AMERICAS NEWS

The second thing that the Yanks are better at is lager. Not the watery piss that is exported over here, mind (although in fairness Bud Light et al don’t get a fair trial in the UK, where they are routinely served at a temperature several degrees warmer than their taste is designed for) – but the wide range of boutique microbrewery lagers available in supermarkets and off licences, or “liquor stores”.

These are basically the equivalent of England’s real ales. But whereas we British are generally happy to stick to crappy session lagers – that’s an industry term, by the way, devised by European brewers thinking, “how can we pervert centuries of brewing tradition to produce a watery, tasteless yet extremely alcoholic lager of which Brits will be able to down ten pints per session and still have room for a curry and a further five pints, i.e. how can we produce a lager designed to be drunk in sessions?” – Yanks have become a bit more demanding over the last twenty years. As a result, the casual lager-drinker is overwhelmed with choice.

Samuel Adams is probably the most famous example of the microbrewed beer – the Boston-based brewery (originally called the “Boston Beer Co.”) has been knocking out fine lagers since the 1820s, although it went bust in the 1970s, before the “better beer” movement led to an explosion of microbrewery beer, and a 1985 purchase by the Koch brewing family and rebranding to “Samuel Adams Boston Lager”, named for a Bostonian signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Sam Adams now sells dozens of varieties of beer, including stouts and cream ales, and the new “seasonal collection”, of which TUPNews sampled the “Winter Lager”.

TUPNews heartily endorses Samuel Adams’ fine products. My favourite Yank lager, however, is Yuengling Lager, America’s oldest beer. David Yuengling established the Eagle Brewery in 1829, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. He later gave the beer his name. The brewery survived for a hundred and fifty years (including the Prohibition) by doggedly avoiding any growth of any kind – it was only when the current owner, a fifth-generation Yuengling, decided to capitalise on the 1990s “better beer” craze that Yuengling was sold outside of Pennsylvania. It’s now the fifth biggest brewer in the US, even though it is basically only available on the East Coast. It’s lovely.

The guy who owns Samuel Adams half-heartedly claims that Sam’s is the oldest brewer in America, as its precursor Boston Beer started brewing in 1828. But it shut down in the 1970s, so the chain is broken. He’s good friends with the Yuengling guy, so he’s basically just trying to wind him up.

The oldest beer in North America is in fact Canada’s Molson, established in 1786.