Surprisingly, French Beer Doesn't Suck

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I probably drink more domestric (US) brews than anything else. Still, some of the best beer I've had has come from the UK (mostly English, but I've had a few excellent Scot and Irish brews too). I also have liked a lot of German, Austrian, and Belgian beers. While it's more of a mixed bag, there have also been a few Danish, Norwegian, Spanish, and even Mexican beers that I've liked.

However, prior to last week, I've never tried a French beer. This is partially due to the French having made their name in the alcoholic beverage industry in the form of wine, of which I am not a big fan (of any variety - French or otherwise). But whatever the reason, I've never tried a French beer, and I never expected French beer to be more than average.

Well, last week, I went to Disney World, and while at Epcot they have half the park dedicated to a host of different nations from the world, with food and beverages served native to that country. (In fact, even the servers at the restaurants based on their speech are natives of that particular nation, with English as a second language.) So my brother and I made a point to sample some of the brews from nations we've never had before, which included French, Chinese, and Moroccan beer. The Chinese and Morocaan beer didn't really do much for me.

But, in a major upset, I really liked the French beer. Tops on the list was the Kronenbourg 1664. It was a light, crisp beer, which was really refreshing on a hot day. And I really think it was actually good - it didn't shine just because I went in with low expectations. Outstanding brew - and evidently the French know more about alcohol than the wine I had given them credit for.

 

I really like it myself you can get it in most bars and supermarkets. It is one of the "big" beers of the world with what I assume is global spread. My best mate absolutely love that beer and orders every time it is available. I think it is because "The Streets" sing about it.

 

I drink it occasionally, and it's nothing special but it's fairly tasty.

Edit: Aldeth, have you ever tried any Wychwoods?

 

Kronenbourg is a popular beer all over the world (although evidently not in Aldeth's part of the world). It's actually on special at my local supermarket this week.

 

Kronenbourg 1664 is all right. I know better but it's all right. It's an export beer as well, and I recall getting it on British Airways flights, and of course in France.

Congrats for your discovery

Distribution channels are a curious thing. For instance you barely get American beer her in Europe, and considering (a) that all you usually get is that execrable (US) Bud(weiser) (NOT The Czech one, that's good) and (b) that we have far far far better than that - that is probably a good thing. Still, I'm curious, reasoning: Dang, they can't just brew crap all the time over there, can they?

 

But french-beer (no matter how weird the idea of it sounds) is pricey!

 

Most of Europe does good beer. 'Beer' is such a broad word though.

Britain does the best real ales, hands down. There are so many I won't even start to go into them. The Belgians tend to do the best lagers. US beer tastes like utter cat piss. How Budweiser is the highest volume seller worldwide is beyond me, it's awful stuff.

 

Budweiser is one thing that Barmy Army and I DO agree on.

 

I dunno, I think very light lagers get a bad rap by people just because they want to be cool. Yes the common US lagers do not have much flavour but in all honestly neither does the most popular European light lagers. They are not meant to give you a flavour sensation, they are meant to get you drunk in a comfortable way under the illusion that they are actually quenching your thirst. I love to nurture a really good beer at some nice pub really savouring every bit of flavour there is but if I am going to a party or watching football with my mates I like me some light lager I can drink in large quantities without feeling like I have eaten a gallon of soup. For that, stuff like Bud and MGD works almost as well as Carlsberg, Tuborg, Stella, Becks, Heineken or Kronenbourg.

 

But Budweiser still tastes awful. There are plenty of nice tasting light flavoured beers.

 

The Danish have really decent beer.
Was kinda surprised.

Same for Serbian, where the danish bought some home-brands and now they brew some cool stuff. Along with the new-age mixes ( blech )

Germany's beer is mediocre, but gets better the closer one gets to Bavaria!

And USA beers is poor.
Why?
'Cuz when most of the old world migrated to the land of the free, the Biermeisters stayed!

 

I have not. Have not even heard of it.

I had heard of Kronenbourg before, and I have even seen it on sale occassionally - I just never tried it. For whatever reason, I didn't think I would like it. I was pleasantly surprised.

AND

AND

OK, I have to come to the defense of American breweries. If you are judging American brews on Budweiser, then no wonder all of you hate American beer. But that's like going to a premier steakhouse, savoring a filet, and saying, "Wow, this is a lot better than a McDonald's cheeseburger." Well of course it is. If that's all that America had to offer to the beer community, I'd agree with you all. Hell, I live over here, Bud is omnipresent, and I don't touch the stuff.

And the reason that is such an appropriate comparison is also the reason that Bud is the best selling beer worldwide: It's also among the cheapest. You can get an entire case of Bud for what it costs for a 6-pack of most decent beer. Pretty much of all of the macrobrews over here - throw Miller and Coors in there for sure - are equal crap. (Well, that's not fair to Miller and Coors. They are certainly poor, but Bud is about as bad as you can get.)

If you want to try a good American lager there are two I'd heartily recommend: Yuengling Lager and Sam Adam's Boston Lager. I'm not saying either will immediately jump to the best beer you've had in your life, but you'll at least come to the realization that brewmeisters in the US don't have their heads completely shoved up their asses.

 

I second Yuengling. Good stuff!

 

I did in fact have an American pale ale the other day called Sierra Nevada and I really enjoyed it. I don't know whether that's a big brewery over there, or some small backwater one. But they were selling it in my local supermarket so I tried it. Pleasantly surprised.

 

While I wouldn't call Sierra Nevada a macro brew, it's not some little brewery either. Another good pale ale is Blue Moon (which I'm pretty sure is American).

 

Blue Moon Spring Ale was a new one this year, very tasty. Buffalo Wild Wings has it on tap. And they serve 24 ouncers!

 

A few years ago my mother was in New York. She's not a big drinker and certainly doesn't drink lager/beer. However, for whatever reason she decided to have a beer at the hotel. She ended up taking it back as she'd asked for a beer, not a shandy!

 

I think over here American beers tend to be poor value. Bud is normal priced but is much worse than cheaper beers. Miller and Coors Light (is there a regular Coors? I've never seen one) are fine normal priced beers but I'd generally choose a continental. Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams are expensive and hard to get. Proper American micro brewed beers are the preserve of a handful of shops and off licences and are very expensive. Raging ***** IPA by the Flying Dog brewery is possibly the nicest beer I've ever had. I could have got an equivalent Belgian beer for half the price though.

 

You don't get around enough then (drinking wise). It's quite the contrary. We have some very good beer here. One just needs to look beyond the volume selling mainstream brands and into different varieties of beer (Vollbier, Pils, Kölsch, the various variants of Bockbier, Landbier, Lagers, Schwarzbier etc pp). And while Bavarian beer tends to be pretty good, you don't need to go there to find good beer.

Belgium is a mixed bag as far as beer goes but they offer a fascinating and broad variety.

And Aldeth, as I said, I didn't think the US beer is universally bad. I merely said, what one tends to get here is big brand crap like Bud. Trust me, I'd rather like to have a beer tasting with good US beer. By the way, Heinecken IMO isn't even beer but an abomination.

 

That would remove the primary reason for its sales in the US - cheap.

There is - Just called (appropriately enough) "Coors". I don't know why the Light version is so much more popular than the regular version.

While I've never had that particular type, the Flying Dog brewery does make a bunch of good beers.

I've noticed the same thing - and said as much in my initial post. Danish beer is the same thing for me.

I had no idea it was even brewed in the US - but I largely agree - not good.