# Mass market beers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [January 17, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080 "2015-01-17T17:53:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/21 "2015-01-18T20:35:22Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > Certainly until a few years ago Fosters was a different drink to Grolsch etc. It’s a long time since I’ve tasted these beers though. > > I sure hope that’s the same with Budweiser. It’s an absolutely atrocious beer in the UK. I hope that it hasn’t got such a large market share in the US by selling the same utter garbage as they do in the UK. No, it’s crap here too. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/22 "2015-01-18T20:50:17Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > 300 for $10.80? Even if it’s swill, I’m in at that price. 😃 I’m with ya. Cheaper than water. 😃 I’d learn to love it. And I’d only have shop once a week! ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/23 "2015-01-18T21:10:33Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Yeah, I remember Fosters tasting better before I became a home-brewer. Not sure which changed, my taste or theirs. > > And Bud is not worth drinking, in my opinion. > [@silenus](#): > > No, it’s crap here too. I suppose I cant be too surprised. Generally its the cheap mass produced beer that is most popular in just about all markets. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/24 "2015-01-18T23:25:15Z")
I couldn’t tell you if the flavour of Fosters has changed, no one in Australia drinks it. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/25 "2015-01-19T02:41:52Z")
Foster’s – it’s Strine for piss, mate\* \*A true digger should be able to explain this better, but “Strine” is a slang word for form of English spoken down under. And the above phrase is one I’ve heard many times ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/26 "2015-01-19T03:24:34Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > I sure hope that’s the same with Budweiser. It’s an absolutely atrocious beer in the UK. I hope that it hasn’t got such a large market share in the US by selling the same utter garbage as they do in the UK. I think I’ve shared this story here before, but back in college in '96, I did a work exchange program in the UK. I ended up working at a Michelin starred restaurant on the west coast of Scotland, not too far (about 20 miles) from Oban. Anyhow, one day after work, the chefs wrap up and say they’re going down to the shop to get some beers, what would I like? I said, oh, I dunno, just get me some McEwan’s. They looked at me puzzled. “You don’t want any Budweiser?” I thought they were joking. “No, McEwan’s is fine.” “But we drink Budweiser.” I still kind of thought it was some sort of test. “Um, OK, Budweiser is fine.” “Great.” And, sure enough, they got a case of Budweiser. It somehow felt odd to me to be thousands of miles away from home, living abroad for the first time in a fairy tale land of whiskey and decent beer, and drinking the Bud from back home. And this was well before I became really interested in craft beers. (Although that first trip to the UK opened up my taste buds into the wide world of beers and different varieties, even though most of the stuff I was drinking was mainstream brews.) That said, the chefs did introduce me to the wonderful world of Scotch whisky–being close to Oban helped a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/27 "2015-01-19T03:57:26Z")
I used to work with a guy who was a crewman on a P-3. They’d take cases of Coors to the Philippines and trade it to the Americans stationed there for San Miguel. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/28 "2015-01-19T04:37:29Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > 300 for $10.80? Even if it’s swill, I’m in at that price. 😃 :smack: 1. You get 30. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/29 "2015-01-19T13:14:55Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Bass Ale used to be one of my favorites. it’s now made in the U.S. by A-B and it tastes like it. This is sad news. Haven’t had one in awhile, but Bass Ale used to be one of my favorites too. I’ll have to try one and see for myself when I start drinking again (doing a dry January to lose some holiday weight). In my mind, I remember exactly how they used to taste. Proud beer snob here by the way, and not ashamed to admit it 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/30 "2015-01-19T13:36:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I think I’ve shared this story here before, but back in college in '96, I did a work exchange program in the UK. I ended up working at a Michelin starred restaurant on the west coast of Scotland, not too far (about 20 miles) from Oban. Anyhow, one day after work, the chefs wrap up and say they’re going down to the shop to get some beers, what would I like? I said, oh, I dunno, just get me some McEwan’s. They looked at me puzzled. “You don’t want any Budweiser?” I thought they were joking. “No, McEwan’s is fine.” “But we drink Budweiser.” I still kind of thought it was some sort of test. “Um, OK, Budweiser is fine.” “Great.” And, sure enough, they got a case of Budweiser. It somehow felt odd to me to be thousands of miles away from home, living abroad for the first time in a fairy tale land of whiskey and decent beer, and drinking the Bud from back home. And this was well before I became really interested in craft beers. (Although that first trip to the UK opened up my taste buds into the wide world of beers and different varieties, even though most of the stuff I was drinking was mainstream brews.) That said, the chefs did introduce me to the wonderful world of Scotch whisky–being close to Oban helped a lot. If I recall Bud and Bud Light very briefly became “yuppie” beers in the middle 90’s, much to my surprise when a bunch of English Civil War reenactors came to America for an event and it was partially sponsored by Bud (they brought in trucks of the stuff!) It was a fad I hope faded quickly. I’m not a huge fan of British basement-cool beer but that was not the direction to go. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/31 "2015-01-19T15:50:38Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > The things they have to do to make it taste _exactly the same_ year after year after year make it that much less interesting. You mean like be extraordinarily good brewers? It takes serious skill to make light lagers without major flaws AND be that consistent from batch to batch, much less over a period of years. Make no mistake, the mega-brewery guys are GOOD at what they do. A lot of craft brewers aren’t that good; there’s a lot of room to hide flavor-wise, if you brew dark and/or hoppy beers. The only real difference between batches of a given beer should be due to differences in ingredient flavors from one growing season to another. Anything else is just crap brewing- poor temperature control, measurement, sanitation, etc… I’d be willing to bet that the differences between old Burton-on-Trent Bass and contract-brewed-in-the-US Bass are probably 95% freshness, and 5% ingredient or brewing differences. There’s a marked difference in freshness for beers even a few hundred miles from home, never mind across the Atlantic. (done my own experiements with Pilsner Urquell and Staropramen in Prague, Vienna, Budapest, London and Dallas). I’d bet if they started brewing Heineken and Grolsch in the US on a contract basis, people would bitch because they don’t have that skunky taste when they’re actually fresh and not hanging out under fluorescent lights all day in the Quickie-Mart. (and yes, they’re both decent and very different from what you get here, when you get them fresh in the Netherlands) ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/32 "2015-01-19T19:41:08Z")
Thread drift but we went to Ireland in 2002. While there we went to a bluegrass festival because we like bluegrass music and thought “This ought to be interesting”. And it was. Great pickers from all over Europe. More to the point though - everyone was drinking Coors Light! In the land of Guinness! WTF? ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/33 "2015-01-19T21:55:03Z")
Hey **Johnny** , I used to work for Miller then MillerCoors, and I can answer your question. Using Hamm’s as an example, there is very little chance it tastes exactly like the original Hamm’s. However, given the style, it probably tastes _close enough_ to the original not to offend anyone. I can tell you that Hamm’s is not exactly the same as Olympia, Old Style, Milwaukee’s Best, Keystone, etc. There may be significant overlap in the recipes since they’re very similar, but is not all just marketing. If you have further questions, send me a PM and I can tell you a bit more. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/34 "2015-01-19T22:14:57Z")
PBR, Hamm’s, Stag and Bud are my go to cheap beers. I used to drink a lot more of them than I do now though. Now if I drink beer at all I’ll spring for the pricier microbrew stuff. But none of the four I mentioned are bad. They have distinctive flavors and aren’t just watered down yeast-anol. Unlike Natty, Busch, Milwaukee’s Beast, Keystone and Coors which are all just vomit inducing butt-water. Hamm’s is like nectar of the gods after a accidentally choking on a sip of Keystone. Don’t get me started on light beers. ---
**Author:** ![hyperspaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@hyperspaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyperspaz)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080/35 "2015-01-20T18:55:44Z")
National Bohemian, the swill beer of Baltimore. Used to be brewed locally by the National Brewing Company, now is owned and brewed by Pabst. It’s way more swilly than it used to be, although Pabst claims they have gone back to the original recipe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-market-beers/710080.md?page=1)