A classic Monty Python joke from Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Definitely some truth in this… I live in Germany with some of the best lagers in the world, and having a Miller Light for the first time was a really weird experience.
Now when I’ve visited the US quite a few times, I can say I dislike the expensive craft beers way more compared to the classic american lagers… They are way too hoppy, but the worst thing is how much more expensive they are! Like a pale ale can be over ten dollars, but a pint of PBR is 3.50. Beer should be cheap, and I don’t really like how this craft beer culture made the prices go so high.
Why haven’t any American brewers been able to make a solid lager? I typically get Spaten or Becks, but pretty much every American lager I try is terrible
It is very hard to brew a good lager, like the good Helles style famously brewed in Bavaria. I’ve been on a mission every time I come to the US to find good Helles, and I found two places that get very close:
But quite often even if they advertise the beer as German style Helles, it has some quality that makes it very different. Usually it’s sweet or even hoppy. I think for an american a special beer should have a special taste, but a good Helles is just very fresh and crisp beer.
Edit: and Becks is one of the worst beers in Germany in my opinion… At least nobody tries to sell overpriced Sternburg here.
Yes “sweet or hoppy” sums it up so well. I’ve been traveling a lot to the USA the last few years and whenever I bring this up at the inevitable craft brewery we end up at the Americans think I have no sense of taste in beer.
But they’re all the same and horrible. They’ve been brain washed.
A classic Monty Python joke from Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Definitely some truth in this… I live in Germany with some of the best lagers in the world, and having a Miller Light for the first time was a really weird experience.
Now when I’ve visited the US quite a few times, I can say I dislike the expensive craft beers way more compared to the classic american lagers… They are way too hoppy, but the worst thing is how much more expensive they are! Like a pale ale can be over ten dollars, but a pint of PBR is 3.50. Beer should be cheap, and I don’t really like how this craft beer culture made the prices go so high.
Why haven’t any American brewers been able to make a solid lager? I typically get Spaten or Becks, but pretty much every American lager I try is terrible
It is very hard to brew a good lager, like the good Helles style famously brewed in Bavaria. I’ve been on a mission every time I come to the US to find good Helles, and I found two places that get very close:
This place in Seattle: https://maps.app.goo.gl/czPMtm4xkunkopEc8
And this in Weaverville: https://maps.app.goo.gl/wuNS33EcQ1qC9zfb9
But quite often even if they advertise the beer as German style Helles, it has some quality that makes it very different. Usually it’s sweet or even hoppy. I think for an american a special beer should have a special taste, but a good Helles is just very fresh and crisp beer.
Edit: and Becks is one of the worst beers in Germany in my opinion… At least nobody tries to sell overpriced Sternburg here.
Yes “sweet or hoppy” sums it up so well. I’ve been traveling a lot to the USA the last few years and whenever I bring this up at the inevitable craft brewery we end up at the Americans think I have no sense of taste in beer.
But they’re all the same and horrible. They’ve been brain washed.