USA #1 in beer?

I think you just described Applebee's.

 

Oh dear, If Applebee's is the best choice, staying hungry is a reasonable response

 

I guess the two restaurants would have to merge (and thus get better?) for it really to become like Applebee's (i.e. trying to be all things to all people and ending up being nothing to anyone -- except for those who prize variety over all else).

In all seriousness, I think it's unnecessarily complex (and confusing). And IMO it's more or less impossible to do all of those styles really well in that setting.

To quote Richard Branson (who has to worry about such things since he has his hands in so many baskets): "Complexity is your enemy. Any fool can make something complicated. It is hard to make something simple."

 

Fair enough. But the "free market" doesn't work that way in Germany, Belgium, the UK, or the Czech Republic.

 

How many people commenting in this thread have actually tried some of these styles from their respective sources?

I ask because, what if there's some German for example, who thinks his country has great variety. He thinks he has access to multiple styles, all of high quality. He drinks 5 month old Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, and thinks he can get high quality IPAs. But he has no idea what it's like to have fresh Hill Farmstead on draft, or a can of Heady Topper. And until he's had a fresh Double Sunshine, Pliny the Elder...etc. how can he know what a quality IPA tastes like?

Go to Europe, drink as much beer as you can, THEN come back here and tell me there's hundreds of high quality examples of other countries' styles.

 

We're number 1 for everything!!! *bald eagle screeches in the background*

 

And yet it hasn't led to U.S. brewers improving on the original top/world-class examples from those countries.

 

Let's ask the eagle.

Which eagle, I hear you euro **** ask? The sea eagle? No. The phillipine eagle? No. The solitary eagle? No.

The bald eagle?



murica wins. PERIOD. DESPITE ME ALREADY PUTTING A PERIOD. PERIOD, COMMA. PERIOD

 

Key question right here. Answer is probably very few

 

Most improved: absolutely. Totally and completely agree that what U.S. "craft" has achieved in such a short period is remarkable.

 

My life is incomplete if there's anything America is not the best at!

You see, I have nothing in my life that I am good at. However, I was born inside the lines of a map of the United States of America, so that means as long as America is the best, I am the best. If America is not the best at beer, America is not the best, and thus I am not the best and I have to feel bad about my utterly mediocre and sad existence.

AMERICA THE GREAT FUCK YEAH!

 

I have read many posts discussing America's beer culture and burgeoning craft brewers. We do have a beer culture that is very different from the biergartens of Germany but they are relevant. Tailgate parties, brewery tasting rooms and the current rise of the media/bar room in many homes in my opinion are our social venues. With that said the next evolution in the culture will be tour packages to visit "brewing hot spots' across America. Who gives a damn about skiing?? when I hear Colorado, I am thinking craft beers same as a dozen other locales. In time we will evolve into our own sub culture and not mimic another country's, that is how we roll. LOL p.s. Our beers will not only raise the bar and be highly praised but the size of our country and diverse cultures will allow vast amounts of experimentation that will dwarf most countries.

 

Agree with everything in here 100%. We need our own culture/cultures. And that takes time to grow -- and must grow organically if it is to be truly viable. The more we lean on things like marketing and "variety" and "twists" on traditional styles as the pillars of our brewing culture, the more we hinder that organic growth. If the resultant culture has something in common with current BMC culture (sports, tailgating, etc.) then all the better IMO. That way it will be both inclusive and reflect a true sense of place. Craft has thus far been so afraid of being like BMC that I think it has somewhat held things back in terms of growing a uniquely American beer culture (that includes "craft" as a component).

 

You are not alone and all of your posts have been very thoughtfully stated.

Please stick to your guns in this thread.

Cheers!

 

Catching up? What exactly are these UK brewers meant to succeed in reaching? Traditional British styles made the California way?