MMmmmmmmMMmmmmmBEER!
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 ...
Uh, no. The reason American beer was terrible was because when Prohibition was repealed many states put maximum alcohol content requirements on beer.
Hell yeah......and a bag of salted peanuts in the shell...
Licher ist auch sehr gut. $3.99 per 6-pack at the Grocery Outlet...it never lasts long. :D
You are buying Licher in the States? I might have to start drinking again.
Yeah and I know just what you drink in Texas and I don’t think Lone Star is suitable for anything other than getting trashed for the sake of getting trashed
If you are looking for a beer to eat with food, go with a craft brew.
Amen to Licher!
I was stationed near Hanau in the early 80’s and Licher Export was my favorite (Licher Pils just a mite on the bitter side).
As for U.S. beers, our command sergeant major was retiring after more than ten straight years in Germany. We asked him how was he going to get re-accustomed to drinking American beer. The CSM replied, “Well, I’m going to start by taking a German beer and gradually adding Clorox!”
I always understood the reason to be that American palates became accustomed to the bland american hops used duriong WWII because european hops weren’t available, as well as women drinking more beer during and after the war and favoring a lighter style.
yikes........secrets man, secrets
hehehehehe
Licher pilsner - aus dem herzen der natur. Licher Privatbrauerei - 35423 Lich. www.licher.de - imported in the US by Bitburger Import Co, Venice, FL.
As I get older I can’t seem to handle those heavy foreign beers much (Becks, Fosters, etc). Have I turned into a lightweight? Yeaa, I like light beers.
we have awesome QT stores goin up here and they have excellent 24 oz bottles of Becks, St Pauli Girl, Stella Ot(something) and 7 others not that available......
3 of those 24 ozers is a joe 6-pack but w/ variety....
for the record I cut my teeth on Budweiser.....also my elbow,ear and right cheek
You were probably drinking Licher on Lamboy Strasse (sp?) Were you stationed in Buedingen?
MMmmmmmmMMmmmmmBEER!
and a flat head.....................perfect
Not that I'm particularly snobbish...a cold long neck Busch in a South St. Louis bar on a hot day is very refreshing.
A classic picture, should be mandatory on all beer threads.
If you go to the local supermarket, stand in front of the domestic beer aisle, close your eyes and grab a bottle at random, you are unlikely to find a great beer, and there’s a good chance you will find something undrinkable, like Schlitz or Miller.
Repeat the same experiment in Germany. It’s going to be almost impossible to find something that is not a good drink and generally you will come up with an excellent beer.
I’ve spent a couple of years in Germany and found a large regional variation in beers, such as Alt in Dusseldorf, or Kolsch in Cologn or (perhaps my favorite) Furstenberg brewed in Donaueschingen.
About the only German beer I didn’t care for was Hefeweizen, which I think you would have to develop a taste for.
Jack
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