Basic HTML Version
Stock Premise
A TEXAS BAR LEAVES BEER PRICES TO THE FORCES
OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND
It’s Thursday, and all the bars liningAustin’s famed Sixth
Street are packed with people dancing and chattering
over loudmusic andmyriad bar sounds. All except one,
that is: At the opening night of Brew Exchange, barhop-
pers clad in skirts and suits wait silently, eyes upturned,
hands poised to shoot into the air. Then the bell rings,
and the room erupts.
At Brew Exchange, Texas’ only stockmarket–themed
bar, the prices on 72 draft beers rise and fall throughout
the night according to demand. Watching the 62-foot-
long ticker that wraps around the bar, thirsty patrons
time their order for when their favorite beer is down
by a few bucks. Unpredictable “market crashes” (read:
drink specials) and owner-regulated price increases give
the market a realistic level of volatility and encourage
investors to, well, diversify their portfolios.
“If you like a certain type of IPA and you see the price
go up, it’s an incentive to try something else,” says
co-owner Nick Adams.
Adams hopes that “something else” means one of
the regional beers that make up about a third of the
drafts here. Unlike other bars that have incorporated
the stock market theme—including Le Footsie in Paris
and Exchange in New York—Brew Exchange keeps
AUSTIN, TEXAS
big-name domestic brews like Budweiser and Miller
at fixed prices, and stacks its menu with local beers in
an effort to help stimulate the Texas economy.
Of course, there’s the occasional case of buyer’s
remorse. When a coffee porter by Real Ale Brewing
Co. in nearby Blanco drops by a dollar, one patron
curses himself for having already ordered a pricier beer.
“Sometimes youwin,” he shrugs, “sometimes you lose.”
—CHRISTINA COUCH
CULTURAL VOCABULARY
A GUIDE TO CURIOUS WORDS AND GESTURES FROMAROUND THE GLOBE
ILLUSTRATIONS BY JEFF QUINN (CULTURAL VOCABULARY)
CHILE
You can signal that someone
isn’t so bright by spreading the
fingers of your upturned palm.
manita de gato:
Literally
translated as “cat’s hand,”
this Spanish phrase also
describes the action of
touching up makeup.
KUWAIT
If you’re asked to do a favor,
touching the side of your nose
means you’re happy to oblige.
ilich:
If your tour guide
calls you this, maybe you
should give him some
breathing room—it means
you’re being clingy.
JAPAN
To poke fun at excessive
flattery, grind your fist into
your upturned palm,
mortar-and-pestle style.
kyoikumama:
Japanese
mothers who push their kids
toward academic success
earn this nickname.
GREECE
When someone taps his
lower lip with his index
finger, it means he has
something to tell you.
fas petra:
If you want to
shush a loudmouth, this
phrase does the trick. Literally,
it means “eat rocks.”
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
•
MAY 2012
23
Dispatches
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