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In germany, being allowed to call yourself "beer" has quite a few legal requirements. Imported beer is largely exempted on account of EU law if they don't write

by zaarn 6y ago

In germany, being allowed to call yourself "beer" has quite a few legal requirements. Imported beer is largely exempted on account of EU law if they don't write "brewed according to german purity law" on the bottle, but locally brewed beer must adhere to strict rules on what is permitted to be put into it. Originally that essentially meant hops, wheat, water. Nowadays it may also include sugar, natural color enhancing, salt and simple preservatives. Many "tasty beverages you would call beer in the US" barely qualify for a drink in germany, either because it tastes like water with a drop of beer or has almost no real taste at all (ie, tastes artificial with flavor). That's on top of the poor water quality in the US that contributes to a (IMO) chalky and flat base taste.

samatman 6y ago
Surely you meant barley. I wasn't thinking of the many world-class microbrews in the USA, nor the proletarian pisswater either; most of them qualify as beer in Germany, that bitterness you're tasting comes from your palate, not the water. Rather of lambics, which, being not much of a beer drinker myself, I prefer. The sweet ones are alright, but a dry cherry lambic, now, that's what I call a beer.
- zaarn 6y ago
  Barley isn't used much in my region, historically because while beer initially contained barley, the taxes were expensive so people lobbied for wheat. So nowadays, my region is largely wheat-based beers and barley isn't as common.
vinay427 6y ago
> Many "tasty beverages you would call beer in the US" barely qualify for a drink in germany, either because it tastes like water with a drop of beer or has almost no real taste at all (ie, tastes artificial with flavor). That's on top of the poor water quality in the US that contributes to a (IMO) chalky and flat base taste. Honestly, this whole paragraph sounds incredibly ignorant from most any perspective. Most US generalizations have a certain amount of truth to them, but you seem to have picked the wrong ones. You have no idea what tasty beverages they were referring to, or that the US and many other countries have incredibly fast-growing craft brewery scenes, or that tap water isn't centrally managed across the US so poor water quality "in the US" is undefined.
- zaarn 6y ago
  I've been to the US and no matter the place I've been, the tap water is terrible compared to what I get from my own tap at home. Maybe this is different in some very rural and remote mountain regions in the US. While the US has a fast growing craft brewery scene, the german one has about 800 years head start in experience and market depth. Tasty beverages for me as a german boil down to either a soda or beer. ANd granted, I've tasted the american versions of various sodas and softdrinks. Even our coca cola tastes better and less artificial.
  - vinay427 6y ago
    > the tap water is terrible compared to what I get from my own tap at home. I suspect this is just because it's not what you're used to rather than an actual quality judgment. I feel this about my home city when I travel elsewhere, and I complained about my current home city when I first moved here from a different country. For instance, I've felt the same about the water in many German cities whether I visited from Switzerland or the US. > While the US has a fast growing craft brewery scene, the german one has about 800 years head start in experience and market depth. I agree that this difference probably exists, but no one's starting from scratch these days and there's no reason to indicate it would continue at the same pace as Germany in the 1200s anyway, so I would presume it's far from a 800-year headstart (if there's any at all). In many cases, there may be no advantage besides the cultural recognition of certain concepts that have been more pervasive in Germany for a long time. Have you actually tried a decent variety of North American craft beers?
  - jfengel 6y ago
    This is certainly a matter of taste. When I was in Germany for months, I had to buy bottled water to make tea, because what I got out of the tap was undrinkable. Germans appear to love their mineralwasser. I find it tastes like soap. If that's what you like, then the stuff out of my tap will also be undrinkable. No arguments about the soft drinks, though. I go out of my way to get the Coke with sugar rather than corn syrup -- I don't think I'm just fooling myself that I can taste the difference.
  - cafard 6y ago
finnthehuman 6y ago
>Many "tasty beverages you would call beer in the US" barely qualify for a drink in germany, either because it tastes like water with a drop of beer or has almost no real taste at all (ie, tastes artificial with flavor). That's on top of the poor water quality in the US that contributes to a (IMO) chalky and flat base taste. And this is why so many travelers to the US buy "imported" beers at bars without knowing that they've been tricked into overpaying for our mid-tier national brands.

by zaarn 6y ago

samatman 6y ago

Surely you meant barley. I wasn't thinking of the many world-class microbrews in the USA, nor the proletarian pisswater either; most of them qualify as beer in Germany, that bitterness you're tasting comes from your palate, not the water. Rather of lambics, which, being not much of a beer drinker myself, I prefer. The sweet ones are alright, but a dry cherry lambic, now, that's what I call a beer.

zaarn 6y ago
Barley isn't used much in my region, historically because while beer initially contained barley, the taxes were expensive so people lobbied for wheat. So nowadays, my region is largely wheat-based beers and barley isn't as common.

vinay427 6y ago

> Many "tasty beverages you would call beer in the US" barely qualify for a drink in germany, either because it tastes like water with a drop of beer or has almost no real taste at all (ie, tastes artificial with flavor). That's on top of the poor water quality in the US that contributes to a (IMO) chalky and flat base taste. Honestly, this whole paragraph sounds incredibly ignorant from most any perspective. Most US generalizations have a certain amount of truth to them, but you seem to have picked the wrong ones. You have no idea what tasty beverages they were referring to, or that the US and many other countries have incredibly fast-growing craft brewery scenes, or that tap water isn't centrally managed across the US so poor water quality "in the US" is undefined.

zaarn 6y ago
I've been to the US and no matter the place I've been, the tap water is terrible compared to what I get from my own tap at home. Maybe this is different in some very rural and remote mountain regions in the US. While the US has a fast growing craft brewery scene, the german one has about 800 years head start in experience and market depth. Tasty beverages for me as a german boil down to either a soda or beer. ANd granted, I've tasted the american versions of various sodas and softdrinks. Even our coca cola tastes better and less artificial.
- vinay427 6y ago
  > the tap water is terrible compared to what I get from my own tap at home. I suspect this is just because it's not what you're used to rather than an actual quality judgment. I feel this about my home city when I travel elsewhere, and I complained about my current home city when I first moved here from a different country. For instance, I've felt the same about the water in many German cities whether I visited from Switzerland or the US. > While the US has a fast growing craft brewery scene, the german one has about 800 years head start in experience and market depth. I agree that this difference probably exists, but no one's starting from scratch these days and there's no reason to indicate it would continue at the same pace as Germany in the 1200s anyway, so I would presume it's far from a 800-year headstart (if there's any at all). In many cases, there may be no advantage besides the cultural recognition of certain concepts that have been more pervasive in Germany for a long time. Have you actually tried a decent variety of North American craft beers?
- jfengel 6y ago
  This is certainly a matter of taste. When I was in Germany for months, I had to buy bottled water to make tea, because what I got out of the tap was undrinkable. Germans appear to love their mineralwasser. I find it tastes like soap. If that's what you like, then the stuff out of my tap will also be undrinkable. No arguments about the soft drinks, though. I go out of my way to get the Coke with sugar rather than corn syrup -- I don't think I'm just fooling myself that I can taste the difference.
- cafard 6y ago

finnthehuman 6y ago