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Beer Is Cheaper In the US Than Anywhere Else In the World
derekmead writes "It's frustrating to drop $7 on a pint of beer in New York City, as it turns out, Americans have the cheapest beer on Earth. International bank UBS gathered data about the median wages and average retail prices of a 500mL (pint) beer in 150 countries. Those data were compiled to figure out how many minutes of work it takes the average worker of a country to earn enough money to buy a beer. It's funny that UBS analysts are spending time looking at beer, but considering that beer is beloved and nigh essential everywhere, it offers an interesting comparison between commodities and wages. For example, India tops the least, with the median worker having to work nearly an hour to afford a pint thanks to extremely low wages. In the U.S. however, where wages are relatively high and the cost of the average beer is quite low (thanks to those super-massive macrobreweries out there), it takes the median worker about five minutes of labor to afford a retail (store-, not bar-bought) pint. That's the shortest amount of time in the world, which means that, relatively speaking, beer is cheaper here than anywhere else." OK, UBS: Now please repeat the research with coffee.
a pint != 500mL
a pint == 568mL
False, but you go on being ignorant.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I'll save you the time: "American beer sucks, har har har".
Really? You *all* think you're clever for saying that?
Anyway -- it's not even true. That is, it's a meaningless statement. America has an enormous range of native beers, of every style, strength, and flavor. It's true that our tastes run toward weaker beers, but it's just stupid to say popular = "American".
Tom Geller
Not everyone likes distilled liquors such as Vodka. I have no stomach for it and do not enjoy it in the slightest.
Beer on the other hand I enjoy greatly. I stick to mainly micro and craft brews. I don't drink my beer to get drunk, I drink it because I enjoy the many many different flavor profiles possible with different types of beers and ingredients used. You sound like the typical youth of today, the only way to drink is in excess and the only reason to drink is to get drunk. Grow up and mature a bit, the world doesn't need more irresponsible alcoholics.
...it's also worse than anywhere else in the world. No joke, people.
Well, there's BEER, as in Bud, Coors and various other mega brews, who use who knows what (Bud uses rice) in adjuncts, most of the money going into marketing is denied in going into product.
Then there are craft brewers who make Ales, Stouts, Porters, Lagers and so on with the finest barley, hops and water they can muster. You'll see them competing in the categories which really matter at the GABF Many of the small brewers can hold more than a candle to their European counterparts, who are under threat these days from cheap lagers from France (some people just want to get under the table and don't care how.) At least in Germany you are still guaranteed fair ales for your money, thanks to the Reinheitsgebot. A real pity the USA didn't take something like that onto the Constitution.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
See Beer Advocate. American beer isn't all crappy lager in cans... we have an incredibly vibrant craft beer and homebrewing scene. I drink the former and make the latter myself, and these lips shall never meet swill! Mostly because it's cheaper to brew up a quick ten gallon batch of pale ale than to buy a vomit-inducing Budweiser. I guess it speaks to the power of marketing that folks outside of (or even inside!) the US think so lowly of our beer.
HAL 7000, fewer features than the HAL 9000, but just as homicidal!
Better yet, just keep your vodka in the freezer and drink it straight.
Scotch (or even a decent bourbon) does the same thing and actually has some complexity. Vodka is too sterile and lifeless for me... it's good in drinks but I can't imagine drinking it straight.
"It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity."
Just because our big native breweries have been bought by foreign investors doesn't mean they've changed the traditional recipes. Bud and Coors are still as American as ... polysorbate 60.
Sam Adams is meh. Better that the bland, tasteless crap produced by the big guys, but only "quite good" if your standards are quite low. For American breweries that predate the microbrew explosion and actually have flavor, I'll take Anchor Steam, thanks. And even they're not as good as the good American beers that are available these days.
The thing is that "American beer" can have two meanings. If you mean "beer made in America", then yes, there's plenty that's quite passable (including even Sam Adams), but I think it can also be used in the sense of "American cheese", as a description of a style of beer that is utterly flavorless, except perhaps for a few hints of nastyness, as exemplified by Bud and Coors.
It's probably what people grew up with. Some people for inexplicable reasons will prefer Coors. But it technically wouldn't be considered a real beer in some parts of the world. On the other hand you can go to a lot of ball parks and get decent beer, like Sam Adams or a locally brewed batch (mini-brew if not micro-brew).
I see you've never tasted American beer, only Budweiser (Belgium), Coors (Canadian), or Miller (British). Those brands used to be American but all were bought by foreigners. Try a Sam Adams some time, or one of the fine microbrews. Every bit as good as a Bass or Guiness.
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