Posted on 11/24/2014 8:20:22 PM PST by wetphoenix
Milos Zeman, president of the Czech Republic, has branded American beer as “filthy water” during a business summit in Kazakhstan but US brewers needn’t pay too much attention.
During the trip, Kazakhstan’s long-running president, Nursultan Nazarbaev (who has run the country since 1989), asked Zeman (pictured above) which beer he thought was the best in the world.
According to Reuters Zeman replied that, “Czech beer is the best in the world. No American company that offers filthy water instead of beer can compete with us.”
Zeman is used to controversial and often profane statements, the 70-year-old even calling Russian protest band “Pussy Riot”, “c***s” live on Czech radio.
Meanwhile, earlier this month on the 25th anniversary of the fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia he was pelted with eggs after claiming the police did not use violence to suppress the “Velvet Revolution” of 1989 (Zeman himself was a member of the Czechoslovak Communist Party from 1968-1970).
His approval ratings have fallen from 58% to 37% in little over a month and last week some 71% of Czechs polled said they thought his public statements were harming the country’s image.
The Czechs are indeed Europe’s biggest beer drinkers with a per capita consumption of 148.6 litres.
The comments may cause some offence to Americans but they also come as other headlines from the US claim that Americans are drinking more craft beer than Budweiser (a US brand that had an extremely long legal wrangle with Czech brand Budweiser Budvar).
The Wall Street Journal reported that even Budweiser’s brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev even admits that around 44% of 21-27-year-olds in the US today have never tasted the brew.
Budweiser’s market dominance has been on the wane since it peaked in 1988 at 50 million barrels. It had declined to 16m last year with Bud Light and Coors Light displacing it to the top two spots in 2001 and 2011 respectively.
However, craft beer has also been on the rise and, all-together, now produces 16.1m barrels and holds a 7% share of the overall market in the US, with volumes growing 18% in the first seven months of this year compared to last and commanding an export market worth US$73m.
Hell yeah!
`In Dreams’
The candy coated clown they call the sandman.
That was a genuinely creepy scene. But suave.
Yes, he was an American original.
He was born in Dodge City, KS which seems appropriate.
In Russia, beer (Russian: пиво pivo) is the second most popular alcoholic drink after vodka, seen by many as a healthier alternative [LOL]. The average Russian drank about 12.5 liters of alcohol in 2010, with vodka accounting for more than five liters and beer about four liters.
What is the best beer in Russia?
In Russia, beer (Russian: пиво pivo) is the second most popular alcoholic drink after vodka, seen by many as a healthier alternative [LOL]. The average Russian drank about 12.5 liters of alcohol in 2010, with vodka accounting for more than five liters and beer about four liters.
What is the best beer in Russia?
Thanks for the info.
I haven’t had a PBR in years but will have to go out and get a 6 pack.
My Australian friends would say American beer “is like having sex in a canoe.”
“f***ing near water!”
Relative to the major national brewers what they serve up is filthy water or worse. We have many micro breweries and small regional breweries Shiner for example, that serve up a quality brew equal or better than anything in Europe.
Coors and Bud Light are a crime against humanity worthy of criminal prosecution in the world court of justice in the Hague.
Singha & San Miguel
Nothing else is worth bothering about.
Great story. :)
Czech beer sucks. Just because they made the same beer for 1000 years doesn’t mean they made it right.
Not fond of them myself, but can you hate me for wanting to brain the moron that gave me a glass of Old Milwaukee light?
Not fond of them myself, but can you hate me for wanting to brain the moron that gave me a glass of Old Milwaukee light?
Not fond of them myself, but can you hate me for wanting to brain the moron that gave me a glass of Old Milwaukee light?
Similar to the upscale winos.
Clausthaler is better than any American Made Beer and it’s a non-alcoholic beer made in Germany.
And i say that with over 65 years of beer drinking expeirence.
They assasinated Reinhard Heydrich at great cost, so I’m going to cut them a break on this trash talk.
~According to the Wikipedia,
In Russia, beer (Russian: pivo) is the second most popular alcoholic drink after vodka, seen by many as a healthier alternative [LOL]. The average Russian drank about 12.5 liters of alcohol in 2010, with vodka accounting for more than five liters and beer about four liters.
What is the best beer in Russia?~
Russian mass-produced beer is certainly no better than average American.
Every state has certain “regional” brands, cities and counties has their “local” brands and there are some “federal” brands selling nationwide on top. Some of them are better than others, there are some jewels among them but it is rare.
I think the most popular is “Zhigulevskoye” dating back to 1930s which has been a standard Soviet beer for decades. It has a distinctive “Slavonic” taste but it comes from different makers in different quality and price.
Another distinctive brand is “Okhota Krepkoye” or Hunters’ Hard. It is a dense beer consisting some 10% alcohol, there is a regional very similar variation “Ural’s worker”.
It is loved by homeless, drunks and the rest of underclasses.
The most popular by certain brand is probably Baltica which comes in some 10 very different varieties. Siberian Crown is not bad too.
My favorite at the time was an unfiltered Khlebushko local beer made by one of bread factories in the city. They haven’t even bothered to bottle it, you had to come to their bar on a factory’s parking lot with a jar or barrel, bartender would go to the factory and bring it full in a couple minutes.
Too bad they are out of business now.
As for beer as a “healthy alternative” to vodka I think they mean it wasn’t legally considered an alcohol until just recently and wasn’t regulated at all. A 10 yo could pick some beer in a store.
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