Is It a Beer, Lager, or an Ale? Who Cares? Quiz

Answer: Short stories with surprise endings ("The Gift of the Magi")

O. Henry's mastery of the short story genre can be seen in his collections "The Four Million" and "Cabbages and Kings". His most famous stories are "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Ransom of Red Chief". In "The Gift of the Magi", Della sells her hair to buy Jim a watch chain for Christmas, and Jim sells his watch to buy her a comb. In "The Ransom of Red Chief", a kidnapping attempt of a young boy with rich parents goes horribly awry after the boy is so obnoxious that the kidnappers pay the father to take his child back.

Porter is a dark ale that received its name in the 1700s because of its prevalence among lower-class porters on the London streets. Porter today is brewed all over the world in a variety of flavors. Although controversy remains over the difference (if one exists) between porters and their cousins stouts, it is generally agreed that any minute difference is in the strength of the beer.

Answer: Teapot

George Harry Sanders and Clarence Kelly were responsible for the children's song, which was originally written in 1939 for a children's dance school.

Stout got its name as a variety of strong porter, but eventually the two terms became interchangeable. Like porter, it is a strong dark ale, but the name "stout" is more commonly used today. Stout is sold in several variations, including dry, Imperial, Baltic, milk, oatmeal, chocolate, coffee, and oyster (Oyster stouts may be brewed with oysters or simply used as a good drink with the shellfish. Chocolate stouts smell like chocolate. Oatmeal stouts are actually brewed with oatmeal).

Answer: Nevada's state nickname

Nevada is known as the "Silver State". The golden ratio, 1.618, is fascinating because of its ubiquity in the world: the golden ratio divides the human body into proportion, creates the spiral on nautilus shells and sunflowers, and was used in the construction of buildings like the Parthenon and Egyptian pyramids. The Golden Fleece was eventually captured by Jason and the Argonauts in Greek mythology with the help of the witch Medea, whom Jason later married. The golden rule, stated above, is a basic precept of morality.

Pilseners are pale lagers, gold in color, and were actually among the first lagers to be brewed. First created in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, they quickly spread around Europe because consumers could more easily detect any flaws in the pale beverage. This led to the brewing of higher quality beer and the spread of lagers in the world. Pilseners themselves are distinguished among other lagers for their golden color and because of their prevailing taste of hops.

Answer: Savory

Taste sensations differ in the way they signal the brain (sweet, bitter and umami use a protein receptor; salty and sour use ion channels). Umami is generally triggered by compounds containing glutamate, such as MSG, soy sauce, or Worcestershire sauce, but eggs, meat, and cheese are also considered umami. Saltiness is triggered by sodium, sweetness by organic sugars, sourness by acidity, and bitterness by basic solutions. Bitterness is the most sensitive taste sensation.

Bitter is a primarily British pale ale that varies in strength, color, and flavor. The name originated in the 19th century from beers made with coal-dried malt. Although generally pale, bitters can be amber or darker.

Answer: Lent

Lent is used to represent the time that Jesus was tempted in the desert by the Devil, and it occurs between the festivities of Mardi Gras and the solemnities of Holy Week. Catholics and some Protestants observe Lent by making resolutions to "give up" something, whether it be a habit, food, or action. Lent might have originated for a secular, rather than religious habit: European farmers in the Middle Ages often ran out of their crops from the previous years and were forced to undertake a fast before the next yield in early summer.

Bock is a strong lager, originally made in the 1300s in Germany for festivals or holidays. Bocks come in a variety of colors, often depending on their country of origin. Although Germany is probably most famous for its Bocks, there are international styles from South American, North American, European, and African countries.

Answer: Hinduism

Sati is often called "self-immolation" and is all but extinguished in modern India. Although it was considered voluntary, and still occurs in occasional spurts out of religious piety or love, sati was forced by social pressure in ancient and premodern India. Despite laws against the practice, it continued for years under several Indian dynasties, and was regularly practiced in Nepal and South Asia into the 19th and 20th centuries.

Sahti is special as an ale for tasting like banana (as a result of the fermenting yeast) and juniper berries. The berries are added to replace bitter hops, making a very sweet beer. Sahti is also brewed in Estonia and Sweden.

Answer: Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is a tradition for Munich, occurring in late September to early October and bringing more than 6 million people to the city to drink beer and eat traditional German wursts, dumplings, and other delicacies. In 2007, nearly 7 million liters of beer were consumed, along with 1.2 million liters of water, wine, lemonade, and other drinks. In 2009, one liter of beer cost between 8.30 and 8.60 euros.

Oktoberfest is also a name for the beer Marzen, a lager invented in Bavaria in the 1500s. Dark and bitter, the beer is a common holiday purchase all around the world.

Answer: "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoevsky

Dante's "Inferno", the first in his trilogy of epic poems "The Divine Comedy", is a description of Dante's voyage through hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. Dante describes the divine justice exacted upon sinners, which symbolically corresponds to their punishments (Gluttons eat excrement, Lusters are attacked by a monstrous storm). "Paradise Lost", Milton's retelling of the story of Adam and Eve, gives an illustrious description of hell from the perspective of Satan, and also describes how he was cast down into it. "No Exit", by the existentialist Sartre, takes place in a neverending afterlife between three guilty souls, who drive each other crazy in a small room together. "No Exit" is famous for the line "Hell is other people". "Crime and Punishment", however, talks about the punishment of the murderer Raskolnikov during his life, not after death.

Helles beers like pilseners are the most commonly drunk in the world. By volume, Budweiser beer (a pale lager) sells the highest worldwide.

Answer: Belgium

Belgium is a small country in northern Europe, and its high population density has led to environmental troubles in the past few years. A recent study found Belgium to have the worst water quality in Europe, although the area has plenty of it: flooding can be a difficulty, leading to the construction of dikes and levees. Brussels is located in approximately the middle of the country and is located in a bilingual region; Dutch is spoken in the north and French in the south. Belgium is home to the European Union and NATO.

Lambic beer is understandably sour and dry because of the unique way that it is brewed, with uncultivated yeasts. Mostly famous in Belgium, lambic beer comes in a number of variants, including Gueuze, Mars, Faro, Kriek, and Fruit.

Answer: Lagers have bottom-fermenting yeasts; ales have top-fermenting yeasts.

It's not color that determines the type of beer: there are pale lagers (Helles), dark lagers (Marzen), pale ales (bitter), and dark ales (stout). Lagers are made by yeasts that ferment at the bottom of a fermentation tank, at colder temperatures. They generally take longer to brew than ales and break down more sugars, making them generally more bitter but also clearer. Ales ferment at the top of fermentations tanks at warm temperatures: they are often sweeter because ale yeasts cannot process certain sugars.