Philosophy: I'm using the term philosophy pretty loosely here. This is more of a discussion about my opinion and thoughts on the subject. The basic overall message though, is that as a rule, I try to avoid imported beers if at all possible. This is especially the case for anything brought in from outside of North America. But let me explain.
Economically I think that it is pretty unlikely that a beer (of any variety) would be air shipped to another country by plane. I think that it's far more likely that most beers make the journey from country to country by ship. As such, any imported beer likely spends some time at Port before being shipped to where it needs to be. Naturally, the beer would also spend some more time at sea crossing the ocean, and then more time again at the host Port while it waits to be transported to the country's distribution center. Then that same beer would need to be transported to the store where it will inevitably sit on the shelf for a few days, possibly weeks, waiting for someone to buy it. It might spend some time afterwards in the purchasers fridge as well before it actually gets drank. That is always the case for me anyway. So with all of that in mind, I think it's pretty reasonable to believe that any imported beer will be at least one month old from when it was brewed to when it gets drank, if not much much more. One month is probably being overly charitable given all of those steps. I personally think that its far more likely that the beer would be around 3 months old, minimum. I wouldn't be surprised if imports are closer to 4-5 months old before by the time they get drank though. I'm speculating here or course, but given all of the different logistical steps, I think its reasonable to think in terms of several months here.
Nearly anytime that I buy an imported beer, I almost always find them to be oxidized, having that familiar skunky taste that comes with the oxidation process. In order to combat oxidation, some companies will add in extra chemicals and preservatives to help the beer keep longer as well. So I'm guessing that imported beers are likely to have more added crap to them, and they often still taste skunky in the end anyway. Think about Corona beer as an example. It's a naturally and distinctively skunky beer that it all but un-drinkable unless you add a fresh lemon to it to mask that dreadful oxidized taste...
There are other tricks that companies use to hide bad taste as well, such as suggesting that the beer be served ice cold or drank straight from the bottle. Over carbonating the beer id an other method. All of these things tend to mask the taste of a beer. Im always a little skeptical if a company suggests that their beer is best served ice cold straight from the bottle...
So, with all of that being said, I generally avoid imports. Every once in a while I still buy and imported beer though. In fact, I recently bought one from Scotland. In this case it was a bit of an experiment since it's pretty rare to see Scottish beers at the store where I'm from. Let's take a look at how it went.
Brewery: Harviestoun Brewery
Origin: Scotland
Style: Golden Ale
Abv: 4.2%
Marketing: Simple black red and white label. Angry, Devil field mouse character. I quite liked the image.
Color: Golden yellow with a non-existent head that dissipated as fast as I poured the beer.
Nose: Skunky - right away I noticed it. Some citrus - lemon in the background.
Taste: Lightly sweet up front and finishing bitter. Decent balance. Some skunkiness in the taste. Spicy with a distinct lemon taste at the end. Subtle staleness.
Texture: Little carbonation, maybe going flat, slightly watery mouthfeel but still enjoyable to me.
Impression: This beer was definitely skunky and flat, probably because of all the reasons outlined above. Nonetheless, it wasn't horrible to drink. I actually didn't mind it overall. I wouldn't buy it again but it wasn't a waste and was good as an experiment.
I don't fault this beer for being a little unpleasant and I wouldn't be surprised if it's pretty good back where it's produced. Beers are always more fresh and better tasting where they are produced. I don't regret the purchase but I think that it was a good example of why I dont like imports. Beer just isn't meant to sit undrank for long periods of time. It's always best to drink what's locally available.
What do you think about imported beers? Let me know in the comments.
