Yesterday I ended up in Williamsburg, in a pub watching a match betqween the US and Italy. The bar was pretty full, with everyone I saw watching the football as opposed to a baseball match that was on the other TV in the bar. The groans and cheers were in all the right places, so theis crowd at least got the game.
But on to the beer. Anheuser-Busch are getting a bad rep in Germany for sponsoring the World Cup…Bud is not the best beer in the world (it’s Carlsberg, probably..isn’t it?) and Bud is defintiely not good compared to the many German beers that can be found. But I don’t think US beer deserves the reputation it has. Many of the bars I’ve been into usually have a far better selection of locally brewed beers than many UK pubs. Yesterday, I was trying a nice Wiesse beer from the Brooklyn Brewery, the Sam Adams varieties tend to be pretty good and I’ve almost always managed to find something that is not just ‘lager’. The problem I think is lack of export – only the ‘big’ week, lager type stuff seems to be found in many other countries and that does deserve to be poorly regarded.
And the picture – one of many signs to adorn the walls of Mugs Ale House. A reminder of home, as I live about a mile from the brewery.
Yes, indeed. Bud, Coors et al are the ugly Americans of beer. They throw their big loud ad budgets all over the place, attracting all the wrong kind of attention while the more subtle, tasty brews go unnoticed and suffer prejudice by association. Boy I wish I had a pint of Anderson Valley Boont Amber right now…