Have We Been Here Before?

As long as Europe and the rest of the world keeps either their old traditional drinking establishments and methods of beer culture or create whole new ones, I'm fine with it. I just don't want all of the homogenous American craft brewer stereotypes to end up everywhere else in the world. Sure make the beers, just create your own cultural experiences though elsewhere. Like the OP states, the globalization takes alot away from the thrill of travel and experiencing new things.

 

Agreed.

Homogeneity abounds. Chain stores and name brands are great examples. The good thing is that there has been a reaction to those things. Unique stuff will always be out there for those who are willing to look for it.

 

i didn't feel Belgium's beer culture had become homogenized (read: Americanized) to even the slightest degree when I spent a week there in 2014.

WTF is Andy on about?

Has shit changed that much in 3.5 years? Are they making NEIPAs at Orval, or St. Bernardus? Maybe fruited Berliner Weisses, at Cantillon? Bourbon Barrel Stouts at De Struise? Mexican Lagers at Drei Fonteinen?

Honestly I believe American craft beer has been more Belgianized in the la 3 years, than Belgian artisanal brewing has been Americanized.

But maybe it was all over my head.

 

Cafe Abseits to me is the perfect example of a beer location that caters well to both newer styles (and younger folks) right next to old world classics. In this binary world, not every place has to be one or the other (new and fancy or old and traditional).

Bamberg in general is a good approximation of that idea with a large population of college-age kids, tourists of all stripes and ages, and certainly old world drinkers playing old man card games.

 

How so?

 

Exactly!

It's all good!!

Cheers!

 

The visit we had at Abseits was fine. They have a broad selection of the local small breweries beers. Had my first Huppendorfer there.

So many places to explore. We did fall in love with Torschuster trip before last,went 4 Times. Not your typical Bamberg place either. We were crushed last September to find a handwritten sign on the door saying it was closed until the end of the month (must be vacation time for the front of the house, at breweries too, as so were Keesmann, Klosterbrau, Kraus, and one other I can’t remember).

Getting on a bus or the local trains and going out to the country is what we have been doing more of.

 

Your comments remind me that the only way something becomes old/traditional is, at some point, by having been new/fancy. As you both imply, there should be room for both.

 

I just spent a week in London last spring and definitely have seen a change since the first time I went back in 2001. I've been to various parts of England in the intervening years, probably a dozen or so visits. From talking with locals the changes are more prominent in London than outside. Personally I didn't really think the changes have detracted from London's beer scene. At the older traditional pubs I didn't see any changes, no traces of American influence.

At less traditional places that have been around for the last 10 or 20 years I did see some places that now offer American beers but the advertising seemed to indicate this was a new thing. It seemed more like a novelty in these places. You'd have a cask conditioned English Mild but also Bud Light and Sixpoint Resin. It was kind of odd to see a bunch of American beers there and that it covered both the big brands as well as some craft brands.

At newer bars that had a young crowd I saw the most changes. Large tap lists but I don't recall seeing any American brands. The local brands though did include things such as American IPA's including some that would even border on hazy IPA's. Not sure any of this should be surprising. To expect everywhere outside of the US to remain the same way it has for hundreds or years is a bit naive. Certainly the US is much younger than any of these places so its tradition is less ingrained and will change faster but that doesn't mean everywhere else doesn't change as well.

 

I share Andy's concern that globalism is making everything the same - it is a strong corrosive movement but at the core of craft beer is a strong sense of localism. 10 years ago I drank mostly imports and obscure stuff from out of state. Today as much as 90% of the beer I drink is brewed within 10 miles of my house. The beer is more diverse and interesting and yes the next new fad sweeps through periodically but many of the brewers also sneak off on their own tangents periodically to maintain variety and keep things interesting. I think the spirit of localism will act as an antidote to globalism while at the same time many of our hallowed traditions will morph into something else. That said, I judged a beer competition a couple of years ago with a guy from Beijing and he had the same haircut as a kid on my grandson's basketball team. Many of the great old traditional beers of Europe are not that great and not that old. The great ones will survive or some young brewer somewhere will make a clone.

 

I'm surprised Germany hasn't ended the reinheitsgebot. Since consumption is down there things need to change.The younger drinkers see all these crazy beers being made around the world and can't get them locally.

 

I traveled a lot to the UK in the 1990s for business. Most of my trips were to London but I did travel to other spots as well (Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburgh,...).

During those trips I would frequent a variety of pubs throughout London; places that I would characterize as being "older traditional pubs". My preferred beers were Bitter Ales served via cask but I was struck by how popular American brewed AAL beers were with the younger British folks. I still recall one of these "older traditional pubs" that a large portion of the younger people were drinking Rolling Rock beers straight from the green long neck bottles whilst I was drinking my cask Bitter Ale. I am from Pennsylvania and at that time Rolling Rock was a popular beer in my area but all that I could think was: why are they drinking Rolling Rock when there was tasty cask ales available? The only answer I could guess at was that cask ale was viewed by the young British folks as being an old man's beer?

Anyhow, American AAL beers were readily available in London "old traditional pubs" over 20 years ago from my numerous experiences.

Cheers!

P.S. Another readily available AAL was Budweiser. I was in one pub where the bartender tried to 'sell me' on a pint of Bud with part of his spiel that it was brewed in London. I bought a pint of cask ale despite his sale job.

 

American style craft beer is ubiquitous in UK pubs now, which is great, as long as it doesn't become the dominant culture. But I don't think it will as the Real Ale scene appears to be going through some sort of golden age.

 

Umm . . . you know that beer that does not comply with the Reinheitsgebot is being produced in Germany, it is simply labeled differently, right?

 

Just booked my first trip to Europe and was looking forward to trying as many traditional styles as possible while doing all kinds of stuff. Starting/ending in Brussels, hitting Edinburgh, Berlin, and another place or two over two full weeks.

After reading this article, am I die?
Suggestions to avoid this homogeneity???!

 

Edinburgh is one of the prettiest cities in the world and it has plenty of lovely pubs. The actual beer scene though is pretty lacklustre compared with most cities south of the border.

 

I’m not really a ‘whale chaser’ so I should be fine hahahah. My lady is adamant about going there because of its beauty though.

I’m all about it for two reasons: geology/Hutton and the fact that my alma mater here in the states is ‘Edinboro’.

Really looking forward to checking it out.

 

In PA?