My firend recently moved to the Portland, Oregon area from here in FLorida and reports a very strange custom peculiar (as far as I can tell) to the Northwest. Every time he orders a draft beer, no matter where he is, a bar, restaurant, outdoor fair, etc., it is served with a lemon in it! He is outraged and has been known to cause an ugly scene. If I were served a beer like that, I would throw it back in the server’s face and demand an explanation. He has asked repeatedly why this is done and just gets funny looks, the same funny looks when he says “bring me a draft Lite, NO LEMON!!!”
Can anyone explain this? Why does this happen? Any info would be appreciated.
I’ve heard of lime in beer (and seen enough Coronas served that way), but never lemon. Heck, on a hot day, a lime wedge or a drop of lime cordial in a lager beer can be quite nice.
No idea why lemon would be served in beer in Portland, Oregon at this time of year, but I don’t think it’s worth causing a scene over. Just tell your friend to do what I’ve seen others do when they do not want a lime in their Corona–ask your server for an “NFL draft.”
When he or she looks puzzled, your friend can explain: No F____ Lemon!
Since any info is appreciated, the only beer I have seen and drank with a similar custom in the states is Corona. It is usually served with a lime but I have seen lemons on occasion. I don’t know where it started though. If I remember my trip to Can Cun correctly they did not put a lemon or lime in the Coronas. That was about 10 years ago though so I could be mistaken.
I am from NY so I can’t speak for the Northwest. Maybe the Corona custom was passed on to other beers or vice versa.
I LOVED your response about the NFL draft!! Hehehe. I have passed that one on to him, I am sure he will use it the next time. Yes, the Corona and Lime is very common, but here, they will even ask you if you want a lime with your Corona. In Portland, it seems, you get a lemon, with any beer, if you want it or not!
It’s also customary for hefeweizen, which several companies in P-stumptown make. He doesn’t keep asking for a hef, does he? Since that beer was so popular there a few years ago, perhaps the bartenders are extending the practice (hef sort of got popular in the crowd that until then had been drinking mostly wine coolers-- “I don’t like beer”-people who suddenly had to pretend to like beer during the micro brew craze-- maybe it extended to the cheaper domestic drafts?)
capy, I think you hit the nail on the head! That makes a lot of sense! But it sure would get me upset if I was from out of town or whatever and I got a beer with a lemon in it! If I wanted a glass of lemonade, I would order one! Thanks to all for the info.
Okay, Portlander here. Your friend if full of crap.
It is absolutely, completely, 100% untrue that ANY draft beer you order comes with a lemon slice. The ONLY beer that is commonly served with lemon is Hefeweizen, an unfiltered wheat beer. Even with hef, the waitperson will usually ask if you want the lemon. They are quite used to hearing, “Hefeweizen, no fruit”, and will certainly NOT look at you funny.
But with any other beer—no. And I have ordered A LOT of pints in bars and pubs and fairs, so I know whereof I speak.
The only beer I have seen served with lemon wedges in Portland is Hefeweissen (sp?) as the previous post has stated. I make it a habit of drinking locally produced beers in my travels, and Portland is a place work takes me at least a couple times a month. hijack
some mass produced beers NEED a lemon wedge in order for them to have SOME KIND OF TASTE!!! end hijack
Portland is the home of many fine brews… I equate it’s varieties and choices for fine beers to Seattle’s many choices for coffee.
Cheers (literally!)
Mike30
Talking about beer customs in Oregon: A friend of mine once said that he had met someone from somewhere in Oregon (could have been Washington, on the West coast anyway) who had added tomato juice to his beer. His explanation for this was that it was a custom among the fishing population where he lived. If you were waiting around the harbour to get a hire on board a boat you didn’t want the captains, who might employ you, to see that you were drinking beer, so you hid it with tomato juice.
So where is he drinking? I’ve lived here in Portland for 8 years, I am a major beer lover, and I tell you that I have NEVER seen anyone attempt to serve a draft beer other than Hefeweizen with a lemon wedge.
I’ll chime in here–I lived in Ashland (in Southern Oregon) for the past four years. While Hefeweizen is customarily served with a lemon wedge, I can’t recall ever having seen another beer similarly bedecked.
It’s not a Portland thing, then; it’s a hef thing. (To support this further–in NYC this summer, I ordered a Widmer Hef from a bar down near Wall Street. It came, unasked, with lemon. It was awful–dregs–but it came with lemon.)
Accually lemon is good in any bitter beer. It cuts the bitterness and adds a nice flavor. I suggest trying it before just disregarding it as stupid.
I have never heard of a bartender not giveing a patron what they want. I would say you freind is exagerating a bit. But if a bartender is being that rude to your friend they should tell the bartender nicely to get you tab. Kindly pay it and tell the bartender that he will never see you or anybody you ever meet in that bar agian. Then leave with out leaving a tip.
Redbeers (beer and tomato juice) are a common hangover cure in the logging and fishing towns of the Olympic peninsula. Sometimes they drop a raw egg in them.
Widmer hefeweizen is great with a lemon wedge, especially in the Summer. That is the only beer I have had served with a lemon in Seattle.
I lived in the area around Frankfurt, Germany for two years and I never saw anyone put lemon in Hefeweizen. Krysalweizen was nearly always served with lemon. Maybe Portland got those two confused. It probably tastes better the other way around, but that’s the way I saw it done.
I’m 100% in agreeance with the Hefeweizen statements. That’s the only beer I’ve seen lemon stuck in, ever.
My best guess is your friend asks for ‘a good local beer’, and Widmer Hef is a standard “you gotta try this while you’re in town” kinda drink. I force those on out-of-towners, or one of the Deschutes brews. Widmer Hef tastes like rotten wheat without the lemon, but it’s great with it. (IMO)
As for the red beer, I always thought that to be considered a poor man’s bloody mary. Cheap draft beer with tomato juice or V8 dumped in for flavor. My dad’s drank those as long as I can remember.