One often hears a European transplant complain that, “the Guinness you get here isn’t the same”, “the Newcastle you get here isn’t the same”, “zee Heineken you get here isn’t zee same.”
Straight dope?
I mean, come on. . .even if if they’re not bottling the Heineken in Germany it’s not like they’re some small company with lax quality control. It’s a massive recipe with regulated equipment and techniques and ingredients that are shipped globally.
Now that I think about it, Heineken is Dutch, right?
Whatever. Let’s say we’re getting Heineken. . .is it bottled in Europe? If not. . .it’s gotta be the exact same thing, right?
If not, is it just a matter of alcohol content and freshness (no small things, mind you.)
Aren’t there alcohol content restrictions in Europe anyway?
I can’t really comment on the rest of your post beyond saying that when in America I tend to drink imported European brands (which taste the same as they ARE the same).
However on the specific point quoted - no there aren’t any restrictions on alcohol content. Most beers are between 4-6%, mainly around 5%, however there are strong beers and ciders that weigh in around 7-8% and some speciality beers that go up to 10% (whcih tend to be sweet and cloying).
If the beer isn’t brewed in it’s “native” country then differences in taste could occur due to the water used I would imagine. I know water can taste radically different from country to country so a beer brewed in U.S.A. to the same recipie as it is brewed in Belgium then it could still taste different.
I’m not sure what you mean by “alcohol content restrictions” but the absinth I bought from the Czech Republic was pretty damn vicious and I can’t see you wanting a higher alcohol content than that
They can put anything they want in the bottle if the label is different from what’s on the bottles they’re keeping in Europe, so if it’s labelled for the US, it could be a completely different recipe.
Travel time across the Atlantic & continent will age the beer more than you’d see if goes from, say, Denmark to France. This is particularly important when you’re talking about beer in green bottles, because the longer it gets exposed to UV, the more skunky it’s likely to taste.
Beer on tap in Europe (specifically, Guiness) has been traditionally served with an carbon dioxide-nitrogen mix which makes many more, smaller bubbles. This has become more popular in the US once people figured out there was a difference and announced their willingness to pay through the nose for it (hence the “pub draught” cans & bottles with the nitrogen widget in them).
An urban legend in the Buffalo area is that Canadian beer is watered down for “blander American tastes” or “because it’s so strong, the federal government won’t allow it to be imported.”
Several years ago, the Buffalo News published an article debunking this myth. Canadian beer in Buffalo is exactly the same as what’s sold in Canada; there is no refomulation for the US market. Any differences in quality is attributed to the freshness of the beer, and different storage techniques used by retailers on each side of the border; two-fours kept in a relatively dark cooler in a Brewer’s Retail store in Ontario, as opposed to cases being stacked up in the bright aisles of a New York supermarket.
Even when you tell them, those on the US side of the border insist that Canadian market Canadian beer is stronger. “It gets me drunk faster,” they’ll insist. Whatever.
There are differences in different branded beer depending on country of origin. For example Nigerian Guiness is popular in Britain amongst the black community, and it DOES taste very different from the European version.
It’s also a lot stronger! I think that one’s actually brewed in Ghana, and that they’ve started up in Jamaica as well.
Worth noting that even the Brits don’t get ‘real’ continental lagers - the big names are generally brewed in this country. As a rule of thumb, the smaller the company, the more likely you are to get the real thing.
Ithink travel time might affect some beers, especially kegs. One of the pubs I go to has de Koninck on tap (the Budweiser of Antwerp) and I always get excited and then it tastes awful-- the I realize it’s because I’m the only one who ever orders it so they have the same keg forever and it gets stale. Also if I buy some of the more uncommon Belgian beers at a brew supply or something, I notice that it’s LAST year’s Christmas beer-- slow stocking.
Definitely. With Guinness in particular, there are many variants, with one being the West African one. They also contract brew at many locations as well- 50 countries worldwide, according to the Diageo PDF about Guinness. (Diageo’s the Guinness parent company). They also “brew specially to suit local tastes”, according to the PDF.
Even American brewers do this- Anheuser Busch has something like 12 breweries in the US, and so does Miller. Even Sam Adams contract brews stuff in different breweries. Lowenbrau used to be licensed to Miller, then to Labatt, and now it’s back in Munich.
Contract brewing isn’t all bad- it tends to ensure more freshness than shipping it from wherever it’s made would. I kinda wish that Pilsner Urquell, Budvar or Staropramen would start contract brewing here in the US- their products don’t ship across the Atlantic so well.
To be honest, I didn’t notice any real difference between draught Guinness in England and draught Guinness in Texas. Tasted the same to me. The only difference I noticed was more of a serving difference than a taste difference. Most English brews are served with a hand pump, not CO2 pressure. This reduces the carbonation some vs. the American version. It was really strange to get back and get a pint of fizzy Young’s here in the US.
Have you ever had Guinness in Ireland, where it comes from? I notice a major difference there for the better. Whether that is down to good care and hygiene, faster turnover, the quality of the water (British Guinness is brewed in London), or other, perhaps partly psychological reasons, I leave to researchers more meticulous than me.
Guinness is traditionally pressurised with N2 rather than CO2, I believe. Never had it in the states. I did once or twice get into a state with it though.
They don’t sell any Guiness in Saudi*. Paul was making a joke, although I’ve heard plenty of tales of “homemade” beers and alcohols in KSA. They do sell Moussa(sp?) which is an Egyptian non-alcoholic beer, IIRC.
*At least not legally. Of all the contraband items I’d guess that beer is one of the toughest to smuggle due to size vs. value ratio.
Nope, never made it to Ireland. My guess for any different Irish taste would be that it’s got the original 200 year old funk in the aging vats giving it flavor, as opposed to some flavor extract mentioned with the comments that Guinness is brewed in 50 countries.
On rereading my previous post, I don’t think it was as clear as I’d thought.
What I meant to say was that Guiness was the same, and other beers (Young’s, Bass, McEwan’s, etc…) were slightly different due to the hand pumps vs. CO2 taps.
Paul in Saudi, do they still have the boats you can go on to, well, not be truly in Saudi Arabia anymore? All my fellow soldiers told me that post Gulf War I.
I’m surprised that there has been no distinction made so far for British beer. I’m thinking of bitter in particular, the drink of the male British masses circa 1975 served at room temperature and preferably without top pressure. You just can’t find it anywhere else.
I was also raised in the Niagara region and I can tell you that in the late sixties american beer tasted fairly bland when compared to the Canadian labels, but I suspect that their isn’t much difference today. Back then as today Canadian beer generally contained 5% alcohol and the American brands ran around 3%
Well, if you ever get to Las Vegas, they just built a Hofbrauhaus (across the street from the Hard Rock Hotel) and they actually fly in, in the original kegs, REAL Hofbrauhaus beer from Munich! Same alcohol content, same taste, and not all that expensive!
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