Take a look at this map, which shows the most popular beer in every country in the world (that has a preference or that they have data for):
Of nearly all the beers pictured on that map that I’ve had, they were almost all essentially indistinguishable from an American Budweiser or Bud Light, and I’m willing to bet that holds true for a vast majority of the ones I’ve not tried.
Why is this?
My WAG is the vast majority of them are simply copying Budweiser because it’s a proven hit.
Well, as most people I’ve discussed brewing that type of beer point out, it’s an inoffensive style. It doesn’t have much flavor to recommend it, but it also doesn’t have much to offend, either. It’s a mildly sweet, mildly bitter style. I’d prefer it if the trend was to a drier beer, but they’re obviously not asking me.
My wag is the vast majority are just philistines that either dont know any better or just dont give a fuck for some reason. Liking or not liking isn’t even part of the equation to them.
Hmm, Heineken vs Bud Light as the bottom brew? I can’t say that I can come up with an objective argument, but I know which one I would pick if they were the only two options. I prefer skunked beer to beer that was almost designed to taste nasty.
That’s not to say there aren’t some damn nice pilsners out there, but they don’t seem to be mega popular.
And yeah, Guinness is a nice, middle of the road, non-offensive stout. I’m glad the Irish have hung on to it being their go-to beer and not followed the march to sweet beers.
It’s not just beer. I think the majority of people prefer bland, boring food in general. Anything a little different freaks them out.
However,
I wouldn’t make that bet, myself. Yeah, Corona tastes like crap, but I’ve tried the one in Switzerland, and many other Swiss beers. Nothing there comes close to being as flavorless and cardboard-tasting as Bud Light. And Poker definitely is better.
By definition, a country’s most popular beer will be mass-produced and probably reasonably-priced. As cheap mass-produced beers go, some of those is OK. Tuborg is decent enough, as is my own country’s favorite, Goldstar.
I’ve been all over the world and have had most beers on that map. I have over 1000 ratings on Ratebeer.com as well.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say those beers suck, but they are truly for the masses and most of them mediocre at best.
Whenever I travel to a foreign land I try to find the cheapest brew available. You know, the “Milwaukee Best” of that locale. Something that would never get imported into the USA. I find that whatever it is it’s usually better than our premium beers. Go figure.
Yeah, of mass-produced beers, I’ve only had Bud, Peroni, and Guiness, and Guiness certainly doesn’t taste like the other two. Peroni tastes like a good version of Bud. If I had to choose between a craft IPA and the other three I’d choose Guiness, Peroni, then the IPA, then the Bud at the bottom. I’ve had some craft non-IPA that were okay but I’d still prefer the Guiness for drinkability.
While the rest of your post is open to taste, (I quite enjoy some of the beers on that map) the idea that they’re copying Bud is hilarious. They original makers of Bud based it of a pre-existing Czech recipe, hence using the Budweiser name. (Which FYI they’re not allowed to use in the EU) Many of the Euro beers on the map predate Bud by anything from a couple of decades to centuries. (Although admittedly no idea if the older ones still use the same recipe)
Sure, but bear in mind that we’re talking about the most *popular *beer in each country, not the most beloved. The most popular means the one consumed the most, which means the one produced at the largest volume, which means that it’s a mass-produced beer, which means that whoever owns it is by definition a large company. A really good beer can’t be the most popular beer, because really good beers aren’t mass produced by large companies.
