The Imported-Beer Hoax

I guess anything that reduces Euroshunk can't be all bad, but diluted historic recipes, whether to cut costs or to suit American tastes is pretty bad.

 

I've gotten use to the idea that the categories on menus don't necessarily relate to reality. For instance, I've learned to live with the fact that a beer brewed by a brewery in Indianapolis isn't considered "domestic" at a bar in Indianapolis and when they say domestic they mean BMC.

 

According to BBC's Annual Report (2013):

The coding on BBC's 12pks and cases (and, IIRC, the stamp on the bottles near the shoulder) includes the "Best By" date, the bottling date in Julian/day of the year format, other digits for internal usage (bottling line, etc) and a letter that represents the brewery - look for "A" for Allentown (might be obsolete) or a "P" for Pennsylvania, and "C" for Cincinnati. Pretty sure I've seen "C" SA beers in NJ in recent years.

Not sure if the current coding is the same - don't have an recent BBC purchase around - but a call to their Toll Free number 888-661-2337 can confirm the above -although sometimes you have to leave your number and wait for a return call, in my experience.

 

I don't care what country or state a beer is brewed in. All I care about is taste quality and pricepoint in my decisionmaking. I stopped buying Bass because it started tasting bad to me the last couple years not protesting against it because of location. I had a Becks, Molson and a Red Stripe recently and they all tasted fine to me. Won't buy Red Stripe in 6pack or larger formats (got a single bottle in a trade) because I feel its overpriced compared to other comparable options of nearly equivalent quality and style. Bass just doesn't taste nearly as good anymore IMO.

 

This is correct. The import beer segment is growing in the US driven almost entirely by Mexican beers which are showing pretty solid growth across the board. Why else would ABI bother to start importing a beer brand as small and terrible as Montejo?

 

My understanding is the recipe has changed, and that the 'old, genuine' Beck's was very good, whereas now it is um, not so much.

Edit: I could be totally wrong, I really have no idea.

 

This may surprise you, but the cost to the distributor and the cost to the bar are higher for imports than AAL's, so I'm not surprised when they pass the higher cost onto the consumer.

 

So wait, I can get 50 bucks for the lapses in judgement I've made in buying Beck's?

 

Do you keep receipts for your beer purchases?

Cheers!

 

No. Does anyone?

No wonder they settled, cause they'll pay next to no one if they demand proof of purchase.

 

I would be willing to bet that @jesskidden has some receipts in his files for beer purchases.

JK, would I win that bet!?!

Cheers!

 

Absolutely not! (Well, not for Beck's )*.

Yeah, you'd win. The winner gets a sixpack of German-brewed Beck's (or Beck's Dark). Fulfillment based on my ability to find one in a US store. Void where prohibited.

For the record, AB agreed to a "Reimbursement for those without receipts... capped at $12".

Be careful when you fill out that form- coincidentally I got my $9 rebate check for buying 4 sixpacks of Goose Island beer (yeah, apparently I will buy an AB product IF they're giving me a good rebate deal)- made out to:

I hope the bank cashes it. I think I have more than $9 in my account to cover it.

* Wait, I DID buy one - for research purposes - of those 24 oz. cans of Beck's when the US-brewed AB version first hit. Upon drinking it I realized I hadn't had a German Beck's in decades so any comparison was kinda impossible.

 

agreed here my friend, wont have any Bass any longer.

 

that is why I recently bought it.....wont be doing so any longer

 

I'm planning on doing just that when the 'tweaked' version starts hitting the shelves; it's been a while, and I'm starting to get in the mood again.

 

There's a quick and easy solution to this "problem". DON'T BUY THE STUFF. See? Wasn't that simple? But then again, it is now AMERICAN beer so you can feel more patriotic by buying it.

 

Whoa Whoa Whoa wait- you're saying my BUDWEISER isn't imported?!?!

CRAP!

Haha. I think its still safe to assume that all of the delicious stuff coming from Belgium is still truly imports. (You gotta watch Alken Maes and some of those big guys though... sneaky sneaky.)

 

Matching the Burton water is one of the things I did with the recipe. The new recipe is not in the market yet; I'm still trying to find the perfect hop blend for dry hopping. Soon!

 

any chance to see original recipe?

 

The original original? As in the 1777 recipe?