Which continent has the best beer?

[FadeLess]

If im not mistaken the award for this year goes out 24th of September .... last years was U.S.
I was gonna say Germany tho ..

 

[BennyOcean]

And THB outside of the British Isles and Belgium, beers tend to get pretty boring in Europe. Germany makes a lot of nice styles of lager, but they don't tickle me that same way as the best ales do, and the US in particular is doing pretty much every style of ale and lager well and continuing to innovate.

Totally agree about the British Isles. They have a ton of good beer there. I particularly like the Samuel Smith line of beers (not to be confused with Sam Adams). Really everything they make is quality, but I particularly like their Old Brewery Pale Ale and their Oatmeal Stout. I also really like Newcastle.

And as far as Germany, there is undoubtedly good beer made there, but two of the most overrated beers in the world are Heineken and Beck's. Much like Budweiser in the US, they have succeeded more at marketing than they have at making a quality product.

 

[Jesus X]

North America.

only good european beer I can think of is "petrus aged red" from Belgium.

 

[BennyOcean]

North America.

only good european beer I can think of is "petrus aged red" from Belgium.

Go to your local Trader Joe's, which I think has this nationwide in the US, and get a bottle of Chimay. The blue label is a dark beer and has the highest alcohol content. The red label is an amber and the tan/cream label is a blonde ale. I don't know what that black label is, must be some kind of special edition; it's not commonly available like the three on the left. If you want a nice summery beer get the blonde. All of them are excellent. If you don't like these, your taste buds might be malfunctioning.

 

[touchedbyjab]

The only problem with the US scene is IPA hop obsession. If you have any modicum of refinement in your palate, you'll generally loathe IPAs since few IPAs have balance.

 

[Sp@cePeanut]

Thanks to micro breweries, it's easily North America. Every style you can imagine and at world class levels. Used to be Europe....thanks to Germany.

Speaking of Chimay, I really like it(blue). I can only get the 750ml at my local LC, it's about $12.80 or something around here. Kind of pricey.

 

[Iroh]

I think that the Belgian trappist ales are the best in the world, but as many have already stated, the US has a ton of craft breweries putting out excellent beer. It'd be difficult to say that there's anywhere in America making better beer than the Belgian monks but there's a ton of great beer here.

I'll give you an example of something I'm drinking this weekend. Saison Dupont is a fantastic Belgian farmhouse ale, and there's a brewery in Kansas City that makes a beer in the same farmhouse style called Tank 7. The American beer can be had at half the price and to me is just as good if not better. American beers are also typically easier to find since the distribution of Belgian beers is somewhat limited. You might find a bottle of Chimay or Orval at upscale supermarkets but other than that the options tend to be less than their American counterparts.

But seriously, if you can find this beer it's a must try:

And the Belgian alternative:

I tend to be more of an amber ale and pale ale drinker but in the summertime it's nice to have something like these, because they're light and effervescent and refreshing. Although I love them, amber ales are more weighty and not the ideal thing on a hot day.

It's exactly the opposite here. Murican beer is expensive and the good ones are nowhere in sight.

 

[BennyOcean]

Thanks to micro breweries, it's easily North America. Every style you can imagine and at world class levels. Used to be Europe....thanks to Germany.

Speaking of Chimay, I really like it(blue). I can only get the 750ml at my local LC, it's about $12.80 or something around here. Kind of pricey.

It's pretty pricey no matter where you go. You used to be able to get Chimay red for around $8 but now all three of them tend to be around $10-$12 in the U.S. I don't drink them as often as I used to but they are still among the best in the world.

 

[M3t4tr0n]

West America

 

[Irenaeus]

1. Europe (best general quality, enormous depth of selection)
2. North America (low general quality, but arguably best peak quality)
3. Australia (XXXX)
4. Asia (Plenty of refreshing stuff, with some gems in between at times)
5. South America (had a few ok imports, but not noteworthy. I don't know much though)
6. Africa (Wild-ass guess. I've only had local beer in Egypt, and while that's basically the first place we know of people making beer, I don't have that much confidence in them currently.)
7. Antarctica (Elder Things can't brew for shit, and penguins' tastes are too herring-based.)

1 and 2, as well as 5 and 6 can exchange places without me disagreeing much with it. More than that, though, and it's fighting words.

 

[JSN]

The only problem with the US scene is IPA hop obsession. If you have any modicum of refinement in your palate, you'll generally loathe IPAs since few IPAs have balance.

I wonder how much it's people really digging super hoppy beers vs a lot of not very skilled brewers out there doing what's easy to pull off.

 

[Pixelated Porn]

I wonder how much it's people really digging super hoppy beers vs a lot of not very skilled brewers out there doing what's easy to pull off.

I wonder how much people just like watered down shit beers and cannot handle hops at all.

 

[BJ@LW&WW]

The only problem with the US scene is IPA hop obsession. If you have any modicum of refinement in your palate, you'll generally loathe IPAs since few IPAs have balance.

dipas maybe. there are plenty of balanced single ipas.

 

[ProBoxingInsidr]

god i hate beer snobs. 95% of them have their only criteria be a funny name from a brewery nobody has heard of

"what's the best beer?"

"Oh I prefer Golden Frog Farts from Frosted Funk Brewery. It's what real beer drinkers prefer."


In reality you could take a plain bud light and tell most of them it is from some obscure brewery and make them think they "discovered" it and they would sing its praises for days. and before you beer snobs tell me how wrong i am, my answer is......sure

 

[BJ@LW&WW]

a blind firs time beer drinker could taste the difference between a bud light and any ipa.

"95% of them have their only criteria be a funny name from a brewery nobody has heard of"

is this supposed to be english lol

 

[JSN]

I wonder how much people just like watered down shit beers and cannot handle hops at all.

I wonder how much people just have horrible palates and therefore like super intense flavors. Prolly the same people who slather all their food in hot sauce and garlic salt.

 

[Chindit]

I've tasted a lot of european beers, but no american beers. If you could give me some advice (good brands & a website to buy them from Europa), I thank you in advance.

Best beer I've tried : Westvleteren 12, arguably one of the very best in the world. Nothing came close IMO. Very difficult to obtain :

• The beers are not brewed to normal commercial demands but are sold in small quantities weekly from the doors of the monastery itself to individual buyers on an advance-order basis.

 

[MC3521]

In terms of craft beers it is certainly North America. I did have a tasty beer from Costa Rica once though. For my taste hard to beat German lagers or strong Belgian ales.

 

[hoonosewot88]

Totally agree about the British Isles. They have a ton of good beer there. I particularly like the Samuel Smith line of beers (not to be confused with Sam Adams). Really everything they make is quality, but I particularly like their Old Brewery Pale Ale and their Oatmeal Stout. I also really like Newcastle.

And as far as Germany, there is undoubtedly good beer made there, but two of the most overrated beers in the world are Heineken and Beck's. Much like Budweiser in the US, they have succeeded more at marketing than they have at making a quality product.

You mean the city or Newcy Brown?

If you've been to Newcastle, you ever get to try any Wylam beers? They make some absolutely class stuff.

My personal faves:

Jakehead IPA (just came #1 in top 100 British beers competition despite being relatively unknown outside the North-East)

Red Kite (sorry for pic, legit can't find a pic of it in glass. It's a beautiful ruby ale)

Hickey the Rake (Limonata Pale)

They've also got plenty more slightly more old fashioned bitters which i personally really like, Loco No1 and Rocket both being excellent.

 

[Iroh]

Went to a beer shop, asked for an award winning Murican beer. Got this.

Am very curious to taste what one of the supposed best of Murica has to offer.

Also got this Belgian Tripel.

And this Irish Stout to support Conor during the weekend.

Dude also told that he would get Stone any day now, so probably gonna go back in a week and get some.