Top 10 beer countries in the world

Hi!

I am originally Northern European, but having lived in the USA for several years, having a sister living in Central Europe whom I visit every now and then, having to travel a lot in the U.K. for business, and generally liking large European cities as vacation destinations, all the while being a keen beer taster. My ongoing quest for The Perfect Pint has led me to make a list of countries where the chances of finding one is the highest. Please take it with a grain of salt, but here's my global list of best places in the World to be a beer lover:

  1. England
  2. Czech
  3. California, USA
  4. Ireland
  5. Germany
  6. Belgium
  7. Oregon, USA
  8. France
  9. Denmark
10.Holland

My regrets to Canada, Australia, and Mexico which have been omitted from the list because I haven't had a chance to visit yet, although certain imports from these countries indicate that they potentially might belong on the list.

Cheers!

- Risto -

Reply to
Risto Lankinen
Loading thread data ...

Such things are completely subjective, of course, but I'd be putting Ireland much lower on that list if it were me. Sure, there's stout. But then there's stout. And, oh, some stout.

Germany needs to go way higher. If we're going to go with US regions, I'd lump the West Coast together, and also add a region that's Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan, and then the Northeast.

Holland should go higher too. Not as much local stuff, although there are some good ones, but plentiful Belgians.

-Stev

Reply to
Steve Jackson

fairness in the dsiclaimer dully noted

Reply to
+-

Even though I'm flattered by the California ranking, I must disagree. I'd go:

  1. Belgium
  2. Germany
  3. California

....and even then, I'm not so sure of Calif vs England. That's because of all the imported beers we get in CA, England is very under-represented.

We get a good selection of German beers, a great selection of Belgian beers (CA's are very trendy), and almost nothing in the way or English beers. We are very much aware of the great contribution of British ales. After all, that's the basis of the great microbrewery revolution on the West Coast. But, I'll be damned if I can find more than a couple/three examples of British brews on the shelf in even the best liquor stores. I have to believe with all my heart ...and taste buds... that Samuel Smith's and Fuller's is not the best England has to offer.

I'd be glad to look for some great export English beers if you'd care to name some.

As for the rest of the list, it's all so personal. I agree Oregon should be lumped with the CA and the West Coast. France, Denmark aren't even on the list. Holland, like the UK, exports very little except the mega-swill. Canada should make the list for their excellent Belgian-type offerings.

nb

Reply to
notbob

You should wnder how many great beers there are in Holland (the Netherlands) There is a lot more than grolsch en heineken A real dutch beerlover doesnt drink that unless theres nothing else In my beer collection over 1000 dutch beers from more than 90 breweries. For a very small country a huge amount. Still there come new breweries like the Lepelear (very good tripel beers) and Kasparus

I know none of these beers will be found in the USA. Some of them are so local they are hard to get for me as beercollector also (and that in a country lats say 200*300km)

Interrested in what I've been drinking: Have a look at my homepage

formatting link
Or in the german beerbook "1000 biere aus aller welt" The none german beers in the book are about 10% from my collection More on the book at
formatting link

Greetings Harry Pinkster Groningen - The Netherlands Beerscollector

formatting link
And Webmaster Pint Regio Noord (dutch association like CAMRA)
formatting link

Reply to
H.Pinkster

Someone has to point it out - it might a s well be me. Oregon and California are not countries.

Slightly changing the question, which (of the same list) countries have the best mainstream mass produced beers?

Joint top - Germany & Czech Republic

Joint bottom - USA and UK

Reply to
Jeff Pickthall

I'll drink to that.

nb

Reply to
notbob

Huh, that's interesting. Must be a big difference in distributors between NoCal and SoCal. Down here, the UK selection isn't bad at all - at least as good as what I had back in Chicago. I'm not sure what all there is, since I don't often buy UK beers here (having had the chance to have them on cask in their home environment, I find the bottles to often be disappointing), but there's a hell of a lot more on offer here than Bass, Sam Smith's, Fullers and Newcastle.

That may be, but drinking in Holland is very good. Tons of Belgians, a good number of local breweries that brew very good Belgian-style or German-style beers, with a bit of more localized interpretation.

-Steve

Reply to
Steve Jackson

Most of the time in California, we tend to think like we're our own country, however.

Agreed.

Disagreed. With the exception of Germany and the CR, the mass-produced beers are pretty damn boring pretty much everywhere. Even in Belgium, where the likes of Stella are pretty much as bad as Bud or Carling. Industrolager is industrolager the world 'round.

-Steve

Reply to
Steve Jackson

Right on! #1

Papi

Reply to
Pat Pippen

I like your list, other than how you have Germany ranked. I think they have to be #1 or #2 (England makes some nice beer). I have never cared for much beer out of France. Canada makes some nice beers as well. But it's all opinion, of course.

Derek Taylor,

formatting link

Reply to
Derek Taylor

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.