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Nov 19 2008

The Language of Beer

Published by medievalist at 11:40 am under Phrases Edit This

I was reading a Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker; Hush Money. In the novel, the hero and his friend are in a Boston bar, and have requested a re-fill of the beer on tap at the bar–in other words, it’s draft , not from a bottle or can. Here’s the passage in question:

We emptied the bowl of cashews, and the bartender came over and filled it and drew us two more beers. Way upscale.

Aside from the fact that I’m very interested in locating a Boston bar that serves cashews (!), I’m curious about the use of “drew” for refilling the beer from the tap.

Have you heard or read, “drew?” or have you heard “pulled” or something else for draft (draught ) beer?

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6 Responses to “The Language of Beer”

  1. # ebearon 19 Nov 2008 at 12:33 pm edit this

    “Drew” or “pulled” by me, and I live and grew up about two hours from Boston.

  2. # medievaliston 19 Nov 2008 at 1:49 pm edit this

    Thanks!

    So what about the cashews, then? Got a pub to suggest?

  3. # ebearon 19 Nov 2008 at 7:54 pm edit this

    Dunno a thing about cashews, I fear.

  4. # veingloryon 20 Nov 2008 at 7:24 am edit this

    Drew made sense to me on first reading.

  5. # jasminon 20 Nov 2008 at 11:44 pm edit this

    Biltmore’s bar serves an excellent mix of cashews, pistachios, and other nuts…

    And draft beers.

    “Drew” in your example was perfectly clear to me, but then I lived in England and read a lot.

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