Why American Beer Tastes Like Water

To say that American beer tastes like water is untrue. The fact of the matter is this: popular American beer tastes like water. There are many microbrew beers, or even branded ones such as Sam Adams, that are good quality and are high in taste. The best-selling beers of America, though, beers like Budweiser, Miller Lite, and Busch, all do have roughly the same taste, consistency, and (as they like to bring up) nutritional value, as water. Why is this the case?

First of all, Prohibition greatly influenced beer making in America. Most brewers simply went out of business and never returned after Prohibition was repealed. At that time, however, there was a wave of German immigrants entering the country. They brought with them technology and methods for brewing a new kind of light, highly effervescent Bavarian brew, the pilsner. These brewers had names like Busch, Pabst, and Schlitz. Today, in modern-day America, we still see the devastating results of the industry they built throughout the 1940's. Tragically, no other beer makers have been able to gain a solid foothold against those producers who took control after Prohibition.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, there is the fact that it is more economical to make watery beers. For instance, take the "light beer" phenomenon. Beer producers know that many "light beer" drinkers who are drinking to achieve intoxication will simply drink more beers in order to compensate for each one having less alcohol. This means higher sales. Also, light beer generally costs more to the consumer, which is another boon to the producer. And, even non-light American beers, such as MGD, are much cheaper to produce than dark, premium brews like the wonderful Irish beverage Guinness. So, as long as it's cheaper to produce, and people are willing to purchase it, there will always be suppliers willing to make and distribute it.

Lastly, there is the sad fact that the American public doesn't know good beer. The vast majority of Americans have never actually sampled a good, quality, imported beer. Why? Because of expense, nationalism, and habit. Good beer is expensive. Americans tend to be patriotic and think of drinking foreign beer the same way they think of buying foreign automobiles. Likewise, Americans are simply in the habit of drinking bad beer. These are the bedrock foundations of why Americans don't know good beer, and continue to live life without sampling it.

One positive note, however, is that this trend seems to be changing. The growing popularity of microbrews seems to be a genuinely encouraging indicator within the American beer market. If microbrews continue growing at their current rates, they'll soon control a major percentage of the market. Then, as more and more Americans finally taste what they've been missing out on, they'll realize that there are some beers out there with actual taste. They'll put down the pilsner and pick up a bock. And that, truly, will be a day worth toasting.