[ChapelTom]

When I turned 18 I'd tried about 80 beers. Since then, I'm trying hundreds every year in many styles. I'm only 19 now, not 20 for a while. I've tried 10 Pilsners probably and that's it. Moved more from real ale to foreign beers/craft beer now.

http://www.ratebeer.com/BeerStyles.asp - will give a list of styles, I've tried about 40 maybe 45 of that lot.

[dronten]

I think a lot of people underestimate American beers. And rightfully so...

American beers are known for being tasteless. There is some truth in this and there is a simple reason for it. Here's a little lesson

First you need to know something about brewing. Historically beers are brewed with a type of barley called 2-row barley. There is also another type called 6-row barley which can be used as well. 6-row barley contains more enzymes which allow the brewer to add adjuncts to the beer such as rice, maize, wheat in a higher percentage than possible with 2-row barley. Barley tends to be expensive so using cheaper ingredients such as corn reduces the cost significantly.

American breweries were vast in numbers back in the 1890s but due to the prohibition and great depression the numbers dropped significantly. Now during the great depression, American brewers were forced to cut cost and did so by using 6-row barley instead. This was a choice that had to be made in order to stay alive as a brewery. When the depression was over, the few breweries who survived tried to switch back to “good” beer again but the customers were more interested in the cheap, tasteless stuff. And as capitalistic as most American companies are they figured they might as well make the crap that people buy. These companies (Budweiser, Anheuser busch and Coors) grew to become HUGE and spread their beer across the world. Hence, American beer came to be known as pretty ****ty.

In 1978, home brewing became legal in the states which sparked a new interest amongst beer lovers. Since then, brewing has exploded and legal breweries pop up in every small town. This craft scene is one of the biggest in the world with over 2000 breweries. Compare that to 1978 when there was about 90…

So the next time you hear someone bash American beer, tell them that there are about 2000 breweries producing amazing beers of all styles and the reason behind their ****ty beer is related to economics and stupid politicians trying to stop men to drink.

Hopefully you learned something from this. I’ll be exploring UK beers in just a few months. What I’ve had so far has been plenty good.

[spider_web]

German produce some nice beers.

[MancStudent098]

(Original post by dronten)
So the next time you hear someone bash American beer, tell them that there are about 2000 breweries producing amazing beers of all styles and the reason behind their ****ty beer

Unfortunately I find that what the Americans call 'craft beer' is also relatively tasteless. It always seems to be sweeter than European equivalents in whatever style it's in, is served overchilled and has far less complexity of flavour. It's often very drinkable, but rarely particularly unique. I think basically flavourlessness is now so ingrained in US beer drinkers' palettes that even ales don't taste of a whole lot.

[dronten]

(Original post by MancStudent098)
Unfortunately I find that what the Americans call 'craft beer' is also relatively tasteless. It always seems to be sweeter than European equivalents in whatever style it's in, is served overchilled and has far less complexity of flavour. It's often very drinkable, but rarely particularly unique. I think basically flavourlessness is now so ingrained in US beer drinkers' palettes that even ales don't taste of a whole lot.

Okay maybe my statment of 2000 breweries with amazing beers was a bit exagurated. I think however that there are many great beers that are overlooked just because they are American. I was one of those back but I have spent 6 years in the US and completly changed my mind. i don't know the statistics of how many of beers actually make it overseas but I doubt there's many of them.

Now you're absolutely right that flavourlessness is ingrained here. Unfortunately that's the majority of the beer drinkers. I have friends who rather drink Bud Light than a good Pale Ale from the local brewery And obviously the majority controls what alot of breweries decide to brew. But still, there are so many breweries that make really tastefull beers competitive with the European beer market.

I'm just trying to make the point that American beers aren't bad, not necessarily the best. There are so many great breweries that only distribute in that city or state they exist in and therefor never becom recognized on the global market and it is hard to see this unless you actually travel around and sample sample sample... Which is pretty fun! Craft beer sales is between 5-10% of total beer sales in the US so it is a really small niche but expanding.

Also, they do serve it overchilled many times compared to UK standards but you can always ask for a warm glass to balance it out. Cask beers are growing in popularity and more and more pubs starts to serve there beers on both keg and cask.

[Think89]

Germany easily. Mainly because of the Reinheitsgebot aka 'The German brewing purity law' which made sure Beer was to a high standard and only used the basic ingredients. As far as I know it isn't in effect any more but many companies still brew their beers to the same standard out of tradition. Oh, and whoever vote USA has clearly never been to the states. All their beer is watered down, overpriced piss. I spent 6 months there and pretty much hated every beer I drank.

[dronten]

(Original post by Think89)
Oh, and whoever vote USA has clearly never been to the states. All their beer is watered down, overpriced piss. I spent 6 months there and pretty much hated every beer I drank.

And where did you go? I feel bad that you somehow only drank the ****ty ones. There are those beers and they have the majority of the market. It is really a generalization saying that they are all watered down and overpriced piss. Unfortunately US just have that reputation due to the macro breweries here. Spend a month in Oregon visiting all the breweries there and I'm sure you'll change your mind.

[Think89]

(Original post by dronten)
And where did you go? I feel bad that you somehow only drank the ****ty ones. There are those beers and they have the majority of the market. It is really a generalization saying that they are all watered down and overpriced piss. Unfortunately US just have that reputation due to the macro breweries here. Spend a month in Oregon visiting all the breweries there and I'm sure you'll change your mind.

All over New England, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. Obviously I'm generalising but on average the beer culture in the states has is fairly poor considering its population and to say they have the best beer in the world is just silly. I mean most countries probably have a few decent brews if you go hunting.

[Sir Fox]

(Original post by dronten)
And where did you go? I feel bad that you somehow only drank the ****ty ones. There are those beers and they have the majority of the market. It is really a generalization saying that they are all watered down and overpriced piss. Unfortunately US just have that reputation due to the macro breweries here. Spend a month in Oregon visiting all the breweries there and I'm sure you'll change your mind.

Yes, but one generally characterizes a certain 'group' of things (in this case American beers) by the thing which represents the majority (sorry for the weird phrasing). The macro breweries are 'macro' because they sell the most, meaning most Americans drink some of these beers. I'm sure one might even find a couple of excellent breweries in the DR Congo, China or Venezuela, yet none of these countries is world renowned for its beer.

[dronten]

(Original post by Think89)
All over New England, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. Obviously I'm generalising but on average the beer culture in the states has is fairly poor considering its population and to say they have the best beer in the world is just silly. I mean most countries probably have a few decent brews if you go hunting.

I have unfortunately not traveled in those areas enough to mention some breweries. I've been to PA and I know of one beer that I liked, Mad Elf made by Tröegs. I also stopped by Market Cross brewery who offered some good beers. All of them open fermented which gave all the beers a unique flavor.

Now I voted US because frankly, this is where I tried more good beer than anywhere else. I also tried a lot of bad beers (All college students drink is the water down, sweet stuff) but that still counteracts the number of good beers here. From my perspective US has the best beer but I'm not arguing that they are the best in the world for everyone. I haven’t tried enough yet to say that. I can say that US produce better beers than Sweden does. Those are my only real reference points here. I do say that US beers get overlooked because of the quantity of bad macro beers and I think that is a shame.

(Original post by Sir Fox)
Yes, but one generally characterizes a certain 'group' of things (in this case American beers) by the thing which represents the majority (sorry for the weird phrasing). The macro breweries are 'macro' because they sell the most, meaning most Americans drink some of these beers. I'm sure one might even find a couple of excellent breweries in the DR Congo, China or Venezuela, yet none of these countries is world renowned for its beer.

You are absolutely right. But I had the feeling that a thread with "Beer Lovers" discussing beer would overlook the quantity of beers sold and focus on quality. I merely brought that up to illustrate the reasoning behind most people's generalization. Looking at numbers of beers available, the small number of different beers the macro breweries produce gets outnumbered by craft brewing by a lot. I think judging the beers of America on those macro breweries and stating that US produce bad beers is ignorant, especially by people to believe themselves to be beer lovers.

DR Congo, China or Venezuela probably have some great tasting beers (I would love to try them) but they don't produce the number of different beers that US actually are able to offer.

[ChapelTom]

Oh the Americans produce some of the best beers out there. Three Floyds of Indiana produce some of the best beers out there, their Hvede Goop made with Mikkeller is just awesome.

Can find all of these U.S breweries in the UK - amongst a number of others.
Anchor, Brooklyn, Flying Dog, Goose Island, Stone.

My favourite beer of all time is Goose Island - Bourbon County Stout. An absolute god of a beer.

[Cerdog]

(Original post by ChapelTom)
Oh the Americans produce some of the best beers out there. Three Floyds of Indiana produce some of the best beers out there, their Hvede Goop made with Mikkeller is just awesome.

I may be misunderstanding what you're saying here, but isn't Mikkeller a Danish brewery? Either way, their George is one of the nicest beers I've ever tasted, and probably the best at 10% or higher (just beating St Bernardus Abt 12).

Can find all of these U.S breweries in the UK - amongst a number of others.
Anchor, Brooklyn, Flying Dog, Goose Island, Stone.

My favourite beer of all time is Goose Island - Bourbon County Stout. An absolute god of a beer.

Have you tried Goose Island IPA? That was the beer that made me realise the USA actually had great beers, you just had to look for them.

[ChapelTom]

(Original post by Cerdog)
I may be misunderstanding what you're saying here, but isn't Mikkeller a Danish brewery? Either way, their George is one of the nicest beers I've ever tasted, and probably the best at 10% or higher (just beating St Bernardus Abt 12).



Have you tried Goose Island IPA? That was the beer that made me realise the USA actually had great beers, you just had to look for them.

It was a colloboration between Three Floyds and Mikkeller, but brewed at Three Floyds brewery in the U.S.

Had Goose Island IPA, prefer Anchor - Liberty though myself.