Now, it’s pretty good for an American beer, but how do they get away with implying it’s an import? If I started brewing beer, would I be allowed to call the product Fretful’s Bavarian Lager – as long as I had fine print somewhere on the bottle that said it was made in the USA? Or is there some sort of special loophole for old family recipes?
I once ordered a Michelob at a bar that had a simple price list: Domestic $3, Imported $4. The waitress of course charged me $4. I then asked her when Missouri became a foreign country. After raising a further stink, I only got charged $3. The next week, the list was changed to Regular/Premium.
Is Carl around? He would know this better than I, as I just dabble. I seem to recall somewhere that “Irish Red” is a variety of brew, and does not imply country of origin any more than does “India Pale Ale.”
When that brand first came out the commercials featured (the Irish actor whose name escapes me at the moment, not Peter O’Toole but someone like that) dressed in tweed and hiking through a green glen and touting the tradition of George Killian’s recipe, etc. The commercial ran very often. So maybe that is how people were trained to infer that it is made in Ireland.
The mere smell of Killian’s Red puts me off completely, ever since an incident in my youth when I narrowly escaped going the way of Janis Joplin (as this is a mixed audience, I will skip the gross details).
As far as I ever heard, you can call a product anything you want to as long as the name’s not already taken.
Philadelphia Cream Cheese: Made in New York City… Always has been. No connection to Philadelphia whatsoever.
The beer is supposed to * remind * you of a typical Irish lager, like perhaps Harp. Now, it pales in comparison to Harp, but last I checked, the difference was at least $5.00 per sixpack. And it is a fairly good American beer, FWIW. But, no it’s not Irish, yes it is styled after a traditional Irish beer.
Jason R Remy
“Open mindedness is not the same thing as empty mindedness.”
– John Dewey Democracy and Education (1916)
Oh, and both Budweiser and Miller Lite (?!?) claim to be Pilsners, but last I checked, neither was made in the Czech Republic. But they’re supposed to taste like they were. Both taste alot like piss to me, but their SUPPOSED to be Pilsners.
Jason R Remy
“Open mindedness is not the same thing as empty mindedness.”
– John Dewey Democracy and Education (1916)
Pilsner has now become generic and is used for a variety of lagers that have never been near eastern Europe. Budweiser bought the Check Budweiser several years ago and now distibute a pilsner in Europe called “Budwar” which claims to be the real thing, it doesn’t taste half-bad either.
I heard somewhere that there are no traditional Irish Reds at all made in Ireland. Every Irish Red you’ll every see is brewed elsewhere. Does anyone have any info to the contrary?
Your Quadell
So is Old English 800 from an english recipe?
You know what’s even more sneaky? Did you ever notice that the Fosters Lager on sale in the U.S. is made in Canada? Same with Asahi and Kirin, and probably many others. It still says “IMPORT” on the lable, but you have to read the fine print to know that it’s imported from Canada.
BTW, Budweiser is a lager, or “lager” if you prefer. Samuel Adams makes a good pilsner.
Anheuser-Busch and Budvar (The Czech brewery) have been embroiled for several years in a lawsuit over who owns the rights to the name Budweiser. So far the European community allows Budvar to call their product Budvar and AB had to change their beer’s name to Bud. AB has tried to buy the rights to the name and not been successful.
Check that… Bud is in fact a pilsner, that is a lager originally made in the region of the Czech republic known as Pilsen. There are really only 3 types of beers: Lagers, Ales, and Stouts. The brewing method determines which of these the beer falls under. “Pilsners” and “Reds” are both lagers (which tend to have a smoother, grainier, taste). They look very different (pilsners are pale yellow, reds are, well, red) but they both are varieties of lager. Ales tend to have a more bitter, hoppier, taste. And stouts are creamy and heavy.
Jason R Remy
“Open mindedness is not the same thing as empty mindedness.”
– John Dewey Democracy and Education (1916)
[[Anheuser-Busch and Budvar (The Czech brewery) have been embroiled for several years in a lawsuit over who owns the rights to the name Budweiser. So far the European community allows Budvar to call their product Budvar and AB had to change their beer’s name to Bud. AB has tried to buy the rights to the name and not been successful.]] Golgo13
My understanding is that the “Budweiser” (adjust for language) name may be used by the Czech brewers only in a relatively limited part of Europe, and that A-B has the rights everywhere else. Of course, my understanding is based on hearsay.
I shot a job a few years ago for a news magazine, I think it was " Dateline". They did a whole story JUST on products that use the name, “California” in their titles. It was beyond amusing. You would not imagine the variety, until you see an ENTIRE shopping cart full of products that say “California” that are not made there. It was a great slam, and a good bit of shedding light on shoddy advertising practices. There ARE Truth In Advertising laws, and one can assume that using a name of an area, or country, does not violate said laws.
Quid Pro Quo, Carpe Diem, Coke and Tacos,
Typer
As other people have noted, this is hardly the only product that does this… no one seriously thinks that Wishbone imports all those bottles of salad dressing from Russia, France, or Italy, do they?
Not to belittle “George Killian’s tradition”, but as far as I can tell the primary differences between Killian’s Red and Coors are a) the label and b) the color, in that order.