American Beer Culture.

I think it will be a long time before the "beer culture" is like it is in Germany, Belgium or England.

 

When a little brewery that is self operated and produces only 24 bottles of a specialty beer can make it, we will have evolved as a beer culture.

That episode was one of their best...

 

I doubt that this will ever happen, i.e., that there will be a unified "American beer culture." First because going to the UK, Germany or Belgium reveals that they are not unified beer cultures. They only appear to be from a distance and there are several quite interesting internal differences between different regions in each of those nations. Second because we don't have a unified food culture and food has been around just as long as beer and is more essential to life than is beer.

BTW: Some people have great interest in Yuengling, have had for years, and there are areas of PA where if you want to open a bar and don't have Yuengling Lager on tap you might as well not even open at all. Indeed its a great example of locally significant cultural icon, just not among many of the folks who hang out here or post in the forums.

 

Long story short there wont be a beer culture like that in Europe because simply put Americans and it's history is nothing like Europes.

 

Doubt it, for a variety of reasons. But mainly because the U.S. is too large to have any concensus culture. The "culture" in Utah is much different than the "culture" in Georgia, which is much different from New York. All of those individual states are larger than many European countries.

 

Of course, that's part of my point. Just as there are differences between the foods of those regions there are differences in the beers. If you stand back way way outside of the US it can appear to be a pretty homogenious place and culture. But if you get into it there is lots of variability.

 

I doubt it. In my opinion, we are as a society very bad at reflecting back on our history, and I expect a beer culture history would be no different. For better or worse, the US is built on a culture of looking forward.

Also, to add to what @drtth said above, the US is very very large compared to all European nations, apart from Russia. You can drive across Germany in a day, not so in the US. These massive distances and the diversity of cultures within makes it very hard to apply cultural norms across the whole of the US. That said I could see specific regions developing some degree of distinctive beer drinking culture.

 

And as @Ranbot points out, its size, geographically, is nothing like any individual European country.

 

I apologize in advance for what may turn out to be a rambling post.

Beer culture in America is a differing concept from that of places like Germany, UK, Belgium, Czech Republic, etc. since IMO beer is not as pervasive an aspect of our country’s culture. There are indeed many Americans that are beer drinkers but it is not as an all in-compassing aspect of our lives.

In my father’s day, American beer culture could be viewed as a trip to the local tap room. If you watch old re-runs of All in the Family it would be like Archie taking an evening walk to visit Kelsey’s Bar. The mature dudes would assemble at the tap room to drink AAL beers and discuss sports, politics, etc. They might even eat some hard boiled eggs and peanuts with their beers.

Perhaps a more contemporary example for beer culture today would be tailgating before a football game; lots of Bud Light are consumed there!!

Another contemporary example (albeit a regional example) would be where in the Pacific Northwest (Washington state, Oregon) craft beer is very popular and readily available in lots of places. Perhaps localities in Oregon (Portland, Bend, Eugene, etc.) might be a good model of how the American beer culture may be in the future?

As to the specific question of: “Basically do you believe we could ever have a beer culture such as the European countries?” Yeah, I don’t exactly see that specifically happening. We will develop our own version of a beer culture which will be unique to the American psyche.

Cheers!

 

my prediction:

There won't be an 'American beer heritage/culture', but there will be an individual heritage/culture in California, a different one in Vermont... etcetera...

 

that's pretty much it in a nutshell.

 

I doubt it. We are too divided and advertisers will fuel that.

 

I really like the query. There will be spots where an American beer culture will evolve, and indeed they've already taken root. Portland, Seattle, San Diego, Asheville, lots of New England, and many other places...Chicago, Minneapolis, New York... but I digress.
Never forget that we are a huge country with wildly divergent cultural practices. Some regions embrace new business, growth, and the idea of beer. Others do not. I have confidence that our beer culture will evolve nicely.
Just go visit the new Sierra Nevada brewery at Mill's River and you will see a testament to time. I have a good feeling about the future of US brewing.

 

American culture is what have you done for me lately. Reinvent yourself or die.

 

They're out there, whether it's a real thing or not. Here's a regional one for me that's actually pretty good.

 

This quote has elements of what I believe to be true. This is to say that America has no "beer culture" but rather a culture that has some focus on beer. Splitting hairs, possibly but take a beer culture in Europe that puts effort into the appreciation of good beer, seeks good beer out and takes national pride in their beer. This, apparently is the norm for Europe (if I understand correctly, and if my experience in Germany wasn't unusual). In America the vast majority of folks seek out a reason to drink, or at least a reason to disconnect with the rest of their life while enjoying beer. There is no need for a contemplative beer, and in fact this is what makes those Bud commercials relevant, that folks seeking an escape certainly don't want a beer they have to fuss over. Basically, the blue collar mentality of the bars I grew up in dominated the purpose - which was to shake off the toiling, lackluster, work-a-day existence by soaking up a few equally lackluster beers.

Will this change? Not easily, and not unilaterally but I would think that two cultures could simultaneously exist, whereas the craft culture takes on a similar taste as the European culture while the blue collar culture continues to thrive.

 

I think we'll have a "culture", but I don't think it will be as deep-rooted as some other countries. Our society is pretty fragmented in many regards as we're already seeing in the replies (ie, NE IPA is different than Cali IPA), and we have pretty short attention spans. But I think that fragmentation might be true in other countries as well - I recall reading in the history of farmhouse ales how many differences in the beer itself existed due to geography and who the indvidual brewers were. Yet despite those differences, there was a common theme surrounding how/why it was consumed and a respect for the art of brewing. So the beer doesn't have to be "the same" from place to place - how it is viewed across geography, ethnicity, etc. is what could hypothetically create unification. But I'm not sure I see that happening in the US. It hasn't happened with food, it hasn't happened (in my opinion) with wine either, to pick on two obvious things. Given that the country is basically a huge smelter for all different kinds of people and the founding principle is personal freedom, I'd almost question whether the US actually has a distinctive culture of anything, never mind beer. Music? I guess most people like music, but there's still silos even within genres. Chicago blues, New Orleans jazz, East Coast/West Coat hip hop, Nashville country and Texas country... My son tells me there is actually such a thing as New England metal...

Sure - a whole lot of people like drinking beer, but that doesn't mean it is a part of the fabric of life. I believe that something cultural is deeper than "lets' have a beer, brah...", and I don't think standing in line for the <Insert Binkybeer Here> release reflects culture. I do think there are pockets where beer is or will become a more significant part of life.

Whatever we end up with will certainly have a unique spin with some regional riffs even within the bigger scene. I don't think regionality is a bad thing. If all those regions overlap (as they do) and people can cross the artificial barriers openly, then we'll have something cool. People seem to reference the beer "scene" more than they identify it as a culture, but if all those regional and local scenes continue to intermingle, then maybe it starts to build the culture.