What Does Duff Beer Taste Like?

Unless you were living under a rock for the past decades, you’ve heard about the Simpsons. Set in fictional Springfield, in an undisclosed state, the series follows the adventures of the Simpsons family, and their patriarch Homer, as they interact with the town’s diverse characters.

Homer loves beer. He really, really loves beer, but only one brand of beer: Duff beer! He doesn’t drink Bud, no ginger beer, no root beer. Just Duff. So what does Duff beer taste like? Why is it so popular in Springfield?

Everyone enjoys Duff beer in Springfield, so it must be good, right? It also has a massive marketing campaign, headed by the bullish Duffman, who works hard to promote it in the city.

Can’t get enough of that wonderful Duff! – Duffman

So What Does Duff Beer Taste Like?

Of course, we can’t answer this question with any certainty, as… yes it’s fictional…but several signs may give away how it tastes:

Most beer experts and Simpsons fans say Duff beer is similar to Budweiser or any other commercially brewed lager in the United States. Duff has been likened to Budweiser especially when it comes to marketing. Like Budweiser, Duff beer is marketed heavily on TV, radio, and newspapers, as well as at sports events and concerts. Budweiser even has its own cartoon spokesperson, named Budman, who is very similar to Duff’s Duffman.

And there’s more… Duff beer has a hilarious story, and it has a lot of different variations:

Duff Beer – A Hilarious Story

Ah, good old trustworthy beer. My love for you will never die. – Homer Simpson

Homer really loves his Duff, but where did it all start? What is there to know about Duff beer? Let’s start with the basics – its name.

The beer’s name, Duff, seems simple and catchy enough to be a commercially successful beer. Similar in sound to Budweiser’s Bud, Duff is very relatable and easy to remember when you feel like having a beer. The actual word “duff” is actually a British slang term for “broken”, “useless” or “buttocks”, so it definitely doesn’t stand for something positive. In fact, in Irish English, the expression “up the duff” means that you got a girl pregnant. So probably, the show’s writers thought about something simple but perfect for the everyday man (just like Budweiser). And we all know that Homer and Barney are not connoisseur beer drinkers, they would just drink the beer that is readily available, heavily marketed, and cheap. And it’s the beer that makes them fat.

According to David Silverman, one of the writers of the show, the story behind the name is not as interesting as we imagined. The name Duff doesn’t mean anything and is unrelated to its meaning. Apparently, Matt Groening, the show’s creator, came up with Duff to rhyme with enough.

Duff Beer Variations

Just like all reputable breweries, Duff Corporation has a line of delicious Duff beer varieties. Some are available at Moe’s Tavern, but others are only at Duff Gardens (the amusement park based on Duff beer). The most popular ones are Duff Dry and Duff Light, to which both Homer and his friends are totally oblivious (probably they all taste the same). 

There are also other hilarious variations of Duff Beer, like Duff Stout (for the Irish beer enthusiasts at Moe’s Tavern), Malaysian Duff (made with soy sauce), Scandinavian Düff (brewed for Danish Kings), Raspberry Duff, Lady Duff (for women, but it’s just normal Duff beer in a pink can), Tartar-Control Duff, Duff Zero (the no-alcohol version of Duff beer), but also the Duff 200 (with extra amounts of alcohol, made from 200-proof grain alcohol, marketed as “Nothin’ but booze”). 

The product line also features “national varieties”, like a Cuban version of Duff, named El Duffo, but also a Canadian Duff (marketed as Le Duff avec Codeine in the French-speaking areas of Canada), which comes with a dose of cough medicine for those cold days in the North. Duff Sangre de Los Muertos and Duff Gordo are the Mexican versions of Duff, while Duff Japan is popular in Japan.

Other Duff varieties, some presented only briefly throughout the series, include Duff Adequate, Duff Gingerbread, Duff Blue Ribbon, Duff Peanut Butter Lager, Duff Tinsel, Duff Basement, Duff Holo Beer, Duff Swill, Duff with Calcium, Duff Old-fashioned, Duff Intestinal Rough, and Duff Holi-Daze. Premium varieties of Duff include Henry K. Duff Private Reserve (which costs $20 per can), Duffenbrau (the high-quality, imported version of Duff), and Duff Platinum (the most expensive Duff beer at Moe’s tavern). 

Apparently, Duff beer is unavailable in Shelbyville, Springfield’s next-door rival city, where everyone drinks Fudd. The beer, also available as Fudd Dry, is an obvious play on Duff beer (Fudd likely tastes the same as Duff).

Duff and Bud – The Similarities

The show’s fans quickly noticed the similarities between the two brands, both in the actual product and the marketing strategies employed by the two companies. Both are heavily advertised, cheap, refreshing, and readily available in most locations. Here are some of the most obvious similarities between them:

• Budman, a cartoon spokesperson used by Budweiser, is incredibly similar to Duff’s Duffman
• Both Duff’s and Budweiser’s logos have violet diagonal signs above the brand’s name
• Both Budweiser and Duff used dogs as mascots; Spuds MacKenzie promoted Bud Light, while Homer’s dog, Santa Little Helper, works as Duff’s mascot, with the name of Suds McDuff
• Both Budweiser and Duff sponsor sports events, stadiums, and their own amusement parks; Duff has Duff Gardens, while Budweiser has the Busch Gardens
• Their take on Superbowl advertisement is similar: while Budweiser uses the term Bud Bowl, Duff is focused on the Duff Bowl

Can You Buy Real Duff Beer?

The Simpsons were hugely successful right after the first season, so it’s not surprising that brewers started to use the show’s popularity to their advantage. Lion Nathan’s Brewery in Australia first brewed the first “real” Duff Beer in the late 1990s. However, their success was short-lived, as 20th Century Fox quickly brought legal action against the brewery (the product did not use the logos and branding seen in the show)

A similar story happened in Dunedin, New Zealand, where Duff Brewery was active long before The Simpsons started airing. The company changed its name to McDuff to avoid legal action. Duff beer is available in Mexico and other countries in Latin America. Rodrigo Contreras successfully registered the brand in the country with no negative legal consequences. Similar Duff beers are brewed in Germany by Duff Beverage GmbH and Duff Beer UG.

After years of seeking legal action against brewers around the world, 20th Century Fox launched its own Duff Beer, which is sold at various amusement parks, including at Universal Studios in Los Angeles and Orlando. The beer is sold at replicas of Moe’s Tavern and Duff Brewery.

Wrapping it up

Perhaps Duff beer tastes like a low-grade regular lager, but we will never know. We all know that Homer and Barney enjoy it and will never stop drinking it. So maybe it’s kinda good, right?