I hear it from foreigners all the time: American beer sucks. And who could blame them for buying into the stereotype? Tourist areas are replete with restaurants and bars that carry only macro-brews. And, although more impressive craft beer selections may be available only minutes from their hotels, visitors are rarely in the mood to search for a restaurant or bar simply because of the beer they offer.
Well, times are clearly changing. Today, while visiting my local beer store (Bierkraft in Brooklyn), I noticed two Swedish gentleman ogling the Dogfish Head section. As I grabbed for an Indian Brown Ale, one of them asked if I liked that particular beer. He told me he had already tried the 60 Minute IPA, the 90 Minute IPA, and the Midas Touch, and wanted to try a new Dogfish Head variety. I was happy to tell him that I loved the Indian Brown Ale.
Many of America’s craft beers are made using the same traditional brewing techniques used in Europe (e.g., Ommegang, Sam Adams). So, Europeans may find those beers suitable, if not delicious. A more interesting test, however, is how Europeans take to the more adventurous American brews (e.g., Dogfish Head, Stone).
Judging by the Swedes I met at Bierkraft this evening, there are certainly some Europeans who are catching on to new American brews. And, that’s great news. Who knows? Perhaps we’ll soon see American craft breweries reaching out to markets across the Atlantic. The sky’s the limit.
When I was in Ireland a couple of weeks ago for the Guinness 250th celebration, there were a couple of fun beer bar type spots that had Anchor, Sierra Nevada, and Goose Island. It’ll take time, but the American craft beers are going global.
It’s a humorously entertaining misconception bearing in mind that American micro breweries make up for almost half of all the micro breweries world wide today.
We just need to keep spreading the word, and the truth shall set us all free!
Btw, Monks Café here in Stockholm held an American Beer Festival a few months ago, and could serve around 540 different American made micro- or craft beers.
Since Sweden is the largest market for American micro brewers outside of the US, more and more people are slowly figuring out that the old moniker “f****g close to water” is not equal to US made beer.