# Why does American Beer Suck? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [March 2, 2004, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060 "2004-03-02T05:59:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/61 "2012-07-09T00:33:10Z")
> [@ale789](#): > > First of all let me say that American mass-produced beers ( Coors, Budwieser, Miller etc.) are God-awfull tasting crap. They are cheaply made, not brewed properly and/or have chemicals or brewing agents added to them, which give you a headache and make you more sick then you should normally be after a few drinks. Now of course these beers are cheap to buy because they are made for a American market that has not cared about if they produce something that is of a decent quality ( Automobiles, Alcohol, Tools etc.) Even the cheapest imported foreign beer or ale is a better tasting and more enjoyable drinking experience. Coors Light, Bud, Etc. is fermented water, I am sure the alcohol content may be there, but unless you are a alcoholic who doesnt care about anything except getting drunk, then i would advise anyone not to touch theese beers. I have tried some other American Micro-Brews and while they look good, and may taste much better then the mass-produced garbage, they still seem to be a little weak in body and flavor. Why theese mass-produced American beers sell overseas? I would assume thier is a novelty factor regarding this, and i would have to assume that possibly some of theese brews may be possibly brewed overseas as well. > And by the way I am a American. We always appreciate it when someone who doesn’t know squat about a particular topic joins the board specifically to bump an 8-year-old thread about said topic. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/62 "2012-07-09T00:37:06Z")
> [@ale789](#): > > Let me just say that i think it is great America is finally trying to brew some yummy Beers and Ales. And As I said, I have tasted a couple of decent ones. But I am not going to say that we have a superior product just because I am a American. > > The fact is too much American Beer is terrible. Yes, yes, we see your show of wannabe elitism, but they still aren’t going to let you into their club. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/63 "2012-07-09T00:49:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Canadian mass market beer sold in Canada, like Molson Canadian or Labatt’s Blue, is completely indistinguishable from American equivalents, and I’ll put money on a cross border taste test any day of the week. They’re the same crap. Not the Molson on tap that was sold back in the late 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/64 "2012-07-09T01:10:46Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Canadian mass market beer sold in Canada, like Molson Canadian or Labatt’s Blue, is completely indistinguishable from American equivalents, and I’ll put money on a cross border taste test any day of the week. They’re the same crap. I actually did bring back some Labatt’s Blue from my last trip to Canada and then bought some at my local (US) grocery store and did the whole Pepsi challenge thing with some friends. The two were definitely distinguishable, although there seemed to be no clear consensus which one was better. FWIW, I liked the Canadian version a little better, but it was certainly not the nectar of the gods some make it out to be. Both definitely fit into the category of cheap (North) American swill. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/65 "2012-07-09T01:32:22Z")
## I am a big fan of Canadian mass produced beer, Molson, Moosehead, Labatt etc., although it does seem to taste a bit different down here in the USA than it does up in Vancouver or Montreal. I have been able to spend considerable time travelling in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Czech Republic, all countries internationally renown for their beer. I can attest that the beer the average guy in Berlin, Amsterdam or Prague is drinking is much more reminiscent of Bud or Pabst Blue Ribbon than it is of most Sierra Nevada, Full Sail or Goose Island offerings. (Belgium is a little different story, although Jupiler, Stella Artois and Maes seem to sell well alongside the various Trappist brews) ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/66 "2012-07-09T01:43:30Z")
> [@ale789](#): > > The point of the matter is , most American beer sucks. I think the point is that you’d rather complain than make the effort to find beer just as good as anything imported–and that’s all the more true eight years after this discussion was started. I’ll grant you that you’re not going to find it in your average supermarket–but if you live in Mayberry, what do you expect? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/67 "2012-07-09T14:51:21Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > We always appreciate it when someone who doesn’t know squat about a particular topic joins the board specifically to bump an 8-year-old thread about said topic. Well, it’s still an absorbing one, judging by the responses. I’m moving it to Cafe Society, though, from IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![JMH125](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@JMH125](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JMH125)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/68 "2012-07-09T15:15:50Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Saying that American beer sucks on the basis of Budweiser is like saying that hamburgers suck on the basis of McDonald’s, or concluding that British music sucks on the basis of Billie Piper. You don’t have to look too hard in any American bar or grocery store, especially in this part of the country, to find dozens of varieties of pale ale, wheat ale, Belgian-style beers, IPA (which is a _completely_ different thing than British IPA, being closer to what the British call “bitter”, and is one of the strongest traditional beers on the market), stout, cream ale, red ale, barleywine, fruit beers, ciders, seasonal brews, and other new products that the microbreweries are experimenting with every few months. > > I’ll grant that there was a time when this stereotype was probably more accurate - a few decades ago, the American beer market was dominated by regional breweries like Pabst, Genesee, and Olympia, which were all churning out pretty much the same light lager. In the past 20 years or so, though, the microbrewery revolution has pretty much destroyed the basis for saying all American beers are like that. I live in NC, and i can vouch that our local breweries are outstanding and make exceptional micro brews that beat the shit out of any mass-marked Budweiser. Lumping “all American beer sucks” is simply NOT true anymore If you want to say “Mass market American beer sucks”, i will agree. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/69 "2012-07-09T15:30:53Z")
I was in California last month and had many good beers, not the least when we visited the Sierra Nevada Brewery. Our guide told us that they presently were the sixth (I believe) largest brewing company in the USA and what separated them from the five largest was that they had specialised in good beer instead of the watery stuff the others produce. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/70 "2012-07-09T15:53:45Z")
Well said, **Hajj Floater.** There are so many good American brews that the old canard just doesn’t apply any more. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/71 "2012-07-09T16:23:50Z")
Yeah, it’s a shame that American mass-market beer isn’t as good as major foreign beers like Heineken, Bass Ale or Red Stripe. Damn shame. The top five American beers are not to my taste, but I’ve had great brews from Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing. They make several dozen products under a variety of names and unlike “craft brews”, they don’t cost 500% more per ounce than than good whiskey. ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/72 "2012-07-09T23:05:48Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Canadian mass market beer sold in Canada, like Molson Canadian or Labatt’s Blue, is completely indistinguishable from American equivalents, and I’ll put money on a cross border taste test any day of the week. They’re the same crap. Nah, but the gap has narrowed considerably and they have gone way downhill. They used to even be good beers. And Moosehead is a still very good lager, thank you very much. > [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Well, it’s still an absorbing one, judging by the responses. > > I’m moving it to Cafe Society, though, from IMHO. 😕 Beer is artistic? > [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](#): > > Yeah, it’s a shame that American mass-market beer isn’t as good as major foreign beers like Heineken, Bass Ale or Red Stripe. Not that that’s saying all that much. Heineken in particular is one of the most overrated beers ever. I swear people started drinking it back when to be “cool” by drinking a more expensive, imported beer with a cool-looking label. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/73 "2012-07-09T23:11:09Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > 😕 Beer is artistic? You’re damn fucking right it’s artistic. Good brewers are artisans of the highest order, and the truly inspired ones can legitimately be called artists. [Vinnie Cilurzo](http://www.beerconnoisseur.com/vinnie-cilurzo-russian-rivers-brewmaster) is a fucking Rembrandt of malt and hops. Anybody who doesn’t think that good, really good brewing is an art form unto itself is a mook. ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/74 "2012-07-10T00:20:53Z")
lol Can’t fucking argue that fucking logic. fuckin a, yo. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/75 "2012-07-10T00:23:27Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > Nah, but the gap has narrowed considerably and they have gone way downhill. They used to even be good beers. And Moosehead is a still very good lager, thank you very much. What he’s talking about there isn’t that Moosehead, etc is better than Bud, etc, but the rumors that the versions of _the same beers_ we get south of the border are inferior to the genuine article sold in the Great White North. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/76 "2012-07-10T01:57:43Z")
I’m getting a kick out of this thread as I’ve drank three different types of Saranac tonight. Of course, back when this thread was started, I would have been at the college bar drinking Yuengling on draft for $1.60 a pint. And I’ll definitely take Yuengling over Budweiser or Miller or Coors, as at least Yuengling is actually American. Though I will drink Miller High Life at times since it’s reasonably good, somewhat American, and union. (To be fair, a number of American beers are union, but generally I’ll prefer the High Life.) And hey, NYS just passed a farm brewery bill, which means I should be able to get even more local beers made with local materials in the next few years. I mean, just look at this [list](http://www.thinknydrinkny.com/breweries.php). I’ve already tried Brooklyn, Brown’s, Ommegang, Cooperstown, CH Evans, Doc’s Draft (a hard cider), and I hope to try more as long as I’m in New York. There’s good stuff from New England available as well. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/77 "2012-07-10T07:36:17Z")
> [@Albrecht\_Conz](#): > > I know little about American beer (I’ve tasted Budweise and Miller light - ugh) - and someone above came up with the idea that Budweiser outsells Guiness in the UK : I beg your pardon! - anyway: Of all the beers I’ve tasted the one’s that are even worse than the American brews (but there might be very tasty local US beers - I dunno - I only know the mass market stuff) are Australian lagers - utter bilge. > > My favourite beer: The original Czech Budweiser. Mine is Pilsner Urquell. When I was in Germany I was always told that the main difference in German/Czech beer and American beer is that American beers are all pasteurized while the European beers are not. Is there any truth to this? ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/78 "2012-07-10T08:44:07Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > There’s good stuff from New England available as well. Yep! And unlike the West Coast, they realize that craft beers are allowed to have an IBU under 80 without being a stout. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/79 "2012-07-10T09:17:33Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > Heineken in particular is one of the most overrated beers ever. I swear people started drinking it back when to be “cool” by drinking a more expensive, imported beer with a cool-looking label. The Heineken you get in Sweden can compete with Budweiser in being damaged by water. I have, however, had it in the Netherlands and it was a totally different beverage. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060/80 "2012-07-10T11:14:26Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > Starting with prohibition, the overwhelming concern with alcoholic content of beverages became the primary measure of what is, or is not beer. Even after the repeal, the tax laws, and regulations promulgated by the states consider only one thing: alcoholic content. […] So, American beer is “lite.” It also tends to be sweeter than most mass-market European beers, and that’s down to Prohibition too. The bathtub gin drunk during Prohibition was often made palatable by adding lots of fruit juice (hence the invention of many cocktails). When Prohibition ended, American brewers discovered their customers had become accustomed to this new, sweeter taste, and were forced to adjust their recipes accordingly. Until Prohibition, European beers and American beers had both tasted more or less the same, but after that experiment they went their separate ways. I’m a Brit, but I rather like American beer (even the mass market brands), precisely because it is cold, light and refreshing compared to British bitter. I’ve found my own palate adjusting to prefer the sweeter taste too. Since I passed 50, hangovers have ceased to be the joke they once were, so the lower alcohol content’s no bad thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-american-beer-suck/232060.md?page=5)