ak200032@sol.yorku.ca (Alan Marshall) writes:
Newsgroups: rec.food.drink.beer,alt.beer
Organization: York University
Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 03:58:58 GMT
In article <38jguo$krd@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>,
Michael.J.Zigmont@dartmouth.edu (Michael J. Zigmont) writes:
> Anyone out there have any clever ways to get some free beer? I'm
> willing to try some suggested 'methods' and let you know what happens.
> -Zig '96
You've come to the right place. Just like there are a gazillion megs
of pictures of buck-nekkid women on the Internet, there's more beer
than you'll ever be able to drink just waiting for you to download it!
Since you're a sophomore, you must obviously have a uudecoder. The
beer posted to Usenet has to be uuencoded because Usenet in limited to
"normal" typing characters. The beer at FTP sites will usually be in
one of two formats: *.bif (bif=Beer Interchange Format) or *.jbg
(pronounced JBEG, which stands for Joint Beer Expert Group). Without
getting into great detail, *.bifs are only 8-bit beers, and hence only
suitable for international and American lagers like Bud, Coors,
Heinekin and Becks. Malt Liquors (like Colt 45 and Red Bull) can be
biffed too. If you want great beers, like any of the Sierra Nevada or
Anchor Beers, or any of the Trappist beers, you need to look for them
to be jbegged. Biffing a great beer removes so much character that it
ends up tasting like Genny Cream Ale, Red Dog or Beck's. JBEG uses
24-bit quantization which preserves all the beer's original quality.
Occasionally, you will find beer posted in its raw form with
extensions like *.lgr (lager) *.ale *.ral (real ale) *.ptr (porter)
*.stt (stout) *.lmb (lambic) or *.bbc (Boston Beer Company (tm) -- Jim
Koch insisted on his own file extension) These will often be zipped
to the *.zip format. (I'm also assuming a sophomore like you has a
zipper!)
You will also need a BTB (Binary-to-Beer) adapter for your computer.
One end plugs into one of the ports on the back of your computer; the
other end is a tap. The BTB adapter comes in models for the Mac, Sun,
DOS, Amiga and Vic-20. Base price is $299 (including shipping &
handling) for the Dos, Amiga and Vic-20 serial models. Add $20 for
parallel; Add $50 for Mac, Sun or SCSI. The beer engine version
(required for *.ral, real ales) is $100 more. They are available from
me. My address is in my sig.
Next, go to the newsgroup alt.binaries.liquid.beer and subscribe or
register for the group and download 'til you puke! There are some
less well-propogated splinter newsgroups:
alt.binaries.liquid.beer.blonde
alt.binaries.liquid.beer.german
alt.binaries.liquid.beer.oriental
alt.binaries.liquid.beer.pink.triangle
alt.binaries.liquid.beer.superstrong
alt.binaries.liquid.beer.stout
alt.binaries.liquid.beer.tasteless
alt.binaries.liquid.beer.xingu
alt.binaries.liquid.nectar.fosters
If you feel like slumming:
alt.binaries.liquid.zima
One problem with these groups is that Tim Pierce keeps rmgrouping
them.
If you're not satisfied with the hectolitres posted there daily, try
an FTP site. Now I'm not going to be a schmuck and tell you to find a
site without tell you where to find it, am I? Try Coors
(golden.coors.com) or Sam Adams (lawsuit.boston.beercomp.com). (Don't
bother trying to find Pete's Wicked {insert type here}. Pete Slosberg
is on the 'Net, but through Compu$erve, so you pay a toll.) If you
want those stronger Canadian beers, try Molson (ftp.molson.golden.com)
or Labatt (maximum.ice.labatt.ca) Remember though, don't FTP during
the day as the 'Net gets flooded. If you want European brews try
HofBrau (Hofbrau.haus.munich.bavaria.de), Heinekin
(green.bottle.skunky.nl) or the ultimate 'Net beer, Bitburger
(bitburger.pils.mosel.bitnet.de). The Trappist Monestaries are on the
Internet via VaticaNet:
schaapskooi.vaticanet.rc.christian.god
westvleteren.st-sixtus.vaticanet.rc.christian.god
westmalle.vaticanet.rc.christian.god
chimay.vaticanet.rc.christian.god
orval.vaticanet.rc.christian.god
rochefort.vaticanet.rc.christian.god
For balance, I should point out the following are also available:
duvel.moortgat.heresy.be
oldnick.demon.com.uk
mort.subite.com
petes.wicked.compu$erve.com (Toll applies)
If you have any other questions, look for the JBEG FAQ, posted in
news.answers. Among other things, it will explain BBG (Beer-by-
Gopher), Archie and Veronica (Basically, a rich bitch like her would
never settle for him) and surfing for foam on the World Wide Wet
(WWW).
Email me for information about how to get beer through your phone on my
1-900-get-pist number (976-beer in Toronto)
--
-- Alan Marshall Joint Beer Expert Group (JBEG)
AK200032@SOL.YORKU.CA
York University "Hop too it!"
Toronto, Canada
Jesper Nilsson // dat92jni@ludat.lth.se or jesper@df.lth.se