How do US microbreweries compare to the world?
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Oh boy...you asked for it. Here come all the 'hop bomb' comments from the Europeans. 
Some US breweries are making some of the best beers in the world. But so are some breweries from Belgium. And the UK. And Germany.
Show me a single US brewer making a better Hefeweizen than Weihenstephaner or a better Bitter than Timothy Taylor, or a better BDSA/Quad than Rochefort, or St. Bernardus, or Westvleteren...
There are some that can come close, sure. And US brewers certainly take the cake for US styles. And they make some mean Belgian ones too. But I don't think they can match the Germans at German styles, and quite frankly most US craft brewers are absolutely terrible at traditional English styles.
Show me a single US brewer making a better Hefeweizen than Weihenstephaner or a better Bitter than Timothy Taylor, or a better BDSA/Quad than Rochefort, or St. Bernardus, or Westvleteren...
There are some that can come close, sure. And US brewers certainly take the cake for US styles. And they make some mean Belgian ones too. But I don't think they can match the Germans at German styles, and quite frankly most US craft brewers are absolutely terrible at traditional English styles.
I recently took a trip over to England for the first time (early in June). All of my brew friends told me to get ready to experience "real beer". I was excited to go over and experience the pub ales. I will say one thing - they are very proud of their beer and they seem to get excited about it more than we do over here. That said, I wasn't very impressed with English beers. I tried many of them at many different pubs. While there were some that were "decent", I didn't have a single one that really impressed me that much. The other thing that I didn't like was how weak all of their beers were. Most were in the 3.5-4.5% ABV range. There were some here and there that were stronger, but the majority were very weak.
I recently read an article saying that American craft brews were starting to surpass their English counterparts. I agree. American craft brews crush.
I get to go to Germany in early September (unfortunately not during Oktoberfest), so we will see how they stack up.
I recently read an article saying that American craft brews were starting to surpass their English counterparts. I agree. American craft brews crush.
I get to go to Germany in early September (unfortunately not during Oktoberfest), so we will see how they stack up.
zbbfreak19
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For craft beer quite possibly, but lots of the Europeans don't brew those kinds of beers, it is kind of a apples to oranges thing
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BoShimTang
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The thing I would say is that really good beer can be found all over Europe and generally speaking it costs less than water. Although there are now many excellent beers to be found in the U.S., they are far too expensive. That's just one of the reasons I make my own...
As for Asia, well beer is not really what they do best.
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As for Asia, well beer is not really what they do best.
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dannypo
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In Germany they make great German beer.
In Belgium they make great Belgian beer.
In the UK they make great British beer.
In the US they make great American beer, very good to great German beer, very good to great Belgian beer and very good to great British beer.
Sure you can get British made American styles but they are rarely good and hard to find.
In Belgium they make great Belgian beer.
In the UK they make great British beer.
In the US they make great American beer, very good to great German beer, very good to great Belgian beer and very good to great British beer.
Sure you can get British made American styles but they are rarely good and hard to find.
Here's my beer snob take on it.
US craft breweries are making some of the best beer I've had, but they are also making some of the worst. There are some I find outright disgusting. I picked out burnt rubber and grass flavors in the most recent local craft six pack I purchased. This was a sample pack with three different styles of beer from the same brewery and they were all disgusting. I dumped nearly half of the six pack. They were terrible, and this wasn't the first time I've experienced this when trying American craft beer.
That being said, I prefer the American craft beer I've tried when comparing them to European samples of similar styles. However, I've only had bottled and imported European beer, so I think this is an unfair comparison. Some of my local breweries here in Texas are making hefeweizens, pilsners, porters, and schwarzbier that I find to be far better than European ones I've tried, and it's not just because I'm supporting local breweries. I truly enjoy them even over other American breweries, but again, maybe it's a matter of freshness. These breweries have small distribution and likely go from brewery to customer much quicker.
US craft breweries are making some of the best beer I've had, but they are also making some of the worst. There are some I find outright disgusting. I picked out burnt rubber and grass flavors in the most recent local craft six pack I purchased. This was a sample pack with three different styles of beer from the same brewery and they were all disgusting. I dumped nearly half of the six pack. They were terrible, and this wasn't the first time I've experienced this when trying American craft beer.
That being said, I prefer the American craft beer I've tried when comparing them to European samples of similar styles. However, I've only had bottled and imported European beer, so I think this is an unfair comparison. Some of my local breweries here in Texas are making hefeweizens, pilsners, porters, and schwarzbier that I find to be far better than European ones I've tried, and it's not just because I'm supporting local breweries. I truly enjoy them even over other American breweries, but again, maybe it's a matter of freshness. These breweries have small distribution and likely go from brewery to customer much quicker.
headbanger
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We make the best.
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