Bavarian beer in California - Import, Options, Ideas & Discussion

Hey Beer-lovers,

Hello,

When I made my trip through California this year, I was looking for good Bavarian beer. Unfortunately, the result was disappointing for me as a native Bavarian.

Can anyone tell me why there are so many rare “good” bavarian beers, in the US and especially on the West Coast (occasionally there is Paulaner, Hofbräu, Ayinger and Weihenstephan, but not really more).

Is it because of the difficult import regulations? Do Americans not like German beer?

Many thanks and greetings from Bavaria

as far as I can tell, quite many Americans are all over Bavarian beer. It’s just that not all breweries have distributors in the US, and mostly only the larger ones even have the interest or capacity to export to the states.

Schlenkerla, Mahr, and Ayinger are all much more common in the US than they are in Bavaria outside their local markets. Both Schneider Weisse and Schlenkerla produce special beers which are only sold in the US.

If I am not mistaken, Kulmbacher and Schönramer are also obtainable in the US, and the list goes on.

Let’s give back a question: What other beers would you have liked to see? Most of the really good Bavarian beers are either from small breweries without much interest for expansion or don’t survive long in bottles (if it is even worth looking for bottles).

Bavarian beers: The USA doesn’t have much to remember them by.

How about:

Busch Bavarian: oh so long gone (not that it was likely Bavarian given the ancestry of Budweiser (USA)):

" Eberhard Anheuser, who left Germany in 1843, trained as a soap manufacturer, eventually going on to own the largest soap and candle company in St. Louis. Although he had no brewing experience, he became part owner of the Bavarian Brewery, which had first opened its doors in 1852. By 1860, Anheuser had bought out the other investors and the brewery’s name was changed to E. Anheuser & Co."

Bavarian beer came, then was wholly distorted, apparently forever.

This may be one of the best Bavarians I have had recently:

https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/hacker-pschorr-animator/30494/

Available in a grocery in Munich. So some neat Bavarians seem commonly available in Bavaria.

I’m sorry to hear that. In Michigan we get it often, but I feel like if I don’t buy it, it’ll sit and gather dust. In America, most prefer over-the-top IPA, so many low IBU German beers go unnoticed. It is a coming trend, but most local stores have such a hard time moving it that it rarely gets ordered. If I didn’t continuously buy Bavarian beer, this would likely be the case at my local store. Viel glück and Prost!

When I first got into beer around 2000, we would regularly see new English, German, Belgian beers. These days we really don’t see many new European imports at beer shops. I can’t remember the last time I saw a new Czech beer hit the stores. No UK new beers to speak of. Polish beer revolution has gone unnoticed here. Some Belgians perhaps, but substantially less than a decade back. The local, regional, and national scenes have really grown, and have filled the void. I would love to see more German beers on the shelves.

There are also no German whales, commodity beers ect, so beer regular Untappd type beer bros really aren’t concerned.