# No German beer in Amsterdam, no Stella Artois in Brussels. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [September 1, 2017, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-german-beer-in-amsterdam-no-stella-artois-in-brussels/795220 "2017-09-01T03:01:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [September 5, 2017, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-german-beer-in-amsterdam-no-stella-artois-in-brussels/795220/61 "2017-09-05T14:09:56Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > I think this is the case. It is perhaps my assumption that everywhere should do this, in the uk it’s always on the pump nowadays Ah, yes. It’s definitely not that standardized here. Like **pkbites** says, the corner pub is not likely going to have ABVs listed. I wouldn’t go so far as to say only the fancier places will have it; quite a few of your typical suburban restaurant chains seem to have it, too, but it is a more recent thing (within the last decade). You may even find calorie count information on the menu–this seems to be becoming more and more popular, but still is on the rare side. But any “beer bar” or gastropub should have ABV info (at least in my experience around here in Chicago.) > [@](#): > > Traditionally, an ale would be 3.5-5% in the UK, higher than that and it would be syrupy. Yes, beers in that range from the craft industry here in the US are, indeed, typically difficult to find. They certainly do exist (like in my previous menu that had a 3.5% beer on the menu. And one of the reasons I like Goose Island brewpub here in Chicago is they almost always have an English Mild or ordinary bitter or something in the under 4% ABV on tap.) But they are rather uncommon. Even something like Founders All-Day IPA, which is intended to be a session IPA (hence the name), is only a little bit shy of 5%, at 4.7%. Under 4% is nearly unheard of. It is something that annoys me a bit about the industry here. I assume it’s mostly consumer demand–that American beer drinkers generally want “bigger” beers, with more alcohol, more in-your-face flavors, and more bang-for-buck, but I wonder if it’s not a bit of a feedback loop, too, that people think they want it because breweries make it, and breweries make it because people think they want it. I keep thinking there’s a low ABV beer trend around the corner, but I’ve been thinking that for a couple of years now, and I’m not seeing any definite wide-scale push to that. Currently, the beer trend has been sours. (Or most recently, that’s been the trend. I haven’t noticed if it’s moved on to something else since, but sours have become quite represented on beer menus in the past two or three years where a decade ago, they were nearly non-existent. I enjoyed sours back then, but there were maybe three Belgian brands and one German brand I could find. Now there are dozens and dozens domestic ones to choose from at my local giant liquor store.) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-german-beer-in-amsterdam-no-stella-artois-in-brussels/795220/62 "2017-09-11T01:26:19Z")
“5%” means the same thing everytime you drink the same beer, but out of interest note that a “7.5%” wine is actually an 8% wine: they are given some latitude in the description, and always blend up to the top of the range. I would be surprised if the same isn’t true for beer. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2017, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-german-beer-in-amsterdam-no-stella-artois-in-brussels/795220/63 "2017-09-11T05:42:50Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > “5%” means the same thing everytime you drink the same beer, but out of interest note that a “7.5%” wine is actually an 8% wine: they are given some latitude in the description, and always blend up to the top of the range. I would be surprised if the same isn’t true for beer. This is correct. For wine below 14% ABV the variation can be +/- 1.5%. Above 14% the tolerance drops to 1%. For beer it’s .3%. The exception is for non-alcoholic brews which cannot exceed .5% ABV. This is per United States federal law. YMMV if you’re somewhere else. Heh. During the last 4 years of my first career I was a compliance investigator on the vice unit. I actually had to know all this even though I never ever used it. But there were questions about it on some of the tests I had to take to get certain certifications from the state Dept. of Revenue. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-german-beer-in-amsterdam-no-stella-artois-in-brussels/795220/64 "2017-09-11T11:45:59Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > I’ve seen proper destruction with a brit starting the evening with a few Belgian beers (8.5% for Duvel). I think Duvel may well be the most dangerous beer known to man. I drank it once unaware at a friend’s house in Zaventem and nothing in the taste suggested it was anywhere near 8.5%. I had to go to bed rather early that night. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-german-beer-in-amsterdam-no-stella-artois-in-brussels/795220/65 "2017-09-11T15:22:36Z")
I always thought Stella was what Belgians used to wash their cars. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swedish\_Viking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9f8e36/32.png) [@The\_Swedish\_Viking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swedish_Viking)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-german-beer-in-amsterdam-no-stella-artois-in-brussels/795220/66 "2017-09-11T23:31:01Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Wife and I spent 5 days in Amsterdam and 3 days in Brussels back in April. Been reflecting on something I noticed. > > In Amsterdam Heineken is everywhere to an absurd ridiculous extreme (I like Heineken but when I’m overseas I like to drink beer I can’t get in the states). But what we didn’t see (in stores nor bars/restaurants) was any German beer. All over Europe you at least see Becks. Didn’t see it anywhere in Amsterdam. Nor any other German brew. > > In Brussels I was stunned to find very few bars/restaurants/stores selling Stella Artois. I like it, but once again, wouldn’t have drank it there as I can get it in over abundance here. > > I did, of course, see Budweiser. I’ve seen Bud in a zillion places outside of the USA. What I never see outside of the states is anyone actually drinking it. > > Any reason for these observations? I have lived 10+ years in Amsterdam and of cource you can find German and British beers in Amsterdam. My suggestion is that you leave _The Red Light District_ and the tourist district and go to a pub where you can find the real dutch beer drinkers. . ---
**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:** [September 12, 2017, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-german-beer-in-amsterdam-no-stella-artois-in-brussels/795220/67 "2017-09-12T07:51:39Z")
> [@The\_Swedish\_Viking](#): > > My suggestion is that you leave _The Red Light District_ and the tourist district. Every other touristy area in Europe has German beer in their taverns. I know, I’ve been there. You’ll be hard pressed to find an abundance of people as well traveled as I\*. \*And yes, I is a bragging. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-german-beer-in-amsterdam-no-stella-artois-in-brussels/795220/68 "2017-09-12T12:14:22Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Pretty much this. There’s just no great need to serve foreign beer in the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany, because what’s typically served is GOOD local beer. And the lease/what’s on tap relationship in a pub is the same in Germany. I live in Southern Westphalia, and almost all the pubs have either Krombacher, Veltins or Warsteiner on tap, because that’s all brewed in a 50 km radius from here, most have an Altbier as well and some Weißbiers from a bottle, but travel 50 km south to the Rhineland, and it’s all Kölsch or Alt, respectively, and that’s true for all of Germany. When I first visited Belgium after having hit the drinking age, I marveled at their pubs with often 10-15 local brews on tap, which all were delicious. The Netherlands too have great beer brands (not as good and variable as Belgian or German, but still good), so neither of these countries have the need to offer much foreign beer because the local stuff is good enough. There are bad local beers too. Just because it’s made in Germany doesn’t mean it’s great just like all American beers are not shit. When I lived in Germany the local places had Eichbaum which was awful and Binding which was just passable. This is ancient history by now but then there was little or no variety. You ordered by type not brand because there was only one brand of each type. Weissen was always in bottles I don’t know if that’s changed. Often they also had Guinness on tap and knew how to pour it correctly. > [@pkbites](#): > > It’s somewhat of a newer thing to have the ABV published on the menu, and then that only happens in some fancier or hipster places. You’re average corner bar usually isn’t publishing the ABV even when they have an IPA on a tapper. It is on no way only in hipster or fancy places here. Many neighborhood places have local microbrew taps and have the alcohol content posted. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-german-beer-in-amsterdam-no-stella-artois-in-brussels/795220/69 "2017-09-13T05:10:59Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > It is on no way only in hipster or fancy places here. Many neighborhood places have local microbrew taps and have the alcohol content posted. Not around here they don’t. Doll and I make it appoint to visit at least 2 bars we’ve never been to per month (this is Milwaukee. There’s a zillion of them!) in addition to the places we usually go. And very, very few have the ABV on the menu or the tap. Not too long ago we were in Louisville and many of the bars there also didn’t have any listing for the ABV. I make careful note of that because I rate beers on [Ratebeer.com](http://Ratebeer.com) and if the correct ABV isn’t listed I correct it. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-german-beer-in-amsterdam-no-stella-artois-in-brussels/795220/70 "2017-09-13T17:11:03Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > One of my favorite lines in the movie Beerfest: > > Gunter: He stole it und now instead of Deutschland’s greatest beer we merely have fourth best behind Steinemarzen, Rottenburger, und… und… > Rolf: Und Beck’s? > Gunter: Und Beck’s? Ja, UND BECK’S!! First thing I thought of! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-german-beer-in-amsterdam-no-stella-artois-in-brussels/795220.md?page=3)