>>>Originally, Pearl was brewed in Germany by Kaiser–Beck Brewery. They still make Becks beer, which I dislike. It may be Germany’s number one export but they can keep it! :)
>>
>>Did you mean export as in selling to foreign countries or Export the way it is brewed ?
>>Becks is firmly and high in the tier below the 3 biggest brands - places 4 to 7 or 8 - but I had no idea they were export king - of either kind.
>>Quick googling did not turn anything up - your source ?
>
>Groceries in the US and Serbia too. Didn't try the local Beck's, as they don't do the dark, which was decent. The light is neither here nor there - not bad, but nothing to write home about. I guess it's the export version (and I think it's brewed locally, they export the license) which, as was said above, loses in translation.

For me in not-dark (as not to throw "light" into a %% discussion) choice is Pils, not Export, crystal Weizen nor dim/turbid/opaque Weizen. And Budvar can top any of my german favorites depending current external factors often and easy - wheras Plzener can do it, but not often. Dark beer for me only in winter or deep of night - and in the last years at these time points beer almost always exchanged for something grape-based, if alcoholic at all.

>Even the danish Tuborg, which used to be very popular (and expensive) here in the seventies, is now somewhat bland. Leaves no impression, it's just thin.

Tuborg and Carlsberg offer workable compromize in mediterranean countries.

One of the more astonishing expiriences was beer in Sri Lanka (was there when beer was one of the basic food ingredients for me): A wide range of well tasting down to dishwater quality. The well tasting probably a function of good water and less ingredients compared to cocktails of substances not in german "Reinheitsgebot", but was unexpected in the 2 month diving sabattical I gave myself long, long ago.