Ask Lemmy

Not as bad as American "chocolate" .

European mainstream beer isn't anything to brag about.

I've had plenty of really good craft beer but anything mass produced is fine at best and gutter water at worst.

The fuck? American craft beer is absolutely delicious. A lot of light beer brands are also good. Who's saying American beer sucks?

American here:

There’s a LOT of bad American beer, but to say ALL is just plain dumb. The micro brewery boom made a lot of small breweries pop up and about 90% had no idea what they were doing so yea a lot of them are kinda garbage.

I personally know micro brewers in NY who studied their ass off to make some incredible beers that I would put right up there with Westies and Cantillon.

One of the best beers I’ve ever had is from a Gypsy brewer in NY called Cantina Cantina. The guy used to work in my local distributor, then went to work for our favorite local brewer Barrier, then took his expertise to Greenport Brewery and turned around their whole operation, then started brewing his own absolute masterpieces.

My point is the best of the best is probably going to be buried deep under a pile of garbage beers cause they’re usually obsessed with making art and don’t focus on getting their name out there.

Beer-drinking European living in 'Murica here. For certain styles, the US has fantastic beers available. In particular IPAs (which don't always have to be mega hoppy!), pale ales, pilsners, amber ales, and stouts. Plenty of great choices to be found here, if you discover the right breweries. That's key, because there are a lot breweries with imo questionable taste.

What's harder to find are good beers of other styles, such as Belgian or German beers. US breweries try, sometimes, but they aren't succeeding.

I live in Europe, but was an expert taste panelist at New Belgium Brewing in the US when I lived there.

Lefthand Milk Stout Nitro is a great beer.

There's a lot of good beer all over the world (okay, much of it anyway). Quality has a LOT more to do with freshness, cleanliness, and lack of dissolved oxygen in the beer. You can also find bad beer most anywhere. Don't let someone making silly blanket statement get ya down.

I will just go ahead and contradict myself by making a blanket statement that the low end of food is just better in most of the EU cuz of how much stricter the rules are. From McDonald's to the grocery store, you kinda can't get "terrible" food.

Real talk, it's your common mass produced and internationally sold beers that suck. S'ok, a lot of mass produced Canadian beer sucks too (lookin' at you, Alexander Keith's. Pride of Nova Scotia indeed.)

The issue is that the good stuff doesn't often make it outside of your borders. I've had decent beer when actually in the U.S before.

Will say I will drink a cold PBR if there's no other valid choice, but if someone just has Coors or Bud (especially Bud - but especially Bud Light) I'll stick with water. Only other American beer that reaches Canada I'd probably drink is Lucky Lager, but that's more out of nostalgia for west coast teenaged mayham than its own merits, and Kokanee would produce the same effect and caveat anyway.

Edit: After thinking about it more, I've enjoyed Sam Adams limited releases before, and we get those sometimes.

Generic American beer sucks. Craft American beer is fucking awesome.

I experienced the same in Australia when I visited so assume it's probably the same most places.

Mass produced beers are pretty bad. Ironically the bigger the brand the worse the beer generally. Americans are known for bud and Coors which are especially shit

I recently chatted with someone at a party who said "no, all American beers are bad" including microbrewery beers.

That person has not tried "all" American beers. So their view can be safely disregarded IMO.

I think it's of-a-kind

Domestic/mass-produced European beers are much better than domestic/mass-produced American beers.
And European craft beers are better than American craft beers.

America has a lot of bad domestic and bad craft beers, but there are enough craft beers that some have gotta be good even if just by luck.

Personally I don't think it's a big deal: yes American beers taste like water or fruit water, but I like water, it's refreshing. Water that gives me a buzz if I drink enough is a win in my book.

My American friends made me drink Keystone Ice and this was one of the most disgusting things I did ever drink. The rest was also not great. A few American beers were passable but I had better ones in most European countries.

yes.

I'm an american who lives in france, and i brew my own beer. American beer tastes like shit, even the microbrewed stuff. Everyone wants to make an IPA, and they all taste over hopped. It's either that swill or the staples of the American frat party: bud light, miller light, coors, etc.

Best beers are hands down made in Belgium, and i will throw hands.

Beer is good only in Belgium.

• An Italian

European here. Germans just think their beer is the best in the world and if you're not doing it like them, you're not doing it right.

Don't get me wrong, the standards Germans apply to their beer production means that it's rare to get a terrible beer there, but IMO it's also not that innovative and the range of styles is fairly limited. There is a ton of choice in the US both in terms of breweries and styles. The variation means you get more duds but also more excellent beers.

As a vetted german beer enthusiast, may I say that the big-brand beers are on average as good (or bad) as the american beers I know. Differences imho originate from drinking preferences (light beers) and allowed ingredients or additives, but that has a minor impact on sensory quality. Personally I often missed aroma and bitterness (hops) and gravity of most beers I tried in the USA, but that‘s just me.

The American beer you get in Canada is terrible. Budweiser and Miller and shit like that. American beer at an American pub was great, when I last visited.

Not a European, but i don’t buy that. American mass-produced beers are bad. That used to be all beers, but it’s not anymore. American microbrews have come a long way and frequently win awards, including international awards. The only objective evidence shows good American beers are good.

I think it’s down to history, wounded pride or self-defensiveness, and as someone else mentioned: the aged swill you get from “imports” may not be good.

Personally, I think German beer is awful, and quite a few American microbrews do German styles so much better. But I’m adult enough to understand I’ve never been to Germany and that what we get for imports may not be their best or freshest. I’m willing to give German brewers the benefit of the doubt, despite what I’ve experienced from them

I would question your friend on what they are drinking and where.

The easiest to find Australian beer in the US is Fosters. But go to Australia and few people there actually drink it because it's not good and there are so many better options.

I once traveled to the UK and had a Newcastle Brown straight from the tap and it was delicious. Went back home to the US and picked up some bottles, it was old and tasted like barely a shadow of the fresh UK stuff.

If I judged Australia or UK beers on what I can find easily in the US, I would also think their beers are ass.

So if he is trying only what he can get in his country, 1) it's probably old and 2) it's rarely the "best" a country has to offer.

I mean when I was in new York they drank bud light with Tabasco on the can rim to make it taste something. So I guess it's not only us

Idk who you talked to, but I think most European beer enthusiasts would agree that a lot of American beers are awesome. Especially what you mentioned: various IPAs and Stouts, you guys started the modern interpretation of those styles.

Maybe someone who thinks only lagers are legit beer and everything else is "hipster crap". I've met some people with those opinions.

I'm curious what they have available over there. Most of our microbreweries don't reach outside of their own state, let alone internationally.

I'm confident that we have some brews that could go head to head with their best, and I bet they have some that could compete with our worst.

Maybe it's because I don't really like beer (or alcohol) but I've been to Germany and the beer wasn't any better or worse than American beer.

The Jagermeister, on the other hand, was definitely way better in Germany.

American here: American Light Lagers, like those of the BMC brands, are both one of the hardest styles to brew well and one of the worst crimes ever committed against brewery. They're hard to brew because there is so little flavor that the slightest off-taste can ruin a batch. That's also the reason that they are so terrible; they are little more than ethanol delivery systems that have enough malt proteins to sometimes have a head.

Want to get fucked up without tasting much? They're probably the next best choice after a very neutral vodka. If you have interest in anything beyond intoxication, like actually enjoying the beverage, then, pretty much any other American or European style is a better choice.

Im not sure about other countries but something to take note of is that American 'light' beers are light flavour, not ABV%.
In Australia a 'light' beer is usually around 3.5% ABV, but intended to taste like normal beer (i say intended because usually they taste more watery).

So i personally think a bit of the hate on American beers if that they seem to be fans of the 'light' flavours more, (ie prevalence of Bud light, Miller Lite, etc.) and they generally taste a lot like soda water to the non-american beer drinker that is used to a lot more body and/or bitterness.

The big US and Canadian brands all taste like ass but there's thousands of small breweries that make very yummy nectar. Personally I prefer German and Belgian brews.