USA #1 in beer?

Alas, yours is the plaint of the person lucky enough to have tried fine beers from elsewhere right at the source.

 

What is your opinion on American fried potatoes?

 

That was a great read.

 

We were talking about people's comments in threads no? At least I was.

Don't disagree about the beers of fame list. Would only say that the European beers in there are mostly sours/stouts/high-ABV beers (shockingly), that are available in bottled-form in the US. Not necessarily representative of what's available on the ground in the country in question. Yes there are a few other German and UK beers in there, but that's more a result of legacy reviews. If this site were to start from scratch today, the latter wouldn't get a sniff at any top 250 list (hence the fact they're not on the Top 250 list; the default list based on what people are reviewing and rating right now - maybe you should go look at that one).

 

Are we going to fight now, you and I?

Seriously, though, if I had a dollar for every time I saw (and too often fell for) the "Belgian style frites" bullshit that gets hocked from San Diego to Orlando, I could afford to import a Fritland brick by brick. I don't understand why frying once in peanut oil, resting, and frying once in duck fat is so damn hard. I mean, you can literally walk up, watch them do it, and then pay a couple euros for fired Nirvana. I don't understand why it's such a goddamn challenge to import that anywhere that doesn't require subtitles in two different languages.

Oh, yeah, yay beer. This post is still relevant, I swear....because, I, uh...used to drink good Belgian beer while I waited in line for my fried Nirvana. Yeah, that's it.

 

I think you need to go over and make an account on potatoadvocate.com...

Didn't want to fight, haha, just curious to hear your opinion on it.

For me, the nirvana of fried potatoes is boardwalk style fries, namely from Thrasher's in Maryland and Delaware. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

 

I vote that @Dreizhen gets the Gold Medal for this best post on this thread.

Cheers to Dreizhen!

 

Top 250 list; the default list based on what people are reviewing and rating right now - maybe you should go look at that one).[/QUOTE]
The top 250 list? You mean the list that is almost completely made up of American IPA,IIPA,American Barrel aged stout and American Wild ale? That list? The list driven by homers and trade bait artists? LOL That list is nearly useless to the average beer drinker. Go ahead, scroll down that list until you find the first style that isn't one of those that I listed.

 

(@mudbug - responding this way as if i quote your misquoted response, everything gets all fucked up)

I'm not arguing with you. Yes it's a useless list. All I'm saying is the beer of fame list is only marginally more useful - it is driven mostly by old reviews, and is based on what's available in bottles in the US, in styles that US BAs like.

But if you want to put a lot of stock in it, go for it. Just telling you as someone from the UK, that despite what the Beers of Fame List may tell you, I'm afraid Samuel Smith Oatmeal stout (top ranked British beer on there at #44) is not the best beer brewed in the UK.

 

Oh I meant it alright..........peel yourself away from the tour de france for two seconds and tell me why you think my statement was so wrong.

 

America does American styles extremely well
America does non-American styles very well.

Non-American breweries do their own specialties extremely well
Non-American breweries...don't even seem to care to attempt anything else, largely.

If there was a Beer Olympics competing in every single style, maybe the US may not win the most Golds, but we'd have the most medals.


oh, and let the great potato debate of '14 commence.

 

There is one thing I am sure of, America is the best at making American beer.

 

Just seemed a little overly-patriotic I guess, and possibly a little dismissive of other countries; particularly Germany

 

I vote that @JDV gets the Silver Medal for the second best post of this thread.

Cheers to JDV!

 

I dont think I was being overly patriotic at all.......There was no USA chant or anything at the end of what I said.....a guy asked what country's beer we all think is best and I gave my honest answer..........I have nothing against those countries they produce amazing beer and without them there would be no american beer culture at all......as I said though we have the most variety by far......my jab at Germany was because of the German "purity" law for beer(reinheitsgebot) which has nothing to do at all with keeping the beer pure and everything to do with forcing german brewers to purchase ingredients that are taxed heavily, not to mention it stops them from making anything other than "traditional" beers which is why they dont have as much variety.

 

Haha, I'm only joking. But yeah, I get a little passionate about the potatoes. And I am definitely a fan of the boardwalk fries, myself (I'll be passing through that area in a few weeks and definitely grabbing some). But nothing compares to... okay, I'm done, I swear.

Dammit!

@mudbug,

You certainly have a point. That being said, distribution in the US beats the shit out of distribution in the EU. I'm pretty close to Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, and the UK right now. I have to go to specialty stores (of which there are exactly three in the whole Île-de-France) to find anything from those countries aside from low end Belgian beer and macros. Sure, this is France, but Belgium was about the same with the Netherlands only slightly better. Switzerland is a joke for beer, at least on the French side. Germany is better. Yes, you can travel between States like Americans do between states but Americans don't have to.

Also, European transportation isn't as easy as you might think. Far less access to cars and trains can get pricey. Even going from major city to major city, say Paris to Lisbon, by discount airlines can be in the $200 range. Car shares help between major cities, but convincing strangers to drive you to In de Vrede is harder than you would think.

In sum, having the ability to take a day trip to a few great breweries and being able to buy quality beer from across the U.S. at the grocery store are definitely things I took for granted when I lived in the States.

 

No argument, but I don't really think there is another country with 3,000 breweries trying to make interesting beers. I also have no doubt (with no data) that we are the number 1 export destination for other countries' beers. Those things combine to make the U.S. a pretty clear #1 overall for beer lovers. I also find that the perception that the U.S. can't do X style as well as the native version is way overblown. There is some bias creeping in, just as there is for certain American beers. I think it's cool that folks like Evil Twin and BrewDog are doing some very non-traditional things very well. It's just as cool when American brewers try to make a traditional styles and succeed. We all benefit.