This Is Hands Down The Worst German Beer Available In The US

For many, Germany is practically synonymous with beer, and the country's 1,000-plus years of brewing history explain this. When Germans began immigrating to America in the late 17th century, they brought their love of beer with them. Ten of the 12 oldest beer brands still sold in the U.S. were either started by German immigrants or directly connected to that population. But common (or popular) doesn't mean good, and we think Beck's is the worst German beer available in America, hands down.

When we ranked the most popular German beers available in the U.S., we gave Beck's last place based on its BeerAdvocate score of 65. While it was one of the best-selling options on our list, it has one of the lowest overall ratings and the most negative (or simply neutral) reviews. Customers describe a mediocre, "middle of the road" taste, and one simply wrote, "Looks good. Smells horrible. Tastes the way it should, but it's still not for me."

The YouTube channel A Beer Snob's Cheap Brew Review opened its review of Beck's with, "This is a 12-ounce bottle of disappointment," before explaining that the brand moved production from its original home of Germany to St. Louis, Missouri. The reviewer mentioned that changing the water source from German to American changed the baseline flavor and, combined with other American ingredients, made the beer taste more like a Canadian lager. They also pointed out that it no longer tasted like a premium German pilsner, but instead like a generic, mass-market brew.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, Beck's parent company since 2001, moved the brand's production from Bremen, Germany to St. Louis, Missouri in 2012. With Beck's bottles advertising "German Quality" and "Brewed under the German Purity Law of 1516," customers felt lied to, like they were paying for an imported beer while receiving a mass-produced domestic brew.

This false advertisement led to a class-action settlement in 2015, with the company expected to pay over $20 million in consumer refunds. And this all could've been a simple fix: Beck's could've been proud of its German history as long as it didn't tout its American bottles as German (or even German-style) beer.

Other brands seem to grasp this distinction. Hamm's, started in St. Paul, Minnesota by a German immigrant, labels itself as "America's Classic" beer. Pabst Blue Ribbon is also connected with German immigration but makes no claims to Germany on its packaging. Shiner Bock, the third-best classic American beer in our ranking, was established by German and Czech immigrants but proudly claims Shiner, Texas as its home.