Drinking less European beers?

both

 

I can emphatically say "No." to this question. I still buy and prefer many Belgian ales like Chimay, Duvel, Orval, St. Bernardus, Westmalle, Trappist Rochefort and who could forget the best Oktoberfest German beer from Ayinger. I will admit the American craft brewers have closed the gap considerably in recent years and I now drink many Belgian style ales brewed in America than ever before. There will always be a place in my fridge for good Belgian ale made in Belgium.

 

I do love Belgian styles, I enjoy German beers but never really developed the taste for many. I find many English beer rather enjoyable however they are never anything I purchase on a regular basis. I never made it a habit to purchase foreign beers, but at this point I find myself doing so much less.

Belgian styles would generally be my favorite from a foreign country. We do not see great distribution of Lambic here in Michigan and to be honest, I prefer many of the American version of Belgian styles in regards to what I do have available. Unless its Duvel or Orval, I most likely will go a different route.

Bottom line, I enjoy the American craft beer offerings and it offers me more than enough to remain satisfied. I am grateful to the foreign option I have availability to, and will happily enjoy them on the rare occasion I want something different.

 

Definitely drinking a lot fewer belgians

 

I'm probably 95% local now (California). Lucky to have great local options, but you can't beat the freshness, plus it's nice to support "my" economy.

If I am elsewhere in the US or abroad, I always drink their local stuff.

 

I've looked plenty far; I'm just tired of wasting money. Even at months old, the German, Czech, and Belgian beers handily beat what's available in the US for those styles (not to mention that the age for Belgians only matters for a handful of their styles).

I'd love to have fresh, locally available beers of those styles that compete, but it just hasn't happened. Locally I have Live Oak that competes on some of the German/Czech styles, but they're draft only.

 

I drink less european beers only because I've had a ton of them and I only drink them when the mood strikes me. I usually try to drink beers I haven't had before so american craft is usually my first choice. Some of my favorite beers are still belgian/german/english.

 

I am actually going the other way. After drinking mostly American craft beers over the past years I find myself seeking out and trying more "euro" beers. I am finally able to appreciate the subtle and clean flavors.

 

Nope. Last time I did was over a year ago. Before then, several years. Don't miss them one bit. Too many GREAT beers here in SoCal. Hangar 24, Ballast Point, Lagunitas and Stone, for example. A lot more too but those are my favorites.

 

have always and will always drink English ales, many of the Germans and several Belgians ... we make good beer in the U.S., and I'm sucking it down all the time, but there's some things we don't do well or at all (example above).

 

I drink less European when in America and more European when in Europe.

 

I would probably say I am drinking 75% European 25% American. The majority from Belgium and Germany.

 

I only drink American craft beer, with the exception of traditional European marzens around Oktoberfest time, because those are incredible. I don't deliberately only drink American, it just happens to be what I like and what catches my eye when I go shopping.

 

That's what distributors call those brands, though. Blue Moon and Leinenkugels are also considered imports by the MillerCoors distributor in my neck of the woods, and Shock Top is considered an import by the Bud distributor. I couldn't tell you why they do that, but I know that that's what they do.

If I find out anything in the near future, I'll let you know.

 

Guess I'm a narrow minded beer geek hooked on american ipa 's only. I feel left out cause i know there's a ton of european beers that are world class. I would love to break this cycle but can't. These lips haven't touched a heinken, moose head, bass , harp, blue moon, smithwicks, amstel, etc.... in years. also throw in all the hispanic brews too.

 

I agree with a lot of these posts. There are so many good German lagers and Hefe's. I love some Czech pilsners too. I'm not in love with a lot of the Belgian styles or yeast strains but I can see why people drink them.

I will say; America is becoming a lot like Europe in the fact that you don't have to leave your region/state to get Excellent beer!

 

I've got three bombers of Central Waters/Local Option La Petite Mort weizenbock, so we'll see as soon as I can find an Aventinus with which to compare them.

 

Weinstephaner is still a go to for me, but i've pretty much dropped everything else, very expensive and also i find they are often too similar.

 

There's a certain irony about this thread in that it seems like most of Europe's high-end beers are being shipped to the United States.

When I was in London 2 years ago and Germany last year, it was very hard to find high-end beers. I've drank a larger variety of German beers in my local craft beer bar than I did in 9 days in the country (and believe me, I was LOOKING).

As for an interesting European brand that compares to American brewing styles, check out Mikkeller.

 

You'll be waiting until you breath no more.