ottotheboar

There have been a few beer related threads. I saw this interesting statistic from the Brewers Association. The number of breweries in the USA is at an all time high at 4,144, this tops the historic high of 4,131 in 1873. This was as of November 2015.

sir_eccles

Cool. Though I'm guessing a large proportion are owned by SABMillerCoorsInBev.

The more interesting question is how many distributors there are. The less reported story is that SABMillerCoorsInBev have been buying those up too.

vikingsail

I agree and would add that most taste like p....s.

Who adds flowers, berries, honey etc etc to beer!

Pulaski

On the contrary, the count is primarily of small and very small craft breweries. The big three brewers focus on huge industrial breweries, and aside from the microbreweries which they are mopping up, I doubt that any of the three have more than a dozen breweries nationwide, so maybe around 30 are megabreweries.

There are well over 100 breweries in NC now (I think over 120), and as far as I know not a single one belongs to InBev, SABMiller, or Coors.

The future of widescale availability of craft beer depends on what happens to Sam Adams and the likes of Stone, Sierra Nevada, and Brooklyn? If they are absorbed by the big boys the range of available beers will likely shrink again.

The Germans got it right: malt, hops, yeast, water. FULL STOP!

sir_eccles

I'm just bitter because they recently bought out Four Peaks.

This makes interesting reading on distributors.

http://qz.com/580073/theres-a-less-o...aft-breweries/

markonline1

California now has a load of micro breweries, and a lot of them do damn fine beer. It makes me laugh when people go on about how shit American beer is. Yeah the mass produced stuff, just like Carling, and Fosters is back home. My local brews its own beer, and it's some of the best beer I've tasted. Brands that started small but have grown like Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and Anchor Steam do some great beer too. Take Bud, Miller and Coors out of the equation, and as far as I'm concerned, the US is up there with the best of em. As for American beer being like cats piss, my local pub averages at about 6.5%. The weakest is 4.8, the strongest I think is about 7.5. The difference is, here, strong beer is drinkable, unlike the treacle like homeless beer you get back home.

sir_eccles

A friend of mine owns a beer and wine store and tries to stock a wide range of craft beers. I popped in on Sunday to pick something up for you know what and in the ten minutes we were chatting, about three customers came in walked to the back of the store to grab a pack of Coors or Bud and walked out. He shrugged and said "Of course on super bowl weekend I'm going to stock up on that because it sells".

markonline1

My brother in law drinks pretty much nothing but Bud Light. That is truly the drink of the devil! If ever there was a drink deserving of the title cats piss, that is it! Tasteless, over carbonated drivel!!!
Another thing to add about US beer. It has changed my drinking habits. In the UK, I often drunk to get pissed. A night at the pub consisted of chugging 10 or 12 pints of tasteless lager till I was ready to find a kebab shop to soak it all up. Here, I drink beer for the flavors. I'll 4 or 5 and I'm done. Still have a buzz as the beers stronger, but I drink to enjoy the beer rather than to enjoy getting pissed.

RoadWarriorFromLP

A combination of factors (Prohibition, followed by the development of suburbs and industrial fast fermentation following WWII) really did a number on the American beer industry. It has taken decades to recover from all of that.

Owen778

My feeling is that the craft beer market in the US is still very immature, and, certainly around Houston, the emphasis seems to be on variety rather than quality.

Why would that be? Perhaps many owners are acting as if this is their hobby rather than an actual business. Also, compared to the UK, the brewing scene is much younger, and the greater distances involved likely translate to less co-operation to pass on what works and what doesn't.

I will say that some are very good, though. I was impressed with no-one in the Houston area, though some were OK, then I discovered beers from the Buffalo Bayou Brewery, which are excellent.

Giantaxe

I agree. When I arrived in this country, beer was dominated by the horrible mass produced crap but now there are tons of great beers. The US's reputation for awful beer was well earned, but it's slowly but surely shedding that moniker.

markonline1

Although, it is funny that us Brits seem to be one of the worst for mocking American beer, and yet Bud is seen as a premium lager back home

scrubbedexpat099

Never heard of Bud or Coors being described as premium anything.

Certainly there are not many small towns in CO which do not have a Brewery.

AdobePinon

Funny. I had a Bud Light for the first time in at least 15 years last year. It was either that, or Shock Top, which is truly vile stuff. Anyway, I was prepared for the cat piss flavor, but what really floored me was the sweetness.

kimilseung

I really dont mind if the good beers dont get distributed too much, the local beers are great, and there is enough selection (too much IPA though). Its nice to get new beers when travelling, like time travel. I take my growler direct to the breweries that I like. My favorite is a mild brewed by an Englishman, better than I remember it being at home.