Munich Upset With FIFA Beer Sponsorship

[peterh]

http://www.newsday.com/sports/soccer/wire/sns-ap-soc-world-cup-beer,0,5524969.story?coll=sns-ap-soccer-headlines

MUNICH, Germany -- The 2006 World Cup may have a distinctly American flavor if FIFA's beer contract remains in place.

Anheuser-Busch has a deal with FIFA, world soccer's governing body, that gives the American company exclusive rights to sell beer in and around World Cup stadiums.

Munich officials are upset and want Bavarian beer sold at the tournament, too. After all, Munich is the home of Oktoberfest, billed as the world's biggest beer bash.




A real beer vs. a bud….heck, I’d be pissed too, maybe more than pissed…..on the up side, there might be less drunken fights breaking out….then again…..

[Another Bill C.]

1. When I was working in Munich

a fellow (native) worker told me how American beer came to be. In the old days, when a braumeister turned out a bad batch of beer, he was taken to the river and dunked in a dunking chair. Their reputations were forever ruined in Germany so their only recourse was to come to America and start breweries here.

Budweiser has always seemed to me to be the kind of beer that once led to disgrace in Bavaria.

[phantom power]

2. I read that it was due to fallout from prohibition

After prohibition ended, there was still a limit placed on alcoholic content for breweries above a certain size. That limit forced the brewers to adopt certain recipes that resulted in inferior taste, but Americans just got used to it.

True story? Beats me, but it sounded good when I heard it...

[komplex]

9. It was done later than that...

In the Book Class, the major beer companies made an concerted effort to make their beer palpable to most adults.

The lameness of our beer is a direct result of mass market consumerism of the 50's and 60's. The "micro-brew" is based not only on taste, but snob appeal. It would be fun to do a blind taste test of beers.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Budweiser isn't actually beer, according to German tradition

The Bavarian purity law was only dropped a few years ago, due to EU rules:
"the only ingredients used for the brewing of beer must be Barley, Hops and Water" (and yeast, of course, but that doesn't appear to be in the original wording).
http://www.american.edu/TED/germbeer.htm

What self-respecting brewer would use rice?

[Spider Jerusalem]

11. Use of rice by major American brewers...

dates back to WWII. Wheat was rationed, so they switched to rice. And never switched back, since it was cheaper and people still bought the stuff.

[rooboy]

4. mmmmmmm..... Cola-Weizen.....n/t

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

5. american beer is like having sex in a canoe

it's fucking close to water.

[Cascadian]

6. American beer is just bad!

The only exceptions are Rolling Rock or the numerous microbrews that dot the landscape. Give me a Heineken or Guinness anyday! Canadian beer is great too!


John

[LagaLover]

13. Many American beers are VERY good

It's the mass produced stuff that sucks; including the Canadian mass-produced crap like Carling and Labatts.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. I find Sam Adams' beers quite acceptable

and was amused to find a few bars in America listing them under 'imports' - I guess the owners thought that anything with taste couldn't be American.

[Dirk39]

7. The bavarian beer doesn't have enough alcohol...

to let you forget South-Germany, Franz Josef Strauss, Edmund Stoiber and this fucking Bavaria and their leather trousers and their ridiculous farmer-culture.
Forget Bavaria, drink Beer from Hamburg. Let's tear down the wall between Bavaria and Texas and let them have their own country.

Holsten in Germany,
Dirk

[blindpig]

16. really?

I've never been to the old country but find the Spaten products over here right good; their lager is the best available around here(SC), Optimator one must be careful with and the Marzen, though varying year to year is one of my favorites.Havn't had EKU28 in a long time but I recall it being as stout as some of the barleywines produced by the micros here.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Kellanved]

17. well

I can't answer for Dirk, but I think it was less a statement about the quality of Bavarian beer, than a statement about Bavarian politic exports and the Bavarian habits (no, not culture).


It is impossible to rate a brewery just based on the state it is in. I personally like Pils, as made by northern breweries, better than the Bavarian style top-fermented brews.
Anyway, Spaten is not the brand in Germany you might expect. It is certainly possible to find Spaten beers anywhere in Germany, but it is not carried by the major Supermarkets, nor is it considered especially good. Many brands are export only, for example there is no beer named "St. Pauli Girl" in Germany (of course a St.Pauli Girl wouldn't wear anything like the Bavarian dress depicted on the bottles) .

[lebkuchen]

8. At least American beer will pour quickly into a liter mug

won't have any foam to wait for as the "mass" fills. Lighter for the frauen to carry as well. :)

[Kellanved]

10. terrible

The beer served at the last official FIFA event (1000 day countdown; I was invited, don't ask ;-) ) ) was not even American Bud, but some stuff brewed in London, UK. If possible it tasted even worse, than the American original.
IMHO it is even a good idea: the last thing the World Cup needs are drunk fans and Bud in tiny bottles sold for a fantastic amount of money will stop quite a few.
Besides: if one really wants to learn to appreciate German beer, having a Bud is a good preparation.
Finally I have to add that the beer usually sold in German stadiums is almost as bad as Bud anyway: Be it Berliner Kindl, Becks, Holsten ... not exactly the hit-list of German beer - especially as they often come in a "low alc - made for football" version.

[KDLarsen]

12. True.. So true...

I went to see my team play Schalke 04 in the UEFA cup, in Gelsenkirchen at Arena Auf Schalke, and before we even left Denmark, we were advised by Schalke's fans that there were two ways to get drunk at the game:

1. Get drunk prior to entering the stadium (which most people adopted)
or
2. Go to a pharmacist and buy 50 cl. of pure alcohol, smuggle it into the stadium and then add to the non-alc beer sold inside.

I personally preferred the first option (though, it was kinda hard to get started at 8 AM).

[rooboy]

15. The rugby world cup in Australia was sponsored by Heineken...

and after they'd poured it into the plastic cups it tasted like goat's piss. Sad thing is that if they tried that crap 15 years ago there would have been riots. Nobody gives a shit anymore...