Is German beer really THAT good?

Why do you think American breweries try to emulate German styles and not the other way around? And pics or it didn't happen.

 

Tony (@boddhitree) has expressed sentiments similar to what you posted.

One of his ‘solutions’ were to order German beers that are not readily available to him on-line. There seems to a large number of tasty German brewed beers that are only available to other parts of Germany via on-line ordering.

We Americans are a bit spoiled in that we can go to our local beer store and buy US craft beers, Belgian imports, German imports, etc. all in one shop.

Cheers!

 

yup you can do that also, I actually tried to order some Rothaus items in the past but they don't ship out of Germany.

 

I tried to find a posting with a photograph but I came up empty.

Below is what @boddhitree posted about Pax Brau Cissy IPA:

“April: CISSY IPA. He doesn't state the hops but mentions all the flavors we associate with an American-style IPA.”

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/american-influence.53820/#post-740872

Cheers!

 

No. Next Question?

 

There is a very .. and I mean VERY small amount I can say of some new brewers in Berlin who are making beers that are more akin to non traditional German styles. Imperial stouts, IPAs, etc... really not many.. very small, but it's something.

http://www.schoppebraeu.de/

Pic.. happened...

 

I think do some degree, the OP, answered the question:

"nobody does German beer like Germany"

If you are looking for a great Hefenweizen, its difficult to beat what comes out of Germany.

If you are looking for an Imperial IPA, a BA Stout or a Belgian inspired ale, its best to look elsewhere.

 

Yes, German beer is that good.

 

Is American beer really THAT good?

 

In Germany it is. Sometimes less than quick shipping to the US has the quality lacking.

 

Look at craft-brew ingredients, the majority abide by it too.

 

To the question of "Is American beer really that good?", my answer is that for many American breweries (e.g., Hill Farmstead, Firestone Walker, Victory, etc.) the answer is a resounding YES! For breweries that sell a lot of American beer (e.g., Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, etc.) the answer is not a resounding yes.

Cheers!

 

It's not actually long gone it has a bit of a different status than it used to in the legal structure, but its still alive and well. If a brewer claims he brews according to the RHG he can be hauled into court and fined for violating that law. Many people in Germany refuse to drink a beer unless it is clearly indicated the RHG is followed in the brewing of that beer. Its true the RHG began as a way of controlling prices during a period of grain shortages by restricting the use of Barley to beer and Wheat to bread (unless you were the nobility), but it also became associated in people's minds with purity as well long before there was a "revisionist" history to redefine it. Yes, some German youth do pour sodas into beer, but that's post brewing and after they on the beer. They prefer to set the proportions themselves rather than let Bud develop the receipe for such things as Lime a Rita, etc.....

 

Very true. When it comes to purchasing imported German beers I have two rules:

• Only purchase beers that have dates on them
• Only purchase beers that are less than 6 months old

Cheers!

P.S. I wish that my second rule was "less than 4 months old" but I have to make allowances for imported beer.

 

I use to think of Belgium as the world's best brewing nation, due to its diversity of styles, history and commitment producing world class beer.

However, I find that notion being challenged by the innovation, creativity and commitment of American brewers. The explosion of high quality world class American beers in recent years is hard to ignore.

I think anyone that thinks that America is not producing great beer these days is just not paying attention.

 

Tried this?

 

There are lots of pre-packaged Radlers available now; somebody must be drinking them.

Below is something that @einhorn posted on Feb. 22, 2014:

“Our company was involved with the first major brand on the market, Henninger Radler. We produced Limonade in massive quantities, 25,000 liters at a time, and trucked them into Frankfurt to be diluted with yummy Henninger Pilsner. Not sure if the Limonade or the beer suffered the worst fate. But from the business side, it was not a bad thing.

Of course, many brewers took notice and made their own Radler too, all marketing gurus were saying this is the way to attract a younger crowd (Verjüngung der Marke). I think that just about everyone has one nowadays, save the beloved Bamberg folks who never needed to create such blends. Today, I believe the Biermischgetränke makes up about 6-7% of market share, similar to craft beer in the US, and was the motor for "innovation" the last 15-20 years or so.”

P.S. Biermischgetränke translates to beer mixed drinks.

 

All possible trolling aside, the most important thing the Reinheitsgebot did was to keep Germany from making complete garbage beers.
You mentioned some American beers that are pretty good. They coincidentally make up (all of them combined) about 1/100 of a % of the American beer market. In fact if you combine all of American craft beer's sale together, including the borderline ones - it's less than 10%.
Germany doesn't have that problem. Even the worst German factory made "TV beer" pilsners are better than more than 90% of the US beers being sold. I'll take that trade. The average German knows far more about good beer than the average American does...and they don't even have to think about it.

 

Mine was, of course, a rhetorical (and ridiculous) question. Germany has been producing world-class beer for centuries, and it continues to do so today. Silly stuff here....