German helium infused beer

[salm]

I think it is worth differentiating between different types of craft beer or microbreweries. On the one hand there is the modern craft beer which has gained traction in recent years. On the other hand there are traditional breweries that fall well into the limits of microbreweries. A friend of mine lives in Franconia (northern part of Bavaria) and the amount of brewereies there is absurd. It´s like every forsaken mini village has a brewery somewhere in a small pub. They usually brew traditional beer (unfortunately they traditionally brew a lot of smoke beer in that region which should be prosecuted at The Hague) the way they´ve been doing since ever. There is not much innovation going on like there is in the modern type of modern microbrewing. But perhaps that is the case because there is no need to since the beer is traditionally good and there is not need for innovation.

That ad is actually surprisingly accurate. They just needed to change some of the text to say, "Bud is not a beer you sip, because it tastes like carbonated urine. It is a beer you drink to get drunk."

To be honest I haven´t tried American Budweiser in 15 or so years and can´t even rember what it tastes like. I´ll try to get one. They sometimes sell them at gas stations along with Mountain Dew as some sort of special offers.
I sometimes get the Czech Budweiser but I guess the two don´t have much in common.

The last time I was in the USA which was in 2001 I drank mostly a beer called Blue Heron. I remember that as being pretty good.

[Thanas]

Craft beer is still a minority by a long shot, at least in the US. I did see that almost 400K bbl of craft beer was exported last year--by comparison, I wonder how many barrels of US macro beer are exported? It's gotta be more than 400,000 barrels, but I wonder if the ratio is closer, because no one except US tourists and expats would ever want to drink US macro beer. Unless they're forced to because InBev bought exclusive alcohol rights to an event or festival or something.

Well, InBev owns quite a lot of European beer companies so they saturate the EU market with that.

I think it is worth differentiating between different types of craft beer or microbreweries. On the one hand there is the modern craft beer which has gained traction in recent years. On the other hand there are traditional breweries that fall well into the limits of microbreweries. A friend of mine lives in Franconia (northern part of Bavaria) and the amount of brewereies there is absurd. It´s like every forsaken mini village has a brewery somewhere in a small pub. They usually brew traditional beer (unfortunately they traditionally brew a lot of smoke beer in that region which should be prosecuted at The Hague) the way they´ve been doing since ever. There is not much innovation going on like there is in the modern type of modern microbrewing. But perhaps that is the case because there is no need to since the beer is traditionally good and there is not need for innovation.

Agreed. The innovation happens mainly after the beer is brewed, for example in the way it is served. For example, I know of one traditional beer that is quite old but has recently gotten more popularity due to it being ideal for mixing it with strawberry slices.

[Raw Shark]

So, as someone who was never much of a beer drinker and only familiar with Budweiser or Corona, what SHOULD a proper beer taste like? Is it bad to have the beer be too malty or too bitter?

That's a matter of taste. I'm a fan of dark and extremely malty, with just enough hop aggression to balance it out (eg: Great Divide's Yeti, which also contains about three times as much alcohol as Bud or Corona), but extremely bitter hoppy IPAs have a large fandom around here (though I suspect that those guys have a lot in common with the extreme hot sauce crowd - more trying to prove their masculinity than concerned about flavor). Most people who don't drink piss prefer a medium-bodied beer with a balance of hops and malt but not a shitload of either. I recommend Negra Modello to anybody looking to upgrade from Corona, and Sam Adams Boston Lager to anybody looking to upgrade from Budweiser. Both are really unchallenging mass market products derived from German recipes, but are decent examples of what a balanced, darker, fuller-bodied beer that tastes good to most people who are used to shit is like.

If you enjoy that, start exploring craft beers. I'm at the epicenter of that here in Colorado, but I still enjoy a Sammy on a hot day when I want to taste my beer but not get drunk. I actually got to toast Sam Adams' grave with a pint of Sam Adams the last time I was in Boston, because there's a bar right across the street that serves it.

On the topic of Sam Adams Heliyum (I think that's what they said; I don't speak any German at all, but they seemed to make a point of the inflection) itself, I suspect that very rapid evaporation is the whole point. It probably wouldn't work nearly as well without the snifter-style glasses, and possibly not at all straight from the bottle.

[Borgholio]

I tend to enjoy maltier beers...bitterness and the feel of the alcohol (yeah, I can detect it) doesn't normally sit well with me. I did beer tasting at the Los Angeles County Fair one year and found a medium-dark wheat beer that was actually quite good, even for me.

[Raw Shark]

I tend to enjoy maltier beers...bitterness and the feel of the alcohol (yeah, I can detect it) doesn't normally sit well with me. I did beer tasting at the Los Angeles County Fair one year and found a medium-dark wheat beer that was actually quite good, even for me.

Start off with Sam Adams, and if you like that try stuff like Great Divide's Hibernation and Wynkoop Artillery Ale.

[Channel72]

I have never drunk an American beer I liked. That's why.

Have you tried Brooklyn brewery?

[TheFeniX]

I don't have access to year-on-year sales figures, but as it stands, craft beer is carving out a large enough chunk of the domestic market that Budweiser thought this ridiculous ad was a good idea. Also, this one's pretty dumb too.

I had a roomate in my first apartment who was part of some "brew of the month" schtick. He could go down to some store and get a free 6-pack once a week (or something to that effect) for free and then they marked it off a list. He'd also just grab extras off his "list." I hate beer with a violent passion. It is awful, I have no idea how people drink it. He conned me into trying one of his beers for each pack he got. I must have drank over 100 different kinds of lagers, ales, meads, what-the-fuck ever, from all around the globe. He had a hard-on for German stuff as his dad would take him to Oktoberfest. They were all awful. If he wasn't just such a cool fucking guy in all other aspects of our friendship, I probably would have clubbed him at some point. But no, he had to find a beer "FeniX could enjoy" even though I found Jack Daniels (and later, Crown Royal) years ago.

That said, Budweiser (Bud Light in particular) still has the distinction of being the most foul out of the group. Not because it just tastes terrible (it does) but because even fresh, it tastes watered-down. I don't know or care what water-downed beverage it tastes like, but it is. At least other types of beer had some kind solid flavor (most of it terrible), but at least it was something. Bud Light is like a glass of coke with the ice all melted in it: you're expected something strong and with flavour (even it it's bad) and you don't get that and it makes me angry. Bud Light is so devoid of taste, you can forget about it in a cooler in your garage for 6 months, find it, put it in the fridge, and beer drinkers will pound it and not notice the difference.

[Alferd Packer]

..but extremely bitter hoppy IPAs have a large fandom around here (though I suspect that those guys have a lot in common with the extreme hot sauce crowd - more trying to prove their masculinity than concerned about flavor).

A lot of the stronger IPAs (your imperial IPAs, double IPAs, etc.) are just that. I was always leery of IPAs in general, preferring a malt- or yeast- dominant beer, but then I went to California on vacation, and discovered that West Coast IPAs, done right, are amazing. The simplest way I can describe them is hoppy, but not bitter. Many of them are using new strains of hops native to the region (or at least, native to the New World) that have only recently been grown commercially, so combining that with selective cross-breeding, they're able to produce hops that contribute wonderful aroma and flavor, but only just enough bitterness to balance out the beer. The breweries I visited certainly made me a believer.

Gun to my head, if I had to pick a single American beer to hold up as competition to the best beers of the world, it would be a West Coast IPA. It best showcases the unique ingredient we have in abundance: hops. It's also been pushed to such an extreme when compared to its namesake (Britain's India Ale), that it is essentially its own distinct style of beer now.

[Elheru Aran]

So the other day I found out that there's apparently a minor genetic variation that can cause some people to dislike cilantro because it tastes like soap to them.

Is there anything similar as far as beer goes? Because that might explain why some people (like myself) simply despise the taste. Other alcoholic beverages are fine-- but beer, no matter what the make, universally tastes like urine to me, with minor variations (lime in a Corona, for example, makes limey piss. Imagine how the Brits would feel about that).

[Simon_Jester]

If you enjoy that, start exploring craft beers. I'm at the epicenter of that here in Colorado, but I still enjoy a Sammy on a hot day when I want to taste my beer but not get drunk. I actually got to toast Sam Adams' grave with a pint of Sam Adams the last time I was in Boston, because there's a bar right across the street that serves it.

Mm. We've been contemplating a trip to Boston one of these days... maybe I should try that too.

[Raw Shark]

So the other day I found out that there's apparently a minor genetic variation that can cause some people to dislike cilantro because it tastes like soap to them.

Yeah, it's not like a, "This is food I don't like," reaction, it's like a, "THIS IS NOT FOOD ABORT SWALLOWING!" type reaction. I also can't eat or drink coriander, which is made from the seeds of the same plant and unfortunately shows up in certain kinds of beer a lot.

The really frustrating thing about it is that everybody who doesn't think it tastes like soap seems to fucking love the stuff, and several restaurant chains just assume you want it and put it in everything. I feel like I'm missing out on everybody in Colorado's second-favorite herb.

Is there anything similar as far as beer goes? Because that might explain why some people (like myself) simply despise the taste. Other alcoholic beverages are fine-- but beer, no matter what the make, universally tastes like urine to me, with minor variations (lime in a Corona, for example, makes limey piss. Imagine how the Brits would feel about that).

Not as far as I know. It's possible to strongly dislike something without a genetic predisposition to react to it like poison. Being in a position to compare, my aversion to broccoli is fairly strong - I think it ruins the flavor of everything it touches, but I'll eat it if I'm hungry enough or trying to be polite. My aversion to cilantro is an involuntary reaction, the same as if I discovered that I had accidentally begun eating a bar of Irish Spring.

[LaCroix]

Best thing about Budweiser - they tried to sue several breweries in Budweis to stop using Budweiser in their name (which they used for like, well, years before america was even discovered...) Surprisingly, Budweiser was told to get lost.

[salm]

Best thing about Budweiser - they tried to sue several breweries in Budweis to stop using Budweiser in their name (which they used for like, well, years before america was even discovered...) Surprisingly, Budweiser was told to get lost.

Anheuser-Bush actually won a case for marketing their beer as "Bud". The Czech Budweiser may not call their beer Bud anymore within the EU.

[Thunderfire]

Over here the Reinheitsgebot kinda limits what microbreweries can do.

EDIT: It is no longer official law, but so unofficially binding that nearly everyone adheres to it.

Even german microbreweries are willing to experiment with special ingredient. The beer is called Nicht Bier.

[Raw Shark]

..but extremely bitter hoppy IPAs have a large fandom around here (though I suspect that those guys have a lot in common with the extreme hot sauce crowd - more trying to prove their masculinity than concerned about flavor).

A lot of the stronger IPAs (your imperial IPAs, double IPAs, etc.) are just that. I was always leery of IPAs in general, preferring a malt- or yeast- dominant beer, but then I went to California on vacation, and discovered that West Coast IPAs, done right, are amazing. The simplest way I can describe them is hoppy, but not bitter. Many of them are using new strains of hops native to the region (or at least, native to the New World) that have only recently been grown commercially, so combining that with selective cross-breeding, they're able to produce hops that contribute wonderful aroma and flavor, but only just enough bitterness to balance out the beer. The breweries I visited certainly made me a believer.

I wasn't trying to imply that all IPAs are extremely bitter, just trying to answer the question about extremes being good or bad (Tl;dr: it's relative), sorry if that wasn't clear. We also produce some very balanced, innovative, and flavorful IPAs here in Colorado; I'm especially partial to Avery's Black IPA.

@Simon_Jester: Definitely go to Boston, but only around this time of year through early September. Ironically, the man on the Sam Adams bottle is actually Paul Revere. The Old North Burial Ground and the Paul Revere House are two of the best stops on the Freedom Trail, which you should definitely do if you go there.

[Simon_Jester]

The missus lived in Boston for a few years and we're both winter-tolerant, though I *think* we'd both flinch at actually visiting Boston in winter. Especially after the past few winters they've had.

[His Divine Shadow]

I've had all kinds of beer and by large I think it's an expenditure worth culling, 3-4 euros a bottle. Just not worth it except once in a blue moon.

Nowadays when I want something nice and cool to have on an average day after working or mowing the lawn or being in my workshop, etc, I drink cheap class-I beer, only 49 cents a bottle! Class I beer is only around 2.5-2.8% ABV, which I think is a good thing, no point in more alcohol than that for an everyday whenever beer. The flavor profile is somewhat different but very refreshing. And kid friendly as I don't think kids should be around parents who drink.

[Alferd Packer]

@Simon_Jester: Definitely go to Boston, but only around this time of year through early September. Ironically, the man on the Sam Adams bottle is actually Paul Revere. The Old North Burial Ground and the Paul Revere House are two of the best stops on the Freedom Trail, which you should definitely do if you go there.

The Sam Adams brewery tour is a lot of fun, but it's definitely a tourist thing. The Boston brewery produces very little beer, usually their one-off or specialty beers. Fun fact: Sam Adams makes a Boston-only beer--I think it's called Brickhouse Red or Firehouse Red or somesuch. You can only get it at various locations around the city, and it's only available as a draft.

Whenever I hear someone's shipping on up to Boston for a trip, I always recommend checking out Beantown's other big brewery: Harpoon. Unlike Sam Adams, they produce a large percentage of their brand's beer onsite (the facility is much, much larger than the Sam Adams building). The tour is pretty cool, too, especially if you're a fan of large machines, giant, vats, and the like.

[Raw Shark]

The Brickhouse Red is a decent red ale. Nothing to write home about. There are, of course, a few other good local breweries. I also like Wachusett Blueberry, and Harpoon is definitely worthy of mention.

[Thanas]

Do people really think Sam Adams is a good beer?

[Borgholio]

I think I tried a Sam Adams once and it felt like a slightly thicker Bud with some citrus in it.

[sgt67]

None of the big "craft" brewers are any good. This goes for Shiner especially.

[The Vortex Empire]

I've never had an alcoholic drink I liked yet, but that might just be American booze being shitty, I dunno. Haven't had any other country's stuff.

[Alferd Packer]

Do people really think Sam Adams is a good beer?

21 year olds who don't know better.

Seriously, though, that's pretty much it. When you're underage, you of course drink shit beer, because it's cheap and available. But then you turn 21. You go to a bar, wanting to look classy. You can't order a Coors Light! You're a worldly person now! But what to get? Sam Adams, sure! You've seen their commercials. That's what people who like beer drink! They even have a special beer for each season!

And then, sometime later, you try a different beer on the tap next to the Sam Adams tap, and you realize you've just been drinking humdrum, regular beer.

On the topic of Sam Adams, I'll leave this article about all the trouble Sam Adams has been having of late. Long read, but it gives some good insight into the new world of US craft beer.

[Borgholio]

On the topic of crazy beer, check out what I found while shopping at a Japanese market: