The following is quoted verbatim from "Why Things Are" by Joel Achenbach:
"Why is American Beer so Insipid?"
"We ask this question at some personal resk. Americans have a scary intensity when it comes to brand loyalties. There's the classic scene in the movie Blue Velvet when evil Frank asks the young, yuppacious hero what his favorite beer is. 'Heineken,' the hero answers timidly. Frank explodes:'Heineken? (gross expletive) that (gross expletive)! Pabst Blue Ribbon!' Frank and his psychotic pals torment the poor boy the rest of the night.
" In Germany, the serious beer drinker's paradise, the law requires that brewers use only four ingredients in their beer: barley malt, water, yeast, and hops. The malt gives the beer its fullness; the hops adds the crucial bitterness. But American breweries cut the malt with rice and corn and use much less hops. They also use more carbonation. Some breweries may even add preservatives and artificial coloring.
" Why would American brewers do this to us? Why would they dare to make something like Schlitz?
" Because we want it. The free market is rational, usually. Price is only a small factor: We drink a lot of beer and want something cheap. But the truth is, your average Joe likes the taste of Schlitz. Despite the proliferation of imported beers in supermarkets and pubs, American beer still accounts for 95 percent of domestic consumption. 'Over a long period of time Americans have developed a taste for beer that's very light and very carbonated,' said Jeff Mendel, assistant director of the Institute for Brewing Studies in Boulder, Colorado.
" Okay, so why is that? Why do we like carbonated water with a little yeast action thrown in? Why do Europeans view beer as a fine spirit that should be carefully selected to go along with a particular dish, while Americans view it as something to chug by the kegful at frat parties?
" Because we've been trained by Big Busiesss to like our beer weak and chuggable.
" In Europe even small towns are likely to boast a local brewery, or maybe even more than one. But America, more than any other country, has seen a consolidation of industry since WWII into larger and larger companies. Before Prohibition there were hundresds of breweries in America. But the big companies drove the smaller regional competition out of business. In recent years, only six giants - Anheuser-Busch, Coors, Pabst, G. Heileman, and Miller - controlled about 4/5 of the market. That number went to five in 1989 when Coors bought Stroh's. Miller, by the way, is owned by an even bigger company, Philip Morris Companies, Inc.
" To maximeze profits, beer companies need to maximize market share, shoot for the center of the bell curve, seize the middle ground. To sell a lot of beer, you need beer with great 'drinkability.' The substance in nature with the highest drinkability is probably water. The lowest is probably Guinness Stout. It's mud.
" Beer companies the need to train sixteen year olds to drink their product aren't going to make it all the harder by producing a full-bodied ale or a Russian imperial stout.
" Being quick-minded, you're now thinking: Why doesn't Anheuser-Busch, for example, make one token full-bodied heavily hopped beer to compete with Heineken? Because the demand is too small, and these are mass-market companies. ' You can't build a Rolls-Royse on an assembly line,' said Joseph Owades, director of the Center for Brewing Studies in San Francisco (there are a lot of these institutes and centers: it beats breaking rocks for a living).
" Yet, on the contrary, American beers are getting lighter even as the demand for heavier foreign beers has increased. During the 70s, as Americans became more heath and weight conscious, breweries gradually weakened their flagship brands. A 1970 Budweiser was markedly harsher and heavier than a 1980 Budweiser. The recent success of 'lite' brands has eased the pressure to make flagship brands weaker still.
" We're bracing ourselves for the day when Miller comes out with a new product: Lite Light."
Sorry for such a long quote. Thought it was an interesting article. Discuss.
"Why is American Beer so Insipid?"
"We ask this question at some personal resk. Americans have a scary intensity when it comes to brand loyalties. There's the classic scene in the movie Blue Velvet when evil Frank asks the young, yuppacious hero what his favorite beer is. 'Heineken,' the hero answers timidly. Frank explodes:'Heineken? (gross expletive) that (gross expletive)! Pabst Blue Ribbon!' Frank and his psychotic pals torment the poor boy the rest of the night.
" In Germany, the serious beer drinker's paradise, the law requires that brewers use only four ingredients in their beer: barley malt, water, yeast, and hops. The malt gives the beer its fullness; the hops adds the crucial bitterness. But American breweries cut the malt with rice and corn and use much less hops. They also use more carbonation. Some breweries may even add preservatives and artificial coloring.
" Why would American brewers do this to us? Why would they dare to make something like Schlitz?
" Because we want it. The free market is rational, usually. Price is only a small factor: We drink a lot of beer and want something cheap. But the truth is, your average Joe likes the taste of Schlitz. Despite the proliferation of imported beers in supermarkets and pubs, American beer still accounts for 95 percent of domestic consumption. 'Over a long period of time Americans have developed a taste for beer that's very light and very carbonated,' said Jeff Mendel, assistant director of the Institute for Brewing Studies in Boulder, Colorado.
" Okay, so why is that? Why do we like carbonated water with a little yeast action thrown in? Why do Europeans view beer as a fine spirit that should be carefully selected to go along with a particular dish, while Americans view it as something to chug by the kegful at frat parties?
" Because we've been trained by Big Busiesss to like our beer weak and chuggable.
" In Europe even small towns are likely to boast a local brewery, or maybe even more than one. But America, more than any other country, has seen a consolidation of industry since WWII into larger and larger companies. Before Prohibition there were hundresds of breweries in America. But the big companies drove the smaller regional competition out of business. In recent years, only six giants - Anheuser-Busch, Coors, Pabst, G. Heileman, and Miller - controlled about 4/5 of the market. That number went to five in 1989 when Coors bought Stroh's. Miller, by the way, is owned by an even bigger company, Philip Morris Companies, Inc.
" To maximeze profits, beer companies need to maximize market share, shoot for the center of the bell curve, seize the middle ground. To sell a lot of beer, you need beer with great 'drinkability.' The substance in nature with the highest drinkability is probably water. The lowest is probably Guinness Stout. It's mud.
" Beer companies the need to train sixteen year olds to drink their product aren't going to make it all the harder by producing a full-bodied ale or a Russian imperial stout.
" Being quick-minded, you're now thinking: Why doesn't Anheuser-Busch, for example, make one token full-bodied heavily hopped beer to compete with Heineken? Because the demand is too small, and these are mass-market companies. ' You can't build a Rolls-Royse on an assembly line,' said Joseph Owades, director of the Center for Brewing Studies in San Francisco (there are a lot of these institutes and centers: it beats breaking rocks for a living).
" Yet, on the contrary, American beers are getting lighter even as the demand for heavier foreign beers has increased. During the 70s, as Americans became more heath and weight conscious, breweries gradually weakened their flagship brands. A 1970 Budweiser was markedly harsher and heavier than a 1980 Budweiser. The recent success of 'lite' brands has eased the pressure to make flagship brands weaker still.
" We're bracing ourselves for the day when Miller comes out with a new product: Lite Light."
Sorry for such a long quote. Thought it was an interesting article. Discuss.