Beers Other than Miller and Anheuser-Busch Products
Nothing frustrates me more than going to a nice restaurant and asking for a drink list to find the standard list of crap beer. If the beer list starts with “Bud, Bud Light, Miller Light, Miller Highlife” I always interrupt and ask if they have anything local. Any decent restaurant will have a wine list with a variety of bottles/styles, if only they had a more diverse beer selection! You can pair beer with a meal just like a wine. Try it some time! Next time you sit down with some spicy food, crack open a nice Duvel Belgian Strong Ale and you’ll see what I mean.
Whenever I travel overseas I always try to visit bars that were started with beer lovers in mind. You can have some great conversations with the barkeeps, much like a chat with a sommelier. If you happen to home brew like I do, you’ll often find the bartender/owner willing to share a variety of his taps with you, much like a wine tasting. In a recent conversation with an owner in Copenhagen, he mentioned how much he loves American beer because of the size and diversity of our craft brew industry. He’s had a great point, America has a great Craft Brewing industry that grown by leaps and bounds the last few years. Here are some stats I dug up:
Fun Craft Beer Stats:
How much craft beer was produced in 2006?
6.7 million barrels
• 1 barrel = 31 gallons
• 31 gallons = 2 “half barrel” kegs (each keg is 15.5 gallons)
• 13.78 cases (24 12-ounce bottles) = 1 barrel
• 7 million barrels = 2.3 billion 12 oz. beersHow much did U.S. craft beer grow in 2006?
• Total growth = 12%
• 6.7 million barrels of craft beer was produced in the United States
• Total annual craft beer dollar volume = $4.7 billion
• Craft beer volume share = 3.2%
• Craft beer $ share = 4.99%Total number of U.S. craft breweries in 2006:
50 regional craft breweries
364 microbreweries
+ 975 brewpubs
Total = 1,389 regional craft breweries, microbreweries and brewpubsHow is U.S. craft beer growth measured?
It’s measured by the number of barrels of beer U.S. craft breweries produce in a year.How much did the U.S. spend on purchasing beer in 2006?
Approximately $94 billion(Source: http://www.beertown.org/events/gabf/craft_stats.htm)
While the craft industry is only a drop in the bucket when compared to the big corporate brewers, you’ll find literally dozens of different styles of beer from microbrews as opposed to the more commonly found pilsner, amber, IPA, ale and stout varieties. Some of my more favorite American microbrews you can find in the Midwest include Goose Island Oatmeal Stout (Illinios), Sprecher Special Amber (Wisconsin), and Unibroue Trois Pistoles, a Belgian Strong Ale (Quebec).
So, next time you’re out at a restaurant, do yourself a favor and try something you’ve never heard of before, you just might find something new and delicious!
Welcome! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or subscribe via email. Thanks for visiting!
Tags: Beer, Restaurants, Work
Subscriber in a reader
September 27th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Let us not forget the king of American craft breweries, Sierra Nevada. On my recent trip over seas, the only American beer I saw on tap (other than the usual suspects, Miller and Bud) was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It packs a pretty good punch at 6.5% and is still smooth. I also enjoy their Porter. http://www.sierranevada.com/
September 28th, 2007 at 9:40 am
You must try New Belguim.
http://www.newbelgium.com/index.php
Every market they go into the blow the competition away.
Recommended Beers: Fat Tire, Sunshine, 1554