Faith, Beer, and Other Things That Interest Geoff

And because the category is dominated by mass-produced, flavorless beers such as Bud and Miller, which call themselves Pilseners, many consumers have yet to discover the pleasures of the real deal.

"So much status in the market is given to imported beer," says Alvarez. But often, he warns, quality is compromised in production and transportation of imports.

Most imported beers are not made using the same recipe as the beer you enjoyed in the mother country. Sometimes the recipes are changed to appeal to American taste; always the beer will be pasteurized, a process that robs a beer of some of its freshness and verve.

"We don't even do Pilseners from Eastern Europe," says Yoon of Father's Office. "We don't import lagers as a general rule because they're not built for the long haul. They don't survive the travel. The only beers we get from overseas are the big-bodied, high alcohol beers with living yeasts, which can survive the trip."