Reasons American beer sucks

[ctenidae]

Sure, there are lots, and there are a lot of American beers that are great.

But so far, they all suck. For one reason, and one reason only-

The labels are too damn hard to get off.

Sam Adams. Harpoon. Sierra Nevada. All good beers, but they suck.
It takes industrial solvents, a blow torch, 210 degree water, and some 00 steel wool to get the labels off.

European beers, not so much- Ziwiec, Paulaner, Hoffbrau, Tatra, Hevelius, even Stella, labels come off pretty easy. Some, just in the soapy hot water.

My theory is that the Europeans do a much better job of recycling, so having the labels easy to remove probably speeds the recycling process (they also probably don't remelt the glass and just clean the bottles).

Interestingly, the Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen bottles are two-toned- darker brown at the top, ever so slightly lighter at the bottom. BTW, Hoffbrau Octoberfest is in green bottles. Paulaner tastes much better.

And I'm currently drinking a Unibroue Maudite, in case anyone's wondering. And cleaning bottles for homebrew.

 

[RootDKJ]

no drinking tonight, I have to head into work at 12:30am.

 

[ctenidae]

no drinking tonight, I have to head into work at 12:30am.

That's a reason you suck.

(not really. It was just too easy to pass up.)

 

[RootDKJ]

That's a reason you suck.

(not really. It was just too easy to pass up.)

not bad, I give you a 8 for response time, but only a 6 because it was lame :beer:

 

[deadheadskier]

So, sounds like being in Connecticut away from the wife is harder than you thought it would be :lol:

 

[mondeo]

So, sounds like being in Connecticut away from the wife is harder than you thought it would be :lol:

That gets a 9 for response time and quality.

 

[Paul]

And I'm currently drinking a Unibroue Maudite, in case anyone's wondering. And cleaning bottles for homebrew.

Huh... and I have a unibrow. Go figure...

 

[mattchuck2]

Why are American Beers served cold?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
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So you can distinguish them from Piss!!

HAHAHAHAHA

(Actually not that funny, but the British guy who told it to me thought it was REALLY funny)

 

[RootDKJ]

Why are American Beers served cold?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
So you can distinguish them from Piss!!

HAHAHAHAHA

(Actually not that funny, but the British guy who told it to me thought it was REALLY funny)

I LOL'd :lol:

 

[Johnskiismore]

How did this question come about for you?

A lot of American beer companies use caustic soda to clean and sanatize their bottles for re-use. This by passes melting the bottles down and reforming them..... mind you I do not know what happens to the caustic soda when it is spent. I know two people who have been sprayed with caustic soda, one a local brewer and it is bad stuff on the skin!!

 

[ctenidae]

So, sounds like being in Connecticut away from the wife is harder than you thought it would be :lol:

Truly, it is.
Fortunately, there's beer.

 

[ctenidae]

That gets a 9 for response time and quality.

I couldn't dance to it, but I liked the melody.
I gave it a 9.5

 

[Paul]

Ewwwww... what are you doing in Connecticut? Bleah...

 

[wa-loaf]

Sure, there are lots, and there are a lot of American beers that are great.

But so far, they all suck. For one reason, and one reason only-

The labels are too damn hard to get off.

Sam Adams. Harpoon. Sierra Nevada. All good beers, but they suck.
It takes industrial solvents, a blow torch, 210 degree water, and some 00 steel wool to get the labels off.

European beers, not so much- Ziwiec, Paulaner, Hoffbrau, Tatra, Hevelius, even Stella, labels come off pretty easy. Some, just in the soapy hot water.

My theory is that the Europeans do a much better job of recycling, so having the labels easy to remove probably speeds the recycling process (they also probably don't remelt the glass and just clean the bottles).

Interestingly, the Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen bottles are two-toned- darker brown at the top, ever so slightly lighter at the bottom. BTW, Hoffbrau Octoberfest is in green bottles. Paulaner tastes much better.

And I'm currently drinking a Unibroue Maudite, in case anyone's wondering. And cleaning bottles for homebrew.

My info may be dated, but all the local breweries in Germany use the same brown .5 liter bottles and they come in a crate (like for milk, but shorter and wider) of 20.

 

[UnaBonger]

...And cleaning bottles for homebrew.

I just soak my bottles in a bucket with a little oxyclean for a few hours... The labels just fall right off....

EDIT - and there's nothing (much) wrong with CT...

 

[Marc]

How did this question come about for you?

A lot of American beer companies use caustic soda to clean and sanatize their bottles for re-use. This by passes melting the bottles down and reforming them..... mind you I do not know what happens to the caustic soda when it is spent. I know two people who have been sprayed with caustic soda, one a local brewer and it is bad stuff on the skin!!

Cleaned/filtered and reused?

I worked with caustic soda (aka lye, sodium hydroxide) a lot at my last job, and it is pretty nasty stuff. Of course, we were making a lot of industrial cleaning products so we didn't actually dispose of any of it... it got sold in the products we made.

 

[Marc]

Of course, where I worked I was honestly more afriad of a chlorine gas leak (we used that and the caustic to make bleach).

 

[ctenidae]

How did this question come about for you?

A lot of American beer companies use caustic soda to clean and sanatize their bottles for re-use. This by passes melting the bottles down and reforming them..... mind you I do not know what happens to the caustic soda when it is spent. I know two people who have been sprayed with caustic soda, one a local brewer and it is bad stuff on the skin!!

Came up because I was peeling labels off empties last night. And making a few empties in the process.

Caustic- not something I really want to be splaching around the laundry room. I do like teh Oxiclean idea, though.

 

[Glenn]

Came up because I was peeling labels off empties last night. And making a few empties in the process.

I do like teh Oxiclean idea, though.

 

[Marc]

Came up because I was peeling labels off empties last night. And making a few empties in the process.

Caustic- not something I really want to be splaching around the laundry room. I do like teh Oxiclean idea, though.

Are you one of those wierdos that makes labels for your homebrew?