James Silverton <not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not> wrote:

> Steve wrote on Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:53:52 +0000 (UTC):

>>> "James Silverton" > wrote in

>>>> Sometimes I wonder about tales of beers tasting much better
>>>> in the original country! It's like some wines that are
>>>> said "don't travel". The ambience and the mood you were in
>>>> affects your memories of a first taste. It has to admitted
>>>> that not all imported beers have been kept properly and can
>>>> be a bit skunked.

>>> there is that, of course, but a beer's flavor is also
>>> dependent on the water used, the strain of the yeast (& that
>>> alone can make a rather big difference), the grains, the type
>>> of hop... when the hops are added, etc. American made
>>> St.Pauli Girl really isn't anything like imported St.Pauli
>>> Girl.

>> I'm sure the latter is true, but even beers that should
>> be from identical batches can taste far better close to
>> their origin.

>> I personally think that ales travel much less well than
>> lagers.

>Water used for making beer is usually pretty pure and I have no evidence
>that St. Pauli Girl uses different hops or yeasts in different
>countries, do you?

No, but in my experience beers brewed under the same label
in different countries often don't even use the same formula.
But I rarely drink St Pauli Girl so I dunno, maybe it's
the exception. Just that I would not doubt any statement
that it is not the same.

>As an aside, I don't think all that much of any brewer's St. Pauli Girl.
>It's not one that I would go out of my way to buy.

>There's another type of beer that I like, Hefeweizen, that many US
>brewers claim to make but very few of them use the correct yeast. You
>can readily detect a slight taste of cloves in the real thing. Flying
>Dog brewery of Denver does make a real tasting Hefeweizen, despite the
>ridiculous label.

Interesting, I'll have to look for that. Thanks.

Steve