Posted on 05/01/2016 6:12:45 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Venezuela's largest privately-owned beer company has stopped producing beer after running out of malted barley (or, more specifically, running out of foreign currency with which to buy malted barley).
The company, Empresas Polar, stopped production yesterday—it warned last week that it would run out of malted barley by then.
Polar is putting "your drunk uncle's favorite political forecast to the test," Francisco Toro of the Caracas Chronicles wrote. "You know the one I'm talking about, right? That one uncle of yours who gets drunk at every family gathering and starts to rant about how the only way we're going to get people mad enough to take to the streets and overthrow the government is if the beer runs out? Well, here you have it Tio."
Polar says it's been warning the country for a year about the need for sufficient access to foreign currency "to keep making products demanded by Venezuelans."
Beer now joins a long list of products and food that there have been shortages of in socialist Venezuela since the price of oil went down and the country's government did nothing to loosen its grip on the economy.
In Venezuela, there have been shortages of: Batteries, beef, birth control pills, bleach, brass, bread, breast implants, butter, cheese, chicken, chocolate, clothes iron, coffee, coffins, condensed milk, condoms, corn oil, deodorant, detergents, diapers, eggs, fabric softeners, fish, flour, French fries, fruits, gauze, hops, ice cream, insecticide, jams, juice, lentils, margarine, Marie biscuits, makeup, mayonnaise, medical gloves, milk, mouthwash, mustard, napkins, oatmeal, olives, pan de jamón, pasta, peas, pork, powdered milk, raisins, razors, rice, sanitary napkins, sacramental bread, sardines, satin, shampoo, shoes, skim milk, soap, sodas, sugar, sunflower oil, tires, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, varnish, vegetables, water, wine, and more.
What yeast/starter do you use?
I should be ashamed to admit, but until recently, I haven’t had access to proper supplies, and used what the original amateur recipe called for—Fleischmann’s yeast—the bread baking stuff. Makes funky-tasting brew, ok for starters. My city has a brewing/winemaking supply store and I go there now. When it’s open. Which is sometimes about an hour a week. Always call first, I learned. Damn little two-bit, rinky-dink operation... ;)
I will survive,
I know how to make beer
Check that link — or, just Google (as I did) “Wine Yeasts”. They are readily available for ordering online at about 75 cents a packet.
Yes, thanks, there’s a new homebrew shop, oddly enough, just 2 doors past my old favorite bar. How’d that for happenstance, eh?
Too bad Venezuela doesn’t have any natural resources, such as oil. /sarcasm
************************************************************
You’re absolutely right. Venezuela should be and still could be one of the richest countries in the world with their oil and other natural resources. The only thing stopping them is socialism/communism.
Yet here in our own country, millions of mostly young people and many super rich people have bought into Bernie Sanders’ socialist/communist doctrine, Believing the damnable lie that Bernie’s the one who can finally make it work.
Just because it has never worked in the history of the world, is not enough to persuade them differently. It’s as if they’ve never heard of places like Venezuela, Cuba or North Korea.
I continue to be amazed at the utter ignorance of so many Americans. Hillary and Bernie should be laughing stocks of all voters for promoting socialism/communism, instead, they are leftist heroes.
I always group the words “socialist/communist” together because they are fundamentally the same, as democrat/republican grow closer to being the same. One of the reasons I am voting Trump, is I believe that he is closest candidate to being neither dem. or rep but I recognize him as being a deeply patriotic American.
May God bless America.
Khrushchev lost his job partially due to a vodka shortage in the Soviet Union.
Too bad Venezuela doesn’t have any natural resources, such as oil. /sarcasm
************************************************************
You’re absolutely right. Venezuela should be and still could be one of the richest countries in the world with their oil and other natural resources. The only thing stopping them is socialism/communism.
Yet here in our own country, millions of mostly young people and many super rich people have bought into Bernie Sanders’ socialist/communist doctrine, Believing the damnable lie that Bernie’s the one who can finally make it work.
Just because it has never worked in the history of the world, is not enough to persuade them differently. It’s as if they’ve never heard of places like Venezuela, Cuba or North Korea.
I continue to be amazed at the utter ignorance of so many Americans. Hillary and Bernie should be laughing stocks of all voters for promoting socialism/communism, instead, they are leftist heroes.
I always group the words “socialist/communist” together because they are fundamentally the same, as democrat/republican grow closer to being the same. One of the reasons I am voting Trump, is I believe that he is closest candidate to being neither Dem. or Rep. but I recognize him as being a deeply patriotic American.
May God bless America.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.