We know that Europeans look down on Americans for drinking cold beer.
So, with American breweries founded by Europeans or their desendents,
why do we drink our beer cold?
Everything you ever wanted to know about beer
I don’t drink mine cold. I let it sit out for about 30 minutes. Much better tasting.
One of the major differences is the type of beer. Ales are supposed to be drunk at a warmer temperature than lagers. The most popular American beers are pilsners, a type of lager, so are meant to be drunk at a cooler temp.
Since most of the big American beers are kinda lousy pilsners, we tend to drink them at extremely cold temps, to make it harder to taste the imperfections.
In England, ales tend to be much more popular, so the warmer temp is more appropriate. Not sure about your Germany, Belgum, etc…
As with any food that has much taste, it should not be ingested either too cold or too warm. Beer with taste should not be drunk ice cold, as you cannot appreciate the tastes if it is too cold. Since most American beers are tasteless, they’re better drunk ice cold. At least then on a hot day they’ll be refreshing.
I am not questioning the logic concerning the drinking of beer, but there has to be more to it than improving the taste. Europeans do not use ice or refrigerate drinks the way that we do. I have been to Spain, England and Italy and none to these use ice to speak of compared to the amount we use. During a week in Italy the only ice I was served was in a mixed drink which had three of those little square ice cubes from an ice machine. Being without ice is usually a serious matter for me, so that was almost like going cold turkey.
I love beer 
I don’t care what anyone else does, I have to have it ice cold or it just doesn’t taste good to me.
With apologies to all the proper beer drinkiers;)
If I’m drinking ale, or bitter I obviously drink it near to room temperature, or slightly colder. However, I think that most English people now drink lager cold (though not ice cold). Next time you’re in England (!) go into a pub and order a pint of lager and see what you think.
A possible reason for the cultural difference between England and America is the ambient temperature in your respective country. I can easily understand the appeal of a cold beer to someone living in Nevada, but perhaps not to someone living in Manchester. Presumably when refrigeration was invented people jumped at the chance to make everything that they could find cold.
I would have thought English people could understand this concept too, take a look at Ice Cold in Alex.
Let’s see, Rome, Italy has a latitude of 42 degrees north, so it’s a bit farther north than New York City NY, Cleveland OH, Lincoln NE, Laramie WY, Salt Lake City UT, and Eureka CA.
I’ve spent more than 62 days in the UK in the last 13 months, and I have to say of all the ales, beers, bitters, etc. ordered, no matter how far off of the beaten track or whether in a big city or small, from Brum to London to Devon to Nottinghmam, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall…I’ve never been served a warm beer. Ever. I’m pretty much convinced that, save for occasional places or tastes, “warm beer in England” must be a UL.
ho ho, I do not think that Europeans look down on
Americans because of their cold beer. Maybe because
of the lightness of the beer and the general small amount
of choice.
Here in Europe the choice is comparatively overwhelming.
Having said that, there are regions where everybody
also just drinks the same beer in the same way, eg where
I live now in Denmark.
I agree with Cheesesteak, that lagers are drunk cold and
ales slightly warmer. Lager drinking Germans, Dutch and
Danes will drink beer refrigator-cold, or a bit warmer,
maybe 8 deg Celsius.
Just chiming in to confirm the observations of Anthracite and Nukeman. It’s been eight years since I was in England, but the beer–in all its forms–was served cold. I spent some time in Ireland and Scotland last summer, including some pubs in towns in the middle of nowhere, and it was all cold again. Next time some beer bozo tries to tell you that they serve Guiness at room temperature in Ireland, tell them they don’t have the slightest idea what they’re talking about.
I’m European, and I certainly don’t look down on cold-beer drinking. In fact, I can’t stand lager if it isn’t ice cold. The ‘proper’ way to drink English ale, btw, is the temperature of the cellar in which the keg is kept. This is usually quite cold. In Ireland in the last few years they’ve reduced the serving temperature of Guinness stout and increased market share considerably (though according to the radio there are now microwaves behind some bars to bring the Guinness temperature back up to room temperature for older customers).
I don’t get it. What’s your point?
Your comment was about the ambient temperature in the different countries, European vs. American. Rome is one of the more southern European cities, but it is farther north than American cities which are usually considered northern American cities.
Most of Europe is even farther north than that.
I assumed you were referring to colder temperatures in Europe?
Yes, I was. Sorry, I somehow assumed that you were arguing against my comment!
Traditional English beers should be drunk at cellar temperature- that is about 50-60 degrees. A good real ale pub will maintain this temperature for its ales and porters and over-chill its lagers as low as 35 degrees.
I find it sad that micro-breweries in the US over-chill ales and porters. I usually buy slightly ahead and have one drink for drinking and one for warming up. At least that’s my excuse.
And Italy (and all of Europe) is considerably warmer in winter than the Eastern USA, latitude for latitude due to the Gulf Stream. England is on the same latitude as mid Canada, but has a temperate climate much like Washington State.
Italy occasionally has frosts at sea level, but these are unusual. I believe New York might just have colder winters 
. Maximum temps in NY and Italy in summer are probably similar.
Doesn’t carbonation factor in, too? I thought American beers were more highly carbonated, which would make them more pleasing to drink while cold (the better to keep the carbon dioxide dissolved). As to whether they’re more carbonated because they’re served cold, or served cold because they’re more carbonated, I can’t say.
The “warm english beer” myth always crops up. I’m English, but now live in the states. 10 years ago I was a young laddy-o working in the UK as a bartender. I forget the optimal temperature for beers, but ales were kept cold, lagers were kept colder. Nothing was ever kept or served at room temperature. Our cellars were refrigerated.
The main difference between the way beers are served seemed to be the way that you don’t get any kind of “head” on a pint here except guinness. In the UK all bitters and stouts have a good 3/4" of head - as do lagers - it’s even accounted for on the side of the glass with a marking.
UK pints are bigger (:D) and you get cider on draught pretty much in every pub, which they call “hard” cider here.
Every time I ordered a ‘bitter’ in England it was served room temperature.
Americans would call that ‘warm.’ Maybe Britishers wouldn’t.
FWIW, I couldn’t get a soft drink as cold as I’d like anywhere in Europe. I think they just have a different feeling for what’s cold.
I was never served warm beer in Europe. As others have noted, beer (depending on variety) may be served warmer than it is in the U.S., but nothing as warm as “room temperature”. Really rough rule of thumb–the darker the beer, the warmer, with the very light beers being served at refrigerated temperatures and the darker beers served at cellar temperatures. (Of course, cellar temperature often was room temperature in Britain in winter.) 
Actually, I had a few bad experiences in Europe where I was served ice-cold stout or abdij beer. However, those were exceptions and may have been the result of the local pub catering to an American student clientele.
When I was (or now when I am) served very cold ale or stout, I simply let it warm up a bit before I start drinking.