First Visit to USA

Exactly: cold enough to numb the tastebuds. Curious, given American beer's descent from German methods. Yes, German beer is served cooler than English ale, but never cold enough to anaesthetize - presumably because the Meisterbrauer is confident in the flavour of his product.

Perhaps it's just the power of American corporations. Tasteless beer is easier and cheaper to make on an industrial scale than nice beer. So make your beer cheap and sell the idea that it has to be really cold; repeat that hard enough and your consumers will forget that beef used to have flavour.

It seems to have worked in America. I remember a nice bar in north Austin that had a huge range of beers from all over the world - but all served at barely-liquid temperatures because that's what the customers expected. OK, when it's 40°C outside, perhaps that's not a disaster, but it still misses the point. But I last went there in 1999, before the craft beer movement had really got going. My recent experiences in Atlanta suggest much improved understanding of how beer can be - even if everything has to taste of peaches nowadays.

Bromp,



if you want a beer over there with a bit more flavour but which is still light and refreshing try a Shiner Bock.

It was our regular watering hole when we were in Austin and I'm a member of their 101 Club (101 different beers). We lived in Austin Hills.



The owners and a few bar flies are still close friends of ours. It's open house on both sides of the pond.