red vermouth?

(b) What does it become if you add gin?

7. Campari is named after the ancient Roman town of Camparum, where a supposedly health-giving drink was made in classical times. True or false?

8. Angostura is another famous bitters in a completely different style from Campari. The name comes from the place of origin, but it is now made somewhere else. Can you say where? One mark for the general area, an extra one for the precise location.

9. Some brands of bitters