The Imported-Beer Hoax

Down here it's called "Llave" (key), as long as it is cold it doesn't matter where it was brewed if it is the same recipe.

 

It used to be so hard to find this fresh back in the 90's. Now with cans it is MUCH improved and does not carry over in the taste profile compared to the skunky mess it used to be.

 

The bottle and kegged Bass Ale brewed in the UK that was exported to the US had not been brewed in Burton-on-Trent since sometime around 2005, but at another InBev-owned brewery in the UK at Samlesbury.

MolsonCoors now owns the former Bass brewery in Burton - they brewed Bass for InBev for a few years after buying the brewery (sold by InBev by order the government).

 

The water is not an issue, since any water profile van be duplicated easily enough (if I can do it at home, AB-InBev could certainly do it in Baldwinville NY). It's more about ingredients and technique.
The Burton Unions fermentation system they used at Bass until sometime in the late 70s certainly added a character to the brew that was sorely missing after they dropped the old fermentation setup (paging JessKidden...do you know definitively when they got rid of the old system?) .
The post by Peter_Wolfe was very encouraging. I'll certainly be looking forward to see how the revamp of Bass turns out. The "Bass Ale of old" I enjoyed in the early 70s had a lot more true character than a lot of the stuff coming out these days.

 

My favorite Bass Ale was the one on Cask in London in the mid-90s. That beer inspired me to be a hombrewer. The Bass Ale in bottles in the US during that timeframe was nothing like the cask version in London.

Cheers!

 

I agree. I had cask Bass in the UK in 1975...and it was amazing. The bottled version sold in the USA (as well as the draft version sold here) had a somewhat sweeter character...was it possibly to compensate for the fact that it was always served practically frozen in the USA? (since the colder a beer is served, the less malt character is perceived)
Still...I would welcome a return of the bottled export version I remember so well.

 

I treat Bass as one half of my black and tan recipe - nothing more than a blending beer, sadly. :l

 

Michael Jackson's Beer Companion [1993] says:

From the same Jackson book as above:

Yeah, I remember being handed a bottle of US-import Bass Ale sometime in the late 1990s, tasting it and doing a double-take, looking at the label thinking to myself, "Somebody's pulled a cruel practical joke here - filled this Bass Ale bottle with Budweiser with caramel coloring added..." It had no semblance to the ale (exported to the US in bottles) I first drank in the early 1970s...

 

I don't know how official it was, but it seems to me that the yeast was 'cleaned up' some time between the late 80s and late 90s, and that was the main difference. I would welcome more flavor from the hops and malt, but I don't think it will be quite the same without that slightly 'wild' yeast signature.

 

As somebody who lives in Bremen the Becks here isn't much to write home about either.

 

Not a huge fan of Beck's myself, but Haake-Beck has some enjoyable brews in their portfolio. Sadly, it has been a while since I last was in Bremen, but I remember their Kräusen to be tasty.
Sadly, the Haake Beck Dunkel has ben discontinued, right?

I remember having polish-brewed Pilsner Urquell in 2009 or so. And yeah, it was different to the one brewed in plzen.

 

Kind of how Sixpoint says their beer is from NY, or 21st Amendment says their beer is from CA, or that Sam Adams is from MA, etcetcetcetcetc

 

I've never seen it, so I'd assume so. I've been living in Bremen on and off over the past four years, maybe it's older than that.

 

Yup, turned out it got discountinued in......2005.
I'm getting old..........

 

Not really - all the examples in the article and - except for Sixpoint - the breweries you mention "say" on the label where the beer is actually brewed - in some cases, multiple locations such as the Samuel Adams label 'snip' below:

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There's no doubt that many beer consumer don't bother to read the labels' fine print and certainly the more prominent wording on the labels and brewers' websites, etc., often emphasizes the original country/city of the beer.

 

You're right! I was only going by keg tags since thats what I work with, and the kegs do not mention what the can labels do when it comes to 21 A, etc.. Props to Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada, and the two Lawson's Finest brands keg tags say they are from Chicago and North Carolina, and Connecticut respectively. Even the Toppling Goliath bottles say they are brewed in Florida. I guess its just sixpoint then who chooses to mislead.

 

Yeah, draught beer and the keg labels and, more importantly, the tap handles (since those are the only thing the consumer sees in most cases) adds another level of deception to the topic. I'm sure the vast majority of Bass tap handles did not change in bars when the brand went from imported to being brewed by AB in Baldwinsville, NY (I think internal AB material sent to retailers and distributors even discussed that aspect) - so those customers had no clue their beer choice's brewery had changed.

Many keg labels I've seen from some of the discussed breweries do list all the brewing locations (again, a BBC example below)

and, IIRC, don't some of the better known "craft" contract brewers only contract out their bottled/canned beer while brewing and kegging at the original site? So, it is possible that the kegs are "from" the brewery noted and just not "by" it. But, agreed, the TTB rules should require the actual brewing site(s) on all labels not just the "principal place of business" brewery.

 

Even though I don't drink it if there's a better option available (which is most of the time) a cold Becks on a warm day, while overlooking the Weser is a pretty decent beer experience.

 

I assume any Sam Adams I get here is from Pennsylvania, though I woukd like to get one from Ohio, because of Jim's family connection to Cincinnati

 

I know a lot of consumers (especially those on this forum that are beer advocates) aren't surprised. What bothers me is the extra price the establishment charges. I generally like going to an establishment with selection -- but having to pay $1-2 (sometimes $3!) more because a bar / restaurant I've ended up at calls it an "import" really bugs me. I would think the establishment would likely know their "import" source (maybe not? -- or maybe they charge more just bc they can?).
As for taste -- ordering a Becks/Red Stripe would be my preference over BMC -- but not at that price!