Which is better - British or American Beer?

Too many beers have gone the way of "Lets make a profit / water it down / they won't notice" This applies in all countries.

Aussie beers have a history that goes back to two major influences, British that came over on the first boats and post WW1 and WW2 we had a lot of German brewers who wanted a new life. Both groups did very well.

In Australia we have crap beer just like every other country. We also have some great beers!

Truth to tell, get out of the mass market and every country can make a fine beer, it takes the right ingredients, knowledge and a bit of black magic.

Here's to ya mate! Gulp gulp gulp.

P

reply to post by skalla


Brooklyn Lager or Mc Sorleys Ale.
At Least its COLD
Therefore Better.

The worlds Best Haiku :::::::::: Cold Beer
Sold Here

reply to post by skalla

There's a debate about this?

I didn't know they had beer in America. Just what the novelist Martin Amis called 'high-octane washing-up liquid'. The octane's not so high either.

Actually, I just realised that one of my favourite beers is actually an American beer… So there ya go.
Sierra Nevada Pale is a bloody good drop.

Ha, that is like asking whether Alaska or Iceland have the best coffee.

Chocolate milk beats all.

(I rarely enjoy a beer, I've probably had 5 beer drinking afternoons total in about 15 years.)

Most beer tastes the same. *shrugs*

American beer. Don't get me wrong there is allot of great beer out there from different countries but, America has a huge variety. I am a lager guy and living in PA we have a local company that makes one of my favorites. Now I can't speak to Britain's micro brews but, you can spend a life time sampling the micro brews in the US. While there may be some generic brands in the US that are crap at best, they make allot of money because they are cheap and some people just don't care, that said, there is beer like that everywhere.

Australian beer is the best, no other country even comes close.

Originally posted by James1982
I'll put my cards on the table too, I've tried nearly 1,000 different beers from many, many different countries. I brew beer (not professionally) I love beer, I experiment with beer, and i research beer. I'm American, so my exposure to local craft brews is mostly limited to American craft breweries.

From those local craft breweries, I can get light lagers, dopplebocks, porters, stouts, IPAs, CDAs, RIS, brown ales, red ales, bavarian heffe, american heffe, belgian whit, trippel, quad, barleywine,shandys, fruit ales so on and so fourth. Pretty much any and all styles of beer from anywhere on the planet, American brewers make that style, and many do an awesome job at it.

German beers are great, I love their doppelbocks and wheat beers, but that's bout it. Their purity law really stifles a lot of creativity, and the beer suffers imho. But if I want a nice wheaty, estery heffe, a german one is what I'd go for. Some of my favorite common exports are Franziskaner and Konig ludwig for heffes and Kulmbacher and Ayinger for eisbocks and doppelbocks.

Belgians are incredible, very few belgian beers I don't like.

Canadian, Australian, non-german and non-belgian european beer..meh. Boring and lacks complexity and low on flavor. This is just based on what is available for me to try, there could very well be some craft brewers making some awesome stuff... I just haven't personally seen in.

Really, there is no such thing as American beer, Canadian beer, Mexican beer, etc. They are all just stolen styles from their respective homelands. There isn't a long history of beer brewing in these places ( compared to other countries) which imho helps their craft brewers make better beer. They aren't tied down by convention or style, they experiment and some incredible beer comes out of it.

Some of my favorite american beer by style:

Imperial stout: Deschuttes Abyss- they make a new version every year, but it's generally around 10% alcohol, full of dark, thick, rich chocolate, vanilla, roasted flavors. Lost Coast Old Rasputin, souther tier's choklat stout, is a close second.

Barleywine: Lagunita's Gnarleywine- about 9% alcohol, very sweet and sticky, floral hop notes, strong but refreshing and drinkable.

IPA: Avery Maharaja, nearly a barelywine, similar in description to the Gnarleywine above, 9 or10% alcohol but much more hop forward and a little dryer.

Wheat; Deschuttes has quite a few different brewpub-only wheat beers, they were all great. Ivanna weiss, wowzenbock, were a few of my favorites. I used to like Sierra nevada's kellerweis, but I believe they use a continuously evolving yeast, and the flavor has changed over the years, not so great anymore.

Porter: Flying dog's imperial porter is delicious, although really more of a stout. I like to go big or go home, so I generally don't play with porters, I go straight to stouts if I want a darker heavier beer.

Some other beers that don't fall neatly into a style:

Kona brewing coco brown is awesome, coconut flavor and slightly sweet, roasty and full flavored, average alcohol content.

Southern tier's Pumpking, DFH's punkin are both tasty pumpkin beers released around thanksgiving usually.

Pretty much any of the new belgium lips of faith series are interesting and delicious twists on various styles.

So as you can see, there are tons and tons of American beers out there, if you want good american beer you really have to go with craft breweries, even if they are some of the larger ones. Dogfish head, sierra nevada, heck even sam adams make beer lightyears ahead of that swill most Americans unfortunately drink and are still available many places in the US, and I believe are also exported to Canada, no idea other than that though.

I went out to dinner with a group of friends, one of which married a guy that moved here from somewhere in england. He had his friends from back home come visit, so we thought we'd take them out to a brewpub for dinner. He kept saying how he couldn't stand american beer, so we got him a little 6 glass taster tray of some various beers. He was amazed at how good they were, how intoxicated he was after drinking that night, and I'm sure went home telling people that there really is good American beer, and you have to be careful if you are expecting normal weak light lagers, as many good craft brews are 7-10% alcohol and still go down easier than that light dishwater they were expecting.

seriously bro you just wiped the whole world basically, unless you are German, American (of course) or Belgian you cant make beer. man that is an astonishing claim by someone who lacks any authority in the business and is some boutique beer connoisseur who's only experience is whatever he can get his hands on

reply to post by Astyanax


i know, i shouldnt have tried to be reasonable, i should have just come out and said US beer was pish



reply to post by Qumulys


dont talk nonsense, it's strawberry all the way

reply to post by James1982


sorry, but you have tried a thousand beers and dont like owt from the uk? i find that pretty hard to believe, unless you just tried what some uncaring landlord gave you
at least you like porter and IPA i suppose. which are ofc british

We've known for years about American beer and certain activities on a canoe

honesty you arses need to stop doing this to me lol every time someone post their picks in a beer thread I say ok write that down "note to self" then I pick up a bottle or six pack or check to see if I can get my hands on it. If I cant get a liquor store to order it I'm seeing if i can order it online.

These type of threads are expensive for me!! Overall I have found food specialty places have some of the brews here in America. Seriously though, variety is the spice of life so why pick just one besides if anyone says american here they will most likely be laughed at until you tell them Samuel Adams almost got bought out by a British company so they must of liked it right? Of course Budweiser is bad same with Coors. Hell corona's are awful until you add lime and salt while relaxing on a beach then they are amazing

I have favorites from around the globe funny thing I found out about beers from around the globe is they go best with the food from their region or home country. Try it seriously it will blow your mind like drinking white red/white wine according to what you eat.

Being from St. Louis, there are alot of American beers to taste. But I will analyze just the most common Anheuser Busch products. Budweiser is ok, but too much hops and it can give you a hang over if you drink it all night with no water. A lot of my friends say it doesn't , but honestly it is one of the only beers that does give me a hang over. Bud Light is weak, and I have to drink a lot just to keep my buzz going. The taste is ok, but a little watered down. Natty light is just watered down crap, period. Busch beer is an unique combo, which is actually ok. I prefer Budweiser Select, which is the perfect combo for me. Not as strong as a Bud, yet not as p*ussy as bud light. I haven't tried their new products besides bud light lime. I give bud light lime an F, for failure. I'm yet to try that new 6% alcohol beer they have. As far as foreign beers go. I don't mind them, but by the time they get to St. Louis , MO they taste like crap. Maybe I just haven't tried enough Guiness or Fosters, but that crap always tastes like someone set it in their car for a couple days in the sun, then re-cooled it. I guess that's why I'm from St. Louis......

Originally posted by Druscilla

I'm going with German beer.

Argentina has some surprisingly good beers too.
Then again, with the German influence in South America, that may not be so surprising after all.

Not only in Argentina



I drank a lot of this when I was there, really good.

My beer experience has mostly been limited to the mass produced 'American' beers, but as I've aged my love of beer has grown dramatically, so I found myself willing to travel further and look harder for those really good beers. I found a place recently whose specialty is to sell by the bottle a wide range of beers from a huge variety of locations. I bought six bottles. Five were from local American breweries. 1 was from the U.K. (I try to support my local small businesses, lol) Anyway. 2 were flat out disgusting. They were american. 2 were just okay, I could drink it but wouldn't buy it again. And 1 I absolutely LOVED. Loved it so much I took a picture of it so that when I go back to the store I can remember what it's called and buy 6 of them! And, it was the one from the UK. It's called Samuel Smith Pure Brewed Organic Lager Beer.

So, does that mean I prefer British beer? Just maybe!

My vote

reply to post by skalla


This is a bit like being asked to choose your favorite child.

I'm an Englishman. Ex Pub Manager, Ex CAMRA member. Now living in Texas.

While Coors, Miller, Bud (all Soda water with a dash of Cat urine for colour and flavour) are still popular, the States is going through a bit of a Renaissance in beer. Something akin to what started in the U.K. during the 80s.

There is a great diversity of flavours and brewing styles. Although a most do seem to be based on German styles in my area, Bock, Dunkel etc. As it was mainly settled by German immigrants.

A couple of points, as I could talk about Beer all day (as well as drink it )
Most craft Beers have an ABV of over 5% and IPA tends to be a lot more bitter over here.

Here's a few local Breweries all making exceptional beers.
Deep Ellum Brewing Co
The Peticolas Brewing Co
Lakewood Brewing Co
FireWheel Brewing Co
Revolver Brewing
Rahr & Sons Brewing Co
and a bit further away but more widespread...
Shiner

The one thing that is certainly better back in blighty is the Pub. Table service ruins the atmosphere over here.

Now I'm thirsty and have three hours to wait until the Bar opens.

Old Milwaukee is America's best tasting beer don't ya know. It even says so on the can.

beeradvocate.com...

I like beer! Come on and sing along everyone!

m.youtube.com...



Pladuim

reply to post by skalla

Real British Beer is Miles Better....



Yes.

P.S. Now I know why you have been uncharacteristicly freely giving out Flags, Stars and comments

Like.