It's official American Beer is Slop

[bobsbeer]

Not wishing to offend any of our American cousins, but I tend to agree with a quote by a leader of public opinion who made the statement in the United States Senate that, "...Beer that is brewed in this country is slop. They say it is 'good for the health.' I never saw a man who drank it who was not a candidate for Bright's disease or paralysis..." (Government by the Brewers?, by Adolph Keitel).

Now I may be accused taking things out of context, but given that the beer in the days of this statement was described as "...Here beer is a concoction of corn, rice, hops, malt, glucose, preservatives and other drugs--and, in most cases, it has nothing in common with real beer other than its artificial foam and color...", not much has changed. (Government by the Brewers?, by Adolph Keitel). Need I say more. Oh by the way the book was written in about 1917. :wha:

 

[PD]

Incomming...Incomming.....


Stand by for the return flack of our friends over the Pond...

 

[bobsbeer]

:grin: :grin:

 

[Loetz]

What did you drink that lead you to think this?
I imagine that a person who'd just drank a Carling might say the same of English beers. :hmm:

 

[bobsbeer]

Coors, Bud, Busch, Milwaukee, Miller. Need I go on...... Oh and Carling is Canadian.

 

[Loetz]

Coors, Bud, Busch, Milwaukee, Miller.

Luckly for America, most of those were sold off and aren't really American anymore. :lol:

 

[bobsbeer]

True. And while I was quoting a book I recently read, I agree the same could be said of most commercial beers here in the UK 30 years or so ago. Watneys Red Barrel, Double Diamond, and even the Watneys Party Seven spring to mind, but there were others. But then came CAMRA in the UK to start the backlash.

 

[Stihler]

I tend to disagree on principle.

One cannot make sure wide ranging generalizations.

It's like saying all Brits have bad teeth when in reality I'm sure there are at least few people there with perfectly good teeth. :mrgreen:

Not all American beer is crap.

Sure one of the main claims to fame coming out of America (i.e. American Piss Water Pilsner) is total scheist but there are plenty of craft breweries out there making wonderful beer.

I am sure the UK has more than its fair share of crap beer out there. Of course, most of them are producing American Piss Water Pilsner but that besides the point.

Oh well..just my opinion and you are entitled to your's (not matter how misguided it might be) as well.

- Scott

 

[bobsbeer]

I tend to disagree on principle.

One cannot make sure wide ranging generalizations.

- Scott

I didn't, an American did, but I agree with you. I have had a good few beers while living in USA, especially those made by fellow homebrewers. But, and it was a while since I left, the range on offer in the supermarkets was generally not good. What I found interesting was the description in the book and how little has changed in the mainstream commercial brewing industry, in nearly 100 years.

 

[RobWalker]

I tend to disagree on principle.

One cannot make sure wide ranging generalizations.

It's like saying all Brits have bad teeth when in reality I'm sure there are at least few people there with perfectly good teeth. :mrgreen:

Not all American beer is crap.

Sure one of the main claims to fame coming out of America (i.e. American Piss Water Pilsner) is total scheist but there are plenty of craft breweries out there making wonderful beer.

I am sure the UK has more than its fair share of crap beer out there. Of course, most of them are producing American Piss Water Pilsner but that besides the point.

Oh well..just my opinion and you are entitled to your's (not matter how misguided it might be) as well.

- Scott

generally, we really do have **** teeth.

and american beer is awesome. crap lager isn't even scratching the surface!

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

Eh Up Bob,

we Brits still produce some pretty ropey beers....Boddingtons (if that thats the cream of Manchester, they can keep it), John Smiths extra rough and the once lovely Bombadier (not now, Bang On)

It pains me to say it.....Stones Best Bitter in tins now its produced by accountants, Tetleys Bitter in a tin....UUURGH!!

 

[dennisking]

When I went to Chicago a few years back my son in law bought in a selection of bottles for me, most of which I enjoyed. Also the local Goose island beers were nice on draught. I think both country's suffer from mass produced and mass advertised beer brewed to maximise the profits of shareholders only. Mainly served as cold as possible so they don't need to worry to much about flavour. At the same time there are many great beers brewed in both country's to please those of us that treasure quality beer.

 

[Ceejay]

I'm a fairly patriotic Englishman, but in this case I'll take the lure and stick up for our Atlantic cousins.

Firstly, what are you basing your opinion on? Bud, Coors, Miller, etc etc, I imagine. The USA has a plethora of small (and some quite large) craft breweries and brew pubs, many of which are at least as good as our decent breweries. A few examples off the top of my head:

Sierra Nevada
Anchor
Deschutes
Stone
Lagunitas

And those are just a % of the big, obvious ones.

When you actually look into it, the craft and home brew scene/industry in America is absolutely thriving and is starting to influence the way we brew in the UK more than a lot of people know. Go to any decent beer shop, pub, beer festival and you'll see tonnes of American Pale ales, American IPA's, American Amber Ales and "English" ales that are clearly inspired by the bold, hoppy flavours and aromas of decent craft ale accross the pond. The main thing they have in common? Massive flavour. Not necessarily hop flavour either (although high alpha, citrussy hops definitely take the limelight). High ABV compared to our beers, and lots and lots of hops. I could go on, but all this lecturing is making me thirsty and I don't have any 60 IBU Yakima Valley Super Hop Bomb to quench my thirst. Although the shop over the road probably sells Old Speckled Hen :sick:

As MR T onces said: "Quit yo whinin' sucka!" :twisted:

 

[RobWalker]

Even their huge craft brewers make decent beers! Goose island and Brooklyn brewery are hit and miss, but sierra Nevada etc are big companies with awesome beers.

 

[bobsbeer]

I agree that my title was rather provocative, but it was supposed to attract attention and discussion. The opinion I was quoting were not my opinions but those of the author quoted. I also agree that there are many good brews made by our brewing brothers across the pond, and that there are a good few crap beers made in the UK. None of that was ever in question. What I found interesting was the description and ingredients. I recall visiting Busch Gardens in Tampa, which for those that don't know it, apart from being a major theme park is also a big brewery producing Busch beer. You get to go on a rather brief tour and taste a glass of beer at the end. The one thing that struck me was how they celebrated the fact that they added adjuncts. Very similar to those quoted. And the beer being made was a pilsner.

 

[phettebs]

OK, time for the Yank perspective, albeit a colored one.

Our mass produced beers are crap. I completely agree. The BMC (BudMillerCoors) beers are all bland, fizzy, ice cold pilseners. We've been drinking those since the mid/late 1800s and it's what Americans have been conditioned to drink and expect from beer. Anything with a flavor, color, or aroma is frowned upon. Dark beers are assumed to be "chewy and heavy."

Fortunately, those breweries are feeling the pinch of losing market share to craft breweries. People are starting to realize there is an alternative. Unfortunately, because craft beer is so popular now, everyone is jumping into brewing it. My opinion is that the market is getting watered down with crappy craft beer now. BMC are putting out their own "craft" beer like Blue Moon and Shock Top in an attempt to get back some of the market share.

There are some very good beers produced here. And like everywhere else, there is a lot of crap. There are a lot of fantastic beers I've only heard about because of our distribution laws. Unless someone distributes to my area, I can't get those beers and have to go somewhere they are distributed. For example, I liked a lot of Dogfish Head's beers. Unfortunately, they stopped distributing in Wisconsin so I can't get them anymore. I'm lucky to live in a state that is all about beer. We have some really great microbreweries so there are plenty of others to drink. And then, there's always homebrew. :thumb:

Baz

 

[ScottM]

I was really surprised to find that the Budweiser in America was really rubbish. I quite enjoy a good cold pint of bud (hard to find and rather expensive normally) and there's one place fairly local to me that always stores and pours properly. The pint I'm used to is really crisp and refreshing. The stuff in America had an almost off candy flavour to it, not sure what the deal with it was. Also, the speed of pouring a pint of lager out there is unreal. Is it stored/dispensed differently from the UK? It FLIES out the pump and yet doesn't create a glass of head.

I'm not an ale drinker so I didn't go trying the different tipples on offer in the bars (Florida/Kissimee) but what I DID try was of a very low standard, even just compared to what I'm used to in my local.

 

[Loetz]

I realized today that America is stealing ownership of the stout style when I saw this in my grocery store:

This is the first Austrian stout I've ever seen, and it refers to itself as a "Beer trip to America".

I haven't tried it yet, so I can't say if it is an American style stout or what. It does say on the bottle that it uses American yeasts and is very roasty, but it's only 5.4% ABV.

I'm excited!

 

[critch]

the us is just like the uk bob, the macro stuff sucks moose balls. ab-inbev own 60% of the worlds brewing capacity.this means the same piss poor company that makes the poor quality american beer also makes the poor quality british beer....the various bmc boys now own alot of uk brands.......


but there is salvation...... dogfish head, flying dog, rogue, calderra, maui, odells, stone,new belgium to name a very small selection of over 1400 breweries in the us produce decent ales(and there are hundreds more that produce excellent, earth shattering, life changing, ales....)

the uks not too shabby too, once youve moved away from the macro swill (nearly all nationals and sadly many family/regionals)..... swb marble buxton brodies london fields redwillow anyone??? mind you i had a "craft"jobbie from robinsons that actually was damn good the other week was quite chuffed about that! :clap: :party:

 

[phettebs]

I thought this link was appropriate for the discussion. It's a long read but interesting:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... ricas-beer