I usually assume when Europeans complain about American beers, they just are complaining about our “domestic” beers like Bud Light, Coors, PBR, etc. which makes sense, they are our bottom shelf beers.
I recently chatted with someone at a party who said “no, all American beers are bad” including microbrewery beers.
I’ve never been to Europe so I wouldn’t know, but I do like my Left Handed Milk Stout, NWPAs, and hell even the hipstered out IPAs.
Are these what y’all are referencing?
As a German beer drinker I can say: fuck the Reinheitsgebot. It’s just an old law to patronize the citizen. It’s not about protection against chemicals, just take look at Radler (Beer mixed with lemon soda) for example, plenty of artificial sweeteners and E additives are allowed.
Belgium has a wonderful selection of beers of different flavors. If somebody doesn’t want to taste a nice cherry beer, don’t do it. I don’t need an authority to watch over the beer I drink.
That why it’s called Alsterwasser (or Radler if you really must) and not beer. I actually like the law as it prevents the market from getting flooded with all kinds of shit that calls itself beer. We can still buy Lambic and whatnot here in Germany. It’s just not called beer, and rightly so.