# Another question about the Blues Brothers: They drank $300 worth of beer??!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [July 21, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513 "2010-07-21T21:34:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/41 "2010-07-22T20:58:05Z")
It may also be worth a mention that the Good Ole Boys, who were supposed to be playing the Bunker that night, were “running very late,” and in fact didn’t even show up until _after closing time_! Without realizing it, the Brothers helped Bob out of a big jam there. You’d think he’d have been grateful enough to forgive the bar tab. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/42 "2010-07-22T21:26:00Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > It may also be worth a mention that the Good Ole Boys, who were supposed to be playing the Bunker that night, were “running very late,” and in fact didn’t even show up until _after closing time_! Without realizing it, the Brothers helped Bob out of a big jam there. You’d think he’d have been grateful enough to forgive the bar tab. I always wondered what would have happened had the Good Ol’ Boys showed up time. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/43 "2010-07-22T21:30:04Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > I always wondered what would have happened had the Good Ol’ Boys showed up time. The scriptwriters would have said, “WTF!?!? We didn’t write this!” ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/44 "2010-07-22T21:36:36Z")
> [@Stormcrow](#): > > I think the point of the joke is that it is a ludicrous amount of beer. YES! YES! YES! We (finally) have a winner!!! Christ, I’ve never seen so much overanalysis over such a simple point before. And BTW, the price of a bottle of beer in 19_79_, when I was 18 and finally legal – in Minnesota anyway – was $1.10. I remember that because $10 would buy us nine bottles. And that was in the evening, after Happy Hour, with live music. . ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/45 "2010-07-22T21:43:14Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > i have a bit of a problem imagining someone being able to drink 48 beers in an evening. in fact, i have a bit of a problem imagining a “regular sized woman” drinking 24 in a day. I think **JoelUpchurch** may be mixing up the term case (which is usually 24 12 oz beers) with a 12-pack. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/46 "2010-07-22T21:44:47Z")
> [@justrob](#): > > I don’t think they had a contract with the bar at all. As I remember the scene they are driving around with Jake telling them they have a gig. As the band is getting fed up Jake sees Bob’s Country Bunker and says that’s where they are playing. If you need to over-analyze, they are guilty (or at least Jake is guilty) of fraudulently misrepresenting that they were the Good Old Boys, who really did have a contract with Bob’s Country Bunker. So they weren’t entitled to that $200 dollars at all, and really owed the whole $300 for the beer. (And, of course, the Good Old Boys are almost certainly in breach of their contract by arriving far too late to perform that evening, so they aren’t owed any money.) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/47 "2010-07-22T21:47:18Z")
Next topic: How high up _was_ that overpass the Neo-Nazis drove off of? ---
**Author:** ![Meatpacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e68b1a/32.png) [@Meatpacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatpacker)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/48 "2010-07-23T00:10:37Z")
I have a lot of info on this and unfortunately the reasoning process is going sideways a little. 1. Why was Jake in jail…the BAND ran up a large bar bill and they couldn’t pay. Jake did the time Same thing at Bobs’…the Band rang up the big bill again, it was a BAR bill not a beer bill…some of the band members had expensive tastes… True in life too…it used to cost lots of $$$ to just move and accommodate the band. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/49 "2010-07-23T00:19:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Next topic: How high up _was_ that overpass the Neo-Nazis drove off of? That was the Hoan Bridge in Milwaukee. Wiki lists the clearance as about 120 feet. So I’d guess it’s about 130 from the top of the surface…if they drove off the highest point. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/50 "2010-07-23T01:11:29Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I think **JoelUpchurch** may be mixing up the term case (which is usually 24 12 oz beers) with a 12-pack. I can do a 12 pack in a 12 hour day with just a mild buzz. A tough woman probably COULD do 24 in a 12 hour day without being plastered. Now, remember we are talking weak ass low alchohol beer here. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/51 "2010-07-23T02:43:28Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > Draft beer gets warm and gamey too fast for most bands to want to drink it on stage… > [@missred](#): > > …plus, only about half the beer brought to the stage would have been drunk. Between playing and stage lighting, they get warm long before being finished. Hey, they were musicians. If the beer money was coming out of their pocket in any way, shape or form, then the beer would have to be boiling before it was too warm to drink. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/52 "2010-07-23T03:23:27Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I can do a 12 pack in a 12 hour day with just a mild buzz. That’s shouldn’t be hard at all. I would think most regular drinkers over about 170 pounds should be able to do a 12 pack in 12 hours without hardly any buzz whatsoever. And I mean regular 5% ABV beer. The general guideline is that a person metabolizes alcohol at about the rate of one 12 oz beer or 8 oz wine or shot per hour (obviously, there are a lot of variables at play here, but that’s the general rule.) According to [this blood alcohol calculator](http://www.bloodalcoholcalculator.org/), a 175 lb. person will have an estimated .075 blood alcohol level after 12 beers in 12 hours. IOW, just under the legal limit to drive in most states. And if you’re 200 pounds, that’s an estimated 0.040 BAC. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/53 "2010-07-23T12:48:06Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > Christ, I’ve never seen so much overanalysis over such a simple point before. Really? You need to hang around the Dope more! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/54 "2010-07-23T13:11:45Z")
Maybe they drank about 1/3 of a bottle of [End of the World Beer]([http://www.ajc.com/business/worlds-strongest-beer-is-576413.html\](http://www.ajc.com/business/worlds-strongest-beer-is-576413.html%5C)). And rarely does a random news item tie in so well with a thread. ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/55 "2010-07-23T13:54:37Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Yes. That doesnt really change the basic point does it? It actually makes it even more. Jake is a real screw up, probably always has been, and yet the band members STILL trust this dude. I was just countering your assertion that they were too dumb to understand the terms of the contract. Jake and Elwood were were on a mission from God you see and Mr. Sline was setting up a big gig for them. Jake and Elwood just had to hold the band together until then. So really they were scamming the band. > [@Giles](#): > > If you need to over-analyze, they are guilty (or at least Jake is guilty) of fraudulently misrepresenting that they were the Good Old Boys, who really did have a contract with Bob’s Country Bunker. So they weren’t entitled to that $200 dollars at all, and really owed the whole $300 for the beer. > > (And, of course, the Good Old Boys are almost certainly in breach of their contract by arriving far too late to perform that evening, so they aren’t owed any money.) or what **Giles** said. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > That was the Hoan Bridge in Milwaukee. Wiki lists the clearance as about 120 feet. So I’d guess it’s about 130 from the top of the surface…if they drove off the highest point. If you watch the scene I’m pretty sure they jumped off the eastbound portion of 794. You can see the start of the Hoan Bridge at the 12s. mark of this [video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCodoCa_-es&feature=related). Where the Bluesmobile drops its front wheels over the edge at 18s. you can see the art museum in the background. So I would guess maybe 50 feet. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/56 "2010-07-23T15:17:19Z")
> [@Meatpacker](#): > > 1. Why was Jake in jail…the BAND ran up a large bar bill and they couldn’t pay. > > Jake did the time Jake held up a gas station to get the money to pay the bar tab; that’s why he was in jail. The real question is: why did the whole band go to prison at the end of the film? ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/57 "2010-07-23T16:38:47Z")
Because they were accessories… ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/58 "2010-07-23T17:33:19Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > YES! YES! YES! We (finally) have a winner!!! > > Christ, I’ve never seen so much overanalysis over such a simple point before. > > And BTW, the price of a bottle of beer in 19_79_, when I was 18 and finally legal – in Minnesota anyway – was $1.10. I remember that because $10 would buy us nine bottles. And that was in the evening, after Happy Hour, with live music. > > . Big tipper, Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/59 "2010-07-23T17:46:06Z")
Other things that need to be investigated about the Blues Brothers movie accuracy: 1. How you can totally destroy a mall with two cars and not hurt anyone. 2. How you can blow up a building full of people with explosives and not hurt anyone. 3. How come the Good Old Boys arrived at Bob’s Country Bunker ready to play - at 3 in the morning. 4. There are no unfinished roads in Chicago that terminate 12,000 feet in the air. 5. It seems impossible that a car could do a backflip over another car by just going in reverse and hitting the brakes. 6. You can’t jump a giant Pinto hole in a road by slamming on the brakes and closing your eyes. 7. Most gas station owners won’t let you pump gas for someone else and keep the money. 8. County Assessors in Chicago won’t open a door for you while they’re still eating a sandwich. 9. Swat team members don’t go, “Hut hut hut hut” while rappelling down a building. 10. If a propane tank beside a phone booth explodes, it will blow the phone booth sideways, not send it straight up in the air like a rocket. If you’re inside said phone booth and it does launch several hundred feet into the air, you will probably die. Of course, the answer to all of these is, “It’s a joke.” So was the beer tab. It’s about the most plausible part of that whole scene, so I’m not sure why you’re focused on proving that it could be accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513/60 "2010-07-23T17:59:04Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Maybe they drank about 1/3 of a bottle of [End of the World Beer]([http://www.ajc.com/business/worlds-strongest-beer-is-576413.html\](http://www.ajc.com/business/worlds-strongest-beer-is-576413.html%5C)). > > And rarely does a random news item tie in so well with a thread. [Fixxxxxt lnk..lkn…lllll…](http://www.ajc.com/business/worlds-strongest-beer-is-576413.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-question-about-the-blues-brothers-they-drank-300-worth-of-beer/547513.md?page=4)