Nothing better than going into a country pub, built hundreds of years ago, with wooden beams, a low ceiling and roaring fire, relaxing and enjoying the ambience.
Yes, America, where at 18 you're responsible enough to drive, vote, have children and handle millions of dollars worth of military equipment in the army....but a beer is just too much to trust you with
I used to feel that way until I was in the army and was stationed in Germany where the US military allows soldiers under 21 to drink. Some of the stupidest crap done while drunk was done by them. This is not to say that no one over 21 had ever done anything stupid while drunk, but, more times than not, it was the under 21 crowd that constantly got into some stupid crap while drunk. I no longer say the things that you said as a result of my experience.
I think that whatever age people are allowed to drink at, they suddenly go at it full force, and many do it before that just because it's not supposed to be done.
Recently traveled to the UK with my 16 year old daughter. Went in a London pub and asked about the legal drinking age.Waitress looked shocked and said 'what?'
A friend was single and stationed in England courtesy of the USAF. He made some British friends and the question was, where to go to hang out? The pub! But they had a con going. Dave would stay at the table and his buddy headed to the bar. His buddy at the bar would call across the pub, "Hey Dave, watcha having?" Then Dave called out the request with his American accent. And with that they had female companionship for the evening.
@@Gabriellaella23 It does and it should show you that any girls you get from that endeavor are not to be taken seriously... I have had too many problems with guys that think they are now in love with somebody that went for an accent. It never ended well.
Back in 2005 I took my son to Britain for a graduation gift. We went into a pub, sat at a table and waited, and waited. After about 15 minutes or so, the bartender came over to us and told us how things worked there. Very kind man. We ended up ordering a large potpie, some British chips and our pints. We both still love 💘 ❤ 💕 Great Britain and always will.
@@dansomething7742 Well, except Spoons of course. Where you've been able to order by app to your table for a couple of years. Edit: And now, due to the Rona, loads of other places too.
It's not pubs applying for 24hr licences that are the limitation, it turns out, it's that they have to be approved by the local councils, which are mostly full of puritanical nimbyism.
Exactly. The four tenets of running an establishment: protecting the young, avoiding over drinking, caring for the community... and something else I forget. I did the course 12 years ago. My local council would take a heavy sum of money for a 24h license after demanding a literal fuck-ton of documentation and have the old bill billeted next to your pub, just waiting for an infraction so they can take said license away, fine you and make you think you're lucky to get your old license back. If you get it back.
Before the 80s British Pub hours were 11:30am - 3pm and 5:30 pm - 10:00pm with 20 minutes dreinking up times after those hours. Night clubs had different hours, so you would start in the pub and move to the night club later. Then it became 11:00am -11:00pm until they said it could be 24 hours with a special licence.
The reason that most British pubs do not open late is because they have found that the actual quantity of custom they get hasn’t increased by much, if at all, and is just spread over more hours. This has lead to increased overheads for no extra profits. When a pub applies for its licence it able to request its operating hours. Many pubs close earlier than they actually have to in order to give themselves extra leeway to accommodate a later finish if circumstances warrant it.
@@colinp2238 Depended on the County one lived in, country counties often the pubs opened at 10:00 till 2:00 pm and then 5:00 pm till 10:00 pm, others opened at 10:30 with 30 minutes added to the other times. London pubs opened at 11:00 to 3 and 5:30 to 11 apart from those with a Market Licence such as those in Billingsgate or Covent Garden which could open at 3am but would close at 3pm for the day. Pubs in Theatre land could stay open till midnight. Some in Fleet St. had hours from 3pm to 3am I knew a pub on the Surrey - Sussex border where the County border ran through the pub, one bar in Surrey one in Sussex, one bar opened and closed 30 minutes before the other. Drinking up time was 10 minutes after permitted hours.
When I visited England way back in the 1980's, I noticed that table etiquette was different. In the US, if you and a friend sit down at a table for four, then the table is generally yours, even if people are standing. It is generally OK if someone asks to grab a chair and take it to another table, but the table itself is yours. In England, if you are at a table with free space, people seem to feel free to come over and ask to sit. I gathered that it was impolite to refuse. I kind of liked the British way. You were free to ignore the other party or to introduce yourselves and start a conversation. It was a good way to get to know people.
Jonathan Wetherell I did not really pay attention to it. At that point, I did not do much drinking in bars, and never ran a tab.I guess it makes sense when you don't have a wait staff to keep an eye on the tables, etc.
@@petertr2000 I'm in Scotland and i see it here regularly, if the pub is fairly full then any spare seats at tables will often have somebody ask if they can sit down. I've done it, like fuck am I gonna stand up to drink my pint if I've just spent 12 hours on my feet cooking for people 😆
On early trips to the UK I thought that the idea of ordering food at the counter was almost incomprehensibly weird. Then one day it occurred to me that that that is, after all, how every fast food restaurant in America works.
The main thing lost in the pond is the meaning of the word "beer" itself. In the UK, beer generally means ale, which is properly consumed at cellar (not "room") temperature, about 55 F. In the US, beer usually means lager, served much colder, like around 40, maybe even 35, F. Since the onset of craft breweries, there is a lot more ale in the US, but usually served cold since American bars rarely have cellars. And since many regional breweries have been bought up by multi-nationals, lagers are becoming more common in the UK. It's all rather confusing, really.
I used to sing with a band. We’d finish the set, then sometimes hang out till closing, start packing up the equipment and enjoy a lovely breakfast the owner cooked...at 4 am. Those were the days.
Byte Me , no. The band made a rule that I could only have one drink all night. After that it was water, or I would forget the words to the song. I’m a lightweight. Always the designated driver.
hahahaha I finally reached that certain age. My husband and I stopped at Denny's for breakfast, and ordered from the +55 breakfast menu. First time in our lives!
No, the worst thing about getting carded is that you turned 21 during the pandemic and it’s 50/50 whether the establishment will take your expired ID that you can’t replace because there’s a 3 month wait to get in to SoS to get it renewed
@@themostdiabolicalhater5986 Oh wow, that would suck. My husband got a new license, but there was even less of a wait than usual. He was in and out in less than a hour. Mine renews next year, I hope it's as easy. I hate the DMV.
@@TheDellaniOakes I renewed my license by mail in September. I think if Covid wasn't around I wouldn't have been able to because of my age. I'm 53 and I had already renewed by mail once before.
As an American in London at the age of 27, and rarely carded in the US where the drinking age is 21, I found it funny that when in a British pub the bartender asked if I was 18 or older. I also went to buy beer in a British grocery store to take back to my hotel room. The clerk carded me and did not accept my passport as identification, For some reason my military (standard NATO) identification card is what convinced him of my age.
Yeah the only ones I haven’t seen them at are the ones that are part of a larger restaurant. Though, true, not too many people play them. You are allowed though, I have.
@@nemaru Haven't been to a bar in a good 10 years, but I used to see dart boards all the time in small local bars across multiple states. It was rare not to see one. Just depends the sort of place you go I guess.
Lancashire was amazing when i worked there on a project for a few months. My coworkers were mostly lame so i went out alone to a pub one night. As soon as a locals heard my accent a convo was started and it always lead me to pub hopping with a friendly group of locals who’d want to show me the best pubs in town and get me shit faced as can be. Ahhhh such fond memories.
That was my experience across England and Scotland as an 18 yo American tourist in 1985. The patrons of every pub I visited wanted to know me, and I never seemed to have to buy my own beer. (I don't think that's because I was particularly attractive either.) The pubs were my favorite part of that trip. Then I went home and had to wait until I was legally old enough to enter the local drinking establishments, which were dismal by comparison. Being friendly with strangers and visitors has never been part of the culture I've experienced in US pubs or bars. Across Britain, it felt as if people took pride in their local. They wanted the world to know what a great place it was.
It is the same culture in Ireland in the sense striking conversation with strangers is easier which I did with a few Americans over on St Patricks day who were part of the parade.
I can vividly remember my first experience in a British Pub, waiting for table service, which never happened. I finally caught on when I observed new people enter the pub and go to the counter to order. When I tried it, the bartender asked me for my table number. I had not noticed one, so I had to go back to my table and find it on a little brass plate screwed into the tabletop, return to the bar and order, again. Lesson learned.
Same system here in Ireland though it may be possible to order if someone is making the rounds to collect glasses. The Porterhouse in Temple bar has table service.
My friend Julie and I used to visit a particular pub every Friday. The landlord viewed us as regulars and had our drinks waiting for us on the bar when we walked in, it was great. One day we arrived a bit earlier and he asked: "What's it to be, ladies - the usual?" and we said not that time, we wanted something else as we were celebrating. "Oh, what's the big occasion?" he asked. "Our 18th birthdays," we said (they were 5 days apart). He almost dropped the bottle.
Scot living in Philadelphia. For me the largest aesthetic difference is that bars and pubs never *ever* have carpet. A lot of what makes a British pub feel like a home from home is that it in many ways is feels like a community living room. The US experience always seems a lot less sociable, more like a restaurant and designed around individual parties at their own tables, especially with table service preventing you from 'getting the next round in' for the folks at the next table.
@@ClarinoI nailed it. You dont throw up inside a pub, it will make you very unpopular with landlord/lady and fellow drinkers alike. You either go to the toilets and throw up all over everything except the toilet bowl, or you go outside and leave some pavement pizza.
Sounds a lot like our cigarette smoking laws. I believe it recently changed but when I was under 18 (legal age to purchase tobacco products, recently changed to 21) I wasn't legally allowed to purchase them but it wasn't illegal to have them on your person nor was it illegal to smoke them. I'm not 100% sure but I'm not aware of any laws (in the recent past) that made any statements about legal age of consumption of tobacco products.
@@CoasterMan13Official A lot of countries have drinking laws on the books that allow for minors to consume alcohol if either a) They are at a restaurant and eating food at the same time, provided the purchaser of the minors drink is the legal drinking age (18 in many countries) or the minor’ s parent or b) if its a pub or bar and the minor’s parent buy the drink for their child. Some countries allow for different drinking ages for purchasing or consuming alcohol depending the type of drink thus beer and wine might be a legal of 16 but hard liquor might be 18. There can be all sorts of other rules that may allow for minors to purchase or consume alcohols in some select venues or stores but not others. Now as for consumption of alcohol by minors within the privacy of one own home , it’s quit common for the law to allow parents to serve alcohol to their kids in the home provided that they aren’t getting the kids drunk or encouraging hinge drinking or Drunk driving. In some cases they do have a minimum age the child must be such as 5 but not always. Keep in mind that evening countries that set no minimum age for serving your child alcohol, if you get your child noticeably intoxicated then they can charge you with child endangerment or something along those lines. This all differs greatly in the U.S. where the law for public drinking in pubs, bars, and restaurants and such that minors under 21 cannot ever buy or consume alcohol on premise not can you buy alcohol for them to consume off premise. In the privacy of the home, the laws very by state. Some states allows serving your kid alcohol in the home provided your not getting them drunk and their can be minimum ages the kid must be while others prohibit ever server you odd alcohol though enforcement is often lax of this rule either due the difficult of the police knowing it going on or simply the police preferring not to make it an enforcement priority in certain cities/states.
I am a Brit living in the Philippines. I have been to the US quite a few times and to different regions but my most enjoyable was at a bar in NYC that had a menu of a variety craft beers listed by state. After 3 visits I had just about made it to Missouri. My NYC friend gave me a hint about service - give a big tip on the first round and the table staff will tend to notice you.
Feel like there was a missed opportunity for a cut away, lol... “Let's go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for this all to blow over." -Shaun of the Dead
When I was growing up in Georgia (U.S. Georgia, not Soviet Georgia) I grew up with the drinking age. In 1979, I turned 18 which was at the time the legal drinking age in Georgia and it stayed 18 until 1981 when it changed to 20 years old and I turned 20 also. In 1982 the legal drinking age finally turned to 21, as did I. So it seems Georgia chose 1981 as the year to gradually increase the drinking age to 21 without excluding those who had already been at the drinking age. Also when I was in Denver, Colorado in the early 80's, they had a lower percentage alcohol beer (3.2 beer) which was referred to as "Colorado Kool-Aid" and 18 year old's could buy only that beer. I was in the Air Force at the time and in our dorms we had beer machines, just like Coke machines where you put 50 cents in and select your can of beer. Thanks Lawrence, I love your American-British analogies.
When I visited England back in 2007 I was drinking at a pub and there was an old dog lying in the corner. I asked about the dog and the bartender said that what he (the dog) does. The dog didn't belong to anyone at the bar, he just liked to lay there and take naps. I absolutely love England and I can't wait until I have the opportunity to visit again. During my visit everyone I encountered was wonderful and very pleasant.
over here in pubs where the landlord would live on site it is fairly common to have a pub dog, usually a big docile thing that is big enough to get noticed and not get stepped on, they will wander round all the customers to get fussed, then act as an alarm system if someone were to break in at night! Also back in the day they may even have a terrier or two to deal with the rats in the cellar....
The pub dogs are common in Ireland too. Lovely concept. "Here's your pint, sir. Oh, and if you don't mind, could you let the dog out? It's standing by the door so it probably want's to go out for a bit."
My favorite local gun store (US) has 2 big old dogs that belong to the owner. They wander around and take naps. They'd probably kick you out if the dogs don't like you ;p
Closing time in Louisiana - None. In New Orleans, bars can stay open 24 hours, so one can get wasted anytime. However, local governments can set any last call time they wish. It's closing time at 2 AM in Baton Rouge (perhaps an attempt to keep the Legislature sober). But don't book your flights yet - all New Orleans bars are closed due to the pandemic, as of yesterday (July 26).
Don't know if it is just a story or was true, but I had heard of a town or county that enacted a closing time on what use to be 24hr bars. So the bars closed at 2am. But then opened at 2:15 am because the was no limit on when they could open.
I remember going to a drive through daiquiri stand with my older cousin one time in Louisiana. We then proceeded to drink the daiquiris while driving down the street even passing by cops who didn't so much as bat an eye. I was 14. I miss Louisiana.
In the city of New Orleans no bar is required to close at all, in fact there are a few bars with no locks on the doors. Johnny Whites Bar was famous for not closing at all during Katrina, even though they did so with no electricity. They sadly did not survive Covid-19. RIP
@Fred RE: "When I am in the UK and want to relax, I take a book to a local pub. Buy a pint of beer, sit and enjoy. " Back when I used to drink (a lot), I would the same thing in American bars (neighborhood bars not nightclubs).
@laser325 how am I reading my book drinking my pint bothering you? I don't have a problem with people drinking and having a good time. Why should they have a problem with me. According to the government it's still a free country.
I lived in East Anglia from '82 to '85 with the USAF and I got the briefing on "Beer over Here." I loved it all. When we had a new troop come in and mention the "warm beer" concern I would explain that it's not warm, just cool. Cold sounds good because if you drink most US beer anything but cold it's awful. This stuff is delicious, and you're gonna love it.
Only the US macros, who have considerably lost their stronghold on the market since home-brewing was made legal. Times have certainly changed. Took a few decades for them to get it right, but the States cranks out some divine choices, now. I’d take a Heady Topper by Alchemy, a Founders Breakfast Stout, or just about all crafts made from Victory or 3 Floyd’s over the stuff made from anywhere else in the world other than Belgium. Belgium still reigns king.
The war beer myth sadly persists in Ireland even if our grandparents, great grand parents and Great great grandparents drank their beer a degrees than was the norm today be it off the shelf in a bottle or out of a cask.
The quality of US macros and the macros of England or Europe are all equally shitty adjunct style pale lagers. Idk where this reputation came from but have you ever had an Heniken or a Carlsberg and you’re gonna honestly tell me that’s any fucking different than a Budweiser? They all taste like piss water. Meanwhile America has a larger craft brewing scene than anywhere in the world. We have great beers we just don’t sell them to you
I was 18 in 1984 when it changed. It actually went into effect in KS in July 1985. There wasn’t a federal drinking age there was a threat to receive no federal transportation funding unless you changed your state drinking age.
I visited England in 2014 for the Sonisphere fest in Knebsworth. Had some drinks with the natives at the hotel. Ended up drinking until the sun came up. The best vacation of my life!
Having owned a Triumph Spitfire (equipped with Lucas Electronics), I was always under the impression that the British drank warm beer because their refrigerators were made by Lucas Electronics.
jokes aside, the temperature of beer is to do with flavour, cold temperatures would hide the flavour of a cheap beer, while a "warm" beer would have more flavour.
I work in a restaurant in Tennessee and I once ID'd a 99 year old man. He was days away from his 100th birthday and was very delighted I had asked and was more than proud to tell me he still drove.
When I was 12 years old I went with my folks and my aunt to a bar in Michigan. I asked for a 7-Up and the bartender gave me a Seven-and-Seven. When I asked him about it, he said it was legal as long as I was with my parents. I have no idea if he was telling the truth, but I just shut up and enjoyed my drink. This was in 1967.
@@AmandaFromWisconsin Now that I think about it, it might have been Wisconsin. Aunt Mary lived in Stephenson, which isn't far from the Wisconsin state line. We might have been going out to dinner in Marinette.
John, it could have very well been in Michigan. As a 16 year old in 1972 I had to go to court and testify about a car accident I was involved in. Visibly rattled, dear old dad suggested we go to see a bartender buddy of his at a bar. I thought I'd have some pop, but dad permitted me a Singapore Sling. Because I was with my father, it was allowed.
I went the UK back in 92, while in highschool. So, I wore a stylish leather bomber jacket, while my high school friends wore their high school varsity jackets. We went to a pub, as a group but everyone was in smaller groups of conversation. Suffice to say, my compatriots got kicked out of the pub when they tried to order beer, while me and one girl were able to buy without a problem. I think you have to just be so obviously underage that they can't in good consciousness serve you.
there's been an explosion of craft ale bars (closed due to covid atm) where there is a better quality mix of cask, keg, bottled & canned biers. Also, draft beer /has/ to be sold by the 568ml 'pint' or by the ½ or 1/3, the 2/3 pint (379ml) being very popular and having the stronger biers served in a smaller size. Bottles tend to be ½litre and cans tend to be 1/3 litre (330ml)
Here in Ireland that was the norm in many urban pubs and a number of country ones until the late 1950’s when nitro stout was rolled out but a number continued serving casked Guinness until 1973 now it is the wetherspoons,bierhaus in cork and Tig na Bhric which stock cask beer
My mother laughs telling this story. My uncle was visiting on leave from the Air Force. Mom's cousin had just turned 18. They lived in Kansas City, Missouri where the drinking age was 21 and it was still 18 in Kansas. My uncle and their cousin decided to drive across the state line to go to a bar. Mom didn't get a chance to remind them it was Sunday, and Kansas didn't allow alcohol sales on Sunday.
Wonderful episode! I'm a bit older. I remember growing up in Seattle... from the 70s into the 80s there was darts, Foosball, shuffleboard and pool tables. Live music at least 2 or 3 nights a week but no TVs. It was kinda like watching an old Inspector Morse episode, we'd hangout with our locals and catch up on local gossip, tell tall stories and do some business. I have fond memories of those days talking to friends, pint in hand, and no technology distractions. We could BS for hours... so much fun!
Next time you're in Seattle, go to the Zoo Tavern in East Lake. You'll have a great go with pool, snooker, darts, ski ball and plenty of other activities. Bring cash as they don't accept any cards.
The reason the legal drinking went up in so many states in the early 70s was mainly because if we were old enough to be drafted (no pun intended) to die in Vietnam, we were old enough to drink, which was also the impetus for the change in voting age you mention. Keep up the great videos, Lawrence.
In 1968, I was in a nightclub in New Orleans, Louisiana. I had been partying pretty good when I happened to look toward the door as someone was entering or leaving. I was shocked to see that it was daylight outside! Louisiana still has no closing time today, except for Baton Rouge, where it's 2:00am.
This isn't exactly true. I grew up in this area and was born well after you apparently. New Orleans proper (the central business area and French Quarter) has no closing time, but the outer areas (Metarie, Slidell, etc) have a rule that alcohol is not to be sold after 2am. Since the rule isn't that you have to close your doors, some bars will stay open later and may even risk a sale if the crowd is smaller. I'm from Louisiana and I can tell you other parts (with less tourists) close at 2am.
7:17 “At the end of the day we go to the pub to get absolutely RAT-ARSED.” Literally LOL! Best description of getting drunk I’ve ever heard. It even beats “pissed”!
Being six foot tall when thirteen years old, I was never challenged in bars, even by police. Every party needed my attention. But a married person had the right to service. The marriage age was 13. Both husband and wife. They could also get a drivers license together. Good old New Zealand.
I was stationed in England in the early 80's. I became addicted to English beer and ales. I have yet to find a proper pint of Bitter here in the US! I remember when I came home to the US I felt I was getting ripped off because the pints were smaller!
@@michaelschmidt5179 Depends where you go? I've just had a look and London averages for a pint (UK) are lower than New York. Both can be expensive tourist traps though. I suppose you just need to know where to look?
I was 19 visiting England for the first time on a class vacation. I didn't understand it at the time but now I understand the bartender's snicker when I ordered Stella Artois.
Stella Artois use to be known as "wife-beater" in the UK due to a perceived connection with aggression and binge drinking. It used to be seen as the drink of alcoholics who would then get aggressive and hit their wives, yikes, bad reputation I know. They have tried to rebrand as a classier drink and lowered the ABV of it down to 4.8% (I think it's 4.8). It's still occasionally called wife-beater but doesn't have as bad a reputation as it once did.
Cai Beacham if I heard that nickname, I would have thought it was because Marlon Brando’s character wore a men’s undershirt -known as a wife beater- when he bellowed for his wife, Stella, after beating her in “A Streetcar Named Desire”.
@@cai739 Wasn't that more down to the "slabs" of cans sold in supermarkets, the combo of strength and price made it one of the cheapest ways to get pissed. Carlsberg Special Brew being another for the dedicated alkie.
I was once working in America and at the start of the job the guy in charge told the American guys that they shouldn’t go drinking with us brits. When asked why he started asking the American guys what age they started drinking which was answered with ages 20 to 21, when the same was asked to us brits it was answered with ages varying from 14 to 16. The guy in charge then announced that not only did we have about 6 years on them but that the drinks in the uk were bigger and usually stronger. Long story short this was taken as a challenge and the brits broke the Americans with a trip to the bar Friday night, an afternoon and evening in a bar on Saturday, a day in the pub Sunday and on Monday morning the quivering wrecks that were previously Americans were on display for all to see at the start of shift
In America, drinking too much means you lack discipline. You can get away with it every now and then but mostly, you are looked down upon if you get too sloshed.
I honestly don't know anyone aside from myself who hasn't been drinking since the ages of 14-16. Hell most of the people I know think drinking is boring so they do drugs instead. The legal age may be higher but that doesn't stop everyone
I'm an American who loves British-style cask ale. I appreciate beer that is flavorful but not particularly intense or high in alcohol. Most Americans are not accustomed to cellar-temperature beer, but that's because our mass-produced beer tastes terrible unless it is ice cold.
You haven't lived until you have to work an overnight shift, then go out at 7am with your coworkers to the local bar and start drinking. You are usually done or passed out by 11 am.
Many years ago another co-worker and I were in a small town in Northwest Iowa to have breakfast at a cafe/bar before going to our local audit engagement. We were astounded to see so many middle aged and older guys having beers at the bar. We asked about it and found out that the night shift of a local factory had just ended. It all made sense then! I don't remember the name of the town but it wasn't very large.
This vid makes me smile. I went to grad school in Lawrence, KS and met so many people outside of my academic department at the Red Lyon Tavern. Many of the "brits" (English and Scottish grad students) gravitated to that spot, not because it was a perfect "pub," yet perhaps because of the Carlsberg on tap - who knows? I have great memories of playing pool, kooky and sometimes heavy conversations, meeting one of my best friends for life (from E. Yorkshire - philosophy PhD), and learning so much from how America and Britain see the world similarly (and differently). Through the silliness, I also learned some perfect british-isms:" jammy bastard!" and "absolute hatstand!" come to mind. :)
I hate the “Irish” pubs, here in the States. To me, it’s more of an Irish theme restaurant. When I went to London, I found your pubs very welcoming and, uh...authentic.
many just have Irish written some where and a few flags. A real Irish pub is about the people in it and often backed up with great live music. In some places the musicians are playing for themselves not the crowd but that will only be allowed if there very good, its called a seisiun
Even in the UK, it's best to avoid any pub branded as an Irish pub, even (especially?) in Northern Ireland. They're not Irish pubs, they're tourist pubs.
unless they are a Wetherspoons pub... in which case they are the IKEA/Starbucks of UK pubs, the locals try to act like nothings changed but they just feel sterile.
My older sister eagerly anticipated her 21st birthday so she could drink. A couple of months before it arrived, they lowered the age to 18. She was not happy that she had to wait and now nobody else did.
I was in the grandfathered generation that was 18 when it was legal then saw it changed to 21 but at 19 I could still legally purchase. I just had to go to the next state. Which technically was illegal since I couldnt legally transport alcohol... Bloody complicated...
When I was in college in Illinois, the legal drinking age was 18. So I was able to drink occassionally. When they changed it to 21, I had to wait 16 days before I could drink legally again.
It never occurred to me that a pub/bar would close before 2am. Most of the time, I didn't even go out until 9pm. I always worried about the drunk people with darts too. Sounds like a bad idea, but then, so was giving them pool cues if I remember correctly. Thanks for the video.😊
I’m American and lived in England for a bit, and I think you forgot to mention a couple big things. The two that shocked me going to pubs in Britain was that you aren’t asked to start a tab, you just pay per drink. And with the exception of wetherspoons none of them ever had their prices printed on a menu or anything. Just my observations.
By law all pubs have to display a price list, but they usually hide it behind the bar, so you can barely see it. You can usually guess based on the county, whether its upmarket/downmarket, and a few other factors, but sometimes you'll find a really posh pub that charges £2.50 a pint, or a really rough one that charges a fiver.
I grew up in Ohio. When I was 18, you had to be 21 to drink liquor, wine, or “6%” beer. An 18-year-old could drink “3.2%” beer. The real difference in ABV was closer to about 3.1% vs about 4.5%.
Cryptic Conversions I grew up in Cincinnati, but went to school in Columbus. But the law had changed by the time I got to OSU. I was in high school during the 3.2% time.
I laughed about the pint size difference. I used to own a bar and grill in Florida. One of our happy hour deals was a 99¢ beer, but it was always the cheap beer and was served in a 10 oz glass. The 10oz and 16oz glasses were the same physical size, but the 10oz had more glass in the base. If you wanted a larger beer, you got a 24oz.
Darts are very popular here in Montana just about every bar has a team that competes in a league. It's probably not as popular now as it was in the 90s/2000s though.
There's an Irish pub in Wuhan China and they have a wait staff on hand to take orders. During big events when it is crowded they don't take orders in the main part of the pub, only at booths further away from the action. Someone at the computer will take orders and then the food/drinks will be brought to the tables. There are 5 TVs in there that usually have no sound while music plays on the radio. And as for authenticity the owner was an Irishman. But he recently retired and has permanently moved back to Ireland.
nc bartender here, it’s the law. we hate refusing to serve someone who is clearly of age, but it’s not our job to serve people of age. rather, it’s our job to serve people with valid, in-date ids. it’s stupid but the ALE (alcohol law enforcement) has and will again come in with someone undercover with no id or an expired id. this includes bearded men in their 50s and is a surefire way to get a $1000+ fine and immediately lose your job. it simply isn’t worth the personal risk to go out on a limb for a stranger that couldn’t be bothered to bring an id
@@jakemorrison8507 The Oregon Liquor Control Commission sends out undercover inspectors, the result is that many bartenders card everyone. At one point many Americans were very puritanical about alcohol and implemented these sorts of enforcement schemes. That point was a long time ago, but the government shakedown persists under its own inertia.
IKR, it seems very counterintuitive to just force a bunch of buzzed and drunk people out into the world at the same time. There may be an ulterior motive for politicians. I have no idea what the numbers are, but I can imagine that the most income generating DWI arrests occur within around a half hour of their mandated closure time for bars. If true, this is disgustingly irresponsible. A bartender at a place like PT's should reasonably be able to ascertain whether someone should be driving, upon clearing theirs check, but a barmaid at closing, when there are a few dozen more to go on top of wanting to go home, it's a slippery slope into responsibility. I believe a 24 hour system should be attempted after Covid, businesses and customers will have a lot of time to make up for. ua-cam.com/video/DV6H2Khw48Q/v-deo.html
I know an american guy that crossed the pond and didnt know the lingo, he told his friend lets hit the bar and the brits said huh? then he said you know the pup but he mispronounced it pube. everyone got a chuckle
Laurence points out that the drinking age went up to 21 in the States because of drunk driving accidents. The reason they were occurring so much was mainly due to the fact that people under 21 were driving to states where the drinking age was 18.
I'm from Ohio. I was able to buy beer at 18 in 1984. When they changed the law to 21, there was a grandfather clause on the age for beer. I'm not sure where you're getting the information that it was only legal until the 1960's because it's not true.
I watch a lot of UK shows and I noticed that the bars(pubs?) looked more like living rooms and people would go to them in the day time! Plus kids would be in there sometimes. Looked very family/community oriented.
In England (not sure about the rest of the UK) It is legal for a child over 16 to have beer or wine with a meal on licensed premises. Children are permitted in pubs as long as they are not in the bar area but a separate room. It is legal although not recommended for children from the age of 5 to have alcohol at home. My children were allowed wine at celebratory dinners but neither of them liked it and as adults they rarely drink alcohol. It is my belief that prohibiting alcohol just makes it more attractive but parents obviously have to be vigilant and I am not advocating it, just saying what worked for my family. We have spent a lot of time in France and probably have a more European attitude. Going to the pub is a social activity, so not necessarily about alcohol, some pubs are family oriented. A lot now are also dog friendly so you can take your -well behaved- best friend with you. This is especially true in more rural places as you can treat yourself to a nice pint/glass of something and a sit down after your dog walk! Pubs make more money on food than "wet sales" so very few do not serve food. When my family meet up for a get together we will often go to a pub but usually have soft drinks as we are driving. Some pubs/bars/clubs will give a free soft drink to designated drivers and from my experience young people are very responsible and will avoid drinking and driving. I know Brits have a reputation for being permanently pissed by in reality we are merely mellow 😉
Before for corona it was not unusual to go in to the local village and in the pub it would be the mums and kids come out of school and stopping in for a drink and a gossip in the summer the beer gardens were full this is 3.30 pm
I took my daughter to an Irish Pub when she was 21 and she was celebrated!! I loved it. We were in the US but the pub owners were from Dublin, so think that was a win!
Some Irish pubs in the US will have "lock-ins" - they lock the doors at 2am with the regulars inside, and the drinking (and tipping) continues into the morning as a "private party." I've read that pubs near St. Barts hospital in London have been open 24 hours for many years, to accommodate people who work later shifts.
It used to be commonplace in the UK. Normally the older pubs will have the bar in the middle of the pub to make a front and back room, after 12 turn off the front room lights and everything carries on as normal in the back room
As an Australian I've never seen Foster's on tap in Australia. And before spending a fortnight on the Queen Elizabeth (the cruise ship, not to be confused with Her Majesty) I had only drunk it ironically.
The biggest difference between pubs in the UK and North America is that, in the UK, they have a pub culture where the entire community, including kids and grannies, are made to feel welcome. It's a meeting spot. Whereas in Notth America, bars are destination spots where mainly young and middle-aged men go with a sense of purpose: to see strippers, watch sports, or pick up girls. British pubs are more casual where people just sit for hours, chat and get slowly drunk.
When I was in the Air Force at tech school in Florida my roommate was just 17, because you can enlist at 17 with a parent's permission. Well, the legal drinking age in Florida back then, where Daryl was actually from, was 21. However, in all branches of the military the legal drinking age on a federal reservation is 18. Actually, if you get carded at the Airmen's Club or when buying alcohol at the BX and show your military ID, no one is going to look at your date of birth. You're in the service. You can drink. So at the age of 17 Daryl was able to "legally" buy and consume alcohol as long as he did it on base.
I just found your videos and I’m really enjoying them. Love your sense of humor. Did notice you just mentioned about being in a pub getting pissed until the cows come home. In the UK pissed means getting drunk. In America pissed means getting angry. Alcohol and getting angry- not a good combination. 😂
Every bar or pub I've been in the US (not a lot) have had a dart board. I think the fact of becoming less coordinated becomes the perfect reason to throw sharp pointed objects in either country.
Should be noticed there is no “official” federal drinking age as the federal government doesn’t have the power directly. The act would punishes any state that allowed persons under 21 years to purchase and publicly possess alcoholic beverages by reducing its annual federal highway apportionment by 10 percent.
Oddly enough, the federal government has just as much authority to mandate a minimum drinking age as it does to prohibit the sale of narcotics, but since when did politicians care about consistency?
Funny enough they “can’t” do that either. But they do it any way. “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” I don’t know of an amendment that gives them the power keep me from getting stoned. At least one that hasn’t been repealed.
I believe they were told that if they tried to pass a national drinking age it would be thrown out in court because it infringed on states powers to regulate. Remember when courts and Congress actually cared about stuff like that? So they made it a provision in a federal highway spending bill.
@@Metal_Auditor Technically I don't think they actually outlawed marijuana. But to grow/buy/sell it you had to have a federal tax stamp. They just never issued any of the tax stamps.
When I went to an English pub in 1967, they had two rooms. One with the bar for men only and a lounge for ladies. About the same time in Connecticut, all bars had booths in them because ladies were not allowed to sit at the bar by law.
When I were a lad in Victoria, Australia, the pubs had to close at six o'clock...in the afternoon (brought in after WWI, by wowsers and temperance women with mouths like cat's arses). This led to the infamous "Six o'clock swill", where people (mostly men) would rush to the pub after work and proceed to get as pissed as possible before closing time...and then attempt to drive home. It was abolished in Victoria in 1966, other states changed earlier.
An old bloke I know told me once that people would do this at Young and Jackson and then drunk walk out into Flinders and Swanston st intersection and get run over by trams. Glad we don't have to do that these days
In the 1970's we teens from California went to Arizona, where you could drink at 19. Or to Baja California, where you could drink at any age as long as your dad, uncle, or older boyfriend gave the bartender a stern look....
JW McCabe yes, but they don’t have to close by 12, they just choose to do so out of tradition.. plenty of nightlife spot (clubs and music venues) are open until 5 or 6am in large cities like London...
The big thing is that in the US, we have about a dozen different classifications of "alcohol serving establishment". We have "pubs," "bars," "taverns," "sports bars," "bar and grill" style bars, and more. Sure, the "default bar" may be what you describe, but there are plenty of pubs that are far closer to British-style (most of them even make a point of being British-themed, usually with a name of "The _something_ and _something_ .")
I remember in Louisiana (in the 70s and 80s) the fast food and gas stations had drive through service with cups of ice and mixer on the side. Talk about Drunk driving. 😣😐😩
the change in the drinking age was actually because the federal government said they would withhold federal funding if states didn't change their drinking age to 21 which was also due to pressure from drunk driving groups but it prolly wouldn't have happened if the federal government didn't threaten to withhold funds
I got grandfathered in. Ohio had passed an amendment fixing the drinking at for beer and hard spirits at 19 just before the federal law went into effect. Since I was 19 at the time, I could still buy and consume both.
Here in Virginia, we got grandfathered in as well. Reagan has zero respect from me. War Hawk but didn't let his troops buy booze at 18. And military bases only served 3/2 beer. Half strength beer. 😠😠😠 #ReaganSucked
I had no idea about the closing times and end of public transport at similar times. So, when I left the "Kitchen" and had to walk across Dublin at midnight, with honestly no idea other than a general direction to find my hotel, I was quite confused. So walking I went. I managed to find my way back, but not before two confused officers stopped me after going the wrong way on a one way street in order to catch up to me. They told me it was a bad neighborhood and as a tourist I needed to be more careful. After talking to them for a bit and explaining I was from Detroit. (This took a while for them to figure out exactly where that meant.) They finally told me: "I'd be fine." Turned tail and returned the way they came from. Now in Detroit a bad neighborhood at midnight might have some sketchy homeless, and maybe a few gang members with 9mm pistols. In Dublin, I took it for C-4 and AK-47s. I was still fine, obviously made it to my hotel and the Irish breakfast the next morning (merely 3 hours later) fixed me straight and I was ready to do the touristy shit my family wanted to do I was able to handle the day, although my mother was unimpressed with 3 pints before noon.
I’m late to this party but, in Kansas you could buy beer at age 18 but not liquor. The beer was restricted to 3.2% alcohol content, and was available at taverns. Beer with a 6% alcohol content was considered liquor and only available at liquor stores. This didn’t change until Regan did his thing.
The real reason the drinking age was lowered to 18 in many states around 1972, and back to 21 three years later was the fact that the Vietnam War ended and veterans, many under 21, were returning home. They could drink in Vietnam... and they also could easily die there. It was fair to lower the drinking age until those returning soldiers were 21.
I lived in London for two years and have a couple of comments: the British pint is 20 oz and the Am 16 oz, in UK you can also order a 1/2 pint (you'll lose your Am audience when you go metric); the British have "bitters", the Am version is the IPA (India Pale Ale) the problem is there are no "bitters" in the IPA (not as tasty); in the UK it is common to stand and drink at the "bar", Am normally you have a chair or stool; it's not unusual for Am to do "shots" while drinking beer, I don't recall doing any in UK but I did drink whiskey in a glass (but not shots); I also noticed the Brits put water, tonic water, soda etc in their whiskey but never ice, while in Am on the "rocks" is ice and very common with whiskey; I never got "bourbon" in the UK; I don't know when the UK drinking age was raised to 18 yrs, but it was an Am, the first female MP Lady Astor that raised the drinking age from 14 to 16 (I think what she really wanted was "Prohibition" but the Brits wouldn't have anything to do with that, remember this is the same woman that called W. Churchill a "drunk"); I believe all Am pubs, taverns, etc... would be considered "freeholds" or "free houses" while in UK there are "public houses" and "freeholds".
7:41, I paused out of genuine curiosity when that map appeared and that's how I realized that Oklahoma seems to have quite the opinion of their southern neighbor, lmao.
In the UK the legal drinking age is 5, if at home and under the supervision of a parent. At 16 you can drink alcohol in an establishment if an adult buys you the drink as part of a meal. 18 is the age you can buy alcohol in a pub for yourself.
3:40 This is actually not true, there is no federal purchasing age law and the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, contrary to its name did not have a provision that forced states to raise their drinking age. (Drinking age is under state, not federal jurisdiction.) It simply took away 10% of federal highway funding (since reduced to 8%) for states that do not have a minimum drinking age of 21. This funding was viewed by states as being so important that today we are left with no states with purchase ages lower than 21.
It reminds me of Jim Gaffigan’s joke about the drunk guy telling is wife: I’m cutting down this tree and bringing it in the house. And decorate it. For Jesus!
@laser325 I don't believe in tipping either. You should do your job equally the same whether you are tipped or not, last I checked I have NEVER gotten a tip (or a bonus) for doing my job above and beyond normal expectations, and I don't expect it.
@Mikê'e Stark "What else don't you believe in? The Moon landing? Dinosaurs? The fact that the earth is round?" ...Seriously, WTF does that have anything to do with what I said? Quite simply I don't expect tips or bonuses for simply doing my job correctly even if my quality of work exceeds what is required, was the point. I don't feel entitled to getting raises (provided I'm getting paid a fair wage, which I currently am) tips or bonuses, nothing more and nothing less. If I do think I need more money, that is something I will bring up to the boss.
In New Orleans Louisiana, bars can stay open 24-7. Even during Mardi Gras, when they clear Bourbon Street at Midnight everyone just steps inside the nearest bar, wait for the police pass then resume the party. The best one of all is you can get a drive through Daquiri just like getting a hamburger. But you can't have alcohol delivered with your groceries.
Nothing better than going into a country pub, built hundreds of years ago, with wooden beams, a low ceiling and roaring fire, relaxing and enjoying the ambience.
And a roaring fire
And that's perfect, went to a couple just like what you said in England.
Those are the fucking worst pubs in Britain usually. Cater more for tourists and Range Rover driving twats.
sounds horrible. I dont look for a coffee shop atmosphere when i go out drinking lol
Yes!!
Yes, America, where at 18 you're responsible enough to drive, vote, have children and handle millions of dollars worth of military equipment in the army....but a beer is just too much to trust you with
When I was 19, I was responsible for 22 million dollars worth of military hardware but was still drinking illegally.
Don't need to be 18 to have kids. Pretty sure there's a few TLC shows that prove that.
I used to feel that way until I was in the army and was stationed in Germany where the US military allows soldiers under 21 to drink. Some of the stupidest crap done while drunk was done by them. This is not to say that no one over 21 had ever done anything stupid while drunk, but, more times than not, it was the under 21 crowd that constantly got into some stupid crap while drunk. I no longer say the things that you said as a result of my experience.
@@apexone5502 That has to due with our culture of prohibition. Sorta like "Preachers kid syndrome."
I think that whatever age people are allowed to drink at, they suddenly go at it full force, and many do it before that just because it's not supposed to be done.
Recently traveled to the UK with my 16 year old daughter. Went in a London pub and asked about the legal drinking age.Waitress looked shocked and said 'what?'
Wot?
@@Myrtlecrack😂
A friend was single and stationed in England courtesy of the USAF. He made some British friends and the question was, where to go to hang out? The pub! But they had a con going. Dave would stay at the table and his buddy headed to the bar. His buddy at the bar would call across the pub, "Hey Dave, watcha having?" Then Dave called out the request with his American accent. And with that they had female companionship for the evening.
Genius. 😂 Simple yet effective.
Lol that would probably work in the opposite direction in an America bar as well.
@@Gabriellaella23 It did, for me and a friend at a bar in Silver Spring Maryland.
@@Gabriellaella23 It does and it should show you that any girls you get from that endeavor are not to be taken seriously... I have had too many problems with guys that think they are now in love with somebody that went for an accent. It never ended well.
Back in 2005 I took my son to Britain for a graduation gift. We went into a pub, sat at a table and waited, and waited. After about 15 minutes or so, the bartender came over to us and told us how things worked there. Very kind man. We ended up ordering a large potpie, some British chips and our pints. We both still love 💘 ❤ 💕 Great Britain and always will.
We're glad you enjoyed yourselves 👍
You waltz up to the table and just order?
@@rajgill7576 in Britain? You walk up to the bar and order there. Table service (for pubs) isn't a thing here
@@dansomething7742 Well, except Spoons of course. Where you've been able to order by app to your table for a couple of years. Edit: And now, due to the Rona, loads of other places too.
The concept of getting off your ass to order a bevvy is bewildering to someone who never has to i guess 😂
It's not pubs applying for 24hr licences that are the limitation, it turns out, it's that they have to be approved by the local councils, which are mostly full of puritanical nimbyism.
Cheers to "living longer!"
Exactly. The four tenets of running an establishment: protecting the young, avoiding over drinking, caring for the community... and something else I forget. I did the course 12 years ago. My local council would take a heavy sum of money for a 24h license after demanding a literal fuck-ton of documentation and have the old bill billeted next to your pub, just waiting for an infraction so they can take said license away, fine you and make you think you're lucky to get your old license back. If you get it back.
Before the 80s British Pub hours were 11:30am - 3pm and 5:30 pm - 10:00pm with 20 minutes dreinking up times after those hours. Night clubs had different hours, so you would start in the pub and move to the night club later. Then it became 11:00am -11:00pm until they said it could be 24 hours with a special licence.
The reason that most British pubs do not open late is because they have found that the actual quantity of custom they get hasn’t increased by much, if at all, and is just spread over more hours. This has lead to increased overheads for no extra profits. When a pub applies for its licence it able to request its operating hours. Many pubs close earlier than they actually have to in order to give themselves extra leeway to accommodate a later finish if circumstances warrant it.
@@colinp2238 Depended on the County one lived in, country counties often the pubs opened at 10:00 till 2:00 pm and then 5:00 pm till 10:00 pm, others opened at 10:30 with 30 minutes added to the other times. London pubs opened at 11:00 to 3 and 5:30 to 11 apart from those with a Market Licence such as those in Billingsgate or Covent Garden which could open at 3am but would close at 3pm for the day. Pubs in Theatre land could stay open till midnight. Some in Fleet St. had hours from 3pm to 3am
I knew a pub on the Surrey - Sussex border where the County border ran through the pub, one bar in Surrey one in Sussex, one bar opened and closed 30 minutes before the other. Drinking up time was 10 minutes after permitted hours.
When I visited England way back in the 1980's, I noticed that table etiquette was different. In the US, if you and a friend sit down at a table for four, then the table is generally yours, even if people are standing. It is generally OK if someone asks to grab a chair and take it to another table, but the table itself is yours. In England, if you are at a table with free space, people seem to feel free to come over and ask to sit. I gathered that it was impolite to refuse. I kind of liked the British way. You were free to ignore the other party or to introduce yourselves and start a conversation. It was a good way to get to know people.
How did you get on with the British tradition of paying for each round with the order? I was most confused when I first ordered outside the UK.
Jonathan Wetherell I did not really pay attention to it. At that point, I did not do much drinking in bars, and never ran a tab.I guess it makes sense when you don't have a wait staff to keep an eye on the tables, etc.
In Germany it was common for a stranger to sit at your table and call you "Herr Nachbar" (neighbor).
To be honest, this very rarely happens in England. Your table is your table. Maybe London?
@@petertr2000 I'm in Scotland and i see it here regularly, if the pub is fairly full then any spare seats at tables will often have somebody ask if they can sit down. I've done it, like fuck am I gonna stand up to drink my pint if I've just spent 12 hours on my feet cooking for people 😆
On early trips to the UK I thought that the idea of ordering food at the counter was almost incomprehensibly weird. Then one day it occurred to me that that that is, after all, how every fast food restaurant in America works.
Food in pubs? New fangled thing.
@@etherealbolweevil6268 My regular which has a Victorian/Edwardian interior up until recently did not serve food now the only food is sandwiches
The main thing lost in the pond is the meaning of the word "beer" itself. In the UK, beer generally means ale, which is properly consumed at cellar (not "room") temperature, about 55 F. In the US, beer usually means lager, served much colder, like around 40, maybe even 35, F.
Since the onset of craft breweries, there is a lot more ale in the US, but usually served cold since American bars rarely have cellars. And since many regional breweries have been bought up by multi-nationals, lagers are becoming more common in the UK.
It's all rather confusing, really.
Ales use top fermentation nearly at room temperature; lager bottom fermentation about thirty degrees Fahrenheit cooler.
Shame Lawrence wasn't lost in the pond.
The word “beer” in American English doesn’t distinguish between ale or lager *at all.* lagers are more typical but it’s all beer to us
I used to sing with a band. We’d finish the set, then sometimes hang out till closing, start packing up the equipment and enjoy a lovely breakfast the owner cooked...at 4 am. Those were the days.
Aww!!
And at 4:30 the cops pull you over for DUI.
Byte Me , no. The band made a rule that I could only have one drink all night. After that it was water, or I would forget the words to the song. I’m a lightweight. Always the designated driver.
The strip club always kicked us out after our set.
Byte Me no that was beta o ruk
The worst thing about getting carded these days is being told you are not eligible for a senior citizen discount.
hahahaha I finally reached that certain age. My husband and I stopped at Denny's for breakfast, and ordered from the +55 breakfast menu. First time in our lives!
No, the worst thing about getting carded is that you turned 21 during the pandemic and it’s 50/50 whether the establishment will take your expired ID that you can’t replace because there’s a 3 month wait to get in to SoS to get it renewed
@@themostdiabolicalhater5986 Oh wow, that would suck. My husband got a new license, but there was even less of a wait than usual. He was in and out in less than a hour. Mine renews next year, I hope it's as easy. I hate the DMV.
@@TheDellaniOakes I renewed my license by mail in September. I think if Covid wasn't around I wouldn't have been able to because of my age. I'm 53 and I had already renewed by mail once before.
@@pamelahornick8108 good to know. Thank you.
As an American in London at the age of 27, and rarely carded in the US where the drinking age is 21, I found it funny that when in a British pub the bartender asked if I was 18 or older. I also went to buy beer in a British grocery store to take back to my hotel room. The clerk carded me and did not accept my passport as identification, For some reason my military (standard NATO) identification card is what convinced him of my age.
I've never been asked for ID when drinking, and if you go to a local they will not ask for ID not matter how young you are
I actually see dart boards fairly often in bars, rarely do I see anyone actually using them though. Pool tables on the other hand usually have lines.
In the states they’re only there for show, not play. Insurance companies won’t allow anything else.
@@chicagodaddy1 Thats not true, at all. I've played darts plenty in bars in the states, if there is a dart board on the wall, its not only for show.
Yeah the only ones I haven’t seen them at are the ones that are part of a larger restaurant. Though, true, not too many people play them. You are allowed though, I have.
You just have to ask for the darts at the bar.
@@nemaru Haven't been to a bar in a good 10 years, but I used to see dart boards all the time in small local bars across multiple states. It was rare not to see one. Just depends the sort of place you go I guess.
Lancashire was amazing when i worked there on a project for a few months. My coworkers were mostly lame so i went out alone to a pub one night. As soon as a locals heard my accent a convo was started and it always lead me to pub hopping with a friendly group of locals who’d want to show me the best pubs in town and get me shit faced as can be. Ahhhh such fond memories.
That was my experience across England and Scotland as an 18 yo American tourist in 1985. The patrons of every pub I visited wanted to know me, and I never seemed to have to buy my own beer. (I don't think that's because I was particularly attractive either.) The pubs were my favorite part of that trip. Then I went home and had to wait until I was legally old enough to enter the local drinking establishments, which were dismal by comparison. Being friendly with strangers and visitors has never been part of the culture I've experienced in US pubs or bars. Across Britain, it felt as if people took pride in their local. They wanted the world to know what a great place it was.
It is the same culture in Ireland in the sense striking conversation with strangers is easier which I did with a few Americans over on St Patricks day who were part of the parade.
I can vividly remember my first experience in a British Pub, waiting for table service, which never happened. I finally caught on when I observed new people enter the pub and go to the counter to order. When I tried it, the bartender asked me for my table number. I had not noticed one, so I had to go back to my table and find it on a little brass plate screwed into the tabletop, return to the bar and order, again. Lesson learned.
Same system here in Ireland though it may be possible to order if someone is making the rounds to collect glasses. The Porterhouse in Temple bar has table service.
Was it a wetherspoons?
My friend Julie and I used to visit a particular pub every Friday. The landlord viewed us as regulars and had our drinks waiting for us on the bar when we walked in, it was great. One day we arrived a bit earlier and he asked: "What's it to be, ladies - the usual?" and we said not that time, we wanted something else as we were celebrating. "Oh, what's the big occasion?" he asked. "Our 18th birthdays," we said (they were 5 days apart). He almost dropped the bottle.
Did you get barred
In Russia, beer used to be a soft drink so you could buy a beer at 9 or 10. Now it’s been reclassified and kids can’t buy beer.
Always thought that was a joke!
I heard about that, didn't know it was changed.
IN SOVIET RUSSIA, BEER DRINK YOU!!
Unfortunate
Yep and at one point some beers In Russia were made specifically for Nursing Mothers.
Scot living in Philadelphia. For me the largest aesthetic difference is that bars and pubs never *ever* have carpet. A lot of what makes a British pub feel like a home from home is that it in many ways is feels like a community living room. The US experience always seems a lot less sociable, more like a restaurant and designed around individual parties at their own tables, especially with table service preventing you from 'getting the next round in' for the folks at the next table.
Sounds like I'd prefer the British pubs! Easier to make friends when you're essentially one big group in a large living room. 😍
Lets be real, if you worked a bar in america you'd know its to make it easier to clean, no one wants to clean vomit off carpet
@@klayman2 People throw up in the bar a lot in the US? In most places it's customary to go outside or at least try to get to the toilets.
@@ClarinoI nailed it.
You dont throw up inside a pub, it will make you very unpopular with landlord/lady and fellow drinkers alike.
You either go to the toilets and throw up all over everything except the toilet bowl, or you go outside and leave some pavement pizza.
@laser325 That's not how the carpets are in most pubs. The ones you'd like to drink in anyway.
The best British pubs are the ones that have a designated area of the car park for fighting in.
That's insane and awesome.
So true ,a pint and fight on Saturday night a great British tradition 👍 🤣🍻🍻🍻
You mean the family pub kids park
No they dont
I like the ones filled with old men and furniture from the 70s, a Welsh flag hanging somewhere
I took a British friend to a bar here. He proceeded to introduce himself to every person in the bar, individually. We drank for free all night.
Quite common in Ireland to talk to strangers
The *drinking age* in Great Britain is 16 as long as 1) you are also eating food, and 2) the buyer is 18+.
Was going to mention this myself. Also I think the legal drinking age at home is for some reason 5
@@michaelwatson4509 I read somewhere that it's to cover for some medicines with alcohol in them.
Sounds a lot like our cigarette smoking laws. I believe it recently changed but when I was under 18 (legal age to purchase tobacco products, recently changed to 21) I wasn't legally allowed to purchase them but it wasn't illegal to have them on your person nor was it illegal to smoke them. I'm not 100% sure but I'm not aware of any laws (in the recent past) that made any statements about legal age of consumption of tobacco products.
What??
@@CoasterMan13Official A lot of countries have drinking laws on the books that allow for minors to consume alcohol if either a) They are at a restaurant and eating food at the same time, provided the purchaser of the minors drink is the legal drinking age (18 in many countries) or the minor’ s parent or b) if its a pub or bar and the minor’s parent buy the drink for their child. Some countries allow for different drinking ages for purchasing or consuming alcohol depending the type of drink thus beer and wine might be a legal of 16 but hard liquor might be 18. There can be all sorts of other rules that may allow for minors to purchase or consume alcohols in some select venues or stores but not others.
Now as for consumption of alcohol by minors within the privacy of one own home , it’s quit common for the law to allow parents to serve alcohol to their kids in the home provided that they aren’t getting the kids drunk or encouraging hinge drinking or Drunk driving. In some cases they do have a minimum age the child must be such as 5 but not always. Keep in mind that evening countries that set no minimum age for serving your child alcohol, if you get your child noticeably intoxicated then they can charge you with child endangerment or something along those lines.
This all differs greatly in the U.S. where the law for public drinking in pubs, bars, and restaurants and such that minors under 21 cannot ever buy or consume alcohol on premise not can you buy alcohol for them to consume off premise. In the privacy of the home, the laws very by state. Some states allows serving your kid alcohol in the home provided your not getting them drunk and their can be minimum ages the kid must be while others prohibit ever server you odd alcohol though enforcement is often lax of this rule either due the difficult of the police knowing it going on or simply the police preferring not to make it an enforcement priority in certain cities/states.
I am a Brit living in the Philippines. I have been to the US quite a few times and to different regions but my most enjoyable was at a bar in NYC that had a menu of a variety craft beers listed by state. After 3 visits I had just about made it to Missouri. My NYC friend gave me a hint about service - give a big tip on the first round and the table staff will tend to notice you.
Tips? Table staff? In a pub? Gadzooks, what madness is this?
Feel like there was a missed opportunity for a cut away, lol... “Let's go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for this all to blow over." -Shaun of the Dead
Wonderful, my favourite film 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
When I was growing up in Georgia (U.S. Georgia, not Soviet Georgia) I grew up with the drinking age. In 1979, I turned 18 which was at the time the legal drinking age in Georgia and it stayed 18 until 1981 when it changed to 20 years old and I turned 20 also. In 1982 the legal drinking age finally turned to 21, as did I. So it seems Georgia chose 1981 as the year to gradually increase the drinking age to 21 without excluding those who had already been at the drinking age.
Also when I was in Denver, Colorado in the early 80's, they had a lower percentage alcohol beer (3.2 beer) which was referred to as "Colorado Kool-Aid" and 18 year old's could buy only that beer. I was in the Air Force at the time and in our dorms we had beer machines, just like Coke machines where you put 50 cents in and select your can of beer.
Thanks Lawrence, I love your American-British analogies.
Lucky you
When I visited England back in 2007 I was drinking at a pub and there was an old dog lying in the corner. I asked about the dog and the bartender said that what he (the dog) does. The dog didn't belong to anyone at the bar, he just liked to lay there and take naps. I absolutely love England and I can't wait until I have the opportunity to visit again. During my visit everyone I encountered was wonderful and very pleasant.
over here in pubs where the landlord would live on site it is fairly common to have a pub dog, usually a big docile thing that is big enough to get noticed and not get stepped on, they will wander round all the customers to get fussed, then act as an alarm system if someone were to break in at night! Also back in the day they may even have a terrier or two to deal with the rats in the cellar....
This pub dog was a larger breed, something resembling a Labrador if my memory serves me correctly.
The pub dogs are common in Ireland too. Lovely concept. "Here's your pint, sir. Oh, and if you don't mind, could you let the dog out? It's standing by the door so it probably want's to go out for a bit."
My favorite local gun store (US) has 2 big old dogs that belong to the owner. They wander around and take naps.
They'd probably kick you out if the dogs don't like you ;p
Used to have a cat stroll in to my local- the staff would leave a saucer of milk on the bar for him. He was a friendly cat.
Closing time in Louisiana - None. In New Orleans, bars can stay open 24 hours, so one can get wasted anytime.
However, local governments can set any last call time they wish. It's closing time at 2 AM in Baton Rouge (perhaps an attempt to keep the Legislature sober).
But don't book your flights yet - all New Orleans bars are closed due to the pandemic, as of yesterday (July 26).
Francis Lapeyre 👍🏽☺️😂😂
Nevada 24 hrs w/out local shortening, but now must serve food, and with the world at an end many are closing earlier ----lack of patrons
Don't know if it is just a story or was true, but I had heard of a town or county that enacted a closing time on what use to be 24hr bars. So the bars closed at 2am. But then opened at 2:15 am because the was no limit on when they could open.
I remember going to a drive through daiquiri stand with my older cousin one time in Louisiana. We then proceeded to drink the daiquiris while driving down the street even passing by cops who didn't so much as bat an eye. I was 14. I miss Louisiana.
@@mshaman86 My only time there I watched a Saints game. Probably the only stadium where you could order a daiquiri, and I did.
In the city of New Orleans no bar is required to close at all, in fact there are a few bars with no locks on the doors. Johnny Whites Bar was famous for not closing at all during Katrina, even though they did so with no electricity. They sadly did not survive Covid-19. RIP
ewww
Johnny Whites was my home bar away from my home bar for Sugar Bowls and a couple of conventions. Johnny Whites will be missed.
abgbdwlf I live in Metairie
Favourite bar in NO has to be the Bulldog on Magazine - hazy memories . . .
Most places in South Louisiana don't require bars to close. 24hr bars are pretty common.
When I am in the UK and want to relax, I take a book to a local pub. Buy a pint of beer, sit and enjoy.
Tell me which pub and I'll buy a pint in it!
@Fred
RE: "When I am in the UK and want to relax, I take a book to a local pub. Buy a pint of beer, sit and enjoy.
"
Back when I used to drink (a lot), I would the same thing in American bars (neighborhood bars not nightclubs).
@laser325 how am I reading my book drinking my pint bothering you? I don't have a problem with people drinking and having a good time. Why should they have a problem with me.
According to the government it's still a free country.
@laser325 sorry for the late reply mate, was too into reading my book and enjoying my pint to care 🍻
@laser325 nah I'm a conversationist mate, just not will tools hahah
I lived in East Anglia from '82 to '85 with the USAF and I got the briefing on "Beer over Here." I loved it all. When we had a new troop come in and mention the "warm beer" concern I would explain that it's not warm, just cool. Cold sounds good because if you drink most US beer anything but cold it's awful. This stuff is delicious, and you're gonna love it.
Only the US macros, who have considerably lost their stronghold on the market since home-brewing was made legal. Times have certainly changed.
Took a few decades for them to get it right, but the States cranks out some divine choices, now. I’d take a Heady Topper by Alchemy, a Founders Breakfast Stout, or just about all crafts made from Victory or 3 Floyd’s over the stuff made from anywhere else in the world other than Belgium. Belgium still reigns king.
The war beer myth sadly persists in Ireland even if our grandparents, great grand parents and Great great grandparents drank their beer a degrees than was the norm today be it off the shelf in a bottle or out of a cask.
The quality of US macros and the macros of England or Europe are all equally shitty adjunct style pale lagers. Idk where this reputation came from but have you ever had an Heniken or a Carlsberg and you’re gonna honestly tell me that’s any fucking different than a Budweiser? They all taste like piss water. Meanwhile America has a larger craft brewing scene than anywhere in the world. We have great beers we just don’t sell them to you
I was 18 in 1984 when it changed. It actually went into effect in KS in July 1985. There wasn’t a federal drinking age there was a threat to receive no federal transportation funding unless you changed your state drinking age.
So a loophole
I visited England in 2014 for the Sonisphere fest in Knebsworth. Had some drinks with the natives at the hotel. Ended up drinking until the sun came up. The best vacation of my life!
Knebworth - no s. I live a few miles away, in Letchworth. 😉
glad u visited our countryside thats the best thing about this country and torist do visit it enouth
Having owned a Triumph Spitfire (equipped with Lucas Electronics), I was always under the impression that the British drank warm beer because their refrigerators were made by Lucas Electronics.
We don't drink warm beer. Not willingly, anyway. We drink it cool: not cold, not warm.
@@digitig I guess the hilarity of jokes about Lucas Electronics are another thing that got lost in the pond. lol
jokes aside, the temperature of beer is to do with flavour, cold temperatures would hide the flavour of a cheap beer, while a "warm" beer would have more flavour.
Lucas ,also known as the "prince of darkness "
@@paulregner5335 I appreciated it 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Lucas made crap electrical systems for British bikes too…
I work in a restaurant in Tennessee and I once ID'd a 99 year old man. He was days away from his 100th birthday and was very delighted I had asked and was more than proud to tell me he still drove.
That is ridiculous to ask a 99 year old gentleman for I d why and are you completely blind!
When I was 12 years old I went with my folks and my aunt to a bar in Michigan. I asked for a 7-Up and the bartender gave me a Seven-and-Seven. When I asked him about it, he said it was legal as long as I was with my parents. I have no idea if he was telling the truth, but I just shut up and enjoyed my drink. This was in 1967.
That's how it was here in Wisconsin when I was a kid, and I'm 39.
@@AmandaFromWisconsin Now that I think about it, it might have been Wisconsin. Aunt Mary lived in Stephenson, which isn't far from the Wisconsin state line. We might have been going out to dinner in Marinette.
😜😜 That never happened in any bar with my granddad. Nope. Lol
John, it could have very well been in Michigan. As a 16 year old in 1972 I had to go to court and testify about a car accident I was involved in. Visibly rattled, dear old dad suggested we go to see a bartender buddy of his at a bar. I thought I'd have some pop, but dad permitted me a Singapore Sling. Because I was with my father, it was allowed.
What's a Seven-and-Seven?
I went the UK back in 92, while in highschool. So, I wore a stylish leather bomber jacket, while my high school friends wore their high school varsity jackets. We went to a pub, as a group but everyone was in smaller groups of conversation. Suffice to say, my compatriots got kicked out of the pub when they tried to order beer, while me and one girl were able to buy without a problem. I think you have to just be so obviously underage that they can't in good consciousness serve you.
Back then ID same with Ireland was not as strict. If you dressed in such a jacket it told the bar man or woman that you were old enough to drink
One thing I remember about the British pubs is that, at least in 1981, some of them still actually "draw" a draught beer manually.
there's been an explosion of craft ale bars (closed due to covid atm) where there is a better quality mix of cask, keg, bottled & canned biers. Also, draft beer /has/ to be sold by the 568ml 'pint' or by the ½ or 1/3, the 2/3 pint (379ml) being very popular and having the stronger biers served in a smaller size. Bottles tend to be ½litre and cans tend to be 1/3 litre (330ml)
Here in Ireland that was the norm in many urban pubs and a number of country ones until the late 1950’s when nitro stout was rolled out but a number continued serving casked Guinness until 1973 now it is the wetherspoons,bierhaus in cork and Tig na Bhric which stock cask beer
My mother laughs telling this story. My uncle was visiting on leave from the Air Force. Mom's cousin had just turned 18. They lived in Kansas City, Missouri where the drinking age was 21 and it was still 18 in Kansas. My uncle and their cousin decided to drive across the state line to go to a bar. Mom didn't get a chance to remind them it was Sunday, and Kansas didn't allow alcohol sales on Sunday.
😂 That's funny.
@@kristenheuer5676 My uncle and their cousin were disappointed when they got back. Mom just laughed at them.
Your story had me laughing for a while. Good one 👍
@@nikigunn I used to live near the boarder on the KS side. We always went across to MO on Sundays.
Hahaha! I wouldn't blame her for laughing! XD
Wonderful episode! I'm a bit older. I remember growing up in Seattle... from the 70s into the 80s there was darts, Foosball, shuffleboard and pool tables. Live music at least 2 or 3 nights a week but no TVs. It was kinda like watching an old Inspector Morse episode, we'd hangout with our locals and catch up on local gossip, tell tall stories and do some business. I have fond memories of those days talking to friends, pint in hand, and no technology distractions. We could BS for hours... so much fun!
Next time you're in Seattle, go to the Zoo Tavern in East Lake. You'll have a great go with pool, snooker, darts, ski ball and plenty of other activities. Bring cash as they don't accept any cards.
The reason the legal drinking went up in so many states in the early 70s was mainly because if we were old enough to be drafted (no pun intended) to die in Vietnam, we were old enough to drink, which was also the impetus for the change in voting age you mention. Keep up the great videos, Lawrence.
In 1968, I was in a nightclub in New Orleans, Louisiana. I had been partying pretty good when I happened to look toward the door as someone was entering or leaving. I was shocked to see that it was daylight outside! Louisiana still has no closing time today, except for Baton Rouge, where it's 2:00am.
This isn't exactly true. I grew up in this area and was born well after you apparently. New Orleans proper (the central business area and French Quarter) has no closing time, but the outer areas (Metarie, Slidell, etc) have a rule that alcohol is not to be sold after 2am. Since the rule isn't that you have to close your doors, some bars will stay open later and may even risk a sale if the crowd is smaller. I'm from Louisiana and I can tell you other parts (with less tourists) close at 2am.
Guess it must be the French influence
7:17 “At the end of the day we go to the pub to get absolutely RAT-ARSED.”
Literally LOL! Best description of getting drunk I’ve ever heard. It even beats “pissed”!
Being six foot tall when thirteen years old, I was never challenged in bars, even by police. Every party needed my attention. But a married person had the right to service. The marriage age was 13. Both husband and wife. They could also get a drivers license together. Good old New Zealand.
Was there a law saying that under 18 the parties to the marriage were required to be of a same age
I was stationed in England in the early 80's. I became addicted to English beer and ales. I have yet to find a proper pint of Bitter here in the US! I remember when I came home to the US I felt I was getting ripped off because the pints were smaller!
TRy some local craft breweries, they often have a tasty ESB on the list of stuff they make..
The cost of a beer is less in the states
@@michaelschmidt5179 Depends where you go? I've just had a look and London averages for a pint (UK) are lower than New York. Both can be expensive tourist traps though. I suppose you just need to know where to look?
John Prideaux yeah in the Midwest you can get $1.50 pints/bottles at happy hour. NYC is probably on par with London prices.
@@michaelschmidt5179 go to a pub in the north and its £2.10 a pint in lots of places
I was 19 visiting England for the first time on a class vacation. I didn't understand it at the time but now I understand the bartender's snicker when I ordered Stella Artois.
Stella Artois use to be known as "wife-beater" in the UK due to a perceived connection with aggression and binge drinking. It used to be seen as the drink of alcoholics who would then get aggressive and hit their wives, yikes, bad reputation I know. They have tried to rebrand as a classier drink and lowered the ABV of it down to 4.8% (I think it's 4.8). It's still occasionally called wife-beater but doesn't have as bad a reputation as it once did.
@@cai739 Thanks and good to know!
@@geminielemental8800 Fosters is the Aussies revenge although I haven't worked out what for.....
Cai Beacham if I heard that nickname, I would have thought it was because Marlon Brando’s character wore a men’s undershirt -known as a wife beater- when he bellowed for his wife, Stella, after beating her in “A Streetcar Named Desire”.
@@cai739 Wasn't that more down to the "slabs" of cans sold in supermarkets, the combo of strength and price made it one of the cheapest ways to get pissed. Carlsberg Special Brew being another for the dedicated alkie.
I was once working in America and at the start of the job the guy in charge told the American guys that they shouldn’t go drinking with us brits. When asked why he started asking the American guys what age they started drinking which was answered with ages 20 to 21, when the same was asked to us brits it was answered with ages varying from 14 to 16. The guy in charge then announced that not only did we have about 6 years on them but that the drinks in the uk were bigger and usually stronger. Long story short this was taken as a challenge and the brits broke the Americans with a trip to the bar Friday night, an afternoon and evening in a bar on Saturday, a day in the pub Sunday and on Monday morning the quivering wrecks that were previously Americans were on display for all to see at the start of shift
In America, drinking too much means you lack discipline. You can get away with it every now and then but mostly, you are looked down upon if you get too sloshed.
Come and work in Russia for a bit
Depends on who you drink with.
@@soberhippie never had the chance to work in russia itself but have worked with Russians elsewhere in the world and they were great!
I honestly don't know anyone aside from myself who hasn't been drinking since the ages of 14-16. Hell most of the people I know think drinking is boring so they do drugs instead. The legal age may be higher but that doesn't stop everyone
Ironically servicemen outside of the US could drink even if they were under 21.
On base clubs served anyone with a military ID .
I heard that they were trying to stop under 21s drinking abroad 🤣
@@janani1826 Imagine telling a friend who had just booked a holiday from England to New York for her 20th birthday that she couldn't drink. 🤦
We could drink at 18 until MADD ruined it, even in the U.S. On base, of course.
It seems to depend on the country. Stationed in Korea you have to be 21, while in Europe it’s only 18. (As of 2018)
Pubs seem so synonymous with student culture in the UK it's almost hard to believe that most US students aren't legal to drink in one
I'm an American who loves British-style cask ale. I appreciate beer that is flavorful but not particularly intense or high in alcohol. Most Americans are not accustomed to cellar-temperature beer, but that's because our mass-produced beer tastes terrible unless it is ice cold.
You haven't lived until you have to work an overnight shift, then go out at 7am with your coworkers to the local bar and start drinking. You are usually done or passed out by 11 am.
For those who don't work overnight this called "second drinking". Umhh, been there.
Definitely an odd feeling to walk out of a bar into bright sunlight .
Many years ago another co-worker and I were in a small town in Northwest Iowa to have breakfast at a cafe/bar before going to our local audit engagement. We were astounded to see so many middle aged and older guys having beers at the bar. We asked about it and found out that the night shift of a local factory had just ended. It all made sense then! I don't remember the name of the town but it wasn't very large.
Done that at Christmas, years ago. A big group staggering round town leathered at 11am,you get alot of disapproving looks.
This vid makes me smile. I went to grad school in Lawrence, KS and met so many people outside of my academic department at the Red Lyon Tavern. Many of the "brits" (English and Scottish grad students) gravitated to that spot, not because it was a perfect "pub," yet perhaps because of the Carlsberg on tap - who knows? I have great memories of playing pool, kooky and sometimes heavy conversations, meeting one of my best friends for life (from E. Yorkshire - philosophy PhD), and learning so much from how America and Britain see the world similarly (and differently). Through the silliness, I also learned some perfect british-isms:" jammy bastard!" and "absolute hatstand!" come to mind. :)
Man I miss lawrence, some good memories therr
I hate the “Irish” pubs, here in the States. To me, it’s more of an Irish theme restaurant. When I went to London, I found your pubs very welcoming and, uh...authentic.
You're welcome to come to Ireland and visit an actual Irish pub some time!! They're even better than British pubs :)
many just have Irish written some where and a few flags. A real Irish pub is about the people in it and often backed up with great live music. In some places the musicians are playing for themselves not the crowd but that will only be allowed if there very good, its called a seisiun
My town had an "Irish pub" they served nothing but bad fried seafood, worse fried seafood and shepherds pie.
Even in the UK, it's best to avoid any pub branded as an Irish pub, even (especially?) in Northern Ireland. They're not Irish pubs, they're tourist pubs.
unless they are a Wetherspoons pub... in which case they are the IKEA/Starbucks of UK pubs, the locals try to act like nothings changed but they just feel sterile.
The legal age was 18 when I started. However, the year my niece turned 18 it was raised to 21. So she was pissed bcuz she couldn't get pissed.
LOL I tell my daughter's generation it was my generation who got the age limit raised from 18 to 21.
My older sister eagerly anticipated her 21st birthday so she could drink. A couple of months before it arrived, they lowered the age to 18. She was not happy that she had to wait and now nobody else did.
i took up smoking at age 14 the smoking age was 16 but when i turend 17 they rased it to 18
I was in the grandfathered generation that was 18 when it was legal then saw it changed to 21 but at 19 I could still legally purchase. I just had to go to the next state. Which technically was illegal since I couldnt legally transport alcohol... Bloody complicated...
When I was in college in Illinois, the legal drinking age was 18. So I was able to drink occassionally. When they changed it to 21, I had to wait 16 days before I could drink legally again.
It never occurred to me that a pub/bar would close before 2am. Most of the time, I didn't even go out until 9pm.
I always worried about the drunk people with darts too. Sounds like a bad idea, but then, so was giving them pool cues if I remember correctly. Thanks for the video.😊
I’m American and lived in England for a bit, and I think you forgot to mention a couple big things. The two that shocked me going to pubs in Britain was that you aren’t asked to start a tab, you just pay per drink. And with the exception of wetherspoons none of them ever had their prices printed on a menu or anything. Just my observations.
By law all pubs have to display a price list, but they usually hide it behind the bar, so you can barely see it. You can usually guess based on the county, whether its upmarket/downmarket, and a few other factors, but sometimes you'll find a really posh pub that charges £2.50 a pint, or a really rough one that charges a fiver.
I grew up in Ohio. When I was 18, you had to be 21 to drink liquor, wine, or “6%” beer. An 18-year-old could drink “3.2%” beer. The real difference in ABV was closer to about 3.1% vs about 4.5%.
Were you in Columbus by any chance? I remember chugging buckets of 3.2 beer with my friends on High Street, OSU.
Cryptic Conversions I grew up in Cincinnati, but went to school in Columbus. But the law had changed by the time I got to OSU. I was in high school during the 3.2% time.
Ohio - The home of the drive through Liquor store.
Yep the grandfather clause. Just made it by a few months
That happened in South Dakota too. I live in Iowa and I got grandfathered in at 18. The 18 and 19 year olds were grandfathered in.
I laughed about the pint size difference. I used to own a bar and grill in Florida. One of our happy hour deals was a 99¢ beer, but it was always the cheap beer and was served in a 10 oz glass. The 10oz and 16oz glasses were the same physical size, but the 10oz had more glass in the base. If you wanted a larger beer, you got a 24oz.
Happy hour is not allowed
I grew up in North Carolina and was legal to drink beer and wine at 18 until the '80s. Which is exactly when I was in college.
I enjoy playing darts at my sports bar. We play darts with a twist as we throw darts at each other. I usually go first and win!
Darts are very popular here in Montana just about every bar has a team that competes in a league. It's probably not as popular now as it was in the 90s/2000s though.
Ouch! 😳
The pubs with ax throwing are very cool.
Roshambo
Richard Hopkins I’ve personally seen a dart in the side of the neck.
Even at the age of 30 I find it stupid that you can go to war but you can't drink a beer at 18 or smoke a cigarette.
There is a legal age for smoking where you are from?
You should find this even stupider at the age of 30 tbf
Where I live the age limit for smoking got raised to 21.
You can't smoke in the bar anymore anyway.
i'm a fair bit older than that & i think it's stupid too. if you are old enough to die in war you are old enough to have a damn beer.
There's an Irish pub in Wuhan China and they have a wait staff on hand to take orders. During big events when it is crowded they don't take orders in the main part of the pub, only at booths further away from the action. Someone at the computer will take orders and then the food/drinks will be brought to the tables. There are 5 TVs in there that usually have no sound while music plays on the radio.
And as for authenticity the owner was an Irishman. But he recently retired and has permanently moved back to Ireland.
Im 54, bald and Grey beard. I still get carded in Oregon.
Just why?
nc bartender here, it’s the law. we hate refusing to serve someone who is clearly of age, but it’s not our job to serve people of age. rather, it’s our job to serve people with valid, in-date ids. it’s stupid but the ALE (alcohol law enforcement) has and will again come in with someone undercover with no id or an expired id. this includes bearded men in their 50s and is a surefire way to get a $1000+ fine and immediately lose your job. it simply isn’t worth the personal risk to go out on a limb for a stranger that couldn’t be bothered to bring an id
In California everyone gets carded, it's a discrimination thing. Oh but I can vote just by saying so.
You may be using a bald cap and a fake beard to disguise yourself into looking like an old man....
@@jakemorrison8507 The Oregon Liquor Control Commission sends out undercover inspectors, the result is that many bartenders card everyone. At one point many Americans were very puritanical about alcohol and implemented these sorts of enforcement schemes. That point was a long time ago, but the government shakedown persists under its own inertia.
"Wait, bars close!?!?"
- A Las Vegas Resident
Came here to say this
New Orleans asks the same question.
@@pokerpokerfla so does New York City
IKR, it seems very counterintuitive to just force a bunch of buzzed and drunk people out into the world at the same time. There may be an ulterior motive for politicians. I have no idea what the numbers are, but I can imagine that the most income generating DWI arrests occur within around a half hour of their mandated closure time for bars. If true, this is disgustingly irresponsible. A bartender at a place like PT's should reasonably be able to ascertain whether someone should be driving, upon clearing theirs check, but a barmaid at closing, when there are a few dozen more to go on top of wanting to go home, it's a slippery slope into responsibility.
I believe a 24 hour system should be attempted after Covid, businesses and customers will have a lot of time to make up for.
ua-cam.com/video/DV6H2Khw48Q/v-deo.html
@@tolfan4438 24 hours! Who can pay for extra bartenders and servers. Or cook 24 hrs. All bars close at 2:30am where I live.
"Do you have any absinthe? I only drink absinthe."
"I don't have any absinthe, I have red wine, white wine, Carlsberg..."
"Oh, Carlsberg! Perfect!"
I know an american guy that crossed the pond and didnt know the lingo, he told his friend lets hit the bar and the brits said huh? then he said you know the pup but he mispronounced it pube. everyone got a chuckle
Haven't been to a pub since March. I'm dyin'.
You must be thirsty
Laurence points out that the drinking age went up to 21 in the States because of drunk driving accidents. The reason they were occurring so much was mainly due to the fact that people under 21 were driving to states where the drinking age was 18.
Your country needs less variance in the law state to state
As an FYI, the 18 year old drinking age in Ohio back in the 60s was only for low-alcohol beer. It was 21 for anything else.
Boris Galos Yes, it was 3.2% beer.
@@darcyjorgensen5808 Which was generally considerably less than 3.2% alcohol.
I'm from Ohio. I was able to buy beer at 18 in 1984. When they changed the law to 21, there was a grandfather clause on the age for beer. I'm not sure where you're getting the information that it was only legal until the 1960's because it's not true.
3..2% beer, watered down and served in soapy pitchers in college towns! Oh how grownup we thought we were!
I watch a lot of UK shows and I noticed that the bars(pubs?) looked more like living rooms and people would go to them in the day time! Plus kids would be in there sometimes. Looked very family/community oriented.
That's kind of how it is here in Wisconsin in many cases.
In England (not sure about the rest of the UK) It is legal for a child over 16 to have beer or wine with a meal on licensed premises. Children are permitted in pubs as long as they are not in the bar area but a separate room. It is legal although not recommended for children from the age of 5 to have alcohol at home. My children were allowed wine at celebratory dinners but neither of them liked it and as adults they rarely drink alcohol. It is my belief that prohibiting alcohol just makes it more attractive but parents obviously have to be vigilant and I am not advocating it, just saying what worked for my family. We have spent a lot of time in France and probably have a more European attitude. Going to the pub is a social activity, so not necessarily about alcohol, some pubs are family oriented. A lot now are also dog friendly so you can take your -well behaved- best friend with you. This is especially true in more rural places as you can treat yourself to a nice pint/glass of something and a sit down after your dog walk! Pubs make more money on food than "wet sales" so very few do not serve food. When my family meet up for a get together we will often go to a pub but usually have soft drinks as we are driving. Some pubs/bars/clubs will give a free soft drink to designated drivers and from my experience young people are very responsible and will avoid drinking and driving. I know Brits have a reputation for being permanently pissed by in reality we are merely mellow 😉
A pub is basically a community living room with booze.
Before for corona it was not unusual to go in to the local village and in the pub it would be the mums and kids come out of school and stopping in for a drink and a gossip in the summer the beer gardens were full this is 3.30 pm
@@cisium1184 the was one in my village were it was some ones front room
I took my daughter to an Irish Pub when she was 21 and she was celebrated!! I loved it. We were in the US but the pub owners were from Dublin, so think that was a win!
Some Irish pubs in the US will have "lock-ins" - they lock the doors at 2am with the regulars inside, and the drinking (and tipping) continues into the morning as a "private party."
I've read that pubs near St. Barts hospital in London have been open 24 hours for many years, to accommodate people who work later shifts.
Irish pubs I've been to in Ireland did it that way too.
Jeff Pudlo “Irish pubs in Ireland”? So just pubs then?
that used to happen in the uk in quite a lot of pubs not so much now with all the chain pubs like wetherspoons
-+
Still happens (covid aside) in the UK but generally only in the countryside where the police can't be bothered to make a fuss unles it causes trouble
It used to be commonplace in the UK. Normally the older pubs will have the bar in the middle of the pub to make a front and back room, after 12 turn off the front room lights and everything carries on as normal in the back room
As an Australian I've never seen Foster's on tap in Australia. And before spending a fortnight on the Queen Elizabeth (the cruise ship, not to be confused with Her Majesty) I had only drunk it ironically.
Glad you corrected yourself there. Prince Philip is the only man allowed to spend a fortnight on Her Majesty.
The biggest difference between pubs in the UK and North America is that, in the UK, they have a pub culture where the entire community, including kids and grannies, are made to feel welcome. It's a meeting spot. Whereas in Notth America, bars are destination spots where mainly young and middle-aged men go with a sense of purpose: to see strippers, watch sports, or pick up girls. British pubs are more casual where people just sit for hours, chat and get slowly drunk.
"And... elephants."
I legit had to pause because I laughed so hard at your delivery here.
Yes, that one was nice.
Elephant and Castle is the name of a London neighbourhood
@@Fromette That is fanTAStic.
When I was in the Air Force at tech school in Florida my roommate was just 17, because you can enlist at 17 with a parent's permission. Well, the legal drinking age in Florida back then, where Daryl was actually from, was 21. However, in all branches of the military the legal drinking age on a federal reservation is 18. Actually, if you get carded at the Airmen's Club or when buying alcohol at the BX and show your military ID, no one is going to look at your date of birth. You're in the service. You can drink.
So at the age of 17 Daryl was able to "legally" buy and consume alcohol as long as he did it on base.
Reminds me of drinking in the marine barracks at Newport, where they only served the local brew, which was equally foul and insipid.
@@jwsaxe How?
I just found your videos and I’m really enjoying them. Love your sense of humor. Did notice you just mentioned about being in a pub getting pissed until the cows come home. In the UK pissed means getting drunk. In America pissed means getting angry. Alcohol and getting angry- not a good combination. 😂
Every bar or pub I've been in the US (not a lot) have had a dart board. I think the fact of becoming less coordinated becomes the perfect reason to throw sharp pointed objects in either country.
Should be noticed there is no “official” federal drinking age as the federal government doesn’t have the power directly. The act would punishes any state that allowed persons under 21 years to purchase and publicly possess alcoholic beverages by reducing its annual federal highway apportionment by 10 percent.
Spot on.
Oddly enough, the federal government has just as much authority to mandate a minimum drinking age as it does to prohibit the sale of narcotics, but since when did politicians care about consistency?
Funny enough they “can’t” do that either. But they do it any way. “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” I don’t know of an amendment that gives them the power keep me from getting stoned. At least one that hasn’t been repealed.
I believe they were told that if they tried to pass a national drinking age it would be thrown out in court because it infringed on states powers to regulate. Remember when courts and Congress actually cared about stuff like that? So they made it a provision in a federal highway spending bill.
@@Metal_Auditor Technically I don't think they actually outlawed marijuana. But to grow/buy/sell it you had to have a federal tax stamp. They just never issued any of the tax stamps.
When I went to an English pub in 1967, they had two rooms. One with the bar for men only and a lounge for ladies. About the same time in Connecticut, all bars had booths in them because ladies were not allowed to sit at the bar by law.
I genuinely lol'd at "you'll be slaughtered before the pub quiz starts" 😂
When I were a lad in Victoria, Australia, the pubs had to close at six o'clock...in the afternoon (brought in after WWI, by wowsers and temperance women with mouths like cat's arses). This led to the infamous "Six o'clock swill", where people (mostly men) would rush to the pub after work and proceed to get as pissed as possible before closing time...and then attempt to drive home. It was abolished in Victoria in 1966, other states changed earlier.
Yeah I heard about that. But seriously, how old are you?
@@CitizenSnips Old enough to remember it as a teenager.
An old bloke I know told me once that people would do this at Young and Jackson and then drunk walk out into Flinders and Swanston st intersection and get run over by trams. Glad we don't have to do that these days
Same in New Zealand.
In the 1970's we teens from California went to Arizona, where you could drink at 19. Or to Baja California, where you could drink at any age as long as your dad, uncle, or older boyfriend gave the bartender a stern look....
In the early 2000s in Illinois we just got some rube to buy us booze. Then went out and had a party in the boonies the drinking age is a joke.
Laurence, as someone who has owned a pub in the state of Tennessee, I can assure you their legal closing time is 3am, not 2am.
Wasn't 2am usually Last Call?
@@rettawhinnery not in TN. Last call for us was 2:45. Everyone out by 3
Arizona, Washington and Pennsylvania, everyone must be out of the bar by 0200 and last call is at 0100, so it's probably a regional thing.
JW McCabe yes, but they don’t have to close by 12, they just choose to do so out of tradition.. plenty of nightlife spot (clubs and music venues) are open until 5 or 6am in large cities like London...
@@mats7492 I'm not sure why, I've never been to England but, I always was under the impression they didnt have mandated closing times.
The big thing is that in the US, we have about a dozen different classifications of "alcohol serving establishment". We have "pubs," "bars," "taverns," "sports bars," "bar and grill" style bars, and more.
Sure, the "default bar" may be what you describe, but there are plenty of pubs that are far closer to British-style (most of them even make a point of being British-themed, usually with a name of "The _something_ and _something_ .")
A lot of pubs in Dublin are named in such a fashion alongside the pubs named after a former or current owner
New Orleans pubs and bars usually are open 24 hrs closing on only Christmas and Easter. At least before the pandemic.
I remember in Louisiana (in the 70s and 80s) the fast food and gas stations had drive through service with cups of ice and mixer on the side. Talk about Drunk driving. 😣😐😩
the change in the drinking age was actually because the federal government said they would withhold federal funding if states didn't change their drinking age to 21 which was also due to pressure from drunk driving groups but it prolly wouldn't have happened if the federal government didn't threaten to withhold funds
I got grandfathered in. Ohio had passed an amendment fixing the drinking at for beer and hard spirits at 19 just before the federal law went into effect. Since I was 19 at the time, I could still buy and consume both.
Here in Virginia, we got grandfathered in as well. Reagan has zero respect from me. War Hawk but didn't let his troops buy booze at 18. And military bases only served 3/2 beer. Half strength beer. 😠😠😠 #ReaganSucked
I had no idea about the closing times and end of public transport at similar times. So, when I left the "Kitchen" and had to walk across Dublin at midnight, with honestly no idea other than a general direction to find my hotel, I was quite confused. So walking I went. I managed to find my way back, but not before two confused officers stopped me after going the wrong way on a one way street in order to catch up to me. They told me it was a bad neighborhood and as a tourist I needed to be more careful. After talking to them for a bit and explaining I was from Detroit. (This took a while for them to figure out exactly where that meant.) They finally told me: "I'd be fine." Turned tail and returned the way they came from. Now in Detroit a bad neighborhood at midnight might have some sketchy homeless, and maybe a few gang members with 9mm pistols. In Dublin, I took it for C-4 and AK-47s. I was still fine, obviously made it to my hotel and the Irish breakfast the next morning (merely 3 hours later) fixed me straight and I was ready to do the touristy shit my family wanted to do I was able to handle the day, although my mother was unimpressed with 3 pints before noon.
I’m late to this party but, in Kansas you could buy beer at age 18 but not liquor. The beer was restricted to 3.2% alcohol content, and was available at taverns. Beer with a 6% alcohol content was considered liquor and only available at liquor stores. This didn’t change until Regan did his thing.
Current UK pub - need to go out at six, neck eights pints in three hours, stagger home...
You would still be leaving early.
Staggering home after only 8?
And make sure you sign in for the track and trace!
Eight pints of strong European lager, yes... unless you’ve a serious problem 😂
@@sabro3492 i must have a serious problem 😂😂 12 pints of Guinness is a standard quiet trip to the pub on a Friday
How could you do an entire video on Pubs and at no point mention cask beer?? 🤷🏻♂️🤔
The real reason the drinking age was lowered to 18 in many states around 1972, and back to 21 three years later was the fact that the Vietnam War ended and veterans, many under 21, were returning home. They could drink in Vietnam... and they also could easily die there. It was fair to lower the drinking age until those returning soldiers were 21.
I lived in London for two years and have a couple of comments: the British pint is 20 oz and the Am 16 oz, in UK you can also order a 1/2 pint (you'll lose your Am audience when you go metric); the British have "bitters", the Am version is the IPA (India Pale Ale) the problem is there are no "bitters" in the IPA (not as tasty); in the UK it is common to stand and drink at the "bar", Am normally you have a chair or stool; it's not unusual for Am to do "shots" while drinking beer, I don't recall doing any in UK but I did drink whiskey in a glass (but not shots); I also noticed the Brits put water, tonic water, soda etc in their whiskey but never ice, while in Am on the "rocks" is ice and very common with whiskey; I never got "bourbon" in the UK; I don't know when the UK drinking age was raised to 18 yrs, but it was an Am, the first female MP Lady Astor that raised the drinking age from 14 to 16 (I think what she really wanted was "Prohibition" but the Brits wouldn't have anything to do with that, remember this is the same woman that called W. Churchill a "drunk"); I believe all Am pubs, taverns, etc... would be considered "freeholds" or "free houses" while in UK there are "public houses" and "freeholds".
7:41, I paused out of genuine curiosity when that map appeared and that's how I realized that Oklahoma seems to have quite the opinion of their southern neighbor, lmao.
It’s called the Red River Rivalry. College football arch enemies. 🏈
In the UK the legal drinking age is 5, if at home and under the supervision of a parent. At 16 you can drink alcohol in an establishment if an adult buys you the drink as part of a meal. 18 is the age you can buy alcohol in a pub for yourself.
I grew up In Wisconsin, where you can drink in a bar at any age as long as you are accompanied by a parent/legal guardian
How else would kids ever see their parents? Lol
3:40 This is actually not true, there is no federal purchasing age law and the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, contrary to its name did not have a provision that forced states to raise their drinking age. (Drinking age is under state, not federal jurisdiction.) It simply took away 10% of federal highway funding (since reduced to 8%) for states that do not have a minimum drinking age of 21. This funding was viewed by states as being so important that today we are left with no states with purchase ages lower than 21.
I don’t know how popular these are in the UK but I feel the game people play in bars / pubs in the US, rather than darts, is pool / billiards.
Me: Why is there a cow in your apartment?
Laurence: Because I'm pissed.
Average American: Well, yeah, I'd be pissed too if there was a cow in my apartment.
@@rowynnecrowley1689 whoosh
Cow o bugger , never buy a dog in a pub when your pissed
It reminds me of Jim Gaffigan’s joke about the drunk guy telling is wife: I’m cutting down this tree and bringing it in the house. And decorate it. For Jesus!
The Mermaid's Tale how’s it a joke when people (catholic or not.. unfortunately) commit such idolatry??
If you’re sitting at the bar in USA, the barman doesn’t expect you to pay per drink. You tally up at the end of your historic drinking session.
@@kirbyd every bar gives you the option of starting a tab.
@laser325 I don't believe in tipping either. You should do your job equally the same whether you are tipped or not, last I checked I have NEVER gotten a tip (or a bonus) for doing my job above and beyond normal expectations, and I don't expect it.
@Mikê'e Stark "What else don't you believe in? The Moon landing? Dinosaurs? The fact that the earth is round?" ...Seriously, WTF does that have anything to do with what I said? Quite simply I don't expect tips or bonuses for simply doing my job correctly even if my quality of work exceeds what is required, was the point. I don't feel entitled to getting raises (provided I'm getting paid a fair wage, which I currently am) tips or bonuses, nothing more and nothing less. If I do think I need more money, that is something I will bring up to the boss.
@Mikê'e Stark Except you cannot skip the queue in Disneyland by PAYING MORE. The FastPass system is first come/first served.
@@yearginclarke You probably also do not work for LESS than minimum wage and depend on tips for your income.
In New Orleans Louisiana, bars can stay open 24-7. Even during Mardi Gras, when they clear Bourbon Street at Midnight everyone just steps inside the nearest bar, wait for the police pass then resume the party. The best one of all is you can get a drive through Daquiri just like getting a hamburger. But you can't have alcohol delivered with your groceries.
Me. Lost in the pond, I bet you would be interested in “blue laws” and dry counties😉