Ask most people where the best beer in the world comes from, and they’ll probably say Germany or England. More worldly folks might mention Belgium. But ask a beer aficionado these days, and odds are you’ll get an answer that might surprise you – the good old U.S.A.
Just as wines from Napa Valley, Sonoma County and Oregon are giving bordeaux, burgundy and barolo a run for their money, breweries from California to New York are proving they can make some of the best suds in the world. And they’re not just copies of the old European originals. While American craft brewers have proven themselves no slouches at styles such as pilsners, pale ales and stouts, they’ve also created some of their own, often bold styles. Over the past few decades, the U.S. beer scene has exploded. In 1978, there were just 42 breweries across the U.S. In 2007, there were 1,449.
“You can find just about anything being made. They’ve taken the best of every kind of style and put their own twist on it,” says Enright, founder of bartowel.com, a site for local beer connoisseurs.
We have some excellent Micro Breweries here in Colorado, New Belgium, and SKA Brewing being two of my favorites. And by the way, Polygamy Porter is a real product I tried in Moab Utah, and no, it wasn’t very good. Probably because it was low alcohol as required by the state.
Think Globally, Drink Locally. I like Guinness, Fat Tire, et al, but when I go out I try to drink something made within 30 miles. Now living in Madison, that even rules out Leine’s, but thankfully we’ve got many, many excellent breweries within 30 miles. And I hope they stay small and local, so that every town in America can have its own local brew.
DL Beard, I live close to the Kalamazoo Brewing Co, who makes Bell’s, and they have several OUTSTANDING brews. Hopslam is amazing.
Oh please for the love of God! US beer? Is this a joke? I mean it might be ok if you are a bum or homeless but still…US beer?
BTW, it is US NOT America. America is a fine continent. US is a ____ country
#22. Were you BORN an asshole or was it an evolving process?
There are several excellent microbreweries in DFW. Two brew stouts and porters as good as Guinness. But I’m hitchin’ a ride on a Gulfstream G5 and heading to join #5 Joe.
I sure miss the draught beer in Műnchen.
I drink an eclectic selection of beer. That means no crap beers (read Bud, Miller, Coors, Corona, Heineken).
I find the imported version of Stella Atois to be awful. I have had it in Amsterdam on tap and it was good, but there are so many better Belgians that it is not even worth talking about Stella.
The company “Stone” makes a number of great beers. Their IPAs and Belgian style beers (one is called “Trouble”) are quite good. Sam Adams actually makes a couple of really good specialty beers. The Winter Ale and Summer Ale are quite good as is their Ocktoberfest.
Munich style beers are the hardest to find in the US and are not so ironically the ones I crave the most. I have found a few at BevMo and my local specialty store but they are seasonal to a degree and generally not carried in any large quantity.
In Pasadena, there is a bar called Lucky Baldwin’s that has Belgian Beer Festival every year. Many of the entries are made in America and most are quite good.
When someone says that American beer sucks they are almost always referring to Bud, Miller etc. While there are good beers in Canada, they have their fair share of piss beers (actually, Molsen comes to mind).
I’m going to pretend I’m surprised that no one has even mentioned Shiner, yet.
Most of their beers stand up well against european brews. the stuff most Americans drink (Bud, Coors, etc.) is pretty much detestable to me. Shiner Bock was the first beer that actually swung me over to drinking beer at all. same is true for my wife. And the new Shiner Black is my new favorite beer.
Does Germany still have super strict laws regarding beer ingredients? Or is that only for mass produced beer? Are the Germans doing microbrews too?
Over in Australia, they love Budweiser. To them, it is an exotic beer. And of course Fosters is pure crap. You can’t even buy it in most pubs since they would never lower themselves to selling such swill.
I did notice that the few Buds I drank in Oz tasted better than the Buds they sell in the US. And although I can’t say for sure, one might assume that the Fosters sold in the US is not the same Fosters sold in Oz?
That all being said, it seems that you can’t trust a beer label, or at least you can’t when it comes to mass produced beer.
If you think American beer isn’t any good you are ignorant. Mass market stuff might not be, but the microbrews are awesome. Maybe I’m just spoiled because I live in Oregon.
Deschutes Black Butte Porter: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/198
Rogue Shakespeare Stout: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/132/359
Rogue Kell’s Irish Style:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/132/6314
Deschutes The Abyss:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/34420
I’ve managed to live in St. Louis, Madison, and Salt Lake: Clearly, all beer towns.
The home of Polygamy Porter: http://www.wasatchbeers.com/
They’ve changed the liquor laws in Utah recently and made them even more confusing. A single drink can now have 1.5 oz of alcohol (up from 1 oz), but you can no longer order a “sidecar”, so the total amount of liquor really in a drink went down from 2.75 oz to 2.5 oz.
You’ve got to love this state.
#29. Right I remember ordering a beer with a neat whiskey and was told that was illegal in Utah. So my wife got the beer which I of course tasted for her, cripes!
OK so I posted a rather witty comment containing an excerpt from webmd.com.
Not sure why it’s not showing up.
Maybe the webmd.com text triggered the “too racy” filter?
C’mon guys. It’s a national publication. It’s not plageurism. It’s just a dang dong excerpt by golly.
It an issue currently being debated in the US Congress for goodness sakes.
I had Budweiser on tap when I was in Ireland. It tasted really good. I think they have to brew it different (there wasn’t any of that rice taste).
So many micro-breweries in the US don’t even sell their product in the stores. In the Bay Area? Check out Devil’s Canyon in Belmont.
Canadian, eh? Crap. Except Keith’s IPA which you can’t get anywhere. And yes, most foreign people on here are assholes.
Locally produced goods usually tastes and looks better when your money is worth 50% of what they were like 1-2 years ago.
American Micro-Brews are great. When people talk about “American Beer”, they’re usually talking about Bud, Coors etc, which are utter crap and an embarrassment to this fine country.
My two favorite beers are Harpoon IPA and Sierra Nevada, both of which are American, but not typical “American Beers”. I’ll take those over any imports any day. German beer is boring, Belgian beer tastes weird. Canadian beer was great when I wanted to get drunk cheaply in college.
Hello Beer sinners !
Having a US made Blue Crab Lager right now… Feels like I took home a case of the crabs… Switching to Chicken chicken chicken ale .
tcc3 said it best. There are WAY too many good breweries that get muffled over the piss that some people call Bud ( Bud select is decent I will give them that ) or Coors. i’m glad I have a bar by me with over 50 taps of all microbrews. support your local brewery people. And Leinenkugel ROCKS. it was the staple beer at my best friends wedding.
Beer is beer. This whole discussion reminds me of the story,
A guy runs into a bar. He quickly asks the bartender for six shots, straight up.
“Whoa” says the bartender, “What are we celebrating tonight?”
I just had my first blowjob tonight” says the customer.
“Well here, let me buy you one” says the bartender.
“Thanks but no thanks” says the customer, “If six shots won’t get the taste out of my mouth a seventh won’t help any.”
> Beer is beer.
Right. Just like wine is wine and food is food. There is a tremendous diversity in styles and craftsmanship in beer.