[HN Gopher] The electrifying rise and litigious fall of energy beer
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       The electrifying rise and litigious fall of energy beer
        
       Author : prismatic
       Score  : 14 points
       Date   : 2024-07-10 18:12 UTC (4 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (snackstack.net)
 (TXT) w3m dump (snackstack.net)
        
       | parpfish wrote:
       | Millennials will talk about four loko the same way their parents
       | talked about lawn darts
        
         | solardev wrote:
         | Wow, as a Millennial, I must've totally missed the memo on this
         | stuff. Never heard of Four Loko or energy beers at all...
         | sounds disgusting.
        
           | antonvs wrote:
           | They weren't actually called energy beers.
           | 
           | In the US, they fall under the same legal category as beer,
           | which is "malt beverage", but beer is just one type of malt
           | beverage, drinks like Four Loko are another.
           | 
           | They're closer to drinks like "hard lemonade" or "hard tea",
           | which aren't beer. They're made by adding malt liquor to some
           | flavored drink.
        
           | TylerE wrote:
           | Tho off brand Red Bull with a couple of rotgut vodka shots
           | already mixed in.
        
         | sneak wrote:
         | You can't buy lawn darts anymore. Every bar will make you a
         | vodka redbull.
        
           | maneesh wrote:
           | Will they put four vodkas and 3 red bulls in a single glass
           | for the price of a college students budget? Because that was
           | a four loko
        
           | antonvs wrote:
           | You'd have to ask for more than three and a half shots of
           | vodka to match the alcohol in a 22oz Four Loko can.
        
             | antonvs wrote:
             | Correcting myself: I was thinking of a different can
             | apparently. That 12% ABV can mentioned in the article
             | corresponds to 4.4 shots of vodka (using standard US 1.5 oz
             | shots of 80 proof vodka.)
        
           | mort96 wrote:
           | Lots of bars around here will also have lawn darts which you
           | can play while drinking your 8th vodka redbull, which I find
           | interesting
        
       | hn_throwaway_99 wrote:
       | Heck, just sell the energy drink by itself and subtly market it
       | as a mixer - probably cheaper to make with higher profit margins.
       | There is a reason "Red Bull and vodka" is popular, and that the
       | founders of Red Bull were mega billionaires.
        
         | gambiting wrote:
         | Sure, but then you're competing against red bull and every
         | other energy drink on the planet, of which there are loads.
         | People invent this stuff obviously because it's a relatively
         | empty nieche.
        
       | nosmokewhereiam wrote:
       | "Not just stupid, but aggressively stupid" - referring to adding
       | caffeine to malt liquor.
       | 
       | *It was from a comedy bit and I don't recall it.
        
       | Zak wrote:
       | I always thought the litigation and regulatory pressure over this
       | was misplaced. Consuming a single serving of the most outrageous
       | product described in the article (22oz, 12% alcohol, 156mg
       | caffeine) is not acutely dangerous to a healthy adult who isn't
       | about to drive a car. Chugging multiple of them is a bad decision
       | of course, but it's just as easy to drink other alcoholic
       | beverages to excess - perhaps easier with hard liquor.
        
         | TylerE wrote:
         | Very few adults, especially if we're talking 40+, are healthy.
         | By that age almost everyone has high blood pressure or asthma
         | or a bad knee, or whatever.
        
         | itishappy wrote:
         | A can of FourLoco contains 4.75 servings.
        
           | Zak wrote:
           | I assume you mean manufacturer-recommended servings printed
           | on the label. I meant drinking one can.
        
       | pbj1968 wrote:
       | They're still around, just not as caffeinated. Still fun to drive
       | around with one between your legs. Just alternate sips with a
       | Monster.
        
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       (page generated 2024-07-14 23:00 UTC)