Yankee brews are dandy
The United States is the greatest beer show in town. Ben McFarland goes ga-ga at the Great American Beer Festival
Where in the world can you find the most vibrant and exciting beer scene? In Britain where a real ale renaissance is gathering pace? No. Germany – land of lush lagers and wonderful weizens? Nein, Herr. Within the Brewtopian borders of Belgium? Non, non, non. Vous êtes mistaken again.
The answer is the United States of America. Ask any beer lover or brewer worth their malt and they’ll tell you as much.
America is Beervana. Beer and brewing can join sit-coms, gas guzzling cars, service with a smile, big hats, pancakes, road trips, hip-hop and arteryclogging hamburgers on the long list of things that America does really rather well.
Traditionalists may disagree (they probably stopped reading at the word ‘United’) but they’re wrong. Common conceptions of American beer are tainted with a rather bland brush. Indeed, there are some rather cruel jokes about the kind of massproduced American beer that you tend to find in the average pub over here.
“Why is American beer served cold? So you can tell it from urine” is one such gag. “People who drink American beer don’t like the taste of beer, they just like to pee a lot” is another. I could go on, but I’m sure you get the idea.
We may chuckle now but back in the early 1970s there wasn’t anything particularly funny about drinking beer in America. Bereft of choice and diversity, the beer scene had become bland and commoditised with just 40 breweries serving the entire nation of 240 million people with, for the most part, yellow fizzy .....
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By Ben McFarland
Section : Spotlight
Page number : 16
