(Why) Are imports overlooked?

This is used for cask beer, 'I'd be surprised if it's used for bottles or cans because there would be no point to it.But as bottling/canning dumbs it right down I rarely buy any either.It's like listening to music with earmuffs on.

 

all depends on the style. Lambics and other sour/wild ales that are imported are overlooked because not a lot of people know to much about those type of imports. Brewdog is a import and they have bottle dates on them and ive never had any freshness problems with bottles that are in code. Also Mikkeller is also imported and they taste fine to me. But ive only mostly had his stouts and lambic/sour ales.

 

Everyone who is saying that US breweries are easily matching German breweries, please let me know which beers. I've heard of 2 possible hefeweizens that are anywhere near the German ballpark, both very regional (one not even bottled). I've tried pretty much everything that has "doppelbock" on the label that I can find, and so far, the best US example I've found is easily on par with German imports for price (and regional itself, as well as seasonal). I barely see US rauchbiers. Gose at least seems to be taking off, which is a good thing for me, and I can find some kolsches and pilsners that are pretty decent. There it ends.

Meanwhile, I've never really had freshness issues with imports. Granted, Cincinnati is a town with a large German population, so maybe there's some focus on getting those in timely and decent turnover once they hit the shelves.

I'm just genuinely curious where the fantastic German styles brewed here are, because I'd love to throw some support towards those breweries!

 

Live Oak is the best Hefe I've ever had (not bottled, but pretty easy to find on draft when I'm visiting family in the Austin, TX area).

 

Honestly, you could also ask the counter question: why are imports overlooked in other countries? I mean, maybe not so much in countries like Italy, the U.K. - maybe even Denmark where things have taken off in a quite international manner. But countries like Germany, Austria, Belgium? I don't know to which degree overseas imports are availble in Belgium or Austria but I'm not sure it's a lot. Same goes for Germany, things have recently taken off a bit more with wider availability but the price point is often still an issue. I mean, I paid ~3€ for a bottle of Old Rasputin (which I admittedly did gladly because so far it's my favorite RIS) - which is quite a bit in comparison to German beer prices.

I mean, go even so far as to mention that a beer is from the U.S. (or countries like Italy for that matter) from people who still fall easily for homerism and have barely been out of the country and you'll get awkward glares and xenophobic comments - even from people who you could count among "craft drinkers" (like quite a few Bavarians or other people who drink the traditional beers of their region).

 

Its the only beer I used to drink from the 1960's and on, until craft was everywhere. 1990 or so, 2001 explosion time.
Overlooked by those that like to stay American I guess? I never have.

The issue(s) with imports has always been price and age or condition is a better def.

 

Freshness, even a newly shelved Fest beer might be 3 months old when you pick it up. I don't think age is conducive to the style. If I feel the screaming urge for a Pils I'll go buy and OMB brew.

 

Many if not most big UK breweries use it in all of their beer, not just cask

 

Yep, that'd be the regional unbottled one I've heard of. The other is by New Glarus. Neither one makes it outside their state, and by the time one goes about trading, imports are cheaper.

 

asking purely out of ignorance.. is shipping time from Europe really a problem?

if Heineken wants fresh Heineken on American shelves wouldn't they overnight it in a climate controlled plane shipping plane? wouldn't the big distributors/companies that import many of these beers do the same?

are beers really being shipped overseas by slow boat?

i have no idea

 

No they don't. A quick check shows for example that Bateman's, Black Sheep ,Fuller's , Wells and Youngs and Sam Smiths are suitable for vegans.

 

I feel like a lot of it has to do with the craft "movement" or "revolution" (I know, I know) having a spirit of "everything you thought you knew about American beer is wrong", along with a tendency to want to support local brewers.

 

They would if they wanted to retail their beer at a ~$10 a bottle... refrigerated air freight is expensive and Heineken sells millions of barrels of beer in the US.

Except for some special releases/events (UK cask ales, 10th & Blake's recent unfiltered/unpasteurzied Pilsner Urquell wooden kegs) most imports coming from overseas are shipped via ocean container. The estimates I've seen for transit time is usually 3-6 weeks.

 

All price. Most imports are about double that of what I would consider a reasonable substitute. German lagers are the notable exception here. They are typically less than double, and typically the substitutes don't stand up. I buy more imports from Germany than any other country, but it's still a fairly small percentage of my spending.

 

1) IPA's are king...

2) Marketing definitely...

3) Flashy and artsy, gimmicky, unique and novel labeling and naming in US... vs Traditional look ...

4) So much being produced that people want to have the next new thing and be the first and sometimes some of the only people to get it...

5) Beer runs to small breweries with limited reach are becoming kind of like beer warrior forays...

6) The internet and these sites in so many ways I won't even open that can...or bottle...

7) Freshness...

8) Most regions have great stuff...

9) The fun of trading...

10) US BEER IS GREAT!

Sorry for repeats, but I just looked at the first post and started listing what I thought....

 

Don't believe everything you read.

 

At the dawn of the craft era, in 1975, imports made up a little over 1% of the US market - 1.7 million barrels exported to the US vs US brewery production of 158 million barrels. "Craft", of course, was essentially at zero (Anchor's barrelage was still in the tens of thousands, if that).

Today (well, 2013, since the B.A. has yet to release 2014's stats), "craft" is 7.8% of the US Beer Market, while Imports make up 14%. So, while on this website imports may be "overlooked", on the stores shelves they have done better than craft during the latter's existence.

Of course, the biggest change within the Import segment in that period is the rise and near dominance of Mexican adjunct lager imports (now more than half of all imports). In '75, Mexican imports accounted for only 6.7% of US imports, and were the fourth largest beer exporter to the US, after The Netherlands, Canada and Germany.

The other interesting different is that in 1975 Belgian beer imports into the US were so small they weren't even listed separately, but were included in "Other Europe's" 15,380 bbl. Today, Belgium is the fourth largest exporter of beer into the US, but the vast majority of that is ABInBev's Stella Artois.

 

If you don't care about the feelings of YEAST.

You savage.

:runs away:

 

um, good for you; does this have some type of hidden connection with this thread that I am not seeing?

 

I love British and German beers; but their abvs are much lower than what most people on BA find tolerable.