The 13 best beer countries in the world, ranked

13. Ireland
12. New Zealand
11. Sweden
10. Italy
9. Norway
8. Netherlands
7. Canada
6. Japan
5. Denmark
4. Germany
3. United Kingdom
2. United States
1. Belgium

I’m surprised that Mexico isn’t on this list and that the United States is ranked so high.

 

Who created the list?

I love Belgian beers, and I have no objection to them being ranked first. The US craft beer scene is absolutely incredible and I think the US produces a larger variety of styles than anywhere else.

 

who's list is this?

UK are #1

 

Is this a joke?

US is far and away #1. It's not even close. The rest of the world has "historical" beers or a few shitty large breweries.

The US microbrew scene makes the best versions of those historical recipes and has tons of new styles.

No other country is playing the same game.

I'm quite frankly amazed that alcoholism is a thing and beer is one of hte world's top selling products and it took this long for a great microbrew scene to rise.

 

like?

overhopped Brown Ale?
overhopped Lager?
warm-fermented Kölsch & Altbier?

I like US craft beer for variety reasons, but the best exmples of those styles are still made in those countries.

 

Absolutely. There are ~3000 small breweries in the US and each one of them makes their own version of international styles based on trial and error testing for the best they can make instead of 300 year old recipes. That's 3000 competing beer masters putting forth the absolute best beer they can make.

 

the u.k. over germany? wow, that's crazy. my favorite beer of all-time is still probably franziskaner. first had it where it's brewed in munich. a great summertime beer.

 

I don't fully agree with this. The Belgians have styles and beers that are brewed with yeasts specific to their location. The brewers can't get those yeasts and the yeasts they can get don't produce the same finished product.

Other than that the US is doing really well with beers and I agree with your overall position.

 

Franziskaner is an all time great beer. I've had great times drinking that.

 

correct me if i'm wrong, but i think brewers in germany are, by law, forced to use the bare minimum amount of ingredients in their beers. is that right? or is that just something done in munich (bavaria)? not exactly sure.

 

agreed. i always laugh at the fat monk as their symbol:

 

1, 2, and 3 are crystal clear and inarguable.

USA is 1. No one can produce stouts like they can. No one can produce IPAs like they can. No one can produce pale ales like they can. No one has the variety. No one has the innovation. USA's craft brew scene is absurd with over 5000 breweries in operation right now. Not all are good, but the good ones are very, very good.
Belgium is 2. Lambic, traditional trappist styles, and saisons. I will argue that American produces better saisons (Hill Farmstead, Casey, Jolly Pumpkin, Side Project, etc) but that's subjective. The other 2 are not.
Germany is 3. They absolutely dominate all lagers and no one is close. A handful of US breweries do nice lagers but on the whole, Germany smokes the USA in that area.

After that, I'd probably go England, AUS/NZ, then flip a coin for the rest. No one is doing anything worth consistently reaching for.

 

Germany seems to produce better Pilsners than the US, although I am not a Pilsner fan so this is largely second hand knowledge.

 

Japan should be higher.

 

the US has amazing beer, New England area running shit.

treehouse
alchemist
NeBCO
two roads
Counterweight
trillium

New England alone blows away any euro beers..

 

3000? Is that it? There are over 2000 in the UK. I'd expected a lot more in the US.

 

Fuck dat. Yo stupid Goose Island shit is shit.

oh and triggered that Japan > Canada. Fucking 'ell.

I know personal experience is tricky sometimes, but I've done Italy twice in my life, and its seemed like all they had was Heineken or Beer Meredi (sp). Tbh- I really didn't care b/c of the vino.

Ireland should maybe be an auto #1A due to the GGGGG!!!

 

all I know is I lived in the region that Bitburger was brewed in, and it was atrocious

I did, however, mess w/ the various Weizens and I do love me some Becks so I go Germany besides the US and it's various microbreweries