USA #1 in beer?

Welcome to the site and thanks for bringing your perspective to the discussion.

 

Well, I was hoping to drink a Victory Kolsch after the Phillies win today but it was not to be. I did luck out that they had the Victory CBC Alt on tap instead. A tasty Alt that is a combination of German malt and German hops: a pleasant combination of Munich Malt flavors with the flavors of the German Mandarina hops.

Below is the description of CBC Alt from the Victory website:

Composition

Malt: Two-row German malts

Hops: Mandarina

ABV: 5.9%

Flavor

Deep, dark fruit aromas stand up to the rich and complex flavors developed from the dark malts and a heavy dose of Mandarina dry-hops. Great flavor, especially on the finish.

Cheers!

 

Had one about an hour ago. Really nice.

 

I have had a number of Victory CBC (Craft Brewers Conference) beers that I thought were really tasty. I always hope that they might decide to make them regular (or seasonal) beers.

Cheers!

 

I see this one all the time. Literally cannot count how many times i've been fooled into buying a generic blonde ale or lager claiming to be a Koelsch.

 

I can appreciate certain Belgium And German beers, but no one does it better than America.

 

I think a good number of folks might find your assertion debatable. England (as a brewing nation) is also worthy of some respect, don't you think?

 

That no other country has as much variety, I can definitely get behind. That the US makes more consistent, well-made beer is highly dubious.

Sure, you can go in to one bar and order a Bud, a dubbel, a rauchbier, or a root beer. But, I feel that you are more likely to get a lower quality beer than you would in say, a country/town/region/etc. whose specialty is rauchbier, dubbels, [insert style name here].

Maybe I am all wet about this, but I would defer back to my experience with US-brewed Belgian styles: Some are good. A select few are quite good. Many are outright bad.

Is it good that you are able to buy a bad beer just because somebody wanted to brew it? I'd say that it probably is.
Does the simple fact that you have access to this bad beer mean that the US is better than a country with more limited style offerings available (but with more consistent quality)? Hell no!

At the end of the day, it all comes down to the question of whether people will buy it or not. Apparently they will and the fact that that trumps beer culture in the old-world sense is so American that it brings a tear with the reflection of the flag to my eye.

 

You are right. I did leave english styles off that list. That is my fault. None of these countries make bad brews, I just personally like American beers are the best.

 

Not trying to single you out, since I ask this in most cases when I see posts like this, but: how many of those countries have you visited and consumed the products of at the source?