Well, the American guy really couldn't believe it, but he told us something that we couldn't grasp. That where he's from some people do drink on the streets, but with the bottle hidden in a plastic bag... That shit is hilarious!

It seems like there's no decent drinking culture in the US (the local Australian pub described above seems rather familiar to me on the other hand), either people stay sober or get completely shit-faced. Well, probably that's what you get when your father takes you to the shooting range instead of drinking your first beer with you to show you what "drink responsibly" means.

Raising my glass (of ice tea) to this topic, cheers!

Everything else aside, you're doing the same thing here that a lot of Americans do regarding... Well, at least Europe, i.e. paint the whole place with the same brush. The drinking culture and alcohol laws vary a whole damn lot in the States depending on which state (and county) you are in. The drinking age all over is 21, yes, but that's pretty much where the uniformity ends. A lot of places have open container laws, others don't. Some states have monopoly on retail on alcohol, others just on liquor, some don't have monopoly at all. For the drinking culture I can't really speak for having only visited the place once and that place was Las Vegas (work) with a short stopover in New York, but the ones in Las Vegas who were most drunk were the foreign tourists. As a Finn I found it very surprising how polite and friendly and benevolent the bartenders were towards those people drunk off their asses. Here, it's illegal to serve people who are visibly drunk (the seller's discretion) so they tend to see those people as dead weight so they get a rather belligerent treatment, but in Vegas they just kept pouring them liquor and being friendly. Then again, these guys tipped very generously as well, so no wonder.

The locals that I talked to at the bars (a 'craft' beer junkie that I am, I mainly visited bars that way biased so the clientele was probably different than from other types of bars) seemed to just be there for a couple and then home. But what was surprising to me (I sort of knew about it beforehand, but never really realized before how prevalent it was) was the fact that Scorntyrant touched upon: The driving while under the influence. It's considered a big no-no here, getting you very stigmatized, but there it was commonplace, required even, considering the distances a lot of bars are and all that.

So... A bit off-topic, sorry about that. But generally the view towards alcohol seems to be a lot healthier in the US than in Finland at least. Comparing to continental Europe, one would have to do a lot more research.

It doesn't take any more drinks for big guys to hit .1, it's just that they can generally handle liquor better. And I'll be honest, while I'm not at all supporting anyone's right to drink and drive, I could very easily down 8 or 9 beers and still drive fine. It really depends on the person. Unfortunately, the stories that make the news are the bad ones.

It doesn't take any more drinks for big guys to hit .1, it's just that they can generally handle liquor better. And I'll be honest, while I'm not at all supporting anyone's right to drink and drive, I could very easily down 8 or 9 beers and still drive fine. It really depends on the person.

Unfortunately, the stories that make the news are the bad ones.

This may just be a perception thing, BasqueStorm. A lot of North Americans come back from Europe amazed, astonished at the prevalence of alcohol there. Stories about home dinners routinely being served with copious amounts of wine, for instance. Like it's a fucking holiday when we're just in the middle of the week
The alcohol may just be served at different time, different places and different ways. But I've yet to find one North American telling me: Gee, I sure had a lot of problems finding a shitload of alcohol in Germany/Italy/France

[The Wire video]

And I'll be honest, while I'm not at all supporting anyone's right to drink and drive, I could very easily down 8 or 9 beers and still drive fine. It really depends on the person. Unfortunately, the stories that make the news are the bad ones.

Complete bullshit. It's blood alcohol level. How could it not be affected by the amount of blood your body contains, for one thing?

Alright, sorry, I wasn't thinking. Yes, body weight does indeed affect your BAC. However, tolerance does not. Also, I am not at all cool with drunk driving. I was just saying that depending on the person, you could probably very well drive fine after a few beers or so. Obviously they shouldn't cut down on arresting drunk drivers, regardless of their tolerance, my point was that a large majority of the population could probably drive absolutely fine with a BAC of 0.05. It's actually 0.05 here, now. Which in any average sized person is around two beers. Which I personally think is a little ridiculous, how many people are truly intoxicated after two beers? Not a very high percentage. Obviously if the cops catch you, and you're over the limit, they'll book you regardless of how intoxicated you really are. But I'm assuming that if you're driving like you should, and you don't reek of liquor, you probably won't get pulled over. Just saying. There's a difference between drunk driving, and driving after having two or three beers. Now, I'm not saying go out, down three beers in rapid succession, and go start your car.

Alright, sorry, I wasn't thinking. Yes, body weight does indeed affect your BAC. However, tolerance does not. Also, I am not at all cool with drunk driving. I was just saying that depending on the person, you could probably very well drive fine after a few beers or so. Obviously they shouldn't cut down on arresting drunk drivers, regardless of their tolerance, my point was that a large majority of the population could probably drive absolutely fine with a BAC of 0.05. It's actually 0.05 here, now. Which in any average sized person is around two beers. Which I personally think is a little ridiculous, how many people are truly intoxicated after two beers? Not a very high percentage. Obviously if the cops catch you, and you're over the limit, they'll book you regardless of how intoxicated you really are. But I'm assuming that if you're driving like you should, and you don't reek of liquor, you probably won't get pulled over. Just saying. There's a difference between drunk driving, and driving after having two or three beers. Now, I'm not saying go out, down three beers in rapid succession, and go start your car.

Absolutely.

But it's common in society in general. I think it's lame as fuck, myself. If you want to drink (or get high or whatever else) do it. That's your business. But the entire thing about having to talk about it and glorify it and make it sound cool is just beyond fucking stupid.

Drink till you die for all I care, but shut the fuck up about it. No one is impressed with your ability to put a container to your lips and swallow, other than similar numbskulls.

This whole BEER = METAL shit is the equivalent of rap music talking about smoking marijuana. It's annoying and totally without substance. And for the bands, if the best you can do is write lyrics about how drunk you got, better spend more time sober and see if you have an intelligent thought to write about instead.

Absolutely.
But it's common in society in general. I think it's lame as fuck, myself. If you want to drink (or get high or whatever else) do it. That's your business. But the entire thing about having to talk about it and glorify it and make it sound cool is just beyond fucking stupid.
Drink till you die for all I care, but shut the fuck up about it. No one is impressed with your ability to put a container to your lips and swallow, other than similar numbskulls.
This whole BEER = METAL shit is the equivalent of rap music talking about smoking marijuana. It's annoying and totally without substance. And for the bands, if the best you can do is write lyrics about how drunk you got, better spend more time sober and see if you have an intelligent thought to write about instead.

Drink till you die for all I care, but shut the fuck up about it.

It seems like there's no decent drinking culture in the US (the local Australian pub described above seems rather familiar to me on the other hand), either people stay sober or get completely shit-faced. Well, probably that's what you get when your father takes you to the shooting range instead of drinking your first beer with you to show you what "drink responsibly" means.

I think some beers and live music go together great, especially energetic music like metal. Loosens me up and gets me in a more upbeat mood, but I'm not a violent person so i'm not a drunk looking to fight. Drinking until you black out kind of defeats the purpose of seeing a band play but I'll admit its happened to me on occasion. I usually just put on a nice buzz, then when I get home we will crank some music and get shitfaced if its not a work night.