Fine, I’ll admit it, European beer tastes better
It kills me to admit this but, European beer tastes better. I just arrived in the states two days ago, been away from the states for three years, one of the first things I wanted to do was enjoy some of my old favorite beers. Now they’re my “ex-favorite” beers.
Within the past three years in Finland, I have really come to love the Belgian and British ales, and have been dying to know how they compare to the ales back in the states. In fact, and I’m dead serious when I say this, I’ve had dreams where I realize I’m back in the state sand I immediately head to the liquor or grocery store for my favorite drinks and food (and in those dreams I never find what I’m looking for). Pathetic, I know.
Europeans love to diss American beer, but most have only tried Budweiser or Miller or some other watered-down cheap beer. But surely our microbrews can compete?!? Sadly, no. Everything tastes watered down to the stuff I’ve been drinking in European. I hate Koff but compared to Miller Light, Koff wins. However, maybe it’s just as well for overweight Americans to be drinking light beer instead of the heavy European stuff?
Phil, how about Samuel Adams (”America’s World Class Beer”)? Surely it’s better than Koff…
Comment by Helsinkian — Tue, May 30th, 2006 @ 6:20 pm
The Boston Beer Company (famous for brewing Sam Adams) proudly proclaim at their website: “The brewery has won more awards in international beer-tasting competitions in the last five years than any other brewery in the world.”
http://www.bostonbeer.com/
Comment by Helsinkian — Tue, May 30th, 2006 @ 6:22 pm
All beers taste crap, drink cider.
Comment by Anton — Tue, May 30th, 2006 @ 7:01 pm
I already posted my thoughts on beer in another forum. So instead i’ll just waste space with this post.
Comment by gopha — Tue, May 30th, 2006 @ 7:04 pm
Welcome back!
Sam Adams. I have been drinking American Cider lately. That too tastes different from the Finnish variety.
Comment by Fred Fry — Tue, May 30th, 2006 @ 8:13 pm
Never too much talk about beer.
Finnish beers have a certain stingy bitterness to them that leaves them in ranking behind german(ish) lagers and pilsners - but they do have enough taste to compete with most imports. Do non-finnish people usually enjoy finnish beers?
And yes, english ales stand out. Honey ale? Delicious.
Comment by Anssi Kokkonen — Tue, May 30th, 2006 @ 8:14 pm
Sahti, anyone?
Comment by Blah — Tue, May 30th, 2006 @ 8:26 pm
You can buy Finnish style lager in the UK. Brands like: Foster’s, Carling, Carlsberg, Castlemaine etc are remarkably similar. Under 5% alcohol, no head and jammed packed with artifical colourings, preservatives and flavourings. As for some of the mainstream Finnish beers, how can you put rice into a beer. Rice in beer,… er… er NO!
Comment by Finnish honesty — Tue, May 30th, 2006 @ 8:34 pm
All beers taste crap, drink cider.
That’s like saying “pussy tates bad, suck dick instead”…
No, the original was more gay.
Comment by Anonymous — Tue, May 30th, 2006 @ 10:23 pm
tates = tastes
Comment by Anonymous — Tue, May 30th, 2006 @ 10:25 pm
You can thank strict regulation of the brewery industry on a state-by-state basis for how “watered-down” our beer is. Each state has a limit on how much alcohol content beer can have, so manufacturers try to shoot for the lowest common demoninator (which makes for shitty beer).
Thankfully I usually only drink imports (Amstel, Killians, Harp) unless I’m hitting the top-shelf at a bar.
Comment by Stephen VanDyke — Tue, May 30th, 2006 @ 10:46 pm
Black Lamb…. Now I must go back to a party with 30 sailors and drink to phil’s dark side….
Comment by winter — Tue, May 30th, 2006 @ 11:21 pm
so you’re here? how come we haven’t partied yet? and if you want better beer selection, head over to beltway liquors on loch raven blvd where it meets the beltway (duh). they have everything and anything. see you soon!
Comment by neighbor jen — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 1:33 am
Phil, how about Samuel Adams (â€ÂAmerica’s World Class Beerâ€Â)? Surely it’s better than Koff…
Yeah, the premium stuff here is definitely better than Koff!
Comment by Phil — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 1:46 am
so you’re here? how come we haven’t partied yet?
I heard you’re coming over tonight, can’t wait to see you!! Do you remember me from high school at all?
Comment by Phil — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 1:47 am
But here’s the big difference, premium beer is actually cheap here in the states. A six-pack of Chimay was $8, six Chimays in Finland would cost you $25.
And there’s a LOT more beers available in the states. Because of the Finnish monopoloy Alko, we have a very limited selection.
I went to a local liquor store today and noticed a lot more European imports than I remember from three years ago.
Comment by Phil — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 1:50 am
I have to admit clear European superiority in beers.
It started in WWII when American soldiers were gone- they had to marked beers to women’s tastes. Changed beer entirely. Because they’d just gotten huge and newly efficient breweries made, they utterly refused to change back to the older, more expensive method. And they got the state legal system to back their lucrative new methods by making better (meaning more alcoholic) beer illegal. They shoved it on Americans, in other words.
There are a lot of good smaller American beers now, though. As a Texan, I must give props to Shiner Bock.
Comment by James V. — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 2:02 am
A few years back when I lived in Texas I used to drink Shiner Bock. I remember it as a decent beer. Back then there wasn’t very wide selection of beers in Texas (well, at least in most bars it was Bud, Bud light, Coors, Coors light with some exceptions), although there were quite a few nice imports in liquor stores. I hope the situation has improved.
Now I live in China and the choises in beer are quite limited. Luckily some imports are starting to appear here too. My saving grace here is Newcastle Brown Ale.
Comment by comma copulation — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 5:12 am
Pre-Seminary, I’d agree that *most* American beer was inferior to *most* Euro beer. Exceptions: New Belgium’s Fat Tire and Loft Beer, Sam Adams’ Boston Ale, Anchor Steam (all good); Pilsner Urquell, Heinicken, Aass, Peroni (all suck). Nothing, of course compares to the black stuff from Guinness (a close second is Boddington’s Pub Ale).
P.S. Stephen #11: Killian’s is not *really* an import - made by Coors in Golden, CO.
Comment by Matt — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 7:26 am
As for some of the mainstream Finnish beers, how can you put rice into a beer. Rice in beer,… er… er NO!
Which brand does that? Never heard of rice in beer, I must have missed something.
You calling Foster’s, Carling and Carlsberg “Finnish style” -beers is sort of bizarre. I always thought that it was the other way around.
Then again, according to you everything bad and eeeevil comes from Finland, even beer. Right?
Comment by Anzi — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 10:12 am
If you like Belgian ales, try Ommegang (it’s a brewery, they have many different ales) next time you are in the US.
Comment by Vera — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 11:05 am
Don’t drink koff or any other watered down piss try Sahti the genuine finnish beer if you want to compare finnish beer with others
even Michael Jackson ‘the beer hunter’ keeps sahti in high regard.
Comment by Blah — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 11:37 am
Agree witht the Shati
Comment by Niikku — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 12:16 pm
What, you’re a Balmer native and never been to the Brickskeller in DC?! - http://www.thebrickskeller.net/
You really are from the wrong side of the tracks, aren’t you?
Comment by hfb — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 1:22 pm
“And there’s a LOT more beers available in the states. Because of the Finnish monopoloy Alko, we have a very limited selection.”
BS, I am sure there are more beers available in states than in Finland, but its not because of monopoly. Grocery stores could sell more brands if they wanted to, but they don’t.
They cannot sell belgian trappiste beers that are my favourites since they are too strong for supermarkets, but I don’t see too many excellent czech beers either.
Comment by Anonymous — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 5:45 pm
Sahti is a yeast infection that makes one into a shitfountain…
Comment by Hank W. — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 7:09 pm
Sahti is eeeevil.
I like ales and there are some great real ale pubs here in Sheffield but I occasionally miss Kriek… The English know their beers, but only their own kind
Lager is best drunk in the Czech Republic. Koff is equivalent to the residue of its pronunciation.
Comment by Miriam — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 7:30 pm
Well, I am waiting for next headline: “I admit, welfare state is better.”
Comment by jormanen — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 8:47 pm
Guinness is great. In the bit more obscure category, I also like Sierra Nevada Stout.
Comment by Ravvy — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 8:59 pm
Sahti evil? you guys must have been drinking the bad home-made stuff.
Comment by Blah — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 9:48 pm
“Well, I am waiting for next headline: “I admit, welfare state is better.—
Few more years of European beer, and…You know, there are these big time homophobic guys, whose company turns somehow…unconfortable for a straight guy, when they are drunk.
Comment by Antti (the redneck one) — Wed, May 31st, 2006 @ 10:40 pm
Gallow’s Bird, my local pub in Espoo, Finland, sells Liberty Ale from tap. I remember it is Californian, probably from San Francisco. It is currently my favourite beer. I miss it this very moment. It is a bitter, but smooth and “balanced”, easy to drink but tasty.
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The best beer in the world
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