# How is imported beer shipped? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2000, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-imported-beer-shipped/44741 "2000-12-09T06:52:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-imported-beer-shipped/44741/1 "2000-12-09T06:52:28Z")
Is imported beer, like Heineken, shipped already bottled, or is it transported in kegs or something even larger and then bottled here? ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-imported-beer-shipped/44741/2 "2000-12-09T07:00:00Z")
I think that some of it is liscenced and locally produced… look carefully at the label, and it might say… [Homer]Mmmmmmm! Heineken[/Homer] ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-imported-beer-shipped/44741/3 "2000-12-09T07:10:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Astroboy14 \* > \*\*I think that some of it is liscenced and locally produced… look carefully at the label, and it might say… > \*\* I doubt it. If it was locally produced I don’t think they could have “imported” stamped all over it. After all, if it is made here, what exactly would be imported about it? I know for many years Miller made “Lowenbrau” under license, but the word “imported” was not on the label. Heineken bottles clearly states that it is imported from Holland, a magical land of Heineken, Amstel, Grohlsh, and Swinkles Beer, as well as “sort of legal” weed. MMMMMMMMM. Holland! ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-imported-beer-shipped/44741/4 "2000-12-09T07:18:22Z")
Hmmm… good point! When I posted, I was thinking of Coke, which is produced locally… but it doesn’t have “imported” stamped on it, of course… _Astro swears that he will **think** before he posts, next time!_ ---
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-imported-beer-shipped/44741/5 "2000-12-09T16:43:56Z")
Imported beer arrives in containers aboard ship as general cargo. Some imported wines arrive in refridgerated containers so that the temperature can be controlled. ---
**Author:** ![starfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starfish)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-imported-beer-shipped/44741/6 "2000-12-09T16:58:13Z")
Some beer is imported as “beer concentrate” to reduce shipping cost. It is then reconstituted and bottled locally. Here is an ATF ruling. [http://www.atf.treas.gov/alcohol/info/revrule/rules/94-3.htm](http://www.atf.treas.gov/alcohol/info/revrule/rules/94-3.htm) It came up as an issue with “ice beer”, where you add a small amount of water back to beer. This is supposed to be different than making beer from concentrate. A Yahoo search on “beer concentrate” will give you more information. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-imported-beer-shipped/44741/7 "2000-12-09T17:28:35Z")
Is Grolsch a Dutch beer? My understanding is that Heineken was made _en route_ on the ships, in the urinary tract of surgically modified horses. Come to think of it, this may explain why lots of Europeans drink their beer warm. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-imported-beer-shipped/44741/8 "2000-12-09T22:37:32Z")
Hey! It’s only us Brits who drink our beer warm. Those swarthy Continental types drink the same frigid nonsense as Americans. ---
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-imported-beer-shipped/44741/9 "2000-12-09T23:29:43Z")
pkbites, why asking? your not planning to intercept a shipment are you? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-imported-beer-shipped/44741/10 "2000-12-10T01:23:29Z")
Just because the bottle says “imported,” it isn’t necessarily imported from the country you expect. The last time I bought Fosters, I saw in big lettering IMPORTED, so naturally I assumed it was imported from Australia. Upon closer inspection, I saw in tiny lettering: ```auto [sub]Produced and bottled in Toronto, Canada[/sub] ```