Drinking Around the World Challenge

I too like the idea of combining food with drinking. As encouraged by some friends, I am trying to work on a list/brochure/small book that lists almost all the adult drinks you can find around WDW. I say almost all because drinks are always changing so it will probably never be complete.

So doc how's that drinking around the world booklet coming? We need to make some plans for Food and Wine now that Missy wants to come down for a couple days....I can make it happen ANY day

I am sorry but I think this is pretty funny.  So....Disney has the power to change the recipes of some of the world's oldest operating breweries?!?!?!?

So, lets think about this.  Bass Ale is produced by Bass Brewery since 1777 in Burton-upon-Trent, England and now Disney says "No, lets change the formula and add more caramel".  REALLY!!  I serious don't think so.  As for Safari Amber Beer, it is a red ale brewed by Anheuser-Busch exclusively for the Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park.

If I have this correct, you got caramel or "bad" beer at the Refreshment Outpost and at the UK Beer Cart?  A caramel taste to is desirable in lagers and but is considered an unwanted taste in stouts and ales.  Both beers you mentioned are ales.  This "off" taste is produced when using weak yeast, short boils or low temperatures when fermenting.  In other words, it is produced when there is a slight lack of quality control.  This would explain why the Safari Amber at Refreshment Outpost tasted differently than the Safari Amber at the Animal Kingdom ---- different batches.  Yeast is a growing organism and therefore it is easy to produce a different taste if it is not handled correctly.  The brewmasters for the above mentioned breweries might allow a slight caramel taste to their be normal and your taste buds were just keen enough to pick up that difference.  But, did Disney use "what they had available" without telling the guests, I seriously doubt it.  You can't pretend a lager is an ale if you are expecting an ale.  You can't pretend a bitter is an ale if you are expecting an ale.  You can't pretend blonde is an amber if you are expecting an amber.

Now to address the country beers at Epcot.  I will first admit that I don't know every beer in the world but I do know how to quickly find out if that beer is actually from that country.  If I am not mistaken, Epcot still tries to sell beer from the individual countries but at the same time trying to offer beer at the different countries that please to most people.  For example:

Almaza Pilsner is made in Lebanon but sold at the Morocco Pavilion
Altenmünster Oktoberfest is made in Germany and sold at the German Pavilion
Asahi is made in Tokyo Japan and sold at the Japan Pavilion
Bass Ale is made in England and sold at the UK Beer Cart, Rose & Crown Pub & Restaurant and Yorkshire County Fish Shop
Birra Moretti is made in Italy and sold at the Italy Pavilion
Birrificio Le Baladin Nora is made in Italy and sold at the Italy Pavilion
Carlsberg is made in Denmark but is sold at the Norway Pavilion
Dos Equis is made in Mexico and sold at the Mexico Pavilion
Efex is made in Turkey but sold at the Morocco Pavilion
Innis & Gunn is made in Scotland and sold at Rose & Crown
Kirin Ichiban is made in Japan and sold at the Japan Pavilion
Mythos is made in Greece but sold at the Morocco Pavilion
Unibroue is made in Canada and sold at the Canada Pavilion

This list can on-and-on.  In this list I have included some beers that I have heard of and some that I haven't heard of.  Just because you have not heard of a certain beer doesn't mean it didn't come from that country.  Again, did Disney sell one beer but called if multiple different names to make it sound interesting or to fool the guests, I seriously doubt it.  Plus, everyone's taste buds are different and everyone likes different beers.  Also, some beer styles tastes the same to some people no matter where is was made.  Personally, I do not like the taste of Natural Light, Bud Light, Budweiser, Coors, or Miller and at the same time I am not a big fan of lagers and Pilsners which are what these American beers are.  So, to me they would all taste the same even though I know they are each individually different beers.  I like more complexity in my beers which is why I like more stouts, ales and craft beers.

If the Bass tasted that bad, then I would be more concerned that they didn't clean the lines out well at the end of the previous day.  It happens especially at the end of day at restaurants and bars.

LOL....You didn't really disagree as you explained the issue better and we have different tastes which is why there are so many different styles of beers and wines.  If everyone liked the same thing, then there would only be one style of beer, one red wine and one white wine in the world.