Ask Lemmy

American here: American Light Lagers, like those of the BMC brands, are both one of the hardest styles to brew well and one of the worst crimes ever committed against brewery. They're hard to brew because there is so little flavor that the slightest off-taste can ruin a batch. That's also the reason that they are so terrible; they are little more than ethanol delivery systems that have enough malt proteins to sometimes have a head.

Want to get fucked up without tasting much? They're probably the next best choice after a very neutral vodka. If you have interest in anything beyond intoxication, like actually enjoying the beverage, then, pretty much any other American or European style is a better choice.

Im not sure about other countries but something to take note of is that American 'light' beers are light flavour, not ABV%.
In Australia a 'light' beer is usually around 3.5% ABV, but intended to taste like normal beer (i say intended because usually they taste more watery).

So i personally think a bit of the hate on American beers if that they seem to be fans of the 'light' flavours more, (ie prevalence of Bud light, Miller Lite, etc.) and they generally taste a lot like soda water to the non-american beer drinker that is used to a lot more body and/or bitterness.

Yes, I've been to quite some micro breweries in the US and most of just taste so flat. It kinda seems like all money went to creating a nice looking brewery and barely anything is invested in the craftsmanship.

The best beer I had in the US is from Ommegang Brewery, they make amazing stuff. I've had other good stuff too, it's definitely there, it just seems there's a load of commercial "microbreweries" that are just selling a story instead of decent beer

The big US and Canadian brands all taste like ass but there's thousands of small breweries that make very yummy nectar. Personally I prefer German and Belgian brews.

Struggled to find beer that I like in usa- I've not been there much though.

It's increasingly hard here though (UK).

Shitty lager, or hipster-grapefruit-jizz or guiness is the normal choice in most pubs, and even in many so called "real ale" pubs, those of them still left. A decent pint of bitter is hen's teeth these days. I guess fashions change and there's no money in old style beers that I prefer. You can't argue with the bottom line.

I find shitty lager in US is not as nice as shitty european lager - it just seems to have an odd taste - but it's not what i want to drink.. I guess german/czech lager is about as good as it gets, for lager/pils - but still not very flavourful.

Belgium is good, but not really for a session beer. It's for a different type of drinking.

I did have trouble a few years back finding an IPA option that wasn’t citrusy somehow. I want to taste my beer dammit!

One thing to note is that there are a lot of bad American beers in small and mid-sized cities. Basically what happened is that in the 2010s it became trendy to go to a brewery with a food truck and just hang out. As a result a ton of "breweries" opened that were more or less selling the experience, with a handful of low effort trendy selections to serve as a hook.

That doesn't mean there aren't good beers though. America is the land of people who do their own thing, often regardless of social norms and established conventions. There's a lot of great beers across a broad range of categories, it just takes a bit of digging.

As a sidenote a lot of these D tier breweries are closing and/or rebranding. Changing consumer sentiment means merely being a craft brewery is no longer a hook, while rising real estate costs make the entire endeavor more expensive. The breweries in shitty locations tend to close. The ones in good locations tend to massively reduce their own output, while offering a variety of local alcohol and expanded food options.

I tried a Budweiser once. Once was enough.