Guinness and Belgian abbey beers top imported beer lists

Guinness leads imports, but the catch is the price

When asked which imported beer is best, the most repeated answer is Guinness. The Irish stout opens the list of preferences and closes it again, and in between parade Belgian abbey beers, German wheat beers, American IPAs and a porter that costs as much as a set menu. It doesn't win for romanticism: it's the only dark beer that appears on almost any general supermarket shelf. When the criterion is what you can find without ordering online, the competition narrows itself.

There's a technical detail that enthusiasts repeat: the can with a gas ball. The plastic ball inside releases gas when peine and the hiss imitates a draft tap. It's the closest thing to drinking draft beer at home, summarises someone who buys it at Carrefour and Amazon. The price, though, is around €3 per large can.

Which imported beers are most mentioned

Belgian abbey beers, almost all of them. Rochefort 10 appears among those a forum user considers "most dangerous" for him; Chimay, Leffe, Grimbergen, Tripel Karmeliet and Delirium Tremens also appear. A faction defends Judas for its champagne-like character and some recommend stepping up to Du Demon. Among the strong dark beers, Founders porter is positioned as an alternative to the Irish stout, although its small bottle costs €2.

German wheat beer has its own camp: Franziskaner ahead of Paulaner, and both above Erdinger and Vitus. Good, pretty and cheap, says one defender. Czech Pilsner Urquell takes the title of the only and the best in its category, and among the American ones Lagunitas IPA appears, which a forum user places at around 6.5% ABV. There's also room for a Belgian white served with orange, for Kriek, for a sweet Peruvian dark beer and for limited edition rarities that only come out on special occasions.

The catalogue is completed with names that appear and disappear. Grimbergen was a go-to beer for a forum user who hasn't had it in a while; Gulden Draak is requested with a certain reverential antiestéticar for its alcohol content; and German Oettinger remains, for now, on the to-try list.

Price decides more than the label

Here enthusiasm cools. Three euros for a supermarket can is, for some, an abuse. The problem isn't just the can: shelves have gone up, abbey dark beers end up cloying from repetition and the list of favourites has narrowed towards whatever is on offer. Some go straight for own-brand: Lidl's beer with 7.5% alcohol or those sold at Lidl and Aldi as Reinheitsgebot 1516, which for value for money are good enough.

Against that, the defence of truly strong beer. Delirium hits hard, and the problem with everyday beers isn't the taste but the habit: you drink it like water. Those who treat beer as a product to savour drink less and better; those who treat it as an accompaniment end up with a fridge full of industrial brands. A forum user sums it up: of the good ones you drink less because you treat them as something to enjoy.

The national twist: Voll Damm, Mahou and the house label

No one expected a question about imports to end up discussing local brands, but it did. Voll Damm is from Barcelona, someone recalls, and that doesn't make it anything else. Carlsberg also appears on some lists and some unashamedly maintain that national beers have nothing to envy imports, however much the enthusiast shows off foreign labels and names they can't pronounce.

The most discussed case is a Mahou dark beer that, according to connoisseurs, was quite decent and disappeared from the brand's catalogue. No one has given an explanation. And for the street, the reference is a national lager in a can that, by format, looks more like an energy drink and avoids awkward questions.

From beer festival to street control

The bottom line is the usual: the beer festival that existed before and became something else. First there were tapas bars with some imported option; later, not even that. Many now only buy Belgian or German to try something specific, not as a routine, and the question that repeats without answer is where to order them at a price that isn't prohibitive.

And a recurring scene: drinking in public. Some are reprimanded for drinking in the street while others pass without anyone saying anything. The conversation drifts to whether you can drink inside a parked car, with the engine off and keys in your pocket. No one gives a legal answer. The doubt remains, just like where to get certain imports without paying a fortune.