Tips and tricks on drinking beer while camping!

bergger

Well after our last trip I will no longer be drinking my beer straight from the can! It’ll most likely be out of my insulated mug with a lid on it.

 On our most recent trip to the Grand Mesa last week I took the final gulp of my beer and felt something in my mouth. Thinking a pine needle or some other forrest detritus had fallen in my can I tried to identify it with my tongue. We’ll that’s about when the light bulb, however dim it may be at times, went off in my head.  At about that same time is when I felt the burning sensation and thought, Bee!!!! Yep I spit out a yellow jacket but not after getting stung on the tongue and inside of the lower lip. 

Lucky for me the yellow jacket was half drowned and half drunk so I did not get a full wack from him. But none the less it was a bit uncomfortable. Can’t believe after 50 years it finally happened to me. No more open beers at camp! Bee careful!

dlb

Remember that wild things like beer too!

Verna

@bergger, I am so happy you are okay, as that is about my worse nightmare. 

I am highly allergic to yellow jackets and wasps.  In the fall, I only use plastic bottles for my Cokes, and I close the bottle lid after each sip. 

Friends laugh at my “sippy cup” for wine (6 oz REI insulated cup with a lid with two holes—one for drinking, one for air), but I can cover the larger of the two holes with my thumb and and keep my wine away from those stinging buggers!

I heard about yellow jackets getting into beer and coke cans years ago, and I’ve been so careful since then. It costs me more for the Cokes in plastic bottles, but it’s cheaper than a half a day in the ER and replacing my EpiPens. 

TNOutback

I’ve been known to cover a can with a wet paper towel for that very reason.

pthomas745

The dangers of Alcohol!  The same thing has happened to me in the wild with almost any kind of drink in a can.

Da_Birds

Same thing happened to me with a can of soda doing yard work last weekend. Luckily I spit it out before it could sting me. I'm usually very conscious about bees when I leave canned beverages unattended outdoors. I don't like drinking beer from a can and only buy cans when camping because they take up less space and can be crushed. I almost always pour my canned beer into a cup. When camping that is typically a red Solo cup and at home a glass or mug. Generally though I'm buying and drinking bottles.

manyman297

We were making breakfast and one yellow jacket decided he wanted to take a dip into our raw eggs we were mixing for scrambled eggs. Then his friend tried to save him and ended up swimming in the mix as well. 

AnOldUR

Everyone knows that beer should be drank from a glass to get the full experience.

bergger

AnOldUR said:

Everyone knows that beer should be drank from a glass to get the full experience.

Normally I would agree! But when camping I always enjoyed drinking my Coors Banquet out of the can.  It just seemed more primitive and fitting for the surroundings.  But never again!!

Travelin3D

“Was you ever stung by a dead bee?”
        Walter Brennan in “To Have and Have Not”

pak

Coors Banquet? When did you quit drinking beer?

Aubrey

Brewed ONLY in Golden Colorado. We took the brewery tour.
Rocky Mountian Kool-aid

Aubrey

Chicken wings draw other dangerous critters. Gotta stay on your toes.

bergger

Coors Banquet is the go to camping beer! It's my substitute for water!

lkc001

Yikes!  That sounds painful and ewwww!  Coors is the worst IMHO and I live in Colorado

Camak

Banquet beer is my camping beer of choice

Marceline

C'mon guys. You can do so much better. 

Fort Point Beer Company | KSA
Lagunitas DayTime

Dobbie

If you live near Albany NY then you know Druthers  is the best camping beer

Michigan_Mike

Yellow jackets are just plain nasty as they are like flies, they’re not too particular where they walk and they eat garbage too.  And it’s just not beer either, keep those wine 🍷 glasses covered or those little winged gnats will provide you with some unneeded protein.  That hasn’t been an issue this year in Michigan as the mosquitos have pretty much pushed everyone indoors and made things miserable outdoors.  Not to worry, drink up!  👍🏻

Da_Birds

TBH, I'm more concerned with the State Park Ranger finding my beer more than the bees because alcohol is banned in the parks we frequent most. Not that it stops anyone from enjoying their favorite beverages. We always chuckle when we dump our recycling and see all of the alcohol cans and bottles in there. That's also where you need to watch out most for yellow jackets.

bergger

I’ve never heard of alcohol banned in a state park! That’s insane. 

ScottG

More often than not I've seen alcohol banned outside of your private campsite.

Da_Birds

I'm actually surprised that this seems to be out of the norm. I thought alcohol bans were the norm at state parks. With that said, I've never seen any more than a warning being issued if caught. The site next to us practically had a bar setup on their picnic table and they were given a warning and were told to put it out of sight. As long as you don't flaunt it by keeping containers out in the open and aren't being loud, rowdy or messy, they don't seem to care. I did hear once that a site was cited and had their alcohol confiscated but they were partying late into the night. We could hear them at our campsite and we were at least over a 100 yards from them. I suspect they were given a warning first too.

One of our rituals is to take a walk around the campground and check out the other sites. I'm always interested in what gear people have and how they set up their camps but we also like to see who's going to draw the attention of rangers or bears. On Sundays around checkout time we like to take a walk and see how many people are left and sometimes scavenge any wood left behind. It's also not unusual for people to stop at our site on their way out and drop off unused wood. Although now, with the T@B, we mostly stay in sites with hookups where it's mostly other RV's and things are much different...but I've gone far enough off topic.

Marceline

Da_Birds said:

I'm actually surprised that this seems to be out of the norm. I thought alcohol bans were the norm at state parks. 

What states ban alcohol (even at campsites)? Just curious.

Sharon_is_SAM

@Marceline - Ohio, for one.

Da_Birds

PA and NJ are others I know for sure.

elbereth

Minnesota and Michigan ban alcohol in state parks.  

We have taken to jokingly calling our beer “lemonade.”  As in, “hey, friend, you need me to grab you another lemonade while I’m up?”  One year camping with friends with younger kids, my friend asked her 11 year old daughter at lunchtime whether she wanted water or lemonade to drink, and her daughter answered “real lemonade or grownup lemonade?” 

But I agree with others, it seems more a ban on throwing obnoxious parties than quietly sipping a beer by the campfire - I never have had a ranger or host show any concern about what is in our cans or cups.  

SweetlyHome

Based on experience add Florida to the banned with a 😉 list.

Da_Birds

I will sometimes keep a can of root beer out somewhere. It's become something we keep in the trailer, mostly as a joke now.

bergger

This is great.  Now I'm learning all the states to avoid going to and staying in state parks! Maybe we're a little more free out here in the west.  The only thing I've seen banned out here is glass bottles but never alcohol. 

Verna

From what I have seen over the years, if you use can or glass cozies, keep the wine bottles covered or out of sight, don’t make a ruckus, no one will challenge you about adult beverages. 

If you act like an underage teenager, get rowdy, and disturb your neighbors then you have made your drinking a problem for the management and the authorities. 

Helpful hint…..those nüCamp aluminum water bottles (and others like them) hold 750 ml which happens to be the amount of wine in most wine bottles. I slowly pour my wine into the aluminum water bottle, put it on the table, or chill it, and if I act like an adult, drink responsibly,  then no one will question my wine drinking. The aluminum water bottle also fit better in the fridge than a wine bottle.