Which German beer brands do you like the most?

Are there any cultural faux-pas associated with beer brands (particularly in the US)?

• I was wondering if there are negative perceptions about certain beer  brands particularly in the US (story below). I am wondering if what I  did was a rough equivalent of going up to the bar and ordering a  Cosmopolitan (I'm male). Note: I am Asian and I travel to the US on short business trips. I admittedly know very little of the local pop-culture. Long explanation: I  was at a rock concert, and decided to have a beer. Not being familiar  with most American brands and not finding the one I have grown to like, I  ordered the one familiar brand I could see (a Heineken) at which point  the lady at the counter asks 'A heine?!' with a surprise and turns to  the guy behind who repeats the question curiously and then proceeds to serve it. Of  course there are better beers (incidentally we had gone pub-crawling  the previous evening and tried out some excellent beers available at the  local microbreweries), but I was wondering specifically if the above  was more to do with the brand rather than with the beer itself

• Answer:

  "Heine", one of the nicknames of Heineken, is pronounced the same way as "hiney" which is a slang word for buttocks, or sometimes, more specifically, the anus. Based on what you've described, it sounds unlikely that they were criticizing your beer choice and, instead, were making a silly joke to entertain themselves (by loudly acknowledging the double entendre of the nickname). Heineken is a beer commonly served in the US and lots of people drink it so, if it's on the menu, feel free to order it because it's very unlikely that someone will have any objection to your choice*. It's also common for people to not drink at all. The good thing about rock concerts is that everyone is focused on the performers and probably aren't paying attention to whether you are drinking or not. *Unless you are at a bar which predominantly serves craft beer.