What country makes the best beer?

[Dutto]

Stella Artois is Belgian

Er …. I quote Mail on Line dated February 2021 which said:

Stella Artois LOWERS its alcohol strength to 4.6% in health drive by Belgian brewers - but drinkers are left furious over its 'bland and insipid' taste.

and

Alongside Budweiser and Becks, Stella's alcohol volume was also cut in 2012 from 5 per cent to 4.8 per cent as part of a shake-up that saved millions of pounds by offsetting duty hikes and cost increases.

IMHO it is still cr@p with a capital “K”!

BTW, I’m still wondering where I actually wrote that Stella Artois (a really popular drink in France in the 1980’s) was manufactured there!

Obviously, being owned by Budweiser and being brewed in the UK, USA and around the world I can understand the confusion!
:hat:

 

[St00]

I'd have to say America as their "New" wave of overly hopped tribute to English IPAs was pretty much what got me in to drinking for pleasure to begin with.

Given my main alcohol intake as a young man was always ***** macro lager or ***** macro creamflow bitter, my mates Nelson Sauvin (Yes I know they're new world hops, but the style was American) American IPA came as quite the shock.

Also, if I could only drink one more beer ever, it would still be Odell IPA.

 

[-Bezza-]

Currently, I'd say the US, but more based on overall experience. The breadth of beers that are readily available out-and-about and the Brew Pub / Tap Room scene is just so much more interesting than the narrow rut most other places seem to be in. Take the UK for example where beyond things like Brewdog, Beaver Town, Tiny Rebel etc that are appearing more frequently in pubs, beer is mostly still a choice between mass produced lager, guinness and twiggy ale.

 

[Brewnaldo]

As a lager drinker at heart, Germany all the way.

 

[trummy]

Recently returned from France (French Alps) Everything sweet and insipid apart from a local beer which was drinkable, unfortunately cannot remember the brewery's name. Used to like Belgium but most too strong, not the USA because anything they they can brew we can brew better! Might as well just say UK and be done with it.

 

[Sadfield]

Take the UK for example where beyond things like Brewdog, Beaver Town, Tiny Rebel etc that are appearing more frequently in pubs, beer is mostly still a choice between mass produced lager, guinness and twiggy ale.

Interesting. I guess it really is a case of where you live, I've avoided all those options for a long while. Taprooms and independent bars are springing up in all kinds of places around South Manchester, East Cheshire and Peak District.

 

[Paul7189]

As a lager drinker at heart, Germany all the way.

Not the Czech Republic though?

 

[Brewnaldo]

Not the Czech Republic though?

I have to pick a winner....

 

[clib]

Currently, I'd say the US, but more based on overall experience. The breadth of beers that are readily available out-and-about and the Brew Pub / Tap Room scene is just so much more interesting than the narrow rut most other places seem to be in. Take the UK for example where beyond things like Brewdog, Beaver Town, Tiny Rebel etc that are appearing more frequently in pubs, beer is mostly still a choice between mass produced lager, guinness and twiggy ale.

I don't that's true tbh. Not in Manchester anyway, masses of choice and we have a huge range of both craft and real ale to pick from.

 

[-Bezza-]

I don't that's true tbh. Not in Manchester anyway, masses of choice and we have a huge range of both craft and real ale to pick from.

It sounds like Manchester might be the exception that proves the rule. I can't comment on the whole country of course but down south and in London, interesting pubs are found but few and far between. When I've visited the US, there are a lot more options.

 

[An Ankoù]

Recently returned from France (French Alps) Everything sweet and insipid apart from a local beer which was drinkable, unfortunately cannot remember the brewery's name. Used to like Belgium but most too strong, not the USA because anything they they can brew we can brew better! Might as well just say UK and be done with it.

Spot on, @trummy . That about ties it up.

 

[Pennine]

Can I pick 4?

I checked number of breweries in the UK and was quite surprised to see 3,018 compared with 9,250 in the US. Seems pretty comparable against populations.

I did pick Belgium though, there is something special about drinking a beer at the sint-sixtusabdij in westvleteren and de struise tasting rooms.

 

[An Ankoù]

Can I pick 4?

I checked number of breweries in the UK and was quite surprised to see 3,018 compared with 9,250 in the US. Seems pretty comparable against populations.

I did pick Belgium though, there is something special about drinking a beer at the sint-sixtusabdij in westvleteren and de struise tasting rooms.

Yeah, you say that, but have they got a dart board and a table football machine?
Oh, and a Carling pump for when you're ready for a proper pint?
Thought not!

 

[clib]

It sounds like Manchester might be the exception that proves the rule. I can't comment on the whole country of course but down south and in London, interesting pubs are found but few and far between. When I've visited the US, there are a lot more options.

Manchester has lots of breweries and lots of craft bars as well as pubs, and brewery taps. Big beer scene.

Leeds is pretty good from what I've seen. And Sheffield. I've heard Bristol is pretty good but not been there in years.

 

[prog99]

Spot on, @trummy . That about ties it up.

Some exceptions. I have visited both taprooms and back in the area this summer for more "research"
Big Mountain Brewing Co.: Homehttps://www.bigmtnbrew.co › ...
Brasserie du Mont-Blanc: Homehttps://www.brasserie-montblanc.com › ...
And just over the border in Le Suisse (I have done extensive research here)
White Frontierhttps://www.whitefrontier.ch most swiss beer is crap though

 

[prog99]

I don't that's true tbh. Not in Manchester anyway, masses of choice and we have a huge range of both craft and real ale to pick from.

Black Isle Brewery has two tap rooms in Fort William and Inverness. Both well worth a visit. FW has better pizzas, Inverness rotates the beer more often. Neither are exactly big towns.

 

[Dutto]

Let’s not forget the provinces!

Like the Gaslamp Lounge in Louth, where a pint of Sledge Hammer Stout (ABV 7.4%) will only set you back £3.30!

I always regret going there because I live over 30 miles away and have to drive home!
:hat:

 

[An Ankoù]

Some exceptions. I have visited both taprooms and back in the area this summer for more "research"
Big Mountain Brewing Co.: Homehttps://www.bigmtnbrew.co › ...
Brasserie du Mont-Blanc: Homehttps://www.brasserie-montblanc.com › ...
And just over the border in Le Suisse (I have done extensive research here)
White Frontierhttps://www.whitefrontier.ch most swiss beer is crap though

Haven't come across Big Mountain, but Mont-blanc is undrinkable in any of its manifestations. Expensive, too. I'm genuinely at a loss to understand how they manage to sell the stuff. There are plenty of good beers that are not to my taste, but this just isn't good beer.
Fischer makes a lager "Tradition" which is OK, well chilled, cheap and worth it for the swing top bottles (which they've just stopped doing) but their other beers: an amber and a triple hop are so cloyingly sweet that it's impossible to finish them. The Amber tastes like coca cola. Apart from my single sample bottles, who buys and drinks this stuff. Alsace grows some really good hops it's a shame they can't make beer. It tastes nothing like German beer, by the way.

I see Japan's git a tick and I wonder if I'm missing something. I know Kirin and Asahi (made under licence in Italy and Germany) and my Greg Hughes rice lager is better by a mile.

 

[bantu1957]

A person who created this list has never heard of Poland and Polish beer? Definitely best beers in the whole world. 400 hundred brewerys and thousands of beer types plus of coarse home craft brewerys. Did you guys ever tried polish strong porter made by Żywiec or Tyskie, Żubr, perła lubelska, Okocim and many many more. So why Poland is not on the list?

 

[DCBC]

Didn't Michael Jackson in his later years start to claim that the USA is the best country in the world to be a beer drinker? It certainly leads the way in a range of more modern styles and I have found there they have the passion, inventiveness and inquisitiveness there to really try to push the boundaries and both in terms of developing new styles and refining and shaping existing ones.

But for me, of all the countries I have visited, the one which takes its beer the most seriously, the one that really elevates it into a cultural staple above all others is Belgium. They have a wide range of styles, of course, but they really excel, in my opinion, at making the really complex beers both well but also consistently. Brewing there is taken so seriously it's almost a religion. It may not be the most innovative modern brewing country but I think it's the country which cares most about beer. The beer lists in cafes, bars and restaurants all over the country read like wine lists do in other parts of the world. Whether it makes the best beer in the world is up for debate (although I think it does) but I think its beer culture helps it take top spot as far as I'm concerned :)

EDIT: I saw bantu1957's comment about Poland and it made me check the poll again. There is an argument for Estonia as a contender. They have an ancient and, in some pockets, continuing tradition of farmhouse brewing and their craft beer scene is spectacular. They might have the greatest number of excellent beers per capita of anywhere in the world!