Why do Americans like their beer cold?

Cainkane1

Philosopher
Cainkane1
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On occassion I talk to a Brit or german working here in Atlanta ga. They don't like their beer as cold as we do. Theres nothing wrong with drinking room temperature beer but I like it cold myself. I talked to a Polish girl at my watering hole and she told me that some cultures like their beer warm enough to steam a bit.

Here in the American southeast I can understand. It gets darn hot here so we drink cold soda, iced tea and we prefer our beer as cold as we can get it without it actually freezing.

Ok Most caucasian americans ancestors come from England, Germany etc. Why do we like it as coold as we do? What changed us?
 
I think the real question is "Why do people from other parts of the world like their beer at the wrong temperature?"
 
Cainkane1 said:
On occassion I talk to a Brit or german working here in Atlanta ga. They don't like their beer as cold as we do. Theres nothing wrong with drinking room temperature beer but I like it cold myself. I talked to a Polish girl at my watering hole and she told me that some cultures like their beer warm enough to steam a bit.

Here in the American southeast I can understand. It gets darn hot here so we drink cold soda, iced tea and we prefer our beer as cold as we can get it without it actually freezing.

Ok Most caucasian americans ancestors come from England, Germany etc. Why do we like it as coold as we do? What changed us?
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American beer doesn't taste very good, so you have to drink it cold.

And it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle; when you make your beer to be served cold, it doesn't need to taste very good, so you might as well use cheap(er) ingredients and less of them.

And somewhere along that line lies things like "making love in a canoe" American pilsener.
 
drkitten said:
American beer doesn't taste very good, so you have to drink it cold.

And it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle; when you make your beer to be served cold, it doesn't need to taste very good, so you might as well use cheap(er) ingredients and less of them.

And somewhere along that line lies things like "making love in a canoe" American pilsener.
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Well American micro breweries make decent beer nowadays. If your talking Pabst Blue Ribbon or Budweiser or Miller high life sure its very mediocre. However I think the smaller breweries make a good product. Bass

Also Americans like their imported beer cold also. Guiness stout is usually cold as is Bass ale or Newcastle Brown ale and many other good imported beers. Americans drink that cold also. I personally think that the Sierra Nevada brewery makes great beer and ale. Theres also a loocal brewery here in Atlanta that makes a well crafted lager called sweetwater 420.

I drink a lot of imports and micro brews and I know what I like. I don't buy low end crap like Bud or Pabst. I drink my beer cold out of habit.
 
We just do. We drink imports and microbrews cold too. We like cold beer. That's what we like.
 
drkitten said:
American beer doesn't taste very good, so you have to drink it cold.
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:rolleyes:
The worst selection of ale I've ever had was when I went to England. I was absolutely shocked how bad it all was. Flat, Utah approved alcohal volumes, and a severe lack of hops.

And it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle; when you make your beer to be served cold, it doesn't need to taste very good, so you might as well use cheap(er) ingredients and less of them.

And somewhere along that line lies things like "making love in a canoe" American pilsener.
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Mass produced **** beer is mass produced **** beer. Not even worth comparing them. Let's compare American craft beers to English or anywhere else craft beers and see how they actually do.
 
I like mine cold enough to be on the verge of icing over. Steaming hot beer? It's drinkable, but I don't think it's something I'd look forward to doing.
 
Interesting. It seems people who like beer warm have the impression that you couldn't taste the beer if it were cold. I like beer cold, and I don't think I would taste it right if it were room temperature or cold.

Maybe, we drink the beer the same way as when we first had it, and think of it as the right "way". Maybe I'll have a warm beer tonight to mix things up.
 
Cainkane1 said:
On occassion I talk to a Brit or german working here in Atlanta ga. They don't like their beer as cold as we do. Theres nothing wrong with drinking room temperature beer but I like it cold myself.
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I've been to many countries all over the world and been with locals to the places they go. I have yet to be served the mythical warm or room temperature beer in any of them. This includes Germany, England and Scotland.
 
Vic Vega said:
I've been to many countries all over the world and been with locals to the places they go. I have yet to be served the mythical warm or room temperature beer in any of them. This includes Germany, England and Scotland.
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Yeah, me too. I was wondering the point of this thread, in light of my own experience. Even in England, the beer I've been served was just as cold as I'm accustomed too.
 
IMST said:
:rolleyes:
The worst selection of ale I've ever had was when I went to England. I was absolutely shocked how bad it all was. Flat, Utah approved alcohal volumes, and a severe lack of hops.



Mass produced **** beer is mass produced **** beer. Not even worth comparing them. Let's compare American craft beers to English or anywhere else craft beers and see how they actually do.
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I don't know about the beer in britain except I like what I've had. I'm sure there are good microbrews in Seattle and to tell you the truth Georgia has good microbrewed beer. The Terripin brewery in Athens Ga makes beer so good it will spoil you especially if you go to a tasting at the brewery itself. I appreciate experimentating with different ingredients and their wheat and barley beer is great. Their maize beer was interesting although I wouldn't want to buy it. I od appreciate the effort though. Making beer from sweet corn and adding a lot of hops to the malt made a product at least worth an interesting conversation..

Drkiitten is wrong about American beer these days. Brits here are getting used to the cold beer and I believe during the hot summer months we have here they actually prefer it despite themselves. Cold beer is refreshing. You get hot and sweaty and a cold one hits the spot.

Budweiser is feeling the pinch of microbreweries and they are making better quality beer themselves. One of the best brew pubs I have ever been too has a retired Budweiser brewmaster and her exact words when she retired was this. Now I can make the good stuff and she proceded to do that very thing. Her beer is cold and served in cold glasses.


Ok this is the way I like it. It can be a lager or an ale or a stout. I enjoy a good cold beer.
 
I don't drink ANYTHING at icy temperature. I always ask waiters at restaurants "No ice in my water, please" (good way to tell how attentive waitstaff is -- do they bring subsequent refills with or without ice?).

When the weather is very hot, ice-cold drink is actually not good for you as it administers shock to your throat -- tepid water (or whatever) is much healthier. And when it is not hot out -- why would you want to freeze yourself?

I liked icy drinks when I was a kid -- I lost taste for it in boot camp, where all water was tepid for the above reason (it was August in Texas). And I never drink any beer other than microbrews. Beer at bars is always cold, and I ask for a not chilled glass. Ends up just right as far as I am concerend.
drkitten said:
And somewhere along that line lies things like "making love in a canoe" American pilsener.
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What on Earth is that supposed to mean? (I had made love in a canoe, and still have no idea :D )
 
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Cainkane1 said:
I'm sure there are good microbrews in Seattle and to tell you the truth Georgia has good microbrewed beer. The Terripin brewery in Athens Ga makes beer so good it will spoil you especially if you go to a tasting at the brewery itself.
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If I'm ever in town I'll make a point of giving it a go.
Around Seattle there are several popular craft brewries (not so much micro: they make a lot) Mac & Jack's African Amber is quite possibly my favorite beer. Lazy Boy is either very new or very newly getting good distribution, but I absolutely love what they're putting out. Redhook is the big daddy around here. You should be able to find their very tasty but not spectacular ESB most anywhere in the US.
There's a bunch more, but those are the ones I drink a lot of. Pyramid is rather popular and big, but I'm not a huge fan. Portland has a great craft brewing scene as well.
 
I hate that canoe joke, because it is just stupid. Beer is always mostly water, and doesn't matter how strong or thick it tastes; you are always looking at around 85% water or more. If it was less water than that than it wouldn't be beer anymore. There is a limitation to the amount of alcohol that can be produced from fermentation, and all those flavor and thickness of say a stout is mostly an illusion; it is still mostly water.

I just hate the joke, because it really isn't that clever even if it supposed to be about taste. I say because most people who tell it to me don't understand that process of making beer, could tell me the difference between a lager and ale. Couldn't tell me the difference between pale ale and Canadian pilsner.
 
It's a complete myth that Brits like their beer warm. I worked in many pubs to supplement my income as a student, to the point where I was made a cellarman - a position that was the subject of endearment in the days before Joseph Fritzl.

I can tell you that bitters and milds taste best at 55°F, according to those with the tastebuds; cellars are constructed to maintain a temperature of around this mark. I admit that i prefer them slightly cooler. Ales are best served at the brewers recommendation, this never exceeds room temperature - ever. It is usually normal cellar temperature.

Lagers taste best cold, even the best lagers suffer at anything above about 50°F. Pretty much every pub in the UK is equipped to serve beer at 34-39°F in addition to normal cellar temperature using exactly the same equipment found in any bar in the US.

We take beer very seriously over here. It irks us when people say we're doing it wrong.
 
GracefullyTalentless said:
We take beer very seriously over here. It irks us when people say we're doing it wrong.
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Why was damn near every ale I tried, and in two weeks touring with a band I drank almost nothing else and never had the same one twice, at near 3% alcohal? Why did all but 1 that I tried seem to completely lack hops?

I know you guys take your beer very seriously, but despite that I have to say you seem to be doing it wrong.
 
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