I was chatting with a workmate in the pub and he told me he can't drink Stella as it makes him unusually aggressive, unlike any other alcoholic drink (he was drinking a Peroni or something at the time).
The idea that Stella makes people aggressive isn't a new concept to me but I've always been doubtful that it's actually the drink causing it... I've always thought it more likely that the people who choose to drink it and then become aggressive are actually just aggressive themselves, and use the old 'wifebeater' as an excuse. So I was quite surprised at hearing that from my workmate as he's not a lager-lout or anything, just a normal, intelligent bloke.
What do people think? Is there something in Stella that actually makes it cause more aggression than other alcoholic drinks, or is it just plain old alcohol which aggressive people use as an excuse for their aggression? Or, could it just be psychological in that the perception of it causing aggression is enough for it to actually cause aggression in otherwise normal drinkers?
I think it's pretty unlikely that it's anything but normal alcohol, but this idea that it makes people aggressive seems to have a lot of support, so much so that it was banned in a few pubs in Sussex in 2007. What's going on?
The idea that Stella makes people aggressive isn't a new concept to me but I've always been doubtful that it's actually the drink causing it... I've always thought it more likely that the people who choose to drink it and then become aggressive are actually just aggressive themselves, and use the old 'wifebeater' as an excuse. So I was quite surprised at hearing that from my workmate as he's not a lager-lout or anything, just a normal, intelligent bloke.
What do people think? Is there something in Stella that actually makes it cause more aggression than other alcoholic drinks, or is it just plain old alcohol which aggressive people use as an excuse for their aggression? Or, could it just be psychological in that the perception of it causing aggression is enough for it to actually cause aggression in otherwise normal drinkers?
I think it's pretty unlikely that it's anything but normal alcohol, but this idea that it makes people aggressive seems to have a lot of support, so much so that it was banned in a few pubs in Sussex in 2007. What's going on?
) but draught Stella used to be 5.25%, and other the other lagers on my bar were only 3.8-4.2%, so it was at least 25% stronger than the other lagers. Of course, when drinking in rounds it would be drunk at the same pace as those guys drinking the weaker lagers so it did tend to get people minced a lot quicker.
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