Hahaha, yeah, J is right. You're not really supposed to drink most of those beers out of the bottle. They're not your run-of-the-mill lagers or ales after all!

Almost every of those beers worth its pedigree has a glass design of its own that gives it the best taste (in some cases the effect is doubtful, but in others like Leffe and Duvel very noticeable).

Examples:











and so forth. In most cases you can substitute the glass for one in a similar shape, but if you visit a (mildly professional) bar in Belgium and they serve you your beer in a different glass than the 'real' one they better have a damn good reason. It's 'not done'.

(also, Duvel glasses are meant to be kept in the freezer and to get all 'misty' before pouring the beer. Not every bar does this though, and if it's busy and a lot of people order Duvel they sometimes run out of space in the freezer)

So yeah, we tend to take our beers seriously. A little too serious one might say.

yeah, you guys sure are passionate. Unfortunately im fairly lazy when it comes to drinking so I dont normally use a glass at home, let alone the correct glass.

I rarely use a glass...when I do it's almost always from in the freezer, but I use a variety... glass beer steins from oktoberfest, maybe a duvel glass (got a couple) or my fish-in-beer glasses.

Why the fuss? Beer comes in glass already.

To get the proper taste. You don't drink wine from the bottle either (well .. i hope you don't ) if you want to get the full flavour of a drink, it should be in the appropiate glass.
Just a small tip, i'm not a glass-nazi or something.

J, you're saying it as if it's a BAD thing We need to educamate these bitches! I mean, being Belgian might not be all that, but we can be damn proud of our beers!

Talking about being Belgian - I weaseled my way out of having to sit at the election office next weekend. Let's just hope they don't fine me. I think the fine is like 200€. I hate this mandatory voting. Meh. They should a) abolish the mandatory voting system and b) make the 'office duty' voluntarily with good reimbursement. That way a lot of people will show up. I would get 20€ for doing my thang on Sunday, but that REALLY doesn't weigh up against having to get up at 7.30 on a Sunday morning and spending half my day there.

(for Satis: there are European elections this week(end), so we all have to go vote. Well, our Brits and Peltz don't HAVE to. But you get the point. As for the fining and shit: you get fined for not voting in Belgium, in theory. In reality so many people don't go that you'd have to be really unlucky to be one of the people fined. But there is also the call-up for having to sit at an election office all day to supervise shit, which is (obviously) a much smaller group and as such more easily monitored. Bailing out on the election office duty is frowned upon a lot more than just throwing away your vote, so you usually end up f00ked).

hah...so you're a beer connoisseur, but socially irresponsible. Don't worry, I didn't vote in the last local elections, though I did vote for president. I don't k now why I bother, though.... anything I vote for never passes. I guess there aren't enough smart people to vote with me.

Err, anyway, I like beer in a bottle...and usually out of the bottle. With wine there's a definite taste difference from drinking it in a glass vs the bottle, plus even letting it sit out a breathe makes a real difference in taste. With beer...meh...not so much. At least in my humble opinion.

There is a taste difference, but not enough for me to obsess over. If I have a bottle for the most part, I am happy. But there are some that a glass just makes it easier, like Delerium Tremens, etc.

Just don't give me beer in a can, unless I am tubing down the river, cause that tastes like swamp piss.

As for voting. I don't think everyone should vote or be forced to vote. I think that leads to a lot of people picking a person because of their name. I do vote BTW. But, with so few people who do vote it gives me a bit of happiness. In my city only about 10% of the people vote. Although, I must admit rarely what I want to happen happens. /Sigh. People just want to keep spending money the city does not have making my taxes higher.

Sadly, that probably sums up the 'Condition Rinoxien' pretty well.

Shiny, if there's only a 10% voter turnout shouldn't you (in theory) be able to affect the election outcome a lot more? If there would be some sort of movement I mean.

One would think I would have an effect, and maybe I do. But I still think the majority of people are stupid, and I don't often agree in politics with others. So, no. hehe. Basically people see the fluff side such as they want a new park when we have 30-40 at least in my city already. But I see we have 30-40 already, they are all pretty close to each neighborhood (I can easiley walk to 3-4 near my house and I live on the cheaper side of town), I don't think we need another when it means my taxes go up. /sigh.

When it comes to people to elect, if they have an easy white name like Smith they are more likely to get elected than say Zimmerman, etc.

This is why many people like Satis stay at home and drink beer

Thats why we estonians have e-voting. I just attach my id card to my computer and voila without ever leaving my house i can give my vote (i do leave the house in every once in a while on other business, im not a total social reject ) Our e-voting is pretty much the most advanced in europe, as is our e-banking stuff.

I hope it's also the most secure. Over here we're even backing off electronic voting machines to go back to paper voting because it's so hard to ensure this.
Anyway, I'm due to vote this thursday, and I'll be sure to do so. I don't have to, but I consider it my civic right and duty.
Anyway, forcing people to vote is stupid, especially because those votes will mostly go to stupid anti-establishment parties anyway.

Its about as secure as it can get. http://www.id.ee/11015 It is in english

We are probably one of the few countries in the world with a mobile-id system. I can log into my bank authenticating with a mobile phone. http://www.id.ee/?id=10995&&langchange=1 Also in english

You carry a fob with an id that changes every 60 seconds? i've used those for VPN'ing into secure networks as part of my job. Anyway, if it's what I'm thinking, it is indeed very secure, assuming the servers aren't hacked from a different direction, of course.

Not sure if it changes every 60 seconds but i think the underlying idea is the same.