What beer to feature in England? It's a quandry.
I think that probably most of the beer aficionadi in the UK who frequent pubs drink local brews from small to medium size breweries. It would be impractical to import this to Epcot, especially since they might not travel well.
What do people drink in the UK, other than that?
Well, about 2/3 drink lager, which is considered by many beer lovers, especially those in the UK as "pop". Fizzy stuff for people who don't really care about beer, or for younger people who have not yet developed their tastes.
Of that 2/3, the majority are being produced by four major companies, Scottish and Newcastle (who produce Kronenbourg and Fosters - big sellers in the UK, but not Scottish or even British in origin), Coors, Inbev (Stella Artios), and Carlsberg. NONE of these are British owned. That's right, you heard correctly - S&N has just been bought by a partnership of Carlsberg and Heineken, and Heineken is planned to get the UK-based part.
At least many of the products that S&N produce are made in the UK, but it's their import lagers that are the most popular, I believe.
Now, S&N also produces McEwan's, which is one of their biggest name brands. However, do UK people drink McEwan's? Or is it a big name because of exports?
They also produce John Smith's, Newcastle Brown Ale, and Strongbow Cider, but are these big names among UK beer lovers?
I'm not trying to start fights here. I just wanted to point out that it's difficult to decide how to accurately represent British beer at the England pavillion. I don't have the answers. I notice that even those here that have derided the currect choices didn't make any alternative suggestions.
Come on, what do you think SHOULD be there if not Bass and Tennent's? Guinness is probably a good choice, even though it is Irish in origin, and even though it probably comes from Canada, the British drink a lot of it. If you're going to get a good deal with Guinness, you have to feature Harp, too, no matter how misrepresetative it is. Come to think about it, it'a probably all about the deal they can get on the products, not how well the country is represented (how sad). Is there anybody else who thinks this might be true?
) and we thought it was great beer.
