European beers are a varied lot.
I've found that Germany and Belgium produce some truly top-notch stuff- in fact, I'd rank my favorite beer-producing countries as Belgium, Germany, England, Canada and the US in descending order. Some reasonably nice stuff comes from France, but nothing exceptional. Ditto on Italy.

I have found, however, that Poland and Greece produce remarkable beers- remarkable in that they're so vile that I can't drink them. They're like Budweiser without the character.

(I suppose as an American, I should explain why I include my own country. Since the 1980s we've had an incredible explosion of little breweries popping up all over the country, producing beers that rival anything that I've encountered from other countries. The reason I put us last is because we don't have any really distinctive and characteristic style of beer that stands out- it's all variants on things from Europe. But we do produce some damn fine beers. Come over sometime and I'll show you.)
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Mon 30 Jun 2008, 23:25, Reply)