ketostix said:
People talk about this or that import beer being so great and I think it's just a bunch of baseless opinion.
With all due respect, I don't see how anyone can even consider mass produced American beer to be in the same category as imports and microbrews. And I'm not talking Heineken and Corona and crap (although they are slightly better IMO) I'm talking about the good stuff that you don't see in every 7/11 in the country.
A lot of these people don't understand brewing and are just stating an opinion or a preference. Budweiser is made of all natural ingredients and because of it's great sales volume they can make a quality product at a lower price.I don't like to buy anything foriegn when I can get a good american product.
Then you should try some of the micro brews. American craft brewers are making some world class beers nowadays.
It's all an opinion or preference, however, a lot of people don't even bother to try anything outside of what they sell at the local convenience store, so they have no basis to formulate an opinion.
Lets put it this way.
I HATED beer when I was 17-18. The guys I worked with would get together after work in the back of the restaurant parking lot and drink whatever was cheapest at the time. I couldn't even get a sip down without wanting to spit it out.
Then one of the guys I worked with who had been in the military in Germany introduced me to German Hefeweizen (Julius Echter).
It was amazing. From that point on I was hooked, and to this day I still don't understand why someone would buy Bud, Miller, Coors, or any of the other American beers.
I was so hooked I studied the art of brewing and started brewing my own beer. I did my final speech for speech class in college on the brewing process of beer. Aced the speech, and aced the class. So I know a thing or two about brew.
To date I'm sure I have tried close to 1000 different beers from all over the world, including local beers in Mexico, Jamaica, Republic of Georgia, Germany, Holland, and Czech Republic.
Georgian beer pretty much sucked, a couple were ok. Same with Russian brews. Had a few of those while I was over there.
They have some decent stuff in Mexico, but I'll take a good Anejo tequila over a Mexican beer most days.
I walked several miles (ironically right PAST the Heineken brewery) in Amsterdam to visit a local brewery that was housed in an old windmill. Pretty good stuff. Cheap too.
Had a few interesting beers In Prague, although i found Czech beer to be generally overrated. I liked the food better.
But Germany.....man that's the beer lovers MECCA.
Attended Oktoberfest in Munich and was largely unimpressed with the beer. Again, the food was awesome, but the beer wasn't as good as most of the stuff I drink back home. But Berlin....ahhhhhh Berlin.....hands down the best beers i have ever had.
Had German Pilsners that were brewed right there in the beer garden. Mmmmmmm...... But the crown goes to the Weizen. The wheat beers made in Berlin couldn't have been made better if they came from heaven. Bursting with citrusy flavors, reminiscent of Juicy Fruit gum. the best I tried was from a brewery called Lemke, located under a train overpass in the Mitte section of the city. Truly a beer to behold.
Anyway....
I don't care if Bud is all natural, it is made with fillers and adjuncts as I mentioned earlier. They use rice instead of 100% barley, which takes away from the flavor. The hops, which are a key component in most beers, are cheap and bland.
A good beer will highlight one or more of its characteristics, such as hoppiness (such as Sam Adams) or maltiness (such as Newcastle) or any number of other flavors (all the way from fruity to dessert-like) that are every bit as complex as a fine wine. Budweiser highlights nothing.
End of beer snob rant.
