beer in America vs. else where

[brycelarson]

Based on my recent travels and drinking I would take American Beer. We're currently making the most interesting, best brewed and most exciting beer in the world. We have distribution problems which sucks but while there's a bunch of mediocre mass produced crap sold in the US the craft beer movement is making better beer than anyone anywhere.

 

[shaneogle89]

I always thought that American's can't make beer, until I was introducted to the craft beer industry. All I knew was Budweiser and Coors until about 2 years ago!

 

[brycelarson]

Heck, the big industrial breweries in the US aren't even US companies anymore.

http://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/the-big-brewers-brands/

It's all about the craft brews.

 

[dillypo]

Those whole thread makes no sense. "European beer"? That itself is so general a term you can't possibly attempt to compare. Hell different small towns in germany have different ways of making hefeweizen. Which one of those towns did your friend go to? Which breweries did he like?

Me and two of my good friends went on our own little beer tour in europe with the express purpose of drinking as many different beers as possible that are hard or impossible to come by in the US. Sure there are some amazing beers, but there are also some beers that made us throw up after a sip. You've got the major German breweries that make some delicious beers like Paulaner but on the same hand you've got ottinger (the best selling german beer) that is just absolute garbage. We were told its because they just take the reject beer from the other breweries and mix it all together so no two batches taste the same. It's possible but I haven't seen any sources on that, just a drunk guy in a park. You've also got all the small town breweries that sell "export" style beer. That's basically the "ice" label ala natty ice of german beers. They're pretty gross as well.

Usually when people think "European beers are AWESOME!!!" its because they only drink the european beers that are bothered to be exported to the US. The ****ty ones dont make it.

Tell your friend to go into a german grocery store and just buy 1 of each bottle off the shelf. They cost like 0.20-0.35 euros each. Tell him to drink each one and keep a list of those he likes vs those he doesn't. I would bet he'll quickly discover how many crappy beers there are.

 

[Grippe]

I was stationed in Germany near Belgium and drank a ton of beer but did encounter more than my share of undrinkable, unpleasant beer varieties. In fact, few beers from Germany really appealed to my tastes outside of pilsners/lagers and marzen styles.

On the other hand, there are a lot of exciting things going on in American beers. I would rather live in the USA and have access to all the various beers we have here than to live in, say, Berlin or Paris or Prague. In fact, most beer in Paris is gas station beer.

Having lived in Prague I seriously think you need to reconsider. Best time, best beer, best women of my life.

\m/ hook'em.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

Based on my recent travels and drinking I would take American Beer. We're currently making the most interesting, best brewed and most exciting beer in the world. We have distribution problems which sucks but while there's a bunch of mediocre mass produced crap sold in the US the craft beer movement is making better beer than anyone anywhere.

This!
I live in Spain and being in Europe I have a better access to european brews than american. I agree 100%: americans are brewing better beer than anyone else. ¿Germans? they forgot what good beer was ¿english? good beer but i like the american interpretation of their styles better ¿Checz? Please i ratter drink cat pee. Belgium it´s a different story I love belgians beers but americans!!! yummy! you people have shown the world how to make good beer.
The only thing i regreat it´s distribution do you know how hard is to get good and fresh american brews here?

 

[TyTanium]

Focus on brewers, not countries.

If you say "I like European beer", I think you're a beer-snob hipster who drinks Heine/Stella. If you say I like Russian River / Weihenstephaner, I'll say I agree, let's have a pint.

There are good brewers and bad brewers in both areas, and most individuals' samples size is far too small to have a robust representation of the mean rating of each country's beer.

 

[spacecowboy13]

So, I'll have to go with Occam's Razor on this one: your friends are all simply @sshats that hate America.

 

[jonmohno]

Oh,man do i love Epic IPA.Its a netherlands beer american style. Thats like one of those better than Pliny beers for me,i think. It may be the oak-aged one.Or could be the Armageddon.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

Oh,man do i love Epic IPA.Its a netherlands beer american style. Thats like one of those better than Pliny beers for me,i think.

A lot of the best craft beers in Europe are american styles... check good italian craft beers or beers from Norway or Holland they all know how is making the best beers now. Last year I went to a beer trip trough Holland and Belgium and the most visited bar in that trip was the Beer Temple in Amsterdam that specializes in amercian craft beers. Now I have decided that my next beer trip its to US.
I think not being american helps me been a little more objective in this matter. You don´t have an idea how incredibly lucky you guys are for having the biggest and more interesting craft beer and hombrewing scene in the world.

 

[Pommy]

Oh,man do i love Epic IPA.Its a netherlands beer american style. Thats like one of those better than Pliny beers for me,i think. It may be the oak-aged one.Or could be the Armageddon.

Its from New Zealand, and imo overrated, like all their beers. Its just loads of US cascade, wlp001 id guess. Over hear we don't all rate it that highly. Each to their own though I don't mean to sound argumentative, just adding my opinion to the thread. I'd take some Green Flash IPA over EPA any day.

 

[ThickHead]

I drank my fair share of Tiger beer in Singapore and Malaysia. It's been a few years but I remember it being pretty awful. I remember giving some advice to one of my shipmates when he sat at our table: "It's only gut wrenchingly disgusting for the first two cans..."

Don't get me wrong. I was not placing any rave reviews on Tiger. I would not call it awful though. It is a pretty decent representation of the style. And I would drink that before I ever ordered a Budweiser when in SE Asia.

My point was that one doesn't have to only drink Thai beers in Thailand. Though if you want anything outside of light lagers you will have to get creative with your searching. You would be surprised at the places you will find little local "micro" brew pubs though.

Edit: Also...if you were in Singapore what the hell were you doing drinking Tiger (I mean I know it's a local beer but...)? Get yourself down to Clarke Quay and into Brewerkz! If you're drinking ****ty beer in Singapore you're doing it wrong!

 

[jonmohno]

Its from New Zealand, and imo overrated, like all their beers. Its just loads of US cascade, wlp001 id guess. Over hear we don't all rate it that highly. Each to their own though I don't mean to sound argumentative, just adding my opinion to the thread. I'd take some Green Flash IPA over EPA any day.

Right. And id probably take a Lagunitas over green flash. Opinions,opinions. I dont think NZ hops are overrated though.Uhh,if they even are?. Some of them i brewed with have been my favorate. NZ hops are great.

 

[jonmohno]

A lot of the best craft beers in Europe are american styles... check good italian craft beers or beers from Norway or Holland they all know how is making the best beers now. Last year I went to a beer trip trough Holland and Belgium and the most visited bar in that trip was the Beer Temple in Amsterdam that specializes in amercian craft beers. Now I have decided that my next beer trip its to US.
I think not being american helps me been a little more objective in this matter. You don´t have an idea how incredibly lucky you guys are for having the biggest and more interesting craft beer and hombrewing scene in the world.

Right.And that is really cool to hear from someone from Spain. I think Americans are very competetive so of course every body is fighting to have the best beer or at least good recognized beer. Not to metion good sales.
Im not biased about my countries beer, im critical of my own beer also, and personally(a little off topic) I happen to think American belgian style beer is inferior to actual belgian style beer and kinda think American belgian ipas are a little awkward and even regular doubles or tripples dont really compare to some of the trappist beers. Im not even shure if we can make a better german(lager) beer, i have had really good american german beers for shure though.

 

[motlekj06]

I'm going to have to go with the "His friends are @asshats" hypothesis

 

[LoneWolfPR]

Check the world beer cup results. We're producing as good if not better beers than other breweries from around the world, even in traditionally european styles.

 

[BoomerSoonerBrewer]

Me too! Was there between 2000 and 2004. When were you there?

I was there from 99 to 03.

We definitely had some overlap.

Did you make it to Roeselare? I spent a day at the Rodenbach brewery, it was one of the best ever.

 

[phenry]

Europe can make some pretty darn good beers. One of my favorite APAs is from a micro in Sussex. That brewery being Dark Star, and it's one of my favorite breweries hands down, and all I ever had from them was on cask at The Harp, right outside Trafalgar Square. If I could ever get one of my ales to parallel their Six Hop Ale, I could probably die happy. And then being in Brussels and trying more than my fair share of Belgian beers on tap at Chez Moeder, I can confidently say there's some American breweries that put out better Belgian styles than actual Belgian breweries, but then again some of the best Belgians I've had are actually from Belgium. Canada's giving them a run for their money though, seeing as how amazing Unibroue is turning out to be.

I'd say it doesn't matter what side of the Atlantic you're on, you've got access to pretty stellar craft beer. You just need to know which ones to look for.

 

[iambeer]

That makes no sense. There is no way to make a comparison between Pliny and "European beer". Put the best IPA and the best traditional German lager in front of me and ask me to pick the best one? Can't happen.

Yes, I think it comes down to style differences. The US can make pretty good european 'style' beers too. europe rarely brews US 'style' beer because they aren't interested.

 

[BoomerSoonerBrewer]

Belgium is a place very, very close to my heart. I have spent time all over--from Grand Place in Brussels to Antwerp to the flea markets in Tongeren and the beach near Knokke-Heist. I've been to nearly every major brewery in that country and all of the famous bars, including Mort Subite and Le Vaudree. I've been to where Chimay is brewed, Westvleteren, Orval and so on and even De Dolle. I love everything about Belgium.

However, there are many beers that are produced there that are undrinkable to me. These include Ciney, Blanche de Namur, Jupiler, Stella, Maes and many, many others.

The same can be said for Germany. I lived in Germany for 4 years and drank many good beers but even more bad ones. Terrible, banana/clove hefeweizens, terrible alts, terrible horrible pirminator styles. They are barf beers and I can't see how anyone drinks them. Anyone ever drink a Jever? Kostriker? I never tasted a drinkable doppelbach.

The USA is FAR more dynamic and innovative in brewing IMO. We are not limited to style by geography. All one has to do is look at a few brewers like Stone, Spoetzl, Rogue, Bruery, Anchor Steam etc... to see that the culture of brewing is awesome in the USA>

 

[Silentnoiz]

A very subjective topic of which is "better". Depends on what is being measured. I've traveled Europe a bit, drank a lot of beer there. Was just in Belgium a couple months ago. There is certainly good beer in Europe, no doubt. But the styles I most prefer are IPA/IIPA's and Stouts (especially barrel aged), and IMO, America wins there. Most people I know drink beer that I think is a waste on the liver. There are a lot of styles and varieties, but in the end, it is all just a matter of preference.

 

[mikeysab]

This is just another way for someone to say "America sucks at this....nanny nanny boo boo". If you don't like America, youre free to leave. Germany, Belgium, they'll be glad to have you, and you could drink all the great beer you want. If you're unhappy with the quality of beer in America, brew your own better. I'm tired of hearing everyone reach deep to find something America is inferior at.

 

[RCCOLA]

Maybe his friends like the taste of all malt, malty lagers and just don't know what to look for over here. There aren't a lot of malty American lagers to be had.

I brew some 1.042-1.050 lagers and they are the favorites of most people I know who aren't into craft beer or don't know anything other than BMC.

Don't take it as an attack on America. Just point them to beer styles that they like.

 

[ThickHead]

A very subjective topic of which is "better". Depends on what is being measured.

C'mon....you're killin' me! Of course it is...and don't drag my working day in to my play, damn you!

 

[sethcros]

I was there from 99 to 03.

We definitely had some overlap.

Did you make it to Roeselare? I spent a day at the Rodenbach brewery, it was one of the best ever.

I wasn't into beer at that time. I did tour the bitburger brewery lol, and the Heineken when we went to Amsterdam with my ex brother in law.

 

[jerryteague]

I lived in Baumholder, Germany for almost 3 years (1993- 1995), and I can say that the beer we have here in the US is every bit as good as what I sampled over there. Having beer delivered to my door every week was nice though.

 

[Cellarbrau]

The US is in the top tier of the brewing world. I don't think anyone could really prove that German, Belgian or UK beers are better or worse. It just comes down to preference.

 

[bueschen]

Living in Munich I have to say that I hear this "every American beer is crap" argument often.

You should know that Germans in general and Bavarians in particular are fiercely proud of their hometown beer and in their mind anything else is sub-standard.
When I hear a German tell me how crap American beer is my response is that it's better than Oettinger which is the best selling beer in Germany. This usually sends them into a fit of anger and them telling me how unfair it is to link all German beer to one brand.

Even the thickest German will get the point...eventually!

In the end though it is pointless to argue as a very German trait is to NEVER admit you are wrong.

All that being said, taking a ride out to "der Heilige Berg" at Andechs is about as good as it gets for beer and atmosphere!

 

[Dan]

Why is the beer here in America so sub par in comparsion to Europe??? I have at least 20 friends who have said that once you go to Germany, Austira, Belgium or Estonia you'll never want to drink American beer again.

Why is my neigbor's grass greener than mine? Same seed, same amount of water and sun.. hmm

I have one friend over in Estonia and Germany right now who HATES beer. I've given him every craft brew under the sun to try and convert him but he loathes it.

Your friend doesn't hate beer or your beer, he is just not secure enough in his judgment to trust you... NOT your fault! Of course if he is drinking beer from the brewing icon nation - Their beer must be the best! Your friend's own insecurity and lack of knowledge is the problem.

He goes over to Germany and Estonia only to not be able to drink ENOUGH beer. His exact words are "American beer tastes like crap, this stuff is like crack".

I'll stick with the the same answer as above. Insecurity. Beer is made of malted barley, hops, yeast and water.... Can you seriously beleive only the Germans can get that combination perfectly correct? I say BS!

What's so different?

Perception.

 

[kaz4121]

It's as simple as old school (Europe) vs. new school (America). The old regime is more conservative and traditional and don't want to give way to the radical new school methodology, so they deem it inferior.

In reality, both regions make excellent beer and terrible beer. Personally, I believe Europe is more traditional since it is where beer styles were (mostly) created, while America found its niche by imperalizing everything, and pushing boundaries.