A laid back community for good news, pictures and general discussions among people living in Europe.
Other European communities
Other casual communities:
Language communities
Cities
Countries
Alternative title: How to trigger all Europeans with one map
Czech here, I'm fine with that.
Czechs: there's beer here, so I'm happy either way.
Paddy Irish man here: Guinness is loved here and would be my weapon of choice in the pub.
Proof that America isn't the only country with bad mass-manufactured beer brands.
It might be interesting to look at the parent brands and see if this more a matter of who has the most resources for marketing and export sales.
I can attest that the one for norway certainly matches what you might be hinting at. Ringnes is by far the biggest brewer in norway. And while they do own some relatively OKish brands, the one pictured here is by far the blandest one that is not that far removed from water. It's only popular because it's cheap. And its cheap for a reason.
It wouldn't surprise me if a dane would chime in with a similar statement about Carlsberg, although that sentiment could be more suitable for Tuborg. I'll defer to Danish input on this.
In the UK, John Smiths is a fucking awful beer. There are so many independent breweries that there are many good beers to choose from. John Smiths is literally the bottom of the list!
Lower than Carling? I dunno
Most of there are one of the cheapest beers you can get. I'm sure that is a major factor.
I think it's more of who puts most money into marketing.
Yeah def the cheapest and most likely to drink watching a match. Out of all of these I'd probably go with Peroni (Italy) as the best tasting, maybe Stella Artois (Belgium), 1664 (France) as a runner up.
Guinness is probably the best standards, I just don't drink it often.
Probably most of them are pilsners that taste the same too.
No fucking way is John Smiths the most popular UK beer.
My parents and in-laws dri.... Okay, nevermind
That's the part so many people miss with crap like this: they're not saying it's the best, or that it's the favorite, only that it has broad general appeal.
In the US, Miller Lite is nobody's favorite beer (outside of a handful of devotees, I'm sure), but it's a beer that any beer drinker can fall back on and locate just about anywhere. It's not excessively high ABV, not overly hoppy, not sweet, low calories, doesn't sit heavy, isn't strictly for warm or cool weather, and reasonably priced.
Demographically, it is drank by college kids, sports spectators/tailgaters, old guys down at the social club, golfers, rednecks, wannabe rednecks from the suburbs, bachelorette parties, rock show attendees, and pretty much anyone anywhere beer is being served.
For those reasons, it's likely one of the top 5 "most popular" beers in the US.
Everyone saying they're local regional favorite or specialty craft brew is better are just missing the point.
Looking how I got a Stiegl even in bumfuck nowhere, Canada, it's kinda hard to belive that Gösser is the most popular. What's the source for that? Edit: Ah source is "trust me, bro" Or rather a cursory internet search
Gösser radler sales at least in germany must be huge. Probably counts towards beer. I like it too, gösser radler.
stiegl repräsentiert uns wenigstens besser ois gösser
Here in South Netherlands Heineken is not very popular. We drink the local brands. Alfa, Gulpener, Brand. I don't drink Heineken, if I drink beer it is mostly local, German Kölsch or Belgian Trappist beer.
That is definately addressed in the title, though.
Where you went wrong is the part where you expected someone to read a sentence.
I'm not from Spain and always saw Estrella as "the spanish beer". Really surprised it isn't here. What is Mahou?
The good Estrella, Estrella Galicia, or the shit Estrella, Estrella Dam?
I want to say Estrella Galicia but I've probably seen Estrella Damm in more places. I think I've had both outside of Spain
Estrella Galicia tastes way better (subjective, lol), and has been increadingly gaining popularity all over Spain for the past 6/7 years (it was known before, but now it is more commonplace).
Also, Mahou is quite common in Madrid. A bit of a shit beer, but better than Damm and, for example, Cruzcampo.
Still, they put anlot of money into marketing, festivals and stuff like that, so that might have to do with it (most beers do, though)
I felt the same way but that may just be because I was in Barcelona.
Carlsberg has a special place in my heart because on a trip to Malawi (Sub-Saharan Africa, not Hawaii) it was the only beer available most places. The best part was that all the Carlsberg ads on the bars and shops said "Probably the best beer in the world," like they weren't really sure.
And I thought the most popular piwo brand in Poland is Wyborowa.
My Polish friends from when I lived in Amsterdam liked Grolsch out of the green bottle with flip top.
I would have guessed tyskie, that sure must be the most popular polish beer in germany.
It is a pity that I hate the taste of beer, as there would be so many different kinds to try out...
Try a lager, like Ratsherren Hamburg Lager. It's beer for people who do not like beer (source: I do not like beer but most lagers). If you like it sweet you could also try porters, like Lausitzer Porter but that stuff is sweet af.
Thanks for the recommendations!
Porters do sound interesting, I will try one eventually.
Sours are also great for people who don't like beer as much but like sour tasting drinks and food.
Swede here. Just came home from after work beer, I had some Norrlands guld.
Sweden is mostly cool, but the 3.5% grocery store beer is just sad.
You can really see the divide between wine cultures and beer cultures here
It's funny, as an american, the farther right I move on the map the less beers I have heard of.
I mean yeah thats pretty much the tldr of average american knowledge of europe