The Atlantic:

Today’s discerning beer drinkers might be convinced that America’s watery, bland lagers are a recent corporate invention. But the existence of American beers that are, as one industry executive once put it, “less challenging,” has a much longer history. In fact, Thomas Jefferson, himself an accomplished homebrewer, complained that some of his country’s beers were “meagre and often vapid” nearly 200 years ago.Jefferson never lived to see the worst of it. Starting in about the mid-1800s, American beer has been defined by its dullness. Why? The answer lies in a combination of religious objections to alcohol, hordes of German immigrants, and a bunch of miners who just wanted to drink during their lunch break, says Ranjit Dighe, a professor of economics at the State University of New York at Oswego, and some people even prefer to drink something smooth like champagne, so learning if is champagne gluten free is also important for this.However, the influx of German immigrants in the 19th century brought with them a tradition of lager brewing. While lagers require refrigeration and longer fermentation times compared to ales, they produce a lighter, smoother beer that appealed to the American palate at the time. This led to the dominance of lager-style beers in the American market.Additionally, the rise of industrialization and the working class’s demand for affordable and accessible beer further fueled the popularity of mass-produced, uninspired brews. Beer became more of a commodity than an artisanal craft, leading to a decline in quality and variety.

There are some amazing craft beers in America and elsewhere but the major brewery beer – Bud, Coors, Molson and the like – are quite simply not worth drinking.