DiningBuzz! - Does anyone actually buy american domestic beer overseas?

I always think its amusing when i'm overseas and, in say, your hotel minibar you can get a good local beer of wherever you are or you can get a budweiser for double the price. Does anyone actually do this? I always laugh at the thought of someone spending twice the price on an american domestic vs, say, a stella in europe or kirin in japan.

I was at a comedy club in Dublin last March, Coors was more expensive then Amstel. But a lot of people still ordered it. By the looks of them they were mostly locals.

I've seen lots of people ordering Bud or Corona in the UK. With so many good local ales, a beer importer there ought to have no business. I guess some see it as exotic.

Hi Zack,

It's all about marketing ... for a while, Bud was getting popular in the Netherlands ... never understood why, but they did have nice commercials.

But then, in the Netherlands, real beer drinkers don't drink Heineken (there are so many other options like Grolsch, Lindenboom, ....) ... so why is Heineken so popular overseas ... marketing again.

And to finish the list ... how many true Australians drink Fosters? Yet again, it's quite popular overseas ...

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

I can't even recall seeing a fosters for sale in australia for about 10 years, maybe it's sold in some tourist pubs but if so I wouldn't be surprised if it had to be imported.

I've seen many people order buds in the UK, never really understood why, but they do. Not really sure it qualifies as an American Domestic as it's made over there, but outside of the US, they sell more Bud in the UK then anywhere else.

ClimbGuy, that Coors you saw in Dublin was probably brewed by Coors in the U.K. not in Colorado. It's the former Bass brewery at Burton-on-Trent and Coors brews its beer for European markets there. Same with Bud; most of the big U.S. brands are owned by global brewing companies with multiple breweries on different continents, just as -- to use an example raised by GenevaFlyer and IMOA -- any Fosters Lager you see in the United States has probably never been any closer to Australia than it is at that moment, because the Fosters sold in North America is brewed in Quebec.

I do remember, however, having a shake-my-head moment years ago in a duty free shop at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport. They had a big freestanding display promoting a high priced imported beer.

It was Lone Star Beer from Texas. Which probably would draw pretty much the same reaction outside of San Antonio that Fosters would outside of Melbourne.

I've seen many people order buds in the UK, never really understood why, but they do. Not really sure it qualifies as an American Domestic as it's made over there, but outside of the US, they sell more Bud in the UK then anywhere else.

It's often distribution more than marketing.

In the case of the UK, there are pubs and (especially) nightclubs who sell only two kinds of bottled beers, usually Beck's and (US) Budweiser. You don't want to order draught in a crowded nightclub (too easy to spill). Given these options, I prefer Beck's, but I can see why a lot of people will go for Bud (especially when, as happens often, the latter is on offer).

In Spain, most bars will only sell you ONE kind of beer. It's either the passable Mahou or the vile Cruzcampo....at least they usually serve it very cold...

Small brewers can't offer bar owners the delivery/equipment/pricing/financing options of large conglomerates, and that's why the big brewers are often able to dictate what is sold where...

And I should add that it depends on your definition of an American "domestic" beer. If you include the smaller craft breweries then, yes, there are some very successful U.S. breweries overseas; like Dogfish Head and New Belgium in select European markets or Rogue in Japan.

I don't drink a lot of American beer in the US so why would I abroad?

Sure, natural light was fine in college, but my tastes have advanced.

Was just in Glasgow, and it seemed like every pub was pushing Bud Lite. Also Jack Daniels, which seemed even odder.

The UK doesn't have that many lagers brewed in the UK. Hence US beers and other "imports". Not everyone likes to drink ales.

When I worked in the UK in '91-93, Rolling Rock was pretty big!

HTSC

I don't drink Bud/Miller/Coors/etc./... when I am home, I certainly wouldn't pay a premium for them when I was traveling elsewhere. And of course, a major reason to travel is to see, experience, and taste things other than what I can get at home, and that includes the local beers where ever I happen to be. Generally, the more local the better, the macro lagers from the mega-breweries in Europe or Asia are often not much of an improvement over their US counterparts.

OTOH, there are scores if not hundreds of great breweries here in the US, but very few seem to have much overseas distribution. I do seek those out the local microbrews when traveling in the US, and have even managed to visit a few brewery taprooms along the way.

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Sure... plenty of Gringos here that would pay up for a Bud light... :eek:

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Sure... plenty of Gringos here that would pay up for a Bud light... :eek:

To be honest, I didn't think Quilmes was anything wonderful, but I'd rank it superior to Bud. Everywhere I went in BsAs, I saw Quilmes and nothing else. Is it brewed by the president's brother or what?

The UK doesn't have that many lagers brewed in the UK. Hence US beers and other "imports". Not everyone likes to drink ales.

When I worked in the UK in '91-93, Rolling Rock was pretty big!

HTSC

When I first started going to pubs in the UK in '91 (when I was 16), all we would drink was Rolling Rock. I thought it was from the UK until I went off to college and read the label and discovered it was a domestic!

I can gladly say my tastes have improved and now I tend to stick to cask conditioned ales when I visit the England.

truly good american beers (dogfish head or kalamazoo brew co) arent exported so i havent.

but if you use stella as a measuring stick sure given the chance i would absolutely pay double for my US beers > stella.

Not domestic beer but when I was in Tokyo few weeks ago having dinner and the menu has Corona on the list and it was 900 yen a bottle. Yikes! Then again, I feel better when I saw mango air shipped from Mexico on sale in Mitsukoshi for 2,500 yen each a few days later.

I do remember, however, having a shake-my-head moment years ago in a duty free shop at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport. They had a big freestanding display promoting a high priced imported beer.

It was Lone Star Beer from Texas. Which probably would draw pretty much the same reaction outside of San Antonio that Fosters would outside of Melbourne.

LOL! I"ve bought Lone Star to rid my garden of snails, maybe to flavor chili, never to drink. Now Shiner Bock, that's another matter. I might buy that abroad.

As others have noted, there are few UK lager brands (Carling is the only big one I can think of) so there is plenty of space for other brands. Coupled with distribution, promotions and lots of people drink Bud et al.

To be honest, I didn't think Quilmes was anything wonderful, but I'd rank it superior to Bud. Everywhere I went in BsAs, I saw Quilmes and nothing else. Is it brewed by the president's brother or what?

Quilmes is rank right down there with Cuscena. Crystal from Chile is surprisingly tasty. I'd have a Bud before Quilmes.

I recall recently being in a Marriott (Renaissance Riding School, Vienna, IIRC) watching a group on non-USAian business men quaffing canned Bud. Appalled at their lack of discriminating taste, I considered attempting to offload a well known landmark US bridge (at a discount) upon these gullible yokels.

If that weren't bad enough, days before I had seen it on sale in a Budapest version of a "convenience store".

most of the big U.S. brands are owned by global brewing companies with multiple breweries on different continents,

Prior to the rise of the global beer conglomerates, there was (and still is) a lot of cross-licensing of beers to save on transport so you'd get Guinness brewed in Japan and Sapporo brewed in Canada (the former, a hypothetical example, the latter, was at least true 20 years ago).

I've noticed in Canada that Budweiser seems to have taken a huge market share away from the former Big 3 brands in Canada (Molson, Labatt and Carling O'Keefe).

In Australia on my last trip, saw lots of Bud at a very high price but avoided ordering any. Don't drink the major market stuff in the US, so definitely avoid it abroad. Besides, part of the fun of traveling is trying the local brews, even the ones that aren't considered very good. All part of the culture there. If I was a foreigner travelling in the US, would probably try one Bud and then quickly move on.

On a side note, I had an Aussie local tell me (but never verified) that the Bud brewed in Oz is much stronger alcohol wise than in the US. Same was true for the local Oz beers as well. His reasoning was that the US liquer laws would impose a higher tax if the beer had too much alcohol but there was no such restriction in Oz. As I said, not sure if true. Tempted me to get a Bud to find out, but decided agains it.

I had an Aussie local tell me (but never verified) that the Bud brewed in Oz is much stronger alcohol wise than in the US. Same was true for the local Oz beers as well. His reasoning was that the US liquer laws would impose a higher tax if the beer had too much alcohol but there was no such restriction in Oz. As I said, not sure if true. Tempted me to get a Bud to find out, but decided agains it.

Not true. The global brands like Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser are identical globally no matter where they're brewed. There is far too much effort placed into getting them exactly the same, and far too much marketing.

When there are regional varieties, there will typically be a different name given to the beer: look at the different versions of Guinness (http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Guinness_-_Varieties/id/5104619), such as Original or Extra Stout; then there's Foreign Extra Stout for the Caribbean and parts of Africa and Asia or Special Export Stout made for the Belgian market.

I had an Aussie local tell me (but never verified) that the Bud brewed in Oz is much stronger alcohol wise than in the US. Same was true for the local Oz beers as well. His reasoning was that the US liquer laws would impose a higher tax if the beer had too much alcohol but there was no such restriction in Oz. As I said, not sure if true. Tempted me to get a Bud to find out, but decided agains it.
True. The global brands like Heineken are not identital globally, it matters where they brewed. US sold Heineken is 3% alc (vol), while EU one is 5%.
Go figure.

True. The global brands like Heineken are not identital globally, it matters where they brewed. US sold Heineken is 3% alc (vol), while EU one is 5%.
Go figure.

There are quite a few places in the US that limit beer to 3.2 abw (at least in grocery stores), and most of the major brands are on the shelves with no obvious indication that they are not the same as in the rest of the country.

Guiness sells a "foreign extra stout" in the Caribbean that is 7.5 abv, compared to 6.0 for extra stout in the US.

True. The global brands like Heineken are not identital globally, it matters where they brewed. US sold Heineken is 3% alc (vol), while EU one is 5%.
Go figure.

Not true. Heineken in the United States has a 5%+ ABV.

I just posted here (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206612/U-S-pilot-blames-European-beer-failing-breath-test-minutes-Heathrow.html) the sad story of a pilot who should have bought "American domestic beer overseas." :o

A U.S. pilot preparing to fly a packed airliner while twice the legal alcohol limit blamed his intoxication on European beer, a court heard today.

Bud, etc aren't noticable better than a typical non-premium UK lager. And Heiniken ain't a whole lot better.

I don't see any reason to denigrate the US domestics any more than other bland, mass-produced cans of lager.

I have.

Precisely because all of the beer in Hong Kong is pretty much all of the watered down light variety. Carlsberg, Skol, San Miguel, Tsingtao, Blue Girl aren't any better or worse than having a Pabst Blue Ribbon. Sure, I wish the beer were better there but when I'm in Hong Kong, I'm not exactly visiting because of the beer. If I was, I'd go to Belgium.

Anyway, I have some good memories of having fish ball noodle soup and a Pabst at 4 am after a long night of partying.

In Australia on my last trip, saw lots of Bud at a very high price but avoided ordering any... i was in Fremantle last month and saw a bottle shop selling cases of Budweiser @ AU$96.99. Astonishing. We stuck to VB (which I like, cheap or not).

Precisely because all of the beer in Hong Kong is pretty much all of the watered down light variety. Carlsberg, Skol, San Miguel, Tsingtao, Blue Girl aren't any better or worse than having a Pabst Blue Ribbon. Sure, I wish the beer were better there but when I'm in Hong Kong, I'm not exactly visiting because of the beer. If I was, I'd go to Belgium.

On my last trip there early this year I found a number of places carrying at least one up to three or four craft beer varieties from New York's Brooklyn Brewery. Yeah, I was surprised, too.

And the East End Brewery beer bars in Quarry Bay and Causeway Bay have pretty good selections of Belgian and other imported beers, as well as a couple of OK beers from the local Hong Kong Beer Company that owns those bars.

On my last trip there early this year I found a number of places carrying at least one up to three or four craft beer varieties from New York's Brooklyn Brewery. Yeah, I was surprised, too.

And the East End Brewery beer bars in Quarry Bay and Causeway Bay have pretty good selections of Belgian and other imported beers, as well as a couple of OK beers from the local Hong Kong Beer Company that owns those bars.

Hunh.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be in Hong Kong two weeks from now (and a total of one month in Asia), so I might check out East End Brewery in Causeway Bay. I have no qualms drinking the cheap stuff, obviously, but it'll be nice to have a local beer that's of a higher quality.

i was in Fremantle last month and saw a bottle shop selling cases of Budweiser @ AU$96.99. Astonishing. We stuck to VB (which I like, cheap or not).

For your next trip if you're buying local can I urge you to stick to the properly brewed preservative free local beers like Coopers or James Squire. VB is a national embarrassment whose nickname of "headache in a green can" is rightly justified.

Almost never. I'm not an active beer drinker, but even if I was, I still wouldn't.

For your next trip if you're buying local can I urge you to stick to the properly brewed preservative free local beers like Coopers or James Squire. VB is a national embarrassment whose nickname of "headache in a green can" is rightly justified.

Or, since the poster is/was in Freo, walk down to the waterfront and visit the Little Creatures brewery and pub to pick up a box of one of their beers brewed right on site. Good grub there, too.

I was in Freo -- home now -- but we went by Little Creatures and I loved the place. Great beer. I wanted to stay for dinner and a long hang, but my wife dragged us up the waterfront a bit to The View... perfectly nice but quiet and not nearly as convivial. Go Little Creatures.

I was in Freo -- home now -- but we went by Little Creatures and I loved the place. Great beer. I wanted to stay for dinner and a long hang, but my wife dragged us up the waterfront a bit to The View... perfectly nice but quiet and not nearly as convivial. Go Little Creatures.

To bring this back to the topic of U.S. made beers, the original brewer at Little Creatures (he's moved on) was an Aussie who used to work in the States as the head brewer at BridgePort Brewing in Portland, Ore.

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True. The global brands like Heineken are not identital globally, it matters where they brewed. US sold Heineken is 3% alc (vol), while EU one is 5%.
Go figure.

Not true. Heineken in the United States has a 5%+ ABV.

are you sure...?

On my first visit to AMS 10 years ago this month we were in the Bierkonig beer store buying several Trappist and Abbey ales. We had been there for over an hour and made a great impression on the clerk, Ton (who also worked for the Brewery t'ij). As we walked through the store with him we finally came upon a case of Bud. "Does anyone actually buy this stuff?" I ask. He says "Yes, as a matter of fact a band from America is playing at the Paradisso tonight and ordered several cases". We bowed our heads in shame and admitted that the band was Widespread Panic, our friends and fellow citizens of Athens, Ga. :o
I remember seeing Anchor Liberty Ale on tap at In De Wildeman. Great beer but I wouldn't drink it there when there's so much else to try.

I would guess American beers sell more than Belgian beers (the proper ones, not Stella Artois) in the UK. Which is rather shameful.

I'm pretty sure I remember seeing plenty of shelfspace for Budweiser in a supermarket in Bali. No good beers on sale there....

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are you sure...?

From Heineken's US website:

What are the nutritional facts for Heineken Lager?
Alcohol - 5% by volume Carbohydrates - 11.5 grams/12 fl. oz. Protein - 1.5 grams/12 fl. oz. Sodium - 7.5 mg/12 fl. oz. Calories - 150 calories/12 fl. oz.

Colorado grocery stores sell various beers (including Heineken) in 3.2% form.

Whenever I'm in a Systembolaget in Sweden, I'm always amazed at the number of people who buy Budweiser.

Colorado grocery stores sell various beers (including Heineken) in 3.2% form.

Whenever I'm in a Systembolaget in Sweden, I'm always amazed at the number of people who buy Budweiser.

Most CO groceries only sell 3.2 beer, so the selection is limited to those breweries who are willing to offer their swill in a 3.2 version. So even though Colorado is home to many great microbrews, you won't find them in most supermarkets.

A little more interesting CO info. The CO beer laws are written to protect single location independent stores against chains. Each chain can only have one location that is not limited to 3.2 beer. So, for example, there is one Safeway (on University in Littleton) that sells the full variety of beer, and the rest can't.

When I was in Dublin, the bartender for a local pub said that women like to order Coors Light/Bud Light/Miller Light instead of the standard Guinness/ale/porter.

Was just in Glasgow, and it seemed like every pub was pushing Bud Lite. Also Jack Daniels, which seemed even odder.

Was just in Glasgow myself, and didn't see anything of the sort. I saw Foster's at a number of more touristy places as well as Bud and maybe one or two others bottled. Very interesting...

Hunh.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be in Hong Kong two weeks from now (and a total of one month in Asia), so I might check out East End Brewery in Causeway Bay. I have no qualms drinking the cheap stuff, obviously, but it'll be nice to have a local beer that's of a higher quality.

East End Brewery is owned by the same group as Hong Kong Brewhouse in LKF, and you can some local HK beers (by the liter if you want), a fair number of European (Belgian and others) by the bottle, as well as U.S. Microbrews (Brooklyn, Full Sail and a bunch of others) in addition to the standard San Miguel, Hoegaarten etc.

I wouldn't relegate Carlsberg, San Miguel and Tsingtao to PBR though. They're watered down and by no means great, but better and less filling than PBR I think. Better than my college brew of Keystone Lite though.

Not a lot of demand for US beer here in Germany ...

3.2 beer in Colorado is a hangover from the grand old days. Back then (when Hector was a pup and every key chain bore a church key), 18 year olds could purchase and consume 3.2 and nothing, beer, wine or spirits, stronger. I seem to recall that as late as the early 60s, Virginia had similar beverage laws.

Much of West Texas was "Bone Dry", and many college age travelers returning by car from the scenic and well-lubricated mountains drove back to the High and Dry Plains with a trunk load of 3.2 Coors, glugged down by fellow teens who were able to drink much more of it without becoming comatose than of 5% Pearl and Lone Star hauled uphill from wet counties to the South and East.

Revisionist and revanchist historians may opine that the early popularity of Coors (when it was finally distributed in Texas) were those cultural memories of being able to guzzle a couple of 6 packs of the old 3.2 Coors "Banquet Beer" without needing your date to drive you home from the weekend beer bust held in the lights of dusty pickup trucks parked around some muddy stock pond.

Ahhh, the halcyon days of my youth!

That's such a cute description. :)

I drink Lone Star at Texas Rollergirls (http://www.txrollergirls.com/) matches when the Shiner has run out. Honestly, they are a sponsor and I ought to encourage them a bit.

I once absent-mindedly ordered a generic "cerveza" instead of specifying Mahou at a nightclub in Madrid. The barmaid, unfazed, opened a Budweiser for me before I could amend my order. Admittedly, earlier in the trip we'd deliberately ordered Coronas, but only because they were actually Coronitas, and I saved the empty bottle as a souvenir,

I remember going to a New Year's party in the '90s in Southern California where the most popular beer was Rolling Rock. It had only just become available in the area, so at the beginning of the evening I could excuse some ignorance/curiosity, but as the morning continued, I realized some of the guests were drinking it to be seen, assuming something new (and relatively costly) must surely be fashionable. Mind you, this is a beer my college fraternity deemed undrinkable. I imagine there was some similar fascination with Coors when it first became available in the East.

Was just in Toronto. All my Canadian friends were drink Budweiser and Coors Light while I was drinking SteamWhistle and Molson. Quite ironic.

My German friend always orders MGD when he can in Germany. It's hilarious as I always seek out the most local Weise bier or Pils.

Prior to the rise of the global beer conglomerates, there was (and still is) a lot of cross-licensing of beers to save on transport so you'd get Guinness brewed in Japan and Sapporo brewed in Canada (the former, a hypothetical example, the latter, was at least true 20 years ago)..

I do know that Guinness for the Asia market is brewed in Malaysia, who knew the Irish had such distant relatives in Kuala Lampur. Not just canned, but also by the keg, all done in Malaysia.

When it comes to buying what we would deem bad beer in other places, I guess for some parts of the world at least, we think "what do they know about making beer?" Like over here in China, you'd at some level have to think what do the Chinese know about making a beer? So you get the budweisers, because you know there's some level of quality control, and you know what you're going to get. Plus then the locals buy it because it is "the famous international, popular, imported from America just for us" brand to show off how "cultured" they are.

Just my 2 cents of thought.

I have Mexican friends of the fairly snooty variety who are AMAZED! than people of means here drink Corona... and PAY EXTRA! for it. :eek:

I imagine there was some similar fascination with Coors when it first became available in the East.

I financed a semester worth of fun with a Thanksgiving break road trip out west to stock the trunk and back seat with Coors back in '75. My buddy's Maverick had a set of air shocks that hid the fact that we were loaded to the roof with beer. I recall quite a few buyers coming back for more. Most had only heard of it before, never actually seen a can.

yea the most popular beer to order in an irish pub is bud in a bottle