Now we are getting to the heart of your POV…
It’s expensive, but everything is expensive in the UK. Seriously, London is about as good an eating city as I’ve ever been to. Perhaps I just got lucky, but I did live in the UK for four months, and that’s the place where my journey to “foodiedom” started. Sure, there was plenty of crap food, too, but, on average, I ate very well in the UK. Both local and ethnic dishes. Find any list of “best food cities,” and London is pretty much always on the list. And, yes, I do realize I’m concentrating on London, but I ate just as well in my time up on the west coast of Scotland. The Midlands was a bit patchier as far as local fare goes, but the Indian/Pakistani was tremendous.
No love for Samuel Adams?? :smack:
Best American beer, hands down.
And while I’m not a Budweiser fan by any means, I will admit that on a hot summer day, an ice cold Bud Light Lime is quite refreshing. :dubious:
Are there any US breweries churning out a quality lambic gueuze?
Ditto this.
Americans don’t actually have the worst beer in the world (hey, we’re NOT #1 in worst beers!). Just the worst widely-marketed beers.
Go to China and try some of their “beer”. The worst Chinese beers are easily worse than the worst swill produced in the US or nearly anywhere else.
And has anybody had any Bitburger? I know the Germans are supposed to have a reputation for beer, but one taste of that stuff should tell you the BMC triumverate of bad, generic beer isn’t a uniquely American experience.
As I allude to above, Ommegang and Allagash (just to name two) produce beers that are on par with Chimay. I actually prefer Ommegang’s Abbey Ale to Chimay Red (if we’re matching style for style.) Also, up in Canada, you’ve got Unibroue turning out some amazing stuff. That said, I haven’t found anything (and don’t think I will) that quite reaches the pinnacle of breweries like Rochefort, St. Bernadus, Westmalle, etc. (I don’t mention Westvleteren, as I’ve never had it, but that’s very much the holy grail of beer to many American beer geeks. Westvleteren 12 tops those silly “best beers in the world” list year after year after year on beer rating message boards like ratebeer.com and beeradvocate.com. I say “silly” because these ratings are heavily skewed towards beers with strong, assertive flavors, so if you make the world’s greatest and most perfect pilsener, it’s unlikely to crack the top 25 or even 50, as the list is dominated by Belgian trappist-style ales, imperial stouts, imperial IPAs, and that sort of thing.)
I do agree with you that the OP shouldn’t be phrased as “the US makes the best beer in the world.” You can easily say that Belgium makes the best beers in the world, and I would be hard-pressed to argue against it. Belgium is still very much seen as a Mecca for beer drinkers, and a point of inspiration to breweries. But, as I said above, if you love beer and trying different varieties of beer, the US right now is probably the best place to be. There’s just so much fun in the craft beer industry, a high level of overall quality, and just so many damned beers to try.
Outside of the US, and Belgium, the region that interests me most right now for beer is Scandinavia. Lots of interesting and inventive brews coming out of there, although they tend to be difficult to find in the US. I’ve only in the past couple of years started seeing Mikeller bottles here. Apparently, there is also a growing craft scene in Italy that I know next to nothing about, except that it intrigues me, as almost nobody thinks beer when thinking of Italian alcoholic beverages.
It’s a great time to be a beer drinker!
Ah, yes, Bitte ein Bit, if I remember the slogan. It’s fairly generic, yeah, but it’s nowhere near the lows of Busch Light or Milwaukee’s Best. Not even close. You can actually taste the malt and hops in Bitburger, Warsteiner, and those types of German pilsener style of beers. Yes, they’re light on flavor, but they don’t assault you with the gross, corn taste of the mass-produced American beers. I’d even venture to say that Bitburger is above average for its style. Warsteiner is far worse and getting closer to American mass produced taste, but still falls well short. The only beer I’ve had in Europe that I can even begin to compare to Busch Light is some Hungarian beer that came in plastic 1 liter jugs on the bottom shelf of some grocery stores in Budapest. It was sold for an outrageously cheap price, and tasted like it was brewed specifically for winos. That said, I’d probably have it over a Busch Light.
Very good point, all the Belgian beers mentioned here are pretty mundain and standard; as in, I get my Chimay, Orval, Westmalle, etc. from my local supermarket (Dutch btw) and compared to the US these shops are pretty small. There is plenty of less known Belgian and Dutch ‘special’ beers that are amazing but bit trickier to get (westvleteren being the extreme). I won’t comment on Europe vs. US, since I don’t know the US beer landscape to well; had some great microbrews there, some terrible ones and some with blueberry’s floating in them:confused:.
The OP is wrong. The worst beer comes from Morocco. (At least, of all the beers I have tasted in my travels.)
It’s a great time to be a beer drinker in America! I tell my boys they are living in a golden age but kids, what do they know? They don’t remember when even the best bars would only have a few pale lagers (Bud, Miller and something local) and, if you were really lucky and in a Irish pub, Guinness.
The USA is coming on strong and I’m loving the experiments but we haven’t caught up to Europe yet. In 1980 I found myself in Antwerp in a bar that claimed to stock 2,000 beers. Some kind Belgians adopted me for the evening and had me trying lambics and God knows what else - each with its own special glass and skirt. I’m not ready to disrespect that bar by claiming America is tops until I’ve drunk a lot more proof.
One of my favorite styles in the summer, but pretty difficult to find any local versions of. It’s just not a style brewers are experimenting too much with yet, as it’s an acquired taste. Those sour beers don’t seem to go over too well. Even the slight sourness of Bell’s Oarsman Ale, which is kind of like a cross between an American wheat and a Berliner Weisse, throws off most people. I know New Glarus has a reasonably well reviewed gueuze called R&D Gueuze, but I’ve never had it (it’s in limited batches, and the distribution is limited.) 3 Fonteinen and Cantillon pretty much rule that style (although I’m partial to Hanssens Oude Gueuze myself.)
Can you share some of the names so we can look out for them? I’m sure plenty don’t have distribution here, but I’m sure a few do, and I’m always trying to expand my drinking horizons! Plus, I’m occasionally on the other side of the pond, so it helps to know what to look for.
Chimay, Orval, and Westmalle may be relatively mundane in terms of their ubiquity, but in terms of flavor, mundane they are not.
Plus, we’re in Cafe Society.
I’ve been lucky enough to drink well over 3,000 unique brews in the past 5 years. I’ve collected beers from all over the country and from across the ocean as well. I’ve attended many beer festivals, tastings, etc…You get the point.
There is no way to accurately compare. I would say that Belgium would be hard to be for quality, though. The experimentation in the U.S. now and the number of producers is astonishing, but they are hit or miss for sure. I think the quality overall is increasing–which is a great sign for all of us.
I’m happy to be a drinker in the U.S. right now, just because of the access to so many good beer producers. Hopefully pricing will normalize soon, as the increases over the past few years have been substantial.
FoieGrasIsEvil–Russian River brewing in California makes outstanding sour beers, as does Jolly Pumpkin in Michigan. They would be the top two producers of American sours for sure. There are other smaller brewers heading in that direction, but those two have been doing it the longest and with the most success.
Have you had the La Folie out of New Belgium, really great sour, IMO.
I can’t comment on the OP since I haven’t tried a ton of non-US beer. Just came to mention that I am going to the SF beer fest opening night tonight. 68 brewers and food pairings. Here is a link with all the brewers that will be there, let me know if there is anything that you think I shouldn’t miss (I have tried about half the places on the list).
If Russian River is pouring Pliny the Younger be sure to try it out, as it is only available for two weeks a year and in limited supply, that is if you really like hops.
Thanks for the tip. And yeah: prices. Geez craft beers are dear right now. I have to admit that I am as much an effect drinker as I am a flavor drinker of beer, so often I find myself having one good beer to start with then finishing off most or all of a six-pack of cheap American swill (usually Nati Ice) when I get my drink on.
Why don’t people just drink what they like rather than try and objectify something that is essentially subjective?
I love the Elder. I was under the impression that the younger never left their brewery though. If I am wrong I will definitely be sampling.