The 13 best beer countries in the world, ranked

[Te Huna Matata]

what beers from australia are you referring too ?

This one I'm speaking from second hand knowledge. I know the craft scene is on the upward trend there and they do have some nice hops down unda.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

That being said, major supermarket chains actually have Craft Beer sections now. Stop and Shop, Whole Foods, Stew Leonard’s, Best Yet, Shop Rite, all have it. You can mix and match and make your own sizer at some of them. Locally we can get all sorts of stuff including IPAs, Stout’s, Lagers, and high ABVs.

Yeah, it' steadily growing but still way, way, behind the majors.

All craft brews only made up 12.3% of the market

https://www.brewersassociation.org/statistics/national-beer-sales-production-data/

 

[bubbleboyjones]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/03/uk-breweries-on-rise-craft-beer-sales-surge

What I was showing was more to show that the US had a lot more than 3000. Turns out it was a old Forbes article.

Estimates early 2017 that I can find put the US at 5300 as of March 2017 and conservatively it would be at 5500-5700 now. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...-as-craft-beer-makers-ride-double-digit-gains

UK past 2000 as of 3 months ago https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...-boom-pushes-number-of-uk-breweries-past-2000

 

[blaseblah]

No offense but if you arent even familiar with the beers of your country, how are you qualified to speak on the beers of the world?

It's like asking someone who only listens to the billboard top 10 to rate the best music artists.

 

[Rod1]

No offense but if you arent even familiar with the beers of your country, how are you qualified to speak on the beers of the world?

It's like asking someone who only listens to the billboard top 10 to rate the best music artists.

We arent rating the best beers, but beer countries.

Also its far easier to listen to far more diverse music than it is to test the non-mainstream beers of other countries.

When i criticize hipsters is for things like.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Moon_(beer)#Craft_beer_controversy

What kind of lawsuit is that? "They are misleading us hipsters into thinking that Blue Moon isnt mainstream waaah"

Also i never claimed American beer is shit, i like American beer, as i said i drink Michelob and Budweiser, i merely point out that you cant possibly rail against people for judging your country based on 90% of the beer sold there.

 

[blaseblah]

We arent rating the best beers, but beer countries.

Also its far easier to listen to far more diverse music than it is to test the non-mainstream beers of other countries.

When i criticize hipsters is for things like.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Moon_(beer)#Craft_beer_controversy

What kind of lawsuit is that? "They are misleading us hipsters into thinking that Blue Moon isnt mainstream waaah"

Also i never claimed American beer is shit, i like American beer, as i said i drink Michelob and Budweiser, i merely point out that you cant possibly rail against people for judging your country based on 90% of the beer sold there.

Again, you arent even familiar with the beers in your own country. How could you be familiar with other country's beers?

You came in here to rage about "hipsters" rather than drop any actual knowledge about beer (which you already admit to not having). That's not the point of this thread.

Also just because people think bud lite tastes like shit doesn't make them hipsters.

You are not qualified to speak on the beer scene of any country, not even your own. Perhaps you should take this as an opportunity to expand your knowledge rather than rail against hipsters.

 

[zgames]

Danish beer is terrible

 

[Rod1]

Again, you arent even familiar with the beers in your own country. How could you be familiar with other country's beers?

You came in here to rage about "hipsters" rather than drop any actual knowledge about beer (which you already admit to not having). That's not the point of this thread.

Also just because people think bud lite tastes like shit doesn't make them hipsters.

You are not qualified to speak on the beer scene of any country, not even your own. Perhaps you should take this as an opportunity to expand your knowledge rather than rail against hipsters.

I never said that i came to "drop knowledge" and the very nature of the craft beer market doesnt means that i dont know about beers in my country.

Craft beer market i would guess represents around 1-2% of the marketshare in my country. So no, i dont need to go to Guadalajara and go on a tasting tour when 95% of these craft beer brands will never show up to any store anywhere near ,e.

 

[shockaholic12]

I thought I pretty much knew beer after traveling all the over states/world and being into the craft scene for years, then I went to Belgium and drank some sours from Cantillon, which has been open since 1900 and some Westy VII, which has been brewed by monks since mid the mid 1800's for sustenance while fasting.

It was beer life changing. I desire those more than any beer from the US. I also really missed the ales, stouts, etc back in the states and think I'd prefer the variety here in the long run. It's pretty much a toss up.

 

[Te Huna Matata]

I thought I pretty much knew beer after traveling all the over states/world and being into the craft scene for years, then I went to Belgium and drank some sours from Cantillon, which has been open since 1900 and some Westy VII, which has been brewed by monks since mid the mid 1800's for sustenance while fasting.

It was beer life changing. I desire those more than any beer from the US. I also really missed the ales, stouts, etc back in the states and think I'd prefer the variety here in the long run. It's pretty much a toss up.

I like Cantillon but I think Drie Fonteinen is substantially better. Their beers are much more aligned with my preferences in lambic.

 

[Ed Banger]

USA should already be #1. It's amazing how quickly we took beer over.

LMFAO UK@#3. What a joke.

As a German, I agree 100%. U.S. beer is on the next level...

 

[shockaholic12]

I like Cantillon but I think Drie Fonteinen is substantially better. Their beers are much more aligned with my preferences in lambic.

Oh yea, their oude geueze was maybe my favorite beer out of all the ones I tried there. Had a farmhouse kind of funk to it I've never found in another beer.

 

[Te Huna Matata]

Oh yea, their oude geueze was maybe my favorite beer out of all the ones I tried there. Had a farmhouse kind of funk to it I've never found in another beer.

I bought a bulk pack from a belgian shop last year and had it shipped in. 28 375ml bottles. It's amazing. Armand & Gaston blend is even better. I cracked an A&G with some friends and one of them had this perfect description. He said "this smells like my basement in the best way possible." It's so funky.

 

[Te Huna Matata]

I bought a bulk pack from a belgian shop last year and had it shipped in. 28 375ml bottles. It's amazing. Armand & Gaston blend is even better. I cracked an A&G with some friends and one of them had this perfect description. He said "this smells like my basement in the best way possible." It's so funky.

EDIT: Looks like it was actually 32.

 

[boomertx]

This is a good point.

There's certainly lots of great quality in the US but it's very sparse and concentrated in only a few places. That awesome brewery in your city isn't available for 99% of the US population. The majority of bars, restaurants and convenience stores will sell the same old Anheuser Busch crap with maybe, maybe, a couple of good, local microbrews. If you live out in rural area, forget it. It's Natty Light or Busch, no questions asked.

I say this as an elitist hipster that hasn't bought a single Coors/Miller/Bud crap in several years.

So a good comparison would be mainstream vs mainstream. We know that in a best available vs best available battle the US is right near the top.

Actually, no. It's not a good argument if he understood marketing and distribution.

Big beer has actively sought to hold down craft breweries by limiting distribution and buying allotted space in grocery and c-stores.

It was only when they realized craft beer was here to stay that they started playing ball with them. To the point now that they are somewhat actively buying partial and majority positions in a few of them. They still play hardball and buy shelf space or exclusives when possible to hold off other craft beers but they are at least being somewhat receptive to offering alternates to the macro beers.

It's still difficult for some breweries to get distribution but it's coming. The fact that craft beer represents over 10% of share speaks volumes about the trend considering big beer spent years stifling their availability.

 

[Tuf_guy]

13. Ireland
12. New Zealand
11. Sweden
10. Italy
9. Norway
8. Netherlands
7. Canada
6. Japan
5. Denmark
4. Germany
3. United Kingdom
2. United States
1. Belgium

I’m surprised that Mexico isn’t on this list and that the United States is ranked so high.

Come to San Diego and check out the beer bars and breweries and you'll see what's up.

 

[Turtlejuice]

What I was showing was more to show that the US had a lot more than 3000. Turns out it was a old Forbes article.

Estimates early 2017 that I can find put the US at 5300 as of March 2017 and conservatively it would be at 5500-5700 now. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...-as-craft-beer-makers-ride-double-digit-gains

UK past 2000 as of 3 months ago https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...-boom-pushes-number-of-uk-breweries-past-2000

Ah fair enough. I was just going based on what that other guy said. I'd expected the US to have 3x or 4x what the UK has.

 

[KOQ24]

Danish beer is terrible

Their craft beer is some of the best, but hella expensive.
Their non-craft is terrible.watery,flavorless shite

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

Ok I get it. You may be right with the Belgian style beers but I still think we are a bit behind the US in categories that are the most popular these days.

Sure. I am not denying that.

Would you have a simple top-3 recommendation of exceptional craft beers from the USA that I should try ?

 

[CoolB]

Sure. I am not denying that.

Would you have a simple top-3 recommendation of exceptional craft beers from the USA that I should try ?

I've been drinking a lot of stouts lately. A few of my recent favorites from south of the border are CBS, Yeti and Old Raspy. All 3 are fairly common with CBS being a bit harder to get but finding comparable stouts here can be a bit challanging sometimes. Founders breakfast stout and KBS are both great too but I found the CBS the best of the 3.