Cheaper than what - Grain? Surely not.
In the UK Budweiser is a premium brand heavily promoted at the youth market. As such it’s pretty pricey (and not often seen in tins - usually 250cc bottles).
A pack of twelve bottles would be about £10, but bear in mind alcohol is heavily taxed here, even in it’s home-consumption form.
Rice is much cheaper than barley.
The number of beers on tap in American bars is highly variable depending on whether you’re in a major city or small town. In my hometown, it’s difficult to find more than the Big 3 on tap.
Honestly, sometimes you can but it’s not often. Although, to be fair, I wasn’t a big fan of ales when I was living in the UK and preferred lagers and stouts. Except Thomas Hardy’s. That was good ale.
It would probably be 90% lagers, with some brown ales or IPAs thrown in.
I think most are 16oz glasses. Although some are 12oz. Depends where you go. Someplaces serve 24oz. After Orioles games in Baltimore, sometimes we’ll head over to Sliders where they’ll serve 24oz Pete’s for $4. Good beer, great price.
A crate of beer? Like a case? Yeah, you can get cases of 24 beers for fairly cheap at most places. Which is why most people tend to get Bud. 24 beers will cost you maybe $16 bucks or about 10 pounds.
Hey all of you BudMillerCoors defenders, what is the matter with admitting that it is primarily a way to get drunk cheaply?
American craft brewers produce some of the finest beer in the world…not all of it is of that caliber, but certainly some of it is.
One of my favorite beer happenings is telling. I went to a restaurant in part because it is one of the rare places here in Dallas that serves decent beer, in this case Bass (yeah, it really is hard to find here outside of beer bars). When both my and my wife’s beers would not pour because they were frozen, I complained. I was told I was an idiot because “they are better that way”. We of course have not returned to that place, but after further reflection, I have to admit, the major US brands are better frozen because your taste buds are less discerening when frozen.
I actually tried an Michelob Ultra a while back. I will say it is a great improvement…they have succeeded in removing most of the flavor and the near frozen state is less necessary.l
:eek: Heresy!
But I suppose it’s a case of to each his own. I’d much rather drink pints of Guinness all night (and have done so) rather than pitchers of Coors Light. If I were drinking lite beer like that, I’d just end up urinating all night long, and without a buzz of any merit.
There are some good American beers–I like Yeungling and Sam Adams, for instance–but most of the popular lagers/pilsners just taste too “light” to me. However, I prefer the more substantial weight of an ale, so I suppose I can’t begrudge anyone for preferring the crispness of a Bud.
However, most of the bars in my area don’t offer a great range of beer styles–they might offer dozens of lagers, but nary an ale on tap. Guinness is becoming fairly ubiquitous, although inexperienced bartenders here will pull it too quickly (and as much as I like Guinness, a poorly-drafted Guinness is an abomination). I usually end up drinking Newcastle Brown Ale.
Several bars serve draft beers in pints (sometimes even British pints!), otherwise you’ll get a mug. Many bars chill their glasses, which is OK if you’re getting a lager, but not quite as good if it’s an ale.
Ever since I first tasted a bitter in a London pub, I’ve been spoiled on British ales. The most frustrating thing about American bars for me is the complete absence of bitter-style beers.
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I think most are 16oz glasses. Although some are 12oz. Depends where you go. Someplaces serve 24oz. After Orioles games in Baltimore, sometimes we’ll head over to Sliders where they’ll serve 24oz Pete’s for $4. Good beer, great price.
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It has been a few years since I’ve been to Baltimore, but after an Orioles game, I would head to Wharf Rat or DeGroen’s. Fine, fine beer to be had at both. I’d kill for one of Theo’s Dunkles right now.
IIRC, most American commercial breweries and even larger microbreweries pasteurize at least their bottled stock to make it more commerically available - stores and bars can stock it unrefrigerated, etc. (Sprecher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is one exception I can think of off the top of my head.) I have no idea if they pasteurize the kegged stuff.
Originally, this was to help them with distribution as keeping the beer cold during transport was prohibitively expensive and/or too difficult - remember that many of these breweries had nationwide selling in mind as they expanded, but the sheer size of most US states much less the whole country made that difficult to do.
I haven’t any idea what you’re asking here. Do you mean, do the bars have more on tap than lager, or do they have more than one kind of lager on tap, or what? I’d say the answer would be “usually” and “yes” respectively.
Most bars I’ve been in offer draft beer in pint glasses as well as a smaller glass. If you mean bottles, most all American beers are bottled in 12-oz bottles. (As a homebrewer, I buy Grolsch swing-top pints by the case and use those for my brewing.) I assume that’s because the standardization of that size just makes it easier for them to produce, distribute, and sell their product - it’ll fit in the same shelf space as any other beer, and so forth.
The problem is, the beers that are commonly known as “American beers” are those made by companies which can afford to distribute worldwide; these are the big commercial breweries that produce the watered-down stuff that’s cheap to buy, somewhat lower in alcohol content, and of a certain plain flavor that’s not terribly interesting. Plus I understand that one apparent problem with transport is usually this is beer that doesn’t respond well to aging, and it’s being shipped (literally) which means it’s not going to be all that fresh when it arrives.
Meanwhile Americans hear a lot of “European/British/German/etc beers are so much better than yours” and of course we’re apparently getting the equivalent of what we export getting sent back to us, for the most part. I’ve even heard stuff from friends like how the version in the “home” country is a lot better than the version we get - not sure if that’s due to aging or what. Perhaps the joke I heard is true: “The Guinness brewery has three expert tasters that sample each batch. If the first taster rejects a batch, he has another taster try it, and if he rejects it, he sends it to the final taster. If he rejects it, it gets shipped to the US.” 
The alcohol contents of Coors Light and Guinness are basically the same. And Yeungling Lager too, for that matter. But I can drink more Coors Light than Guinness, and at a cheaper price.
I can’t speak for American brewers, but if the Canadian mass-market breweries are anything like their American counterparts, the kegged stuff is not pasteurized. It is cold-filtered.
When I worked in a Canadian brewer’s warehouse, all the cases of bottles and cans were not chilled–they were kept at room (warehouse?) temperature. The kegs, however, were kept in a cold room. They had to be; they would get skunky in some of the temperatures we experienced during the summer. As it was, their “best before” dates were only a month from the time they rolled out of the brewery, unlike the bottles (three months) and the cans (four months).
Note that I’m referring to the big commercial breweries’ pasteurized products here, not the microbrews or craft products. Those required a little more care in warehousing and shipping.
As for the OP, there are some American micros and craft beers and ales that I’ve had on trips to the US that have been amazing. Same goes for here in Canada. But the problem with the size of our countries is that shipping is sometimes impractical if you want the beer to survive the trip in a drinkable state. That’s why I can’t get something like Ontario’s Creemore Springs Lager in my home province of Alberta. But for the same reason, the mass-market commercial beers that are not so fragile and delicate can (and do) travel well, and can be shipped around the country, and beyond.
I’ve had some great cask-conditioned real ales off the tap in pubs in the UK. Beautiful beers they are, and I wish I could get them at my local pub here at home. But they’re not made to travel. I have to enjoy them when I’m in the UK, and when I get home, all I can get is a UK brewer’s attempt at canning it. It’s not the same. I would imagine that if I based my impression of UK beers on what I could get here in a can, I’d be disappointed too.
Check out this beer list. The location isn’t my favorite, but I there’s no danger that I’ll not find something I want.
Yes… in some places. Generally, the big brewers brew lagers, which aren’t “real ale” in any event, so it’s not much different than the UK in that regard. Some of the smaller local breweries do indeed serve cask-conditioned “real ale” though- St. Arnold in Houston, Texas is one that comes to mind- served with a hand pump, just like in any old pub in the UK.
Hmm… the bars I frequent- the Gingerman, Flying Saucer, Fox & Hound, all have several types of lager on tap (Pilsner Urquell, Carlsberg, Warsteiner, Paulaner 1634, Spaten Dunkle, et al) and lots of ales on tap (Chimay, Flying Dog, Full Sail, Anchor, Red Hook, Bass, McEwan’s, Fuller’s, Sierra Nevada, etc…)
And they have lots of bottled beers that they can’t get on tap- Timothy Taylor Landlord, Kwak, Jubel, etc…
Yeah, but US standard pints, which are 16 oz instead of 20 oz.
Hmm… having consumed my share of British beer while spending the summer there, I can say that US mass-produced lagers are pretty light in body, but still have a similar (within 1-2%) alcohol content.
It’s not as if there aren’t some good American beers around. I’m not much of a beer drinker these days, but Samuel Adams, to name just one, has several different varieties and they’re all pretty good. Or at least I think they are.
I would agree that mass-market US beer sucks in comparison to say… ANY other country’s.
I can remember when Miller changed its recipe in the late 70’s. It used to be very yeasty, like drinking a loaf of bread mmmmm bready tasting beer.
Budweiser has an excuse, they substitute rice for corn (for those folks allergic to corn).
What is maddening is that I used to be able to get real Canadian Molson on tap in Ohio. Why those Canooks have to Americanize their beer to sell it here is beyond me. Must be a punishment for Jerry Springer reruns.
Best thing to do with American beer is fill your glass ¾ full and top it off with tomato juice and pepper.
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.
Maybe you can’t. But I can and have drank it all night with no problems. The only issue I have with Guinness is that it’s poured very, very badly here in the US. Americans don’t seem to care how their beer is poured – a Bud is a Bud. But I guarantee you that there are pubs in Ireland that have been shut down because they poured Guinness incorrectly. I half-way agree with the OP: there are good beers produced by the US, but most Americans don’t bother to expand their horizons beyond Budweiser.
You’re right about Guinness being pretty low in alcoholic content. And being more expensive.
But I just prefer the taste. And the fact that it doesn’t make me piss as much as light beer does. 
Well, as someone mentioned, American beer generally sucks because of Prohibition. Pre-prohibition, there were thousands of small breweries in the US. Sadly, only the biggest boys would survive to the end of Prohibition. A further reason is the rationing of grain in World War II, which led to the bland macro-lager we have today.
Fortunately, there’s been some light at the end of the tunnel, with about 1500 breweries in the US today.
Beer becomes a spot of pride for most people. The truth is that most of the beer brewed worldwide would be of the same type of pale lager as BudMilCo (even the most popular beers in Belgium are Stella Artois and Jupiler, both macro lagers). It’s getting even worse with a spree of consolidation of breweries in Europe, which will lead to few products being made, and guess what they’ll be?
So, perk up Americans, our beer future is getting brighter!!
One caveat on alcohol content of American beer:
In some states, supermarket product is limited to 3.2% alcohol content. All others must be sold through liquor stores. In Oklahoma, at least, liquor stores are not allowed to refrigerate their products so all real beer is sold warm, just as if it were whiskey or rum, for crissakes! This makes unpasteurized beer virtually impossible to get here. This also means we cannot get >3.2% Miller/Bud/Coors products here at all since the major American brewers only sell 3.2% product in 3.2% states to avoid complications in distribution channels and tax accounting.
I’ve tried beers from at least a couple of dozen countries (in those countries when possible) and can say that all those countries have at least one brew that didn’t sit well on my palate.
My favorites? Samuel Adams (we even share a birthday!) Winter Lager and Double Bock, Bitburger, and Warsteiner.
Can’t get it here in Manitoba, either.
It’s a shame. That is a fine beer, ranking in the top 5 North American microbrews IMHO.
I’m in the process of determining its availability from Kenora, ON (about a 90 minute drive). It will be worth the journey if it is.
I gave up on the North American mass produced swill a few years ago. Belgium and the Czech Republic are my favourite sources of beer. Germany makes some fantastic lagers, too.
Let’s face it; no matter where you go, the most popular beers will be soda pop lagers. Here in Canada the most popular brands are Labatt Blue, which tastes the same as Coors Light except it’s actually a bit worse, and Molson Canadian, which is Bud North. Even the midscale brands, like Sleeman’s or Moosehead make the vast majority of their sales with their flagship lagers, which aren’t terribly impressive. Any Canadian who criticizes American beer (e.g. half the population of Canada, and I know, I live here) needs to take his head out of his ass.
Beer nationalism is sort of an international constant; no matter who I talk to, they’re convinced their beer is better than anyone else’s beer. American beers get hammered the most often because they’re the most visible, but it applies to everyone. Everyone I’ve ever met from Australia is convinced Australian beer is the best beer on earth, but anyone who’s actually had a VB or a Foster’s knows most Australian beer is the same mass-produced swill you’ll find anywhere and can’t be distinguished from Bud or Molson. People keep telling me how German beer is great but most beer sold in Germany (like over 80%) is cheap-ass pop lagers.
Let us be frank; most beer is consumed by people looking to get hammered, not to taste it. A standard mass produced lager is ideal for this purpose and so will be popular everywhere.