Did Norm Drink Real Beer On Cheers?

Norm Peterson, played by George Wendt, is a character in the classic sitcom Cheers, which aired from 1982 to 1993. Norm is a bar patron who is almost always seen with a beer in hand. However, despite the show's premise of being set in a bar, Wendt did not drink real beer during filming. Instead, he consumed a non-alcoholic beverage, which has been described as flat, salty, non-alcoholic beer. This drink, often referred to as near beer, typically has a low alcohol content, ranging from 0.5% to 3.2% ABV. The addition of salt helped to create the appearance of bubbles and foam, enhancing the beer's aesthetic appeal for the cameras.

Norm's beer was non-alcoholic

The non-alcoholic beer, known as "near beer", was served on tap, but the specific type used wasn't available in kegs. Instead, the cans were put into soda dispensers, which meant the beer was flat by the time it was poured into Norm's mug on-screen. To improve its appearance, salt was added to the beer mugs to create a frothy head. This was done because the show was filmed under hot studio lights, which tended to cause the beer to go flat.

"Near beer" typically refers to low- or non-alcoholic brews with less than 0.5% ABV. The term was first used during Prohibition when brewers like Anheuser Busch and Pabst created low-alcohol beverages. While Norm's beer was technically beer, it was a heavily modified version, with a very low alcohol content of around 3.2%.

Norm's drinking was a running gag on the show, with his ever-increasing bar tab often referenced but never paid off. In fact, it is stated near the end of the series that Norm has never paid for a beer. One fan estimated that Norm drank 10 beers a day and calculated his final tab to be a whopping $124,406.90!

It was flat and salty

Norm Peterson, played by George Wendt, was one of the most popular characters on the classic sitcom Cheers. Norm was a beer-loving barfly, always seen with a beer in hand. However, the beer that Wendt was drinking on screen was not real beer. In fact, it was flat and salty.

During a reunion panel, Wendt revealed that the beer was a non-alcoholic, generic "near beer". The producers wanted the beer to be served on tap, but as the specific type they used wasn't available in kegs, the cans were put into soda dispensers instead. This process made the beer flat by the time it was poured into Norm's mug. To improve its appearance, the props team added salt to the beer mugs so that the carbonation would create a frothy head.

Wendt described the drink as "some serious acting to pretend I liked that stuff". The process of adding salt to beer is a common technique used to enhance the appearance of bubbles without the need for carbonation. While "near beer" typically refers to low- or non-alcoholic brews, the specific brand used on the show was not disclosed.

Despite the unappealing nature of the flat and salty beverage, Wendt's portrayal of Norm as a beloved barfly was so convincing that it's difficult to imagine the character without his ever-present beer. Cheers fans will always remember Norm for his iconic entrance, with the entire bar yelling "NORM!" in greeting, and his signature beer mug in hand.

The beer was served from a soda dispenser

The beer that Norm drank on Cheers was not real beer. Norm's hefty bar tab was a running gag throughout the show, and actor George Wendt had to play the part of a beer enthusiast.

The non-alcoholic beer was served from a soda dispenser. The producers of Cheers wanted the fake beer to be served on tap, but the specific type they used wasn't available in kegs. Instead, the cans of generic non-alcoholic beer were put into soda dispensers. This was done long before filming, so the beverage was flat by the time Norm drank it on-screen. To improve its appearance, the props team added salt to the beer mugs so that the carbonation would make the head frothy again.

Wendt, who wrote a book titled Drinking With George: A Barstool Professional’s Guide to Beer, said that it was "some serious acting to pretend I liked that stuff," referring to the flat, salty drink.

It was called 'near beer'

Norm Peterson, played by George Wendt, was one of the most popular characters on the classic sitcom Cheers. Norm was a beer enthusiast and was rarely seen on-screen without a beer in his hand. However, the beer he was drinking was not real. It was called "near beer", a non-alcoholic or low-alcoholic beverage with less than 0.5% ABV. The term "near beer" first appeared during Prohibition when brewers like Anheuser Busch and Pabst created low-alcohol drinks.

The use of "near beer" allowed Wendt to sip the drink to create a realistic effect without becoming inebriated during filming. To enhance the appearance of the beer on screen, the props team added salt to the beer mugs. This created a foam head, making the beer look frothy and freshly poured. The process was necessary because the beer was flat and warm by the time it was served on set, as it was served from soda dispensers rather than kegs.

The running joke of Norm's large and unpaid bar tab added to the character's popularity. One fan of the show calculated that Norm's tab would have amounted to $124,406.90 over the course of the show's 275 episodes.

George Wendt had to pretend to like it

While George Wendt, the actor who played Norm on Cheers, may have been a beer enthusiast in real life, the beer he drank on-screen was far from appealing. In fact, Wendt had to pretend to like the flat, salty, non-alcoholic beverage that was used as a prop during filming.

Cheers, which ran from 1982 to 1993, was set in a Boston bar and followed a group of characters who worked or socialised there. Norm Peterson, played by Wendt, was a regular at the bar and was rarely seen without a beer in his hand. However, the beer that Wendt drank on-screen was not your typical brew.

The producers of Cheers wanted the fake beer to be served on tap, but the specific type they used was not available in kegs. Instead, they took cans of the generic non-alcoholic beer and put them into soda dispensers. By the time filming rolled around, the beer was flat. To improve its appearance, the props team added salt to the beer mugs to create a frothy head.

Wendt himself has commented on the less-than-appetising nature of the drink, saying, "That was some serious acting to pretend I liked that stuff." In fact, the process of preparing the fake beer for filming was quite involved. The "near beer", as it was called, had an alcohol content of around 3.2%, and the addition of salt was necessary to create the foamy head that is characteristic of a traditional draft pour.

While Wendt may have had to pretend to enjoy the flat, salty beer during filming, his character's love of beer helped to make Norm one of the most popular characters on the show. Norm's bar tab was a running gag throughout the series, and his entrance, greeted with a hearty "Norm!" by the other patrons, became an iconic staple of Cheers.

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