Posted on 08/30/2009 10:52:51 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Yesterday I wrote a piece for my host paper here in Berlin, der Tagesspiegel, defending American beer. Needless to say, the reaction from commenters has been swift and harsh. But because it's in German, I'm really only seeing half the debate. What do Americans think about German beer? And what do readers think about the piece? Remember, it's for a German audience, but I hope the arguments can get some discussion going.
Read the piece in translation below; read it in the original German here. Dish water. Piss. A joke. There are a lot of stereotypes about American beer here in Germany. And these stereotypes aren't completely wrong: Budweiser, Miller, Coors--the USA manufactures a lot of famous, awful beers.
But the market is changing: Since the late 1980s you can find more and more small, fantastic American breweries. Dogfish Head, from Deleware, for example, is famous for its so-called "extreme beers" brewed with raisins or aged in oak barrels. These "micro breweries" or "craft brewers" only have around five percent of the market, but they nevertheless have a big influence. As an answer to these challengers the big firms are making better and better beers--Coors produces Blue Moon, a wheat beer, and Anheuser-Busch has brought Stone Mill, an organic pale ale, to the market.
In comparison, the German beer market seems a little boring to Americans. It's true that Germany produces Schneider, Weihenstephaner, Andechs, and Schlenkerla. But how often are these beers consumed? Becks, Sternburg, Flensburg, and others are the most-consumed beer brands in Germany, and they are hardly better than Coors or Miller.
(Excerpt) Read more at food.theatlantic.com ...
German beer is fantastic, as is American beer, Belgian beer, Czech beer, Polish beer, British Ale, Irish Ale, Japanese beer, Philippine beer, Mexican beer, Canadian beer, Italian beer, French beer, etc.......... (do you get the theme?)
They are right on all counts though I would say that the craft brew industry will begin to give the pisswater brew industry a run for its money
Basically, Americans probably have the best developed beer pallet in the world.
Paulener - nectar of the gods.
Bavarians brew good beer, the northern germans...NOT!
I think he’s right. In the low point of the American palette (the 70s) yes all American beers stank, this is the time period when we invented instant coffee and many other truly vile “foods”. But we got better. Our food selection is broader, better prepared and much more flavorful than back then, and beer is one of the most obvious places. Time was when a “good” beer selection meant the “big six” (regular and lite, Bud, Coors, Miller) and maybe a couple of the discount beers, now even bad convenience stores are likely to have Sam Adams and a couple of regional beers.
You certainly can’t argue with the quality of German beers, and they’ve never really been that adventurous a culture. But I really do enjoy the fact that I can take 10 to 15 minutes to make a beer selection because I’m presented with such a variety.
I’m in Germany often, and their beer is really good. The other nice thing is you can enjoy your beer everywhere. There is no community event in Germany where the beer is left behind. You’ll not get stop on the street in Germany for enjoying a bit of it.
The best German beer is Licher. It is brewed in the small Hessen city of Lich and is a great tasting brew.
Bad American beer is one of the many, many, things that Franklin D Roosevelt did to ruin America.
Prior to prohibition, many American beers were excellent and similar to European beer.
However, when prohibition was lifted and in the days leading up to WWII, FDR demanded that US companies produced cheap, watery beer so that our troops wouldn’t get too drunk.
The result? An entire generation of Americans (or more) who grew up on crappy beer and didn’t realize it was crap.
my 3 favorite beers are bottle, can , and keg
thank me
When it comes to beer, “Deutschland Uber Alles.”
Pilsner Urquell is indeed a great beer, but I was talking about German beers.
The truth is...German beer wins over the top twenty American brands. There are some micro-brew’s....which come close...but you really have to work hard to beat a German beer.
Only two decent American beers, Shiner and Sam Adams.
Did two and a half years playing Army in Germany, and in Bamburg, where native workers were, according to rumor, issued a liter a day.
Anyway, what I found were that the local gesthauses (spelling, probably: it’s been a while!) had the best beer going, and I don’t remember it being labeled.
When I got back to the states, I found out that they only exported their crap beers at high cost relative to the domestic brands, so while domestics were poor, they were cheap, and I refused to tolerate foreign crap.
I’ve not been back, and don’t plan to go, so your mileage probably varies...
Sort of like sex. None of it is bad, but some of it is better.
I prefer WarSteiner. It is all that I consume.
The best German beers are, in my opinion, the local brews. I favored one from Wachtersbach, a small German village. It was delivered to my doorstep in plastic crates, just like milk used to be. It was only sold in towns and villages a few kilometers from Wachtersbach.
Some American craft beers come close, but all in all, the American craft beers are not as consistent as the German local brews - they have higher standards and have been at it for a thousand years.
Beer Ping!
A low to medium ping list aimed at all of us who, well, love our beer…
FReepmail rzeznikj at stout or GOP_Raider to be added or struck from the list…
Most large cities in Germany have their own local brewery. Many of those beers are not for export. You have to live there and travel through the different regions, they differ greatly in taste, add to that the seasonal brews...it’s a whole new world of beers to taste.
After living there for a few years, American beers took some getting used to. (watered down) We do have some fine beers now.
I love going to microbreweries here and sampling.
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