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[Nafai1123]

I can't think of one. There's no such thing as a light lager here in Germany. I cannot find a useful translation either, but I know for sure that none of the 25+ beers at my local supermarket taste anything like those two I mentioned (the only ones I know, to be fair). That's why I'm asking for an example.

I guess it depends what we're qualifying as "light beer." If we're using the specific "American Light Lager" like Bud Light, Miller Light, etc, then you're right, there aren't many European beers that fall under that classification...but personally, I don't think there's much distinguishing a light lager from other lagers or pilsners. They all fall under the "light beers" qualification for me, because they are all lagers.

This thread could very well be "why do American love hoppy beers?" The argument would be the same. The variety of American IPA's produced pale the number of light lagers. 22K different American IPA's on Beer Advocates, only 750 light lagers.

The simple answer for why Americans love "light beers" as in Bud Light, Miller Light, etc is because they have light in the name. Same reason so many people drink diet soda. We are an obese country that thinks eating and drinking shit with light or diet in the name makes it healthier.

 

[weremichael]

Light beer is fucking trash

Are we defining light beer by ABV? If so then I really love light beer. I can session out some pints after going for a long bike ride, enjoy more than a couple beers when it's hot as hell outside, or just have an evening of drinking and listening to music with my wife without getting trashed.

Not Bud Light (4.3% ABV), but a well crafted German-style Berliner Weisse (typically around 3%) or Gose (around 4%); British Milds (around 4%), and Belgian farmhouse ales (4-5%). Those European styles are READILY available around the United States and quite popular in the craft beer circles.

The relatively new style of session IPAs (all well below 5%) are extremely popular in the Rockies and West Coast. Beers like Pinner, Pakitos, Babyface, Dribble Belt, etc are the most exciting thing that's happened in brewing and that style comes from the USA.

I'm no nationalist, but the hate on American beer is unfounded. We are the leading innovators of brewing science, Period.

 

[distantmantra]

As an aside for the craft-beer loving Americans, is there much beyond IPAs? Everyone seems obsessed with drinking the hoppiest beer possible over there, presumably because of the serving temperature

Barrel aged stouts
Farmhouse ales
Sour beers (both wild fermentation and kettle sours with and without fruit)
Session beers
Pilsners
Kolsch

And lots more.

 

[KingV]

Why ask why? Drink Bud Dry.

Also: light beer is good day drinking beer. You can drink several and not get plastered, and they don't fill you up too significantly.

 

[thezerofire]

As an aside for the craft-beer loving Americans, is there much beyond IPAs? Everyone seems obsessed with drinking the hoppiest beer possible over there, presumably because of the serving temperature

This is probably more accurate like 4 years ago, there are tons of belgians, sours, stouts, porters, basically you name it

 

[Raven117]

My favorite from them is Numb Comfort, which is sadly only available in their taproom.

It packs a punch that's for sure. Definitely night drinking.

 

[Solid SOAP]

I went to a Mets game at Citifield the other day and went to purchase a beer.

Bud Light was $12, and Shock Tops were $10.

I do not understand

 

[perfectchaos007]

I went to a Mets game at Citifield the other day and went to purchase a beer.

Bud Light was $12, and Shock Tops were $10.

I do not understand

Maybe the Shocktops were on sale?

 

[riotous]

Number of breweries is strange way to judge the quality and innovation of a country's beer.

It certainly doesn't prove anything; but just by the nature of how products work it means there are a vast amount of people attempting a craft/artisan level of that product. There are 100s of different small batch beers being brewed in each region at any given time, all of them at least attempting to put out a high quality product doted over by the brewers.

It also can dilute your talent pool a bit for sure though; some of these small breweries are quite amateur. So it goes both ways; you might increase your chance for duds too.

So no it isn't a way to judge quality; but it does massively increase the chance for innovation in particular. Because it's way more people experimenting, way more people trying to differentiate themselves, etc

As an aside for the craft-beer loving Americans, is there much beyond IPAs? Everyone seems obsessed with drinking the hoppiest beer possible over there, presumably because of the serving temperature

I'm an American who drinks mostly local beer, and I don't drink IPAs very often. I drink stouts, porters, strong ales, brown ales, barleywines, sours, etc. There are a lot of brewers who rarely if ever create an IPA here.

 

[weremichael]

I went to a Mets game at Citifield the other day and went to purchase a beer.

Bud Light was $12, and Shock Tops were $10.

I do not understand

It's not like Shock Top is an expensive beer to produce nor is it a micro (it's an InBev mass produced product).

Number of breweries is strange way to judge the quality and innovation of a country's beer.

I agree to a certain extent. But like an infinite amount of monkeys on keyboard,s creating the best novel ever, a good beer style will be developed in a land with more breweries.

Here's some recent beer style innovation from the USA in the last 15 years or so: 100% Brett beers, kettle sour beer (soured with yogurt), Cascadian dark ales, session IPAs, east coast cloudy IPAs and bizarre adjunct/fruit/vegetable beers (peanut butter brown ales, coffee IPAs, tequila barrel aged beer, gluten free beer, are the first few that come to mind).

By not having a brewing tradition, we're free to push the bounds of brewing more than any other country. That plus the regional style that are developing and spreading around the world and it is clear that the USA is the leading innovator in the field of brewing.

 

[The Albatross]

I can't think of one. There's no such thing as a light lager here in Germany. I cannot find a useful translation either, but I know for sure that none of the 25+ beers at my local supermarket taste anything like those two I mentioned (the only ones I know, to be fair). That's why I'm asking for an example.

an "American extra pale lager" (the industry term for what would be like Budweiser or Miller) are really just cold-conditioned/stored (lagered) pilsners or helles. They're called "extra pale lagers" in the US because they are lagered beers, but the name is all branding... Your average bud lite aficianado would be turned off if Budweiser started calling them "Helles" or "Pilsners" (Less so), even though that's the type of beer they are.

The equivalent throughout Europe is Carlsberg, Carling, Heinekin, Pilsner Urqel, Spaten, Paulaner Original, Weihenstephaner (sp) Original, Beck's, Haufbrau Original, Stella, and so on. And just as how in that list there are beers you might drink occassionally and some that you consider piss, it's the same thing stateside. I've been a home brewer for about 10 years, all of my beer sucks, but I've been lucky enough to drink a lot of great beer from around the world... But even of the major American shit-tier breweries, I'll still have my grading and preferences. There are specific nights where I'll want to drink specific cheap beer (for me, as a New Englander, that's usually Narragansett, PBR, or (new) Schlitz), but there's a lot of beers that I'd never drink (I'd rather not drink than drink Heinekin, for instance).

But, FWIW, the US does not have it's own version of reinheitsgebot, so there's a larger variety of what would be called "beer," though some brewers claim to stick to reinheitsgebot for marketing reasons, especially brewers who focus on German or Bavarian style beers, like say Gordon Biersch Brewing out of California.

Compared to the UK you have a population that is about 5 times larger (321M vs 65M based on 2015 numbers), but you only have about 3 times as many breweries (5300 vs 1700 breweries). Your country is punching below its weight when it comes to beer culture.

You're definitely right when it comes to the number of breweries. That's because up until the 1980s, opening a brewery was against the law in almost every state, and then it wouldn't be until the late 90s or early 2000s that it would be easy to open breweries in almost all 50 states (still there are some that persist in being assholes). But if you look at growth... it's been, literally, an explosion. Since 2009, there's been a 500% increase in the number of breweries in the US, and it's accelerating faster between 2015 and 2017 than it did 15 years ago when the craft trend took off. It took a while.

But the US is not punching below it's weight anymore. We're in a beer renaissance. If you're a beer drinker, this is the best time in world history to drink beer, just the sheer amount of quality and quantity of great beer is something humankind has never enjoyed before.

 

[OG Shaka Zulu]

I was an IPA beer snob who clowned my light beer drinking family. Then for some reason, five years into drinking them my tastebuds started finding them gross. Tried a BudLight yesterday and I'm going to convert.

Best light beer I ever had was Indian River Light at Heartland Brewery.

 

[Slixshot]

I hate beer with a firey passion of 10,000 burning suns.

Then I came to Europe and had this light German beer.

I still don't like it, but I can drink it and it's pretty tasty.

Bro. Beer is gross. Try a hard cider. Shits delish

 

[PassiveObserver]

Bro. Beer is gross. Try a hard cider. Shits delish

Please don't let a beer thread end on this post.

 

[Rookhelm]

I love craft beer, but when most of it is $6 vs $2 for a pint of Miller light, sometimes the choice is easy

 

[pswii60]

I like to visit Belgium and drink real beer. Especially Leuven, the capital of beer.

 

[tokkun]

Compared to the UK you have a population that is about 5 times larger (321M vs 65M based on 2015 numbers), but you only have about 3 times as many breweries (5300 vs 1700 breweries). Your country is punching below its weight when it comes to beer culture.

UK will be all wine soon

 

[weremichael]

I like to visit Belgium and drink real beer. Especially Leuven, the capital of beer.

I was in Belgium for a month and really enjoyed the beer. I visited Moeder Lambic and Cantillon almost everyday while I was in Bruxelles. The beers were some of the best I've ever consumed. I visited Fantome in Soy and was amazed by the hospitality of Dany and the exquisite quality of beer he produces.

One of my favorite nights was at Moeder Lambic for a North American beer festival. I had been in Belgium for three and a half weeks and I was excited as the Belgians for lower alcohol/high hop terpene beers. Belgium makes some of the most amazing beer on the planet for sure, but I prefer the variety of beer produced in the USA.

I don't know if I've had a beer as tasty a fresh bottle of Iris (the hop flavor is amazing when it's fresh), but I know that breweries like Trve, Crooked Stave, De Garde, Wicked Weed and Ale Apothecary (and many others) are producing very amazing mixed culture and coolship beer.

Definitely visit Belgium. The people are fantastic, the food is incredible, the art is amazing, the bicycling is a blast, and the beer is some of the best in the world. My wife and I are planning on spending time in Ghent next year. Belgium is absolutely fantastic.

 

[Spuck-uk]

It's not like Shock Top is an expensive beer to produce nor is it a micro (it's an InBev mass produced product).

I agree to a certain extent. But like an infinite amount of monkeys on keyboard,s creating the best novel ever, a good beer style will be developed in a land with more breweries.

Here's some recent beer style innovation from the USA in the last 15 years or so: 100% Brett beers, kettle sour beer (soured with yogurt), Cascadian dark ales, session IPAs, east coast cloudy IPAs and bizarre adjunct/fruit/vegetable beers (peanut butter brown ales, coffee IPAs, tequila barrel aged beer, gluten free beer, are the first few that come to mind).

By not having a brewing tradition, we're free to push the bounds of brewing more than any other country. That plus the regional style that are developing and spreading around the world and it is clear that the USA is the leading innovator in the field of brewing.

But you aren't inventing new styles, you're doing minor twists on styles from other countries.

Adjunct additive beers are older than your entire country.
IPA is British. Session IPA has existed in the UK for over a century.
Gose/Berliners are German
Saisons are french
Sours are belgian, kettle sours only exist because people wanted a cheaper way to quickly make sour beers, and they don't remotely compete with Cantillon etc.
Gluten free beer? Corona is gluten free for 30+ years, Mexico.
Brett has been a key part of several Belgian beers for 100+ years
etc etc etc...

'Cascadian Dark Ales' (just call it a Black IPA) is an american original, grant you that, and new hop varieties have been your real contribution, but again, far from the only country doing that now.

You lack an understanding of beer outside your borders. Its cool you aren't just making shit lager now, but you don't lead the world, yankee blue jeans

 

[Spuck-uk]

I was in Belgium for a month and really enjoyed the beer. I visited Moeder Lambic and Cantillon almost everyday while I was in Bruxelles. The beers were some of the best I've ever consumed. I visited Fantome in Soy and was amazed by the hospitality of Dany and the exquisite quality of beer he produces.

One of my favorite nights was at Moeder Lambic for a North American beer festival. I had been in Belgium for three and a half weeks and I was excited as the Belgians for lower alcohol/high hop terpene beers. Belgium makes some of the most amazing beer on the planet for sure, but I prefer the variety of beer produced in the USA.

I don't know if I've had a beer as tasty a fresh bottle of Iris (the hop flavor is amazing when it's fresh), but I know that breweries like Trve, Crooked Stave, De Garde, Wicked Weed and Ale Apothecary (and many others) are producing very amazing mixed culture and coolship beer.

Definitely visit Belgium. The people are fantastic, the food is incredible, the art is amazing, the bicycling is a blast, and the beer is some of the best in the world. My wife and I are planning on spending time in Ghent next year. Belgium is absolutely fantastic.

I'm going to Bruges in a few months, don't suppose you have any suggestions for bars?

 

[Fleet_of_Foot]

My summer standards are Sam Adams Summer Ale and Bell's Oberon. But both of those are above 5% and I'm a bit of a lightweight so I don't drink more than three of them at a time. But I discovered this beer this summer. Anyone else been drinking it? It's a light beer at only 4.8%, tastes pretty good, and comes in a 15 pack for $14.99 (where I live). I'm on my third case of it this summer. Perfect for taking to the pool. And the can is pretty.

 

[Spuck-uk]

But the US is not punching below it's weight anymore. We're in a beer renaissance. If you're a beer drinker, this is the best time in world history to drink beer, just the sheer amount of quality and quantity of great beer is something humankind has never enjoyed before.

10000% this, even compared to 5 years ago, it's insane how much great beer you can get everywhere.

Sometimes you do just want a Lager (but you might as well drink a great one)

 

[GeekyDad]

I always thought the idea of a "light" beer was that they have fewer calories. I've only had a few myself, so I couldn't say. Kinda prefer the regular Corona myself.

 

[Hitmeneer]

But you aren't inventing new styles, you're doing minor twists on styles from other countries.

Adjunct additive beers are older than your entire country.
IPA is British. Session IPA has existed in the UK for over a century.
Gose/Berliners are German
Saisons are french
Sours are belgian, kettle sours only exist because people wanted a cheaper way to quickly make sour beers, and they don't remotely compete with Cantillon etc.
Gluten free beer? Corona is gluten free for 30+ years, Mexico.
Brett has been a key part of several Belgian beers for 100+ years
etc etc etc...

'Cascadian Dark Ales' (just call it a Black IPA) is an american original, grant you that, and new hop varieties have been your real contribution, but again, far from the only country doing that now.

You lack an understanding of beer outside your borders. Its cool you aren't just making shit lager now, but you don't lead the world, yankee blue jeans

I agree. In Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands we have hundreds of years of beer history. It is nice that in America there is a Renaissance and you started to discover real beer and are creating small scale breweries, but that is something we have had for centuries. There are literally thousands of small brewers in Europe that you never heard of and are doing things that Americans just started doing.
We have monks that are creating beer at their monasteries for centuries and small brewers that try to make new innovative beers. In North Europe we recently had a revival of home brewing, where people started to make their own beer at home, while in Italy a massive amount of new beer brewers are finding their way into the market.

It is great that Americans started to appropriate beer and have a thriving beer scene. More beer types and brands for everyone. But to say that America is now the most important beer country and obliterates Europe......

 

[Camp Freddie]

America's main contribution is to make real beers trendy. I don't think the UK would've shrugged of the crusty-old-men "CAMRA" image without American influence. The clientelle at a UK beer festival have changed dramatically over the last two decades.

Buying an IPA 20 years ago meant that you were an old man. Now it means you're a hipster.

And of course, I drank IPA before it was cool...

 

[Charles Brandon]

America's main contribution is to make real beers trendy. I don't think the UK would've shrugged of the crusty-old-men "CAMRA" image without American influence. The clientelle at a UK beer festival have changed dramatically over the last two decades.

Buying an IPA 20 years ago meant that you were an old man. Now it means you're a hipster.

And of course, I drank IPA before it was cool...

Agree with all of that.

 

[weremichael]

I'm going to Bruges in a few months, don't suppose you have any suggestions for bars?

Go to Le Trappiste. Amazing vibe and the beer list is incredible (in size but, more importantly, in quality). I had some very interesting experimental Italian and Dutch beers and the typical Belgian beers. Cambrinus was great too. I looked at my Google map and I couldn't find the bottle shop (it's near the beer wall)that had kegs from very small experimental breweries. I sat and talked/drank beer with the owner for a couple hours. I'll see if my wife remembers the name of the place.

But you aren't inventing new styles, you're doing minor twists on styles from other countries.

Adjunct additive beers are older than your entire country.
IPA is British. Session IPA has existed in the UK for over a century.
Gose/Berliners are German
Saisons are french
Sours are belgian, kettle sours only exist because people wanted a cheaper way to quickly make sour beers, and they don't remotely compete with Cantillon etc.
Gluten free beer? Corona is gluten free for 30+ years, Mexico.
Brett has been a key part of several Belgian beers for 100+ years
etc etc etc...

'Cascadian Dark Ales' (just call it a Black IPA) is an american original, grant you that, and new hop varieties have been your real contribution, but again, far from the only country doing that now.

You lack an understanding of beer outside your borders. Its cool you aren't just making shit lager now, but you don't lead the world, yankee blue jeans

In my earlier posts in this thread, I stated where these styles of beer originate from. I'm no beer expert, but I've been brewing since the 90s and have drank beer in countries on three continents. Even if I concede that we're twisting styles of beer (I could argue that style is only a starting off point to beer and limits development), we're doing that in a wider variety of ways than any other nation.

Kettle sours (Tartastic from New Belgium for example) are in no way trying to be like a coolship beer (Cantillon lambic). Kettle sours (depending on the brewery) are very lightly lactic from the lacto fermentation. The sour level is closer to a German Berliner Weiss (American Berliner Weiss are more sour (typically) than their German counterparts). They're a really fun way to get some tartness to interact with dry hopping.

I agree that Brett has been a key fermenter in old ales in the UK and a variety of beers from Belgium. Those beers are always mixed culture though (sacch yeast being the primary fermenter in most cases). The experiments that Chad Yacobson did for his PhD changed how brewers use Brett as a yeast. 100% Brett beers are not sour at all, they're fruity, yeast, and very yummy.

Corona is made with barley, it's not gluten free. Maybe we could say checha from Peru is the original gluten free beer??

I agree that the rest of the world has caught up with the hop research done at Oregon State University and in the Yakima valley. I love me some New Zealand and Australian hops.

I got no retort to Yankee blue jeans, that shit is funny as hell.

 

[tokkun]

In Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands we have hundreds of years of beer history.

This sort of argument is not effective on American craft beer fans because they tend not to value romanticism. Brewing the same handful of abbey beers for a thousand years or implementing beer purity laws is not that appealing to people, outside of the fedora crowd.

 

[weremichael]

This sort of argument is not effective on American craft beer fans because they tend not to value romanticism. Brewing the same handful of abbey beers for a thousand years or implementing beer purity laws is not that appealing to people, outside of the fedora crowd.

The Reinheitsgebot holds brewing science back.

When I visited Cantillon, it was like visiting church. I had the same experience (to a lesser degree) when I visited de Garde though too. The romantic tradition of brewing is beautiful in an historic sense, but it's just a small ingredient to enjoying a well crafted beer.

To me, beer is a five to fifteen minute experience. Sometimes I want a can of Miller high life, sometimes I want a Trappist Quad. Most of the time, I want something in the 4% range that has hop and yeast character, that I can enjoy with friends. Beer is the best social lubricant known to man.

 

[Toxi]

US does totally overrate their gimmick beers, like oversweet stouts and unbalanced kettle sours.

Bless.

Sweet stouts are delicious brah.

There are bad ones, but the same can be said of any kind of beer. And the good ones are sublime.

 

[Fox Mulder]

My tastes are completely fucked with 30 years of consuming American mass produced garbage, so why bother with anything better at this point. I simply don't care.

I'll keep eating Taco Bell and drink Coors light.

 

[Toxi]

This sort of argument is not effective on American craft beer fans because they tend not to value romanticism. Brewing the same handful of abbey beers for a thousand years or implementing beer purity laws is not that appealing to people, outside of the fedora crowd.

Yep, American craft beer is all about pushing boundaries.

Sometimes this leads to great things.

Sometimes this leads to undrinkable shit that barely resembles beer anymore.

But the good far outweighs the bad for me.

 

[curiouscharles]

What an ignorant, worthless thread. When another country has a craft beer scene that can compete with ours you can resume making fun of American beer.

Canada says hi, while laughing.

[seriously y'all were way behind on craft beer and still are]

 

[The Albatross]

Canada says hi, while laughing.

[seriously y'all were way behind on craft beer and still are]

This is simply wrong.

Canada has great craft beer, but... c'mon. Get with the times. It's fine to long for the olden days 20+ years ago where there was virtually no great beer in the US (or there was very, very little), but those days are gone.

 

[NandoGip]

cheap and easy to chug 12

edit:

also craft beer sucks and is pretentious

 

[Futureman]

cheap and easy to chug 12

edit:

also craft beer sucks and is pretentious

Craft beer. Anything less would be uncivilized.

 

[pablito]

also craft beer sucks and is pretentious

how dare people make something and care about how good it is.

 

[riotous]

With 5500 breweries thousands of them created in the last 5 years i dont know how anyone could rightfully meaaure Americas beer dick accurately either way. Not to mention access to breweries is regional.

Theres a shit ton of beer now, lots of exciting new breweries making beer that people are enjoying. Whether that makes the US scene better or worse is impossible to say and if you are making a claim its intellectually dishonest.

Objectively its the fastest growing craft beer market in the world. Objectively other markets have a longer history.

Beyond that, enjoy your beer lol.

 

[Preezy]

What an ignorant, worthless thread. When another country has a craft beer scene that can compete with ours you can resume making fun of American beer.

Lighten up with a Bud Light, bud.

 

[Hermii]

My summer standards are Sam Adams Summer Ale and Bell's Oberon. But both of those are above 5% and I'm a bit of a lightweight so I don't drink more than three of them at a time. But I discovered this beer this summer. Anyone else been drinking it? It's a light beer at only 4.8%, tastes pretty good, and comes in a 15 pack for $14.99 (where I live). I'm on my third case of it this summer. Perfect for taking to the pool. And the can is pretty.

I envy you Americans thats so cheap, and thats probably not even a super cheap beer.

 

[jonezer4]

Bud Light
Miller Light
Coors Light


Basically the best selling beers are light beers...Why do Americans love light beers? Are they cheaper? Or because you can drink more without getting drunk as fast?

So many better options out there...Sierra Nevada...San Adams Boston Lager...etc...

I never understood this and I hope some in here can tell me why Americans are in love with light beers which most of them taste just like water

You don't drink Light Beers for the taste. You drink them when you want to have 12 beers over the course of three hours. You're sacrificing quality for quantity.

You drink one, maybe two regular beers when you want flavor.

Incidentally, all the regular versions of the three light beers you mentioned taste like shit to my tongue.

 

[neurosisxeno]

I envy you Americans thats so cheap, and thats probably not even a super cheap beer.

I got a 30 Rack of PBR for $18 the other day. You can get 30 of stuff like Bud Light and Coors Light for $20-22 most of the time.

 

[schwabdizzle]

Mich Golden Light is pretty good some mass consumption drinking. I am more of an IPA guy during the Summer personally.

 

[Beardz]

Its good but not $40+/case good.

WTF?! You can get a nice cooler and 24 coronas for that price! (If you are in México...)

 

[Woo-Fu]

Kind of dumb question when the answer is in the name itself.

 

[chromatic9]

Just reading Bud Light has been re-introduced to the UK after 16 years.

Might pick one up for curiosity. Wonder if it tastes weaker than Skol?

 

[lyrick]

Just reading Bud Light has been re-introduced to the UK after 16 years.

Might pick one up for curiosity. Wonder if it tastes weaker than Skol?

lol @ one,

One doesn't just drink a light beer, one drinks 6/12 or 24/30 light beers in a single sitting. A lot of beer snobs in this thread are not really comprehending the fact that light beer drinkers are not sitting around cherishing the fucking taste of these beers for 5 - 15 minute intervals at a time, but rather drinking light beers while doing something actually eventful.

 

[tokkun]

lol @ one,

One doesn't just drink a light beer, one drinks 6/12 or 24/30 light beers in a single sitting. A lot of beer snobs in this thread are not really comprehending the fact that light beer drinkers are not sitting around cherishing the fucking taste of these beers for 5 - 15 minute intervals at a time, but rather drinking light beers while doing something actually eventful.

I understand the place of lawnmower beers. I don't really believe that light beers capture that much market share because people are doing something active. The majority is probably consumed by people sitting at home on the couch.

 

[NandoGip]

I'll smash like 12 bud lights on sunday funday while grilling with friends

Not really drinking it for the taste

Im trying to get lit

 

[milanbaros]

Objectively its the fastest growing craft beer market in the world.

Do you have source for that? I've heard buyouts by the big brewers are really slowing down growth and volumes were almost flat in 2016.

I'd have thought places like Brazil and China have faster growing craft beer markets right now.