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There are bad pubs and indifferent drinkers anywhere, but there's also a very large and long-standing market for quality beer and vast numbers of publicans who

There are bad pubs and indifferent drinkers anywhere, but there's also a very large and long-standing market for quality beer and vast numbers of publicans who serve great beer without any fanfare. The Campaign for Real Ale has 150,000 dues-paying members. Sitting in an 18th century pub and drinking beer that was brewed within walking distance is a largely unremarkable experience in the UK. It isn't a matter of being a connoisseur's fetish, but about the basic standards expected by a large bulk of drinkers. "Craft beer" is a fairly novel and niche product in the US, but even Wetherspoons - a huge chain known for selling very cheap beer - serves a wide range of (often local) real ale in most of their pubs. Many thousands of British pubs are members of Cask Marque, a voluntary accreditation scheme that requires regular inspections of their cellar-keeping and the quality of their beer. America has a burgeoning beer culture, but much of the country is still a beer desert where the only widely available beers are pasteurised lagers. The effects of prohibition are still being felt today, because it takes generations to develop a proper beer culture. https://camra.org.uk/ https://camra.org.uk/ https://cask-marque.co.uk/ https://cask-marque.co.uk/

account42 2y ago
Maybe what you are saying is true in the UK, but gp is right for Germany - I don't know anyone here who would complain about the glass their beer was served in. Also, most of what counts as craft beer in the US wouldn't even legally pass as beer here.
tristor 2y ago
> America has a burgeoning beer culture, but much of the country is still a beer desert where the only widely available beers are pasteurised lagers. This would have been true decades ago. It hasn't been true anytime recently, even more than a decade ago. At this point, craft beer is available bottled and canned in the typical supermarket and even gas station/convenience store in the US, even dive bars have at least one tap for craft beer or at least some bottles (although it is likely not going to serve it in high quality glassware), and craft beer makes up more than a quarter of the total dollars sold in the US beer market and nearly 15% of the volume. You say this, but at the same time, the most popular beers drunk in every European country are pasteurised lagers as well. In fact, lagers are popular /all over the world/ for the same reason: They are light, easy to drink, cheap to produce and buy, and refreshing when served cold in hot weather. I've been in plenty of historic pubs in the UK that were unfortunately acquired and ruined by Wetherspoons. A Wetherspoons is in no way any better than the average dive bar in the US, except that in the US it is commonplace for a bar to serve only alcohol and no food, where in the UK pubs are generally expected to have food.
- devilbunny 2y ago
  > in the US it is commonplace for a bar to serve only alcohol and no food Depends on the state; in mine, a bar can sell beer without a liquor license, but getting a liquor license (required not only for booze but for wine as well) involves jumping through a lot of hoops, one of which is that no more than X% of your sales by dollar amount can come from alcohol. There are no bars that are just bars, unless they only serve beer. A practical side effect is that lunches are very competitively priced in restaurants that have busy bars, because they take the hit at lunch in order to allow wine/liquor sales.

account42 2y ago

Maybe what you are saying is true in the UK, but gp is right for Germany - I don't know anyone here who would complain about the glass their beer was served in. Also, most of what counts as craft beer in the US wouldn't even legally pass as beer here.

tristor 2y ago

> America has a burgeoning beer culture, but much of the country is still a beer desert where the only widely available beers are pasteurised lagers. This would have been true decades ago. It hasn't been true anytime recently, even more than a decade ago. At this point, craft beer is available bottled and canned in the typical supermarket and even gas station/convenience store in the US, even dive bars have at least one tap for craft beer or at least some bottles (although it is likely not going to serve it in high quality glassware), and craft beer makes up more than a quarter of the total dollars sold in the US beer market and nearly 15% of the volume. You say this, but at the same time, the most popular beers drunk in every European country are pasteurised lagers as well. In fact, lagers are popular /all over the world/ for the same reason: They are light, easy to drink, cheap to produce and buy, and refreshing when served cold in hot weather. I've been in plenty of historic pubs in the UK that were unfortunately acquired and ruined by Wetherspoons. A Wetherspoons is in no way any better than the average dive bar in the US, except that in the US it is commonplace for a bar to serve only alcohol and no food, where in the UK pubs are generally expected to have food.

devilbunny 2y ago
> in the US it is commonplace for a bar to serve only alcohol and no food Depends on the state; in mine, a bar can sell beer without a liquor license, but getting a liquor license (required not only for booze but for wine as well) involves jumping through a lot of hoops, one of which is that no more than X% of your sales by dollar amount can come from alcohol. There are no bars that are just bars, unless they only serve beer. A practical side effect is that lunches are very competitively priced in restaurants that have busy bars, because they take the hit at lunch in order to allow wine/liquor sales.