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Nathan Berrong works at CNN's satellite desk and writes Eatocracy's beer column, "Berrong on Beer." He Tweets at @nathanberrong and logs beers at Untappd. Last week, a class action lawsuit was filed against Anheuser-Busch InBev, claiming that several of the company’s beers had been watered down with the intention of lowering the alcohol level. If the allegations are true, the alcohol percentages advertised on the labels are incorrect, which is a violation of state and federal laws. CNN affiliate KSDK and other media outlets conducted their own tests on several of the beers in question and found the ABV to match what is listed on the label. This would seem to make the lawsuit bogus, but the plaintiff's attorney, Josh Boxer, stands by the suit and will continue to defend his clients’ allegations. When it comes to taste, I want my beer to taste like something. Something tangible. Something familiar. If asked, I want to be able to describe the taste to others. Ask any drinker of macro lagers to describe the taste of said beers and the most common response will invariably be “it tastes like beer." But what does beer actually taste like? There’s not a simple answer to that question, but a starting point would be looking at the four main ingredients required to make beer: water, malt, yeast and hops. Many large-scale breweries also add up to 30% rice or corn syrup to the brewing process. These are known as adjuncts and something that is generally frowned upon in the craft beer world. They're viewed as cost-saving ingredients, rather than something to impart more flavor into the beer. Having said that, water and rice are the two main flavors I detect when drinking something like a Budweiser or Michelob Ultra - two ingredients that hardly contain any flavor at all. If one of these beers was to be watered down, as the lawsuit alleges, I don’t believe I would notice a difference. There’s a Jim Gaffigan joke where he riffs on bottled water and it goes something like “this is more watery than water." That’s what I imagine a more watered down version of Budweiser to taste like; “this tastes more Budweiser-y than Budweiser." After talking about the lawsuit on CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin, my friend Tes, a loyal Budweiser drinker, responded to me saying, “I do care about the taste and, as a lover of Budweiser, I choose to drink it because sometimes I want a beer to taste like nothing but still have alcohol in it.” I have to agree, it tastes like nothing in particular and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just not usually what I’m looking for when choosing a beer. The beers I seek out have flavors ranging from grapefruits - a common descriptor for many IPAs - to coffee and chocolate, found in various imperial stouts. There are Christmas-style beers that taste of gingerbread and subtle English mild ales that have flavors of toffee and caramel. These are flavors that are familiar to most and can be identified easily when drinking the beer. I cannot say the same about the beers listed in the lawsuit. Besides taste alone, there’s a myriad of other reasons why I typically shy away from the mass-produced lagers. I like supporting small, independent breweries that are creating unique beers and experimenting with new styles and/or brewing techniques. I want to support breweries that don’t resort to misogynistic depictions of women in their advertising or merchandise. I try to drink local when possible and visit breweries and brewpubs, something that’s difficult to do when drinking beer made in a factory hundreds of miles away. I love the fact that, by and large, the craft beer community is just that, a community. Brewery collaborations happen all the time, even foregoing legal battles all in the name of furthering this little beer movement. Can you imagine AB-Inbev collaborating with SABMiller (Miller-Coors) on a beer? The two companies share a fierce rivalry akin to that shared between Coke and Pepsi. But in the craft beer world, it’s extremely common to see breweries like Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada, two of the largest craft beer companies, working together and creating a new beer. These are just a few of the many reasons why I choose to drink the beers I do. I value the taste of beer more than anything and that usually means beers that fall under the definition of craft breweries, but not always. AB-Inbev, the owners of Shock Top, brewed a great apocalypse-themed beer last year, called End of the World Midnight Wheat. I also regularly seek out Goose Island beers, who lost their craft brewery status after being purchased by AB-Inbev in 2011. Their change in status won’t affect my decision to drink their product so long as they continue to brew quality beer and operate the same way they always have. And then sometimes I just want a beer that tastes like nothing. And that’s OK, too. Why do you choose to drink the beer you do? Please let me know in the comments below. |
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Started drinking, when depending on you age you either got 3.2 or 6%. Went to Germany for 3 years, got spoiled, came home and to drink a Genny, Little King, etc. took 30 more years before I could find anything worth drinking. The micro and craft brewers rule! If you're ever in Dayton, Ohio stop by Belmont Party Supply and the shop next door, Brewtensils, you will not be disappointed.
In the early 1990s, Moosehead Light had a great radio commercial: "How does a drinker of other light beers know it's time for their next beer? They think, 'Hmm, that sip wasn't as wet as the last one.'"
A buddy once said "Life's too short to drink industrial beer." Amen to that.
Personally the best tasting beers generally have the highest alcohol content, but that means that one doesn't need to drink nearly as much to have satisfied their taste for beer than they would if they drank the awful ordinary stuff, or even worse the "light" rubbish put out by the likes of Budweiser, Miller, etc.
The most effective solution perhaps is to brew one's own. beer. Used to do that while living in the U.K., where brewing materials were easily available, and one could alter the recipe to suit one's own personal taste.
Wow, Miller and Bud, the most powerful and highly advertised beers on the market are hmm, surprisingly the worst tasting beers out there. Gee, perhaps thats why they need to advertise so much. There is such a diverse selection of micro-brews out there that tastes a hundred times better than the watered down dog-S that is shoved in our face with these horribly thought up tv and radio ads by the previously mentioned. Yet good ole folks still lap it up. The dumb keep getting dumber and the rich keep getting richer, but to each is own I guess.
One minor point the author missed here – corn, and to a lesser extent, rice, aren't necessarily used as cost saving measures in brewing American Light Lagers like Bud. Especially with the increasing demand for corn for ethanol, corn is actually a more expensive ingredient than barley is – I'm not entirely sure how rice compares.
However, both corn and rice add a much more subtle, more light flavor component than barley does, which helps make American Light Lagers taste like, well, American Light Lagers, rather than German lager styles (like Bocks) that are much more malt-forward.
I'd rather drink Schlitz than milk from God's nip-ples
I'd rather drink Schlitz than milk from God's nipples
Beer Snob complains about Beer.
More news at 11
Beer snobs come in ALL varieties. I like to play the "taste test" game with the worst offenders. Your at a party, the guy drinking Bud Light makes some disparaging remarks about the other guy's Miller Lite (or vice versa). Something along the lines of 'How can you drink that swill?"
Last time I was able to line up in a blind taste test Bud Light, Miller Lite, Mich Ultra and ABNL (aka Natty Light). Six guys. The most ANY of them got right? 1 out of 4. Why? THEY'RE ALL THE SAME! Most common mistake ... thinking the Natty was the Ultra.
And my favorite? The guy that thought the Natty was the Bud Light. So, dude, you want an ABNL? F no! I won't drink that p!sswater, they don't call Bud the King for nothin'. OMG, you loser .... first of all you're drinking Bud LIGHT, not Budweiser. Let's not even mention the fact that your couldn't pick your precious Bud Light out of a line up of only four beers.
Last night had a beer from Portland Brewery, Rose Hip Gold, Belgian-style pale. Soooo good.
There must be some truth to it. Back in the sixties/seventies a common comment on the taste of this brand was said to be "It tastes like P*ss water".
I have always understood that American Beer tasted like Moose pee pee with the exception of microbrewers American beer is horrible..
“I do care about the taste and, as a lover of Budweiser, I choose to drink it because sometimes I want a beer to taste like nothing but still have alcohol in it.”
Hmm. That's a very alcoholic thing to say, especially when sometimes becomes all the time and any alcohol will do, including rubbing alcohol.
An American tourist walks into a London pub and asks the barman if they have American beers. The barman says no. The tourist then asks if they have anything like American beers. "Sir," the barman replies, "we have tap water."
As a homebrewer I was chatting with a pal the other day about these mass produced beers. I could not begin to think there are enough hops grown in the world for these big breweries, Ha! He says.. The hops are artificial. Said the big Drug Co Pfizer makes them.. Rice corn artificial hops no wonder that stuff tastes so terrible!
A-B InBev (of which I am NOT a fan) is the world's largest purchaser of hops. Your friend is misinformed. MillerCoors does use hop extract, but it is still made from hops.
Budweiser is the worst beer I've ever had.....and I've had a lot. It doesn't really amaze me that so many Americans drink it because so many of them really don't know what they're eating or drinking. They dine on 'happy meals' , KFC and drink gallons of sodas with huge amounts of high fructose syrup ,so why not drink this crappy beer too. They're all going to die from clogged arteries, diabetes and other diet related deaths anyway.
Yay, another hipster telling people what they should eat and drink.
Budweiser has had one consistent thing going for it since they began making it. It's always set the "gold standard" for the worst "beer" possible. Pisswater. Plain and simple. Disgraceful substance.
When I was a Kid living in Washington State in the late Paleolithic Era; All you could Buy was REALLY Bad Beer – like OLY or Ranier – You had to drive across the State Line just to get COORS which was considered BETTER Tasting. When AB brought BUD to Our State we thought it was an Improvement. NOW in the NEOLITHIC Era; after I made some Beer and Decades of Microbrew Beer at the Local Pubs – I can't Drink that Commercial SWILL Anymore.
Oh god, Rainier was horrible! My dad drank the stuff all the time. When I was little (like 4), he let me take a sip of it. It was so bad I didn't drink beer again until I was in my 20s!
I generally prefer watery beers. I'm a Michelob Ultra fan. Tastes like apple cider with a clean kick. But, I also like fish that doesn't taste fishy.
I enjoy good beers too,I will never purchase anything from buttweiser,mgd etc. I enjoy Shocktop and Blue moon and buy them regularly. wheat ales and beers go great with many different foods. There are many a good micro brew,too much to list in fact so ill just keep it short and sweet. Budweiser and other cheap garbage beers are for drunks and alcoholics.
"mike
I enjoy good beers too,I will never purchase anything from buttweiser,mgd etc. I enjoy Shocktop and Blue moon and buy them regularly"
Irony is everywhere: Shocktop is owned by "buttweiser", and Blue Moon is owned by MillerCoors. Nice job there! You're really sending a message to the macros! ;)
Shock Top is made by the makers of Budweiser and Blue Moon is made by MillerCoors, so I guess you DO buy from them.
My grandfather told me when I was a little boy that beer tasted like dirty dishwater with a pickle in in....he must have been referring to Bud
Bud, Bud Light, and Coors Light use rice in their brewing process, and no wheat. I know because I have a wheat allergy and can drink them without throwing up. At least from my allergy anyway - sometimes the taste makes me queasy. Corona uses corn. Most other beers use wheat. All are technically considered impurities, which means that most beers Americans drink are just "beer-like" beverages.
It isn't just the alcohol that makes a beer taste good. But the amount in the bottle should match the label. All Bud has to do is change it to "up to 5% alcohol" and they can water it down as much as they want.
the make devices to test the alcohol content , someone should tell brooke & this guy from that website that i dont know how to spell & was hardest website to remember
Nothing beats a cool Red Stripe – the great Jamaican beer... but only the Red Stripe that is brewed IN Jamaica. The Canadian & Penisylvania knockoff versions blow Jamaican goats.
What's the difference between this and the size of the average candy bar constantly diminishing over the past 40 years?
.
The candy bar doesn't get you drunk after 5, or 15.
That's why I go to World of Beer establishments. Over 1000 beers to choose from in drafts, bottles, and cans from all over the world. Can't remember when I last had a Bud, Miller, etc.
The simple uterance of the brands "budweiser", "miller", "coors", "genny", indicates that the beer is 99.97% water. If the ABV is under 6%, you have urinated your money down the drain (literally).
An ABV under 6% does not mean it's a waste, especially if the goal is drinking good beer without getting buzzed or drunk. There's plenty of great session ales...Stone Levitation, Lagunitas Fractional IPA, Founders All Day IPA...the list goes on and on.
I sent a sample of Budweiser to the local lab. Here's the report...
"Your horse has a kidney infection".
Has anyone else here tried Budweiser Black Crown?
It's darn tasty.
For a short period of time after AB-Inbev purchased Anhauser Busch, they produced a series of near micro brew quality beers sold under the Michelob brand name, one of which was a Porter. They also had a wheat beer and several others that were excellent. They suddenly vanished from the store shelves as quckly as they had appeared. Since then I have never had reason to buy any beer brewed by AB-Inbev. Too bad because they had an amazing product and an excellent price.
Have you?? I won't till you try first..
I have to agree with that, I hate AB usually, but I tried it and I'll be jiggered, it's good!
ImBev should be accused of labeling horse urine as beer.
I have been drinking Bud over 30 years. Each of the places they are brewed have a different taste. The one in Los Angles is the worst. Their taste has diminished (all locations) over the years. If it is not being watered down, what is it? I prefer to get the Japanese beer, Singapore and beer called "Anchor". But not the present one with that name. It had over 12% alcohol and the taste was great. I still drink but, but only it taste better then then the other choices.The others are extremely hard to find in my location. If you know of a place to purchase these beers in NC you can replay to this post and I will be very happy.
I HATED beer when I was in my earlier college years, and I found out why when a friend of mine convinced me to try his beer from the best local brewery in my area, BENT RIVER BREWERY.
I was drinking CHEAP, CRAPPY beer at house parties, bars, etc...
I fell in love with beer when I tried Uncommon Stout, an Oatmeal stout brewed with a good hint of coffee.
Since then, I've been in love with craft beers ever since....
Well Brett, you do have to admit that it would get pretty freakin expensive buying quality beer for a collage house party. Especially on a students get.
When people say that American beer is bad they are referring to only one type of beer and this American lager (pale lager). There are many different styles of beer made in the US. All have European origins and American lager as is know today originally came from German immigrants! Pale lager is popular because it is light and easily drinkable appealing to the masses. If you want more flavor in you beer try ales. They don't all have the super high alcohol content associated with IPAs. I drink only ales and consider even craft lagers to be not that good.
I agree that lagers–even craft lagers–are not good. IPAs are, for me, beer at its highest level, but I also enjoy other types of beer.
There is a time and place for every beer. Here are some examples:
January – A Victory Storm King that warms on the way down while looking at my neighborhood covered in snow.
February – A Belgian Triple because it is still freezing outside.
March – Fuller’s ESB to help pass the time until spring comes.
April – Any American Amber to celebrate the return of warm weather.
May – Pilsner Urquell with fish on the grill.
June – A Budweiser in a plastic cup paired with a hotdog at Camden Yards.
July – Coors Light so cold that there are ice crystals in it at the beach.
August – A super hoppy IPA perfect for hot days and cool nights.
September – A Sierra Tumbler brown ale while watching the trees turn.
October – An English Mild while raking leaves.
November – A smoked porter with some kick to it to stand up to Aunt Maggie’s roasted turkey.
December – A Bigfoot barley wine that is strong enough to make me act foolish in front of family.
Wow – you completely hit the nail on the head, in every case. You must be my brother from another mother.
Nice
Got to agree with the author. I like full bodied beers. If all someone has is Bud or Coors in the fridge, I'll have a glass of wine please...
Since I started brewing my own beer, I am a bit of a beer snob. To me, nothing beats a good IPA, although I do enjoy a good beer no matter what the style is. I usually have a sixer of Miller Lite in my fridge–they function well as Bloody Mary chasers. Cheers!
I keep a six of domestic swill in my fridge to keep my low rent friends out of my good beer.
I find that darker beers go best with the dank buds I like to smoke. But maybe it's just me.
Best comment I've read lately!
Agree: people who are real beer drinkers like to drink REAL beer that has a describable taste. I have said for 30 years Bud was watered down (really or just tastes like it is!) and I could tell the difference blindfolded from a Bud/Coors/Miller/etc. (feeling Miller High Life is a good beer for certain days). People like coffee like particular coffee, same with tea, etc. and Pepsi vs. Coke. Beer is a wider variety of differences, and some people can like many different kinds, but the fun is trying something new.
I hope you aren't putting down Bud and calling Miller/Coors real beer in the same sentence. That's just silly. Miller/Coors/Bud are almost identical. Sure you can tell the difference, but they are all barely beer. Drink some craft beers and different types of beer (not made by a macro brewery). It'll open your eyes.
I'm surprised they weren't sued for adding beer to their bottled water first.
surprised all this talk about Budweiser isn't in Spanish
Let us all agree to disagree. I never disparage another man's (woman's) beer. Let us all rejoice that there are many, many different beers, for many, many different people to enjoy. Maybe another's favorite beer tastes like swill to you, but as long as that beer makes that other beer drinker happy, I say REJOICE... and have another beer! Amen!
While in London, I noticed how popular US Budweiser was with the ladies. They were all drinking it. So, when I was at dinner in a restaurant with a bunch of guys in Texas, one after one, they ordered their national drink...Bud Lite.
When it came to my turn, I asked if they had any "Men's beer."
Cool story bro!
We spent the majority of our honeymoon in Belgium (I knew I married the right women when she allowed me to plan the honeymoon around beer!). We sat down at an outdoor restaurant in Brussels. When the watress realized we were American, she immediated asked if we wanted "diet beer". Pretty sad.
I have lived in China for nearly a decade and beer here ranges from watery to about 5%. I prefer the beers from north China, but there are a few good ones from the south. One particular is HaiZhu, which I heard is brewed by a Japanese JV brewery. The reason I mention China beers is that last year a very nice American man told me that he thought a great business opportunity would be would be micro-breweries because Chinese beers are no good. This man had travelled China extensively and I was very surprised when he said there were no good beers in China. I say this because in my opinion, American beer is very average at best so I didn't agree with him but I didn't say anything. In the end, I rationalized people like a taste that they are used to and it's no big deal. I'll drink a Bud if I am thirsty, but it would be nice if tasted more like beer than water. Cheers from China – Gan bei (bottoms up)!
I am in China, too! The beers here are just plain awful. When I have to look at the back of a bottle to see if I can even find a beer over 4% ABV, its a sad state of affairs. Recently, I have heard there are a few nice micro brews popping up. I've heard its possible to get some western microbrews on Taobao, too.
You ought to give Qingdao Stout a try! It reminds me of Spaten Optimator and is quite a nice brew for a large Chinese brewer. It's my go to here in China!
There were no outside consultants used to test levels of anything. This is a flagrant nuisance lawsuit meant to bring AB down a bit. To each his own as far as taste...but I will pit American Beer Snobs against any in the world...we have really set the standard there.
good, because Bud just sucks.
C'mon Scrape...you can do better than that. Most of these Budweiser detractors have at least a paragraph to give their opinion of an American-Union-made-Missouri company like AB.
No, I think "sucks" pretty much sums it up.
Budweiser is for peasants....and there are so many of them.
I never drank beer till i turned 21 because all i knew was miller, bud and coors. i had tried em but were all terrible. The first time I stepped into a Binnys Beverage d Depot chnaged my life after i found the magic that is craft beers
All I'm going to say is if you haven't tried Old Chub, then you don't know American beers. Old Chub! (should be screamed from the highest peaks of the tallest mountains). Discovered it this weekend at the Austin Specialty Beer Fest...fun to say, delicious to drink.
Bud Light is for drinking during a softball game to warm you up for real beer afterwards.
OLD CHUB! Rolls off the tongue, looked it up...looks interesting will have to try. Thanks
Don't forget the Brits, they make some very fine brews as well. Big fan of Boddington's. It's a nice cream ale out of Manchester I believe.
Better still – the Belgians!!! Give me a tasty Chimay, or a Delerium Tremens and I'm a happy camper!!
Mmmm, I love a good Cornish bitter.
Hey Bluto, guess who owns Boddingtons? Take a wild guess.
Just because something is popular (being the company advertises the heck out of it – basically brain washing a lot of people) has absolutely nothing to do with it being a quality product.
Also goes for the game you're watching while inebriated
I was with you up to here: "I want to support breweries that don’t resort to misogynistic depictions of women in their advertising or merchandise."
Man how I miss when showing attractive women in commercials wasn't labeled as misogynistic depictions by "new-age" men who want to remove any shred of human nature from us. We are attracted to hot women. Why do you fight it?
I'm with you on this one. Political Correctness has run amok.
Would there be a lawsuit filed against McDonalds if the BigMac had less fat contained in it than listed on the label?
I could understand suing if it had more alcohol than labeled, but not fractionally less.
This is just America suing over everything. In addition to better gun control, lets have better "stupid lawsuit" control.
Bad analogy. With McDonald's most people view the fat content as the maximum you'd want to see. With beer, the alcohol content is the minimum desired. So you'd sue McD's if the fat content exceeded the labeled value and with a brewer you'd complain if the alcohol content was lacking.
I am a homebrewer, and I try to drink what I make before anything else. I think my beer is better than the local craft brewery, and in that regard, I am not alone.
Homebrew is a great hobby, and poses not threat to the industry, yet in Alabama and Mississippi, brewing your own beer is technically illegal. Something all homebrewers hope will change soon.
Kudos on the article. I couldn't agree more.
Forgive the crappy grammar. I am an engineer, not an english major.
That's all right. I know seven engineers and only one of em can spell
American beer is like making love in a canoe. It's f*ing close to water. ~ Eric Idle
Eric Idle must not have tried an American beers since the 80's. I'll put American beers – especially West Coast American beers – against any beers in the world.
Yuck. Watery, imitation plasticky corn syrup
I'm a huge IPA fan. I love Lagunitas and Stone (West Coats brews in the hizouse...). I'll put CA breweries against any in teh world.
Having said that, I worked land-scaping in the summer in Las vegas during college and, after digging holes in rocky ground and laying in irrigations systems when it's 115 degrees in the shade – man, an ice cold watery bud at one degree above freezing really hist the spot. Fact is, the temperatures in the Southwestern US is why American beers evolved to be watery in the first place.
At that point you might as well just drink actual water.
On the site, yes. But afterwards you want to get snokered. It was college, after all.
Heh
When I drink beer I do it to get drunk with friends. I don't care what it tastes like and prefer no taste to some concocted bitter slag. If it doesn't have the alcohol I paid for then Houston, we have a problem.
Drink whiskey or vodka. You'll get drunk faster.
Funny some of the "bitter slag" as you call it have higher alcohol content than most watered down bud beers. Lagunitas Maximilian is at 7.5%, or Hop Notch also 7.5%. You should just admit that you have no taste, that is what it boils down to.
I'm thinking he/she did just that.
I believe beer, like Scotch, is an acquired taste. I have never been able to "acquire" either...
Statistically men prefer the bitterness of beer more than women. While there are exceptions, most women prefer the sweeter alcoholic drinks.
I prefer women to the bitterness of beer.
I prefer beer to bitter women
Well then you should try Bitter Woman IPA by Tyranena, LOL!
Try craft hefeweizens or dunkelweizens. Not "American Wheat" but cloudy weizens. I hated beer until I visited Germany. Most of what you'll get in the States can't compare to German, BUT it beats the bitter stuff we hate!
I just brew my own now. Don't care what everyone else does or drinks.
What a bunch of beer snobs. BUDWEISER is the KING for a reason though everyone denies it. So what-they have to call it BUD in Europe. Weather I'm in STL, Tokyo, Dubai, Phnon Penh, or Dar Es Salaam I ALWAYS order "Bud in a bottle." I'm sure all the beer snobs on here prefer "on tap" but truthfully Budweiser is one of the BEST CRAFED BEERS TO DRINK FROM A BOTTLE
Eberhard Anheuser???? Adolphus Busch???!?!?! Is that you?
Funny. This company was started by two German Dudes. I bet they'd roll in their graves knowing what comes out of their factories these days.
To each his own. But don't call me a snob because I prefer beers with a stronger flavour. A beer snob is someone who is critical of macro beers not because he doesn't like their taste but rather because he thinks it is more sophisticated to prefer micro beers. I truly prefer micro beers for their flavour and for no other reason.
They are the "King of Beers" because an ad agency came up with the name and you bought into it.
You're so wrong it hurts.
I'll bet you think:
McDonald's makes a good hamburger.
Hollywood produces great films.
CoD is an outstanding FPS.
TV and Popular Music are interesting.
Popularity is not Quality.
Back in its day Pink Floyd was popular music and its music sure as hell was interesting.
Do you have any taste buds?
For a good portion of my life I believed that I hated beer. Drinking cheap, watery beers led me to this conclusion. When I began to taste many craft beers, Belgian in particular, I soon discoverd that I was really a fan of beer, not watery concoctions pretending to be beer. There are so many good beers available now, it is much like being a lover of wine. I particularly enjoy aged beers, but be sure to drink them slow, since they are both strong and high priced. Unfortunately most cheaps beers are either to watery, or in the case of Guinness, ridiculously bitter.
Bill youve obviously never tasted a Guiness before. Guiness is the furthest thing from bitter you can get. I love that people automatically assume Guiness is bitter because its dark. Guness is atually ruby red and is one of the smoothest low calorie beers on the market.
Unfortunately, I have Guinness on way to many occasions, like most people in the world have at one time. People assume it is bitter, because it has a nasty, harsh, bitter aftertaste to it after you take a sip. Cheap stouts have that quality, and certainly guinness qualifies. By the way, guinness has only about 20 calories less than the average cheap beer, so I would not call that low-cal.
That's how I was, too. My family was poor and only had poor folk beer, same with my friends who stole their parents beer for our little 'party's'. So I didn't think I liked beer. Then I moved to Portland.
I like Guinness though, I don't find it overpoweringly bitter (and I like just a tiny bite). Want something super yummy? Rogue Chocolate Stout.
I never drink beers from Big Beer (think of Big Oil to know what I mean). I generally like beers from Micro Breweries. I also love Belgian Beers which are some of the best beers in the world. Here in Canada we have our Big Beer labels such as Canadian and Kokanee and they really suck. Kokanee in particular has almost no flavour.
In America, you can make any accusation you want that has NO evidence behind it. So taxpayer money is wasted by having this kind of thing in court. And then appeals will start after. This will not end until hundreds of thousands of dollars and maybe millions of taxpayer dollars are spent. All because someone THINKS their beer is watered down. And the saddest part about all of this? This person will get some sort of settlement.
Huh? What does this have to do with taxpayers? These are private individuals suing a private company. Not one dime of taxpayer money will be spent.
The individuals involved in a lawsuit pay their attorneys and expert witnesses. But they DON'T pay for the judge, court clerk, court stenographer, bailiff, court room rental, etc. We, the taxpayers, do.
It cost the taxpayers money by putting it in court, which taxpayers pay for.
If the beer tastes great at room temps, it's a good beer. If it has to be taste bud numbing cold before you can stomach it, then it is garbage.
We need more quality Milk Stouts.
YES!!!!
Milk stouts are for chicks. You probably like watermelon flavored beers, too. Real men are hop-heads.
Maybe you have never tried an Imperial Coffee Milk Stout that tips the ABV scale at over 10% and an IBU as high as some IPAs.
Have you ever tried Left Hand Milk Stout, particularly Nitro? Perhaps my favorite beer.
In general though, I think Great Lakes is the best brewery out there. Incredible stuff.
This article reminds me of a Monty Python joke. "Why is American beer like having sex in a canoe? Because it's f**king close to water!"
If the beer tastes great at room temps, it's a good beer. If it has to be taste bud numbing cold before you can stomach it, then it is garbage.
Give me a good porter or milk stout.
If you remember Donald Duck Grapefruit juice and liked it, try Bells Hopslam.
Hopslam is notoriously hard to find on the East Coast.
Mmmmm, Two-Hearted!
@TDomer03, Amen brother!
I am a chick, but sure!
Hop Slam is a great beer. Based on yoru milk stout comment I'm surprised you like it.
I'm pretty sure people are able to enjoy a hopped up beer or a milk stout. I mean, if you limit yourself like that you tend to sound like a real big d-bag.
American swill AKA see through pi$$ water is truly foul. I was lucky enough to be living in Portland Or during the birth of the Micro Brew explosion beginning in the mid 80's. My first taste of unfiltered wheat beer opened my eyes to the amount of flavor a beer brewed with love can contain.
I like good tasting beers.
What I DO NOT like is when people (like this author Berrong) are snobby about it.
And with a name like Berrong, you shouldn't be so quick to think you Beright about everything. Please keep your elitist opinion to yourself.
The corporate beers make beers for people who don't really like the taste of beer, but need the alcohol for self medication.
I liked microbreweries in 1995 before they were cool. But now that I live in Austin all I drink is Lone Star
Last I checked there were fifty stars.
When I was in high school we used to take a gallon jug to a bar on the west side and buy what we called "common black beer." You couldn't see light through it, and it had a yellow head. It tasted like licorice, and got us severely pixelated. The beer came directly from the barrel.
We had a tradition of German beers, Fehr's, Oertel's, and Falls City Beer. Falls City has returned using the 1930's pale ale recipe. I will have to try it.
I used to like Fehr's.
http://www.ebeercans.com/images/large/CT-16206.jpg
yeah its so cool to like stuff before its cool then shun it when people agree with you. you're so hipster! yuppie neo-punk trash
World of Beers is a beautiful place where one can go and sample beers from all over the world including local "craft" beers.
I love it!
I drink lots of different beers and like most of them, from Bud or PBR to stouts and doppelbocks. I often will drink cheap domestic beer for a month before switching back to a heavier beer, it kind of resets the taste buds and lets me enjoy the full flavor of the fancy beer again. When beers like Newcastle and Shiner start tasting like Bud to me, I know it's time to switch to a pale lager for a while.
The only beers I dislike are fruity beers. Thats fine if people want them, but I prefer beer that tastes like beer, whether Bud, Guiness, or Spaten.
Bud doesn't taste like beer.
just like RC doesn't taste like Cocacola right? probably shouldn't even call RC a cola...right? am i doing it right?
I live in Belgium,
Year ago (80's) I lived in the US and had real difficulty finding the beers I was used to (and I like a large variety of styles) .. even tried home brewing! (clear exception was Anchor Steam, and a few others) Clearly now things have changed for the best, and there is a large variety (with the inevitable "novelty" issues .. but that is part of the game)...
At the time (1980's) one of the key argument for beer quality in the US was "clean" taste (notably Coors, I think) ...
Indeed one of the frustration I had with US beers was the relatively lower taste intensity - this was reinforced with extremely low serving temperature (try it with wine ... much of the taste is lost .. great if you want to hide defects ..) ....the frustration is that
you get the alcohol content (high) , without the expected taste satisfaction.
Here in Belgium InBev played the game of pushing for higher alcohol content of lagers (it is market leader in that category,
and competitors had to follow .. from typical 4.5 to 5.2 %/vol ... with the macho selling point "Men know why" )
If interested, you might look for the "Original Budweiser" brewed in Czech republic (Budvar, maybe now imported to US .as Czechvar) .. and you will find a lot of "body" and "taste" in an old-style lager (amusingly, the Chinese seem to have developped their Tsing Tao from there ..so if you cannot find the former, the latter can give some idea of the taste )
We can drink beer for a lot of purposes ... thirst quencher for instance ...but then, why the high alcohol, hidden by the cold,
and US style fills that purpose ...
Still, as thirst quencher, "white" beers can bring a lot of aroma (unfortunately too often an excess of agrume flavour .. should not be lemonade!) ....
Taste is not necessarily linked to alcohol (eg Orval is "relatively low" with 6.2 and compares with heavier trappist >10%) ..
It certainly give would give you more of a fulfilment .. (okay, on a bad day you might want a 2nd, but that's it ..) In Belgium it is not a "snob" beer : at 1.2€ /33cl it is not 2 times the Inbev lagers, and in the same ranges as their industrial "abbey" beers
One way to reduce the "taste" would be to brew to a higher alcohol content, and dilute to the desired output
In any case, the result is usually increased volume intake ... and cheap profit
"The beers I seek out have flavors ranging from grapefruits – a common descriptor for many IPAs..."
Wow, if your IPAs are tasting like grapefruit instead of hops, then it's due to one of several things, all bad:
The beer has sat around too long and is past its prime. IOW, it's gone bad.
The keg lines need to be cleaned.
It's infected (brewers know what this means).
An inferior brand of yeast was used which gave off this unpleasant ester during fermentation.
IPAs should NEVER taste like grapefruit!
Have you ever taken a whiff of raw citra hops? They nearly smell more like grapefruit than grapefruit itself.
POINT ZERO ZERO will make driving in California much safer for all responsible citizens... ZERO-TOLERANCE for driving on alcohol is the new way. BEER is for Fools.
Shut up....
Wrong article.
Go away...
Maria – you better have really big boobs to be talking like that? Breast Milk is the only liquid that should replace beer.
brewing is a tradition. respect it.
Whatever man. The more citrus aroma and flavor the better for me. It's what I look for in a good IPA.
Certain hops will impart a more bitter citrus flavor like grapefruit. Centennial, chinook, amarillo, simcoe, cascades to name a few. Learn a few things before tossing insults around.
Seriously??!! Thats the most ridiculous statment about IPA's I've ever heard. Ever had a fresh hopped Centennial IPA? Tons of grapefruit character there (and its delicious). Before you go yammering about style sounding like a complete tool thus bringing all of craft beer down a notch maybe check a style guideline for off flavors. In zero publications will you find "grapefruit" to be a flaw in IPAs.
Stupid beer people make me giggle. Thanks for making me giggle Yakobi.
I've really started preferring micro brews. But my biggest problem with so many of them is that drinking them tastes like you're eating an entire hops plant. But many are pretty good. There are plenty of times though that I want something "easier" to drink like a cold Bud.
This just in: beer that has taste is better to drink. Tune in later for more shocking news!
Shiner Bock rules!
shiner bock has been tasting watery to me lately
I love Shiner, but really love Ziegen Bock.
The entire craft brew movement is a funny fad to me. I will drink any beer, I like macro and micro brews. Budweiser is not as bad as most people make it out to be in my opinion, and most of my friends that slam it have not really ever had it. It is just trendy to do now to try to act like something like beer is high brow. Budweiser is 5% alcohol, and I am pretty sure that it does not have water added to it. I have done enough field research to know that. Budweiser tastes very similar to many European beers (in fact many, many, many European beers are owned by AB InBev) that are about 3-4 dollars more per six pack, so be a snob and waste your money.
I can't wait until the "craft" beer fad fades again like the "micro" one did a decade ago. I still like good beers from smaller breweries, but I am not going to make a huge deal about it and act like a wine snob over something as blue collar as beer.
To be fair, "micro" never died. It just became "craft" as many breweries entered the middle ground between micro and macro (Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, etc.). Think of "craft" as an all-encompassing non-macro designation. Ironically, the "fad" was actually the big beer revolution after Prohibition. Only the largest companies survived and made bland beers under strict regulations. What you are currently seeing in the US is the localization and normalization of beer akin to the rest of the world.
I just got an email about 30min. ago from my local Dogfish Head restaurant (Fairfax) they just got the kegs of Aprihop in and are now tapping....I know where I am heading.
Yes, pretentious foodies take everything to ridiculous extremes, well past the point of diminishing returns. That's what happens when you start thinking that consuming food amounts to some sort of accomplishment. Still, it doesn't take a snob to realize by broadening your horizons a little you can find beers that really are worlds better than Coors Light and Bud Ice or whatever.
A Funny fad?
Sorry pretty much all beer started as a Micro, then sold more and more and became bigger and bigger, like Bud and then once they got so big and powerful and made crapier and crapier beer they bought out anyone who was making good beer that was a threat to their shelf space
No Fad has been around since the 1st beer was ever made
Preferring to eat a nice steak over a McDouble isn't being snobby. It is having some modicum of taste. No one that I know prefers McDonald's to a good meal. Good steaks aren't a fad any more than the craft beer movement is a fad.
Tim STFU you little budweiser drinking ninny... You don't know beer or what you're talking about so go back to your moms basement, drink your white wine spritzer and continue to love the C0cl< sailor boy
Microbrews contain lots of adjuncts. Belgian Trippels for example contain simple beet syrup. It's hard to get the O.G. high enough without adjuncts. I usually add sugar in the raw to my batches, which gets the final alcohol volume to 5-8%. When making light beers, the standard of choice is rice or corn; but these adjuncts should not be frowned upon by beer snobs.
American beer is like making love in a canoe.....f*cking close to water.
My thoughts exactly – who would notice? As a teen, drinking whatever was around, it was OK. We weren't drinking for taste. But as an adult, I like a little quality and taste. I wish I experimented more, but lately I've been drinking Yueg Black and Tan. I also use it in my bread, substituting 1/4c beer, 1/8c vinegar for some of the water – for a faux sourdough bread.
I am in my mid-40s and drink beer that I like. I have tried a wide range of macro and micro brews and I honestly prefer the taste of macro beers (i.e. Bud, Miller, and Coors products). I do not drink them to get hammered or because of pretty women selling in the advertising as some infer here. My brother-in-law gets on me about drinking macro brews. Drinking Bud, or Miller, or Coors, etc. does not mean I don't like beer. For those who like micros, hats off to you. For those who like macros, hats off to you too.
Spoken like a true rookie.....
We say very much the same thing over at BrewChief: any opinion on any beer is valid, so long as that opinion has substance. Fact of the matter is that industrial beers have no flavor, and that's okay. No big revelation, no need to be ashamed of it, no need to fight about it. But, the breaking point is when big beer companies and ill-informed consumers try to sell it as something it's not. See our review of Budweiser:
http://www.brewchief.com/review.cfm?id=176
Wow. More alcoholics here than in most any AA meeting.
So let's see you came in to just make that statement
So you must be an alcoholic since you know about AA
Sorry there are many responsible beer lovers who are not alcoholics
the folks on this thread are not alcoholics, we're drunks; alcoholics go to meetings...
I'm guessing you like food, so I'm just going to assume you're obese.
listen people lets not get all worked up.
until someone writes an article "BUDWEISER – THE ONLY BEER THAT SHOULD EXIST"
there's nothing to see here move along.
although i will agree there's no point in bringing in his personal offense to how women are used in marketing in this article. that has literally NOTHING to do with anything this article is about. It almost feels like he threw that line in there to try to pick up chicks. "budweiser it tastes like nothing, AND im sensitive." hahahaha
Craft brewery water downs their opinion Budweiser controversy
Awesome commercial!
So, this is what the guy who sits in bars alone is thinking.
My favorites are Sapporo and Kirin. Something about the Asian beers attracts me. I also think Beck's Sapphire is good stuff. I enjoy mico-brews (especially pumpkin varieties) occasionaly and am not so snobby as to look down upon the big name guys' stuff either.
The new political campaign called: "POINT ZERO ZERO" will make it illegal to drive in California while having any alcohol in your system. This campaign is modeled after the zero-tolerance for all drugs like alcohol campaign that Senator Correa from Santa Ana, District 34 has proposed. Eradicate all Anheuser-Busch Products and help save lives on US Highways.
Craft brewery water downs their opinion Budweiser controversy
You are correct. I worked for a company for 17 years that sold equipment to most of the breweries in the world, one of the reasons that they did is because they were one of the only companies that made made the bottle washers that were big enough to handle the bottle speed that breweries run. Bud had almost 100 locations that made beer and they always advertized that the beer is best because in is made locale and is not shipped far and takes time to make it the best.
Then they close almost every location except 13 unbelieveable BIG breweries and then ship it all over the country and start with the born on dating crap and make it in a day and then ship it 2 days later, how on earth can you make beer in 1-2 days the answer is you can't. Anyhow that is the story with the crap they call beer
And there i was thinking that beer was only good for inducing vomiting.
Nattie-Light or it ain't right!!
It's amazing how much things have changed in the past 20-25 years. 20-25 years ago, there weren't very many microbreweries around, and it was much harder to get really good beer in most parts of the US. Now, that's the standard–in fact, some beer aficionados are looking towards "nanobreweries", which are usually run by an individual or very small group of people out of a small office that's converted into a tasting room or a small store front and sell essentially home-brewed beer locally. If you can find the nanobreweries, you can get some pretty creative beer that way. Beer is kind of like wine in a way, where the connoisseurs can be intrigued by the sometimes subtle differences between the brews, but fortunately at a much cheaper cost!
Thank you Professor Dick...Head......
You want craft beer, craft Bourbon, craft Vodka, craft Gin, craft Japanese spirits
Try Seattle
5 craft breweries all within walking distance of each other in the Ballard area and they say 5 or 6 more coming in the next year or so. A lot of very small batch distilleries have popped up since Washington State just went from a government Run Monopoly liquor state to private liquor sales.
There are 135 licensed craft breweries in Washington State right now that puts us at number 8 in the U.S. and more coming. Cities and towns in the area have caught on to the growing popularity of craft brews and distillers, lots of great brew pups opening up in old renovated buildings,whole old industrial districts that have been revamped and now the people are coming in droves and it does nothing but help the local economy. The old Georgetown district of Seattle a few years ago was nothing but old run down buildings and the great old original brick buildings of the original Rainier Brewery, now in a 3 block area you have martini bars, great beer houses, great sushi and a craft brewery in part of the old rainier brewery and not to far down the road the 2nd Rainier brewery has been turned into apartments. A great way to revitalize old run down area's that no-one went to and now many people come to and has created many jobs
Keep it up Seattle
Budweiser: "Beer" for people who don't like beer.
Yep...I agree. Much like iceberg lettuce is a vegetable for people who don't like vegetables!
I want to support breweries that don’t resort to misogynistic depictions of women in their advertising or merchandise<< Oh for F's sake. You lost me here.
apparently you've never watched a commercial break during the superbowl...
I also found it interesting that they claim to detect a 1% difference in abv... and then refused to provide any test data to show proof of their claims.
While I don't generally like AB beers (I did like the American Ale they sold for a little while) my main beef with them is that they seem to bully the distributers around so that 90% of all beer at a convience store is non-craft beer. Or if it is craft, they mark it up significantly over what you'd find in the grocery or beer store. As a consequence I buy all of my beer at a large warehouse style store that has thousands of diffferent beers but is a 20 min drive away. Great selections but I really wish I could find them (at the same prices) closer to home. Also, if I go to small bar or to a chain restaurant they aren't going to have any microbrews to speak of... but they all claim to have "variety" by keeping Bud, Bud light, Coors light, Miller light, Mller 64, Shock Top and Yuengling on tap.
On another note, just managed to get my first growler filled with our new local brewery's beer. Conquest Brewery in Columbia SC. I picked up the medusa stout and have been pretty impressed so far with the flavor.
Bunch of beer snobs... Its beer not whisky folks. Most american craft beer is this hops with a side of hops and a note of hops. Its not creative and its overpriced. I've drank my fair share and I enjoy quite a few craft brews but drinking craft beer and ripping on macro beer makes you nothing more than a snob.
Wouldn't you be a whiskey snob then? That is the worst over simplification of american craft beer I've ever seen. There are more than 80 style which only a handful of them are hop focused. Expand your horizon then make a logical remark. There are snobs out there but you're no better for talking down on someone's life's work because you have a narrow minded view of a whole industry.
Well a mash is basically a beer. So you can distill it them you can become a whiskey snob.
Well a mash is basically a beer.So you can distill it then you can become a whiskey snob.
I agree Eric. I'm sick and tired of the current wall-to-wall grocery aisle of American "sucker-punch" micro beers on the market. Every week there's a new entry with an even higher amount of hops or alcohol content that is then glorified by the American beer geeks as the best on earth. Barf! The reason they are doing it is because it's easy to make.
Not one of these heralded American micro breweries is capable of producing a quality lager or pilsner comparable to anything you can find in Belgium or Germany. They simply can't do it. If it were easy, then they'd be doing it.
I couldn't disagree with you more. There are several US craft breweries making lagers that are just as good, if not better, than their European counterparts. Victory Prima Pils, Troegs Sunshine Pils, Sierra Nevada Summerfest, Bells Lager, Devils Backbone Vienna Lager just to name a few. Furthermore, brewing a lager is not any more complicated than any other style, it's a different yeast and cold conditioned for clarity. That said, drink the beer you like. If it's Bud, then drink Bud, if it's a local craft, drink that.
Rossi,
You are wrong. There are plenty of American made Pilsner and Lagers that are equal to or better than the best German or Belgium Pilsners and Lagers. There are only a few top European styles that I have unable to find American made versions that rank with the best in the world. Particularly, Hefeweisen beers. I can't find any American made hefeweisen that is as good as Weihenstephaner.
You obviously are not a beer drinker.
I never thought there would come a day when American beer drinking men become more boring, self-important, obnoxious, and annoying than wine snobs.
You have no idea what you're talking about.
Four Peaks Brewery in Arizona has the best oatmeal stout on the planet. I don't like the watery beers either but I have a fond memory of Budweiser. My grandmother loved the stuff and at family parties, I can still picture her bent over searching in the fridge and hollering, 'Got any more Bud?'
I agree that this smacks of snobbery (is that a word?). What many people don't want to admit is that mass market beer, is beer. And the author is absolutely wrong in saying it does not have a taste. Budweiser tastes like Budweiser. Now you can say that it has a different taste, one that you don't like. But don't knock it. I love craft brew. Drink it as often as I can. But I will say I think that industry is messing up too. It seems like they are all in a hop arms race to see who can make an IPA that absolutely nobody can drink because it's so hoppy. So best advise is to let the macro brewers do their thing, and the micro brewers theirs. And just let us enjoy it all.
There's no such thing as a beer that's too hoppy! Malt is the disgusting element for me.
agreed on the hops arms race. i feel like a lot of these beer connoisseurs don't know where to start so in the beginning they just decide they love the taste of hops and equate it with better beer
Pretty sure he said it tastes like rice and water... which I tend to agree.
And that's not a bad thing. Sake is rice and water and nigori (cloudy) sake is one of my favorite alcoholic drinks.
Rob, I'm not sure you read the article.
Craft brewery water downs their opinion Budweiser controversy
My opinion on your statement is that you just proved his point by saying Budweiser tastes like Budweiser. Interesting you might as well have said it tastes like chicken. The fall back when you can't describe something as tasting like something else.
Oregon...'nuff said.
You have idea what I would pay for a good supply of Mirror Pond.
No idea I meant.
Good lord I love living in portland. I could never get boored with the breweries here.
This guy is good! He can taste water which by definition is colorless and tasteless.
Water is NOT tasteless. Different waters have different tastes because of the additions of other ingredients besides pure H20. In fact, if you drank straight H20, not only would it "not taste like anything," it would taste very very strange (it also does not exist in nature). We have associated water with neutrality of taste but it certainly has a taste – try tasting tap water vs. acquafina vs. poland springs vs. fiji water and you'll see.
http://www.veoliawater.com/media/multimedia/1736.htm
(Highlight: "Odorless or tasteless water does not exist").
That being said, it's ridiculous for this guy to say Budweiser doesn't have a taste. I'm not a big fan (I drink mostly IPAs) but I don't hate it and anyone who says they can't tell the difference between a Bud and water is disingenuous.
this guy said he tasted rice and water. read closely. all the words.
Real beer does not contain rice, period.
Well yes if you live in Germany then it technically isn't beer. Everywhere else in the world it is beer. Get over yourself and go have a craft beer and be a snob. I will enjoy my macro, micro, and crafts all to fit the occasion.
When I was based in Germany, it was called bier.
One of their customs was that parents would give their
children beer mixed with a little water at dinner time.
Eric iI really have to question your value set. These people you love to disparage by calling snobs are pointing out that your cheap beer lacks the value of even its low price. And they may have a point if the beer is being watered down and you can't tell the difference. And I have to wonder about your values or who you may work for, if you feel them argueing that you as a consumer of a product don't deserve to be defrauded of the value you falsely assume you are getting from a manufacturer. They believe that you should get what you agreed to pay for and that it should be obvious when someone is cheating you and that they should not get away with cheating you out of your money by giving you less, just to squeeze a few more pennys of profit out. Sure you may say I'm fine with getting less, but you are also giving away other consumers rights with yours, which is not fair or right.
Many beers that have significant amounts of rye or oats in their grain profile use rice hulls to keep from having a stuck mash.
You all really should visit "BEER CITY USA" (Grand Rapids, Michigan) if you want a plethora of wonderful beers to delight your taste buds.
Visit bend OR , more breweries per capita than anywhere in the US. There is a brewery for every 8,875 people.
who takes the brewery per capita crown. Did I mention we also have Hill Farmstead?
I was in Bend last summer. What a great place! What great beers! Loved it, stayed a couple extra days.
I live up in Portland- even if the per capita is less we still have a terrific variety of brewpubs. I love it!
San Diego is the brewing capital of the US. Stone, Alesmith, Port Brewing, Lost Abbey, Ballast Point, Green Flash, and Alpine to name but a few. Of course, it's a tenuous title at best, as many places (e.g. Portland, Boston) have excellent beers. It's a great time to be a beer drinker.
I like all beer, wine, scotch, vodka, burbon, etc...There is a time for everything!
Beer is a strange thing. I have friends that will drink a $70 bottle of wine and appreciate it over a cheap wine that bites back. But then those same guys drink Bud Light religiously when they feel like drinking beer. So I bring my own stash over when there's a party or whatever. These guys look at me like I'm nuts and tell me they don't know how I drink that junk. Fine with me because I know that no one is going to touch my Rogue Dead Guy or some other awesome craft beer. I think the Macro brews are like McDonalds, where people are just used to that taste(or lack of), even though it's not a high quality product. But it's everywhere and it's convenient and cheap. A Micro Brew is like a burger at a local pub or restaurant prepared by an actual chef, where care went into creating it and fresh, quality ingredients are used. Both are technically burgers. But clearly there differences. I'm sure there are plenty of people that eat fast food, and if you put a quality burger in front of them with actual seasonings and quality ingredients, they would think it's junk too.
There is a time and place for craft and macro beer. Frankly for the price I prefer crap macro beer so I can afford scotch which I enjoy ten fold over a crap beer that is just over flavored with either hops or malt. Also there are better crafts than Rogue Dead Guy even from Rogue there are better crafts.
JO...have you tried Double Dead Guy??? probably in my top 5 period...
Beer is general is all subjective in taste... I drink craft beer not only because I like it but I'm supporting someone who is putting in the work to create a good product. These people are hard at work perfecting their craft. Beer to a macro brewer is a science... To a craft brewer it's an art form. Drink what you will. It's a free country..
As a homebrewer I love and seek out crafty beers. There is a time and place for every style and I never turn down a PBR when offered. There's a reason why PBR wins gold medals every year at the World Beer Cup. I dont chose my beer based upon %alcohol. What other beer can you pair with the delicate flavor of steamed shrimp and still be able to taste the shrimp after a drink? As far as the lawsuit goes- frivilous as most are in this country, but it is good to see someone going after the big boys who file similar suits against craft breweries because they are grabbing more market shares!
Can't believe someone else pairs PBR and shrimp! The only thing better would be a Dixie (which is only sold in and around New Orleans).
How about Abita or Shinner
billyo, Have you try Shiner's Family Pack? My favorite is Kosmos when I can find it.
Running a close second is their Black Lager.
Drink on-tap beer from a local brewery only.
For many years I was a Miller Lite fan and drank Beck's when I wanted something a little different. At some point, the taste of both beers seemed to change, weaken, become, well, a bit watered down. As far as alcohol content, I didn't know what it was or was supposed to be and honestly didn't care. Then I discovered the 'angry beers' of Stone Brewery: Arrogant Bastard and Ruination, from there I found what I enjoyed even more was the 'hoppy' taste and aroma provided by beers like Ska's Modus Hoperandi and Uinta's Hop Notch. This isn't a snob appeal thing, it's about taste. And I like to try new things.
A note about advertising: there are many women who love good beer. The big companies seem to have chosen to ignore that, aiming instead at men with skin and sex and lame humor. In my opinion, it's insulting.
On a happier note, happy weekend everyone! Cheers!
Ah, beer snobbery at its best. I like a beer that has little hop flavor and more malt flavor, but the fact I can articulate that shouldn't invalidate people that enjoy macro-brews. Its been my experience that Americans have burned out their taste buds with an excessive amount of hop flavor, mistaking that for beer flavor. I had a 6pk of Schlitz tallboys this fall. Delicous. I also had 5 gallons of home brewed porter and many servings of commercial imports. Stop all the beer snobbery and enjoy it. Its supposed to taste like beer and not be disected like some damn French wine.
Well that is just preposterous. I've never seen an ad on tv that says I should enjoy a nice american porter the way Pitbull enjoys a bud light! Doesn't that means craft beer isn't good? (sarcasm intended on whole rant)
In the ’80-90s I remember that British “pub ale” was considered the one to drink…at least in my circles. Guinness wasn’t as well known then, you take a trip to the UK…and you headed to the pub first thing.
Today’s American ales are super hoppy and darker…the IPAs are like drinking liquid pine tree. I find it interesting that the milder pub-ale concept has been overwritten by the stronger new Craft beers.
I pretty much exclusively buy local Colorado brews. There's plenty of choices, and many aren't that much more expensive than the mass marketed pilsners (especially when taken to mean price per alcohol and/or the fact that I tend to drink richer beers more slowly). However, taste is an opinion. If you like fried chicken, and I prefer duck confit, who cares? There's reasons there's a KFC in every town but you'll have to look for the duck. Let's both enjoy ourselves
Rather than the "King of Beers," I call Budweiser the "Margarine of Beers." This is because, as the article states, these macro "breweries" use things like rice and corn syrup. They don't brew beer, they concoct a faux-lager product. If you like that, more power to ya. But much of the conflict and confusion in the perpetual discussion over macro vs micro brewers is due to the false equivalency between beer, and American pasteurized processed beer-food product. It's like the difference between cheddar cheese and "American" slices. One is cheese – one is a bland look-alike.
Depends, if I am having a beer after work ill usually go with a delicious micro-brew. If I'm having 10 on a Friday night then Bud, Coors or Miller seems to be the better option.
At least you know you can drive home sober!
I love beer but not budweiser. When I can afford it, North coast old rasputin russian imperial stout. Awfully good. The rest of the time when it's all about quantity, Miller 64. Good for the waistline.
Budweiser – the beer for people who don't actually like beer....
Drink (and eat and shop) local!!
Help some owner's kid get to Baseball Practice rather than help buy some suit's third vacation house.
Craft beers cost too much for starters. Members of my family used to brew Schmidts of Philadelphia, the only beer in the US that did have a unique flavor. Too bad it's gone. My choice of beer was a Miami based brew called Fishers. It sold for .99 cents a six pack and I really don't remember what it tasted like, just the cost. I might even pay $2.00 a sixpack today.
Within the last couple of years my state of residence Alabama, has repealed a couple of leftover Prohibition laws, one of which limited the ABV of beer to something like 6.5%. Many if not most craft beers are over that. In a flurry of sudden freedom and the spirit of experimentation we were trying a new one every week before I came to a startling realization.
I don't like most craft beer.
Most of them are ales, and they're hoppy as all get out. I just don't like the taste of hops, and at this point I doubt I'm going to develop a taste for hops.
Unique? Schmidt's was nothing better than PBR or Stroh's. When your choice of beer is based on absolute cheapness and you only want to pay $1 or two for a 6-pack, you shouldn't even be allowed to have an opinion on beer. .99 cents? When was that, 1940?
You get what you pay for. If you want to get drunk on the cheep, go with the manufacturers who don't want you to know what their product actually tastes like. If you want to buy something made by people who care about their product, spend the extra dollar on a craft beer.
I think the author is missing one key component here, and that is BODY. To me it's body that separates some cheap lagers from water. Mich Ultra and most of the light varieties (Miller being an exception) have zero body. Budweiser has some body to it. It has a modicum of mouthfeel, and it fills you up. Now, I like my craft beers jut as much as the next beer snob, but there are plenty of more sophisticated brews that I'd turn down for a cheap lager. Some craft beers are just POORLY BALANCED (certain extra pale and ridiculously hoppy IPAs being the worst offenders) simply beating you over the head with certain flavors that I'd prefer to stay on my spice rack.
Ah, nothing like some good old fashioned beer snobbery with a dash of sanctimony for good measure.
Go drink your watered down crap then....leave the good stuff for the rest of us.
Good reply. I've got nothing against the beer, it's the sneering snobbery of it all... your finely tuned palates are so superior to the unwashed masses, who hook, line and sinker swallow the banality of the big brewers marketing. Thanks for making my point.
Leave it to advertising and mass marketing to explain the perplexing ongoing popularity of watery, tasteless mass-produced beers that continue to dominate the market. It certainly isn't their taste.
FIrestone Walker and Red Tail Hawk are the only beers anyone should drink...or Pilsners from Germany.
Pilsners are from The Czech Republic, the city of Pilsen to be exact.
I have an ongoing debate with my son-in-law who drinks American mass produced beer. I prefer strong dark stouts or porters. To me, Guinness is watery tasting. He says I drink beer that tastes bad. I say he drinks beer with no taste. Your article pretty much sums that up!
Choices are good. Good on ya, you guys that like miller and that. I Bells (brewed right here in Michigan), they make great ales, Unibroue is another fantastic brewery, but the Belgian monks have achieved the pinnacle of the art; Rochefort 10 is a fairly accesible trippel that is , well, pretty excellent, actually.
Meanwhile, beer drinkers in Utah wonder what the fuss is all about.
Beer drinkers in Utah? This is newsworthy.
The fact of the matter is that Inbev & Miller own 70% of all beer sales in the U.S.
Anytime a local small brewery is making good beer and making good sales they go in and try and buy them out to stop the competition and increase their market share. I used to love Red Hook out of Seattle, they were one of the 1st bought out, now I won't touch it, also many times you do not know they got bought out because nothing changes on the labels. Support your local small brewery's who are actually making good beer, not mass produced swill with lower grade ingredients and ingredients they do not even list on their labels, have not any of you people noticed you can now buy good craft beer at the same price or cheaper than the crap Bud, Miller, Coors puts out. a 6 pack of Bud or Miller here in Seattle is $6.99-$7.99. I can buy good crafts for the same or less. For you people who love the Good Ole American Classic Bud sorry it's not anymore it is owned by the largest brewery in the world in Belgium, so support them or support your local economy, ever since they got bought their beer has gone even more down hill and their prices keep rising, they are sitting over there in Belgium laughing at all these so called Americans who know their beer as they cut corners and raise prices and you just keep swilling it down. If you also notice it is prettyr obvious the market these beer companies are aiming at young dumb guys who have no clue what beer is, as they wolf down their Miller as they scream at their buddy to finish that last hot Wing as all the amazing pretty models girls are sitting in the back ground or the young black dudes who are in their after work suits taking their shoes off and racing down a street in their stocking feet to see who buys a round as pretty girls and waitress croon over them because they are drinking crap Bud light, but I guess there is no end to young dumb guys who think thats the way it is because they keep drinking crap and the mass produced beers keep grabbing more market share
Absolutely = great comments. Drink on-tap beer at local breweries.....and tip.
How hard is it to pour a beer or open a bottle? Tip for a mixed drink.
People that drink craft beer enjoy beer. People who drink Budweiser and Coors drink it to get drunk.
people who enjoy craft beer should be drinking wine – that's what's happening to men in the world today. women drank wine – men drank beer. Craft beer is bringing the sexes to a closer playing field. in the next 50 years, you won't be able to tell a man from a woman.
Right on! LOL.
Maybe the whole macro/micro dispute is whether you drink a 6 pack a night or a 6 pack a week. I mostly drink my Miller beers, thank you very much, but also enjoy an occasional Shiner. Keep the fruit, chocolate, and gingerbread in the kitchen and out of my beer fridge please.
BUD IS FOR WOMEN SON
Moving "upscale" from Miller to Shiner is like moving from Night train to Boone's Farm. But if it makes you happy, that is all that really matters.
Try it, you may like Shiner. Find the Family Pack, a choice of 6 different beers and decide which you like best. Hint: save the Black Lager and Kosmo for last.
So you drink only good, fancy beers? Your genitals much be gigantic.
DUH BUD IS WATERED DOWN, IF YOU WANT REAL BEER ITS MILLER
As someone who regularly drinks microbrews over the mass-produced stuff, sure, I can tell the difference between the two. But I am no ashamed to say that if I was to blindly taste test different microbrews, ranging from stouts to IPA's to lagers, I would probably have a real tough time distinguishing them.
To me, beer is a very visually aesthetic thing. I actually read a report a couple weeks ago showing that people couldn't distinguish between red and white wine when consumed in a blind taste test. It was just one study, but something to consider next time you're picking a beer or wine.
California is preparing for a "ZERO-TOLERANCE FOR ALCOHOL WHILE DIVING" law called the "POINT ZERO ZERO" campaign. Citizens in Santa Ana, California were inspired to collect signatures by the Zero-Tolerance on drugs like alcohol legislation filed by Senator Correa of the 34th District. STOP ANHEUSER-BUSCH and help save 50,000 lives on US Highways each year.
STFU woman!
To be honest, prior to having spent a few months working in Germany, I'd never really had any use for beer. It always came off as sour, mildly-alcoholic water. Then again, my exposure to beer, in my 20s, was primarily the swill that you got a fraternity- and house-parties (where the party-givers were trying to get as much beer for the buck rather than the best beer).
What my time working in Germany showed me is that I just don't like *cheap*, watery beers. I prefer a good dark-beer. I'm still not a fan of pilzeners of any type, and I'm iffy on a lot of ales, but I can at least drink the more flavorful varieties of each.
let me guess – in Germany you sat on your arse all day and pushed a pencil around.
What is the matter with you, Mike...you sound like someone who has never left your room.
I actually left my room last night – right now I'm at your mom's house. She's making me breakfast.
Mike,
I know Slo Mo...you are pretty sad to make that statement. Slo Mo's mom passed away over 10 years ago. This is about beer, not Germany or your issues.
uh oh – looks like someone needs a WAAAAAmbulance.
Did you ever mix your beer with coke? I occasionally have it when I go to Italy every couple of years. I guess it's pretty common in Europe.
It is always comical to watch Americans try to talk about "good beer"...American beer has two classifications: "great ? taste, and less filling"...You should try to take a lesson from we more sophisticated Europeans.
"You should try to take a lesson from we".
This is called feaux-sophistication. You tried to dress your sentence up to make it look like you weren't an uncultured buffoon, and you proved exactly the opposite.
And you, Jeann, have no idea what you are talking about. In fact, save for some Belgian styles (note styles – not country...anyone can make any style beer regardless of nationality), America has a serious leg up on Europe. In fact, what breweries like Rogue, Dog Fish Head, and Stone (to mention only the better known) leave most European beers tasting like Budweiser.
That is laughable. Craft breweries from Cali, to Oregon, to New York, to Florida would utterly destroy European beers. In fact, our craft beers are highly desired all over the world. We are not talking BMC here. We are talking real tasty high gravity quality brews.
most europeans love our microbrews, the beers in europe are different then ours mostly, i'm only talking from being from Portland Oregon where our beer is top and i've seen our beers in Europe and they love it. I do like European beers but we have some of the best in the world in the Northwest and in Colorado and the Sierra Nevada brews. where else can you find over 20 different IPA's in one place, not Europe....
European breweries are now importing American hops and trying to emulate our beer styles. Anyone who still claims that European beers are vastly superior to American beers hasn't been paying attention for at least 15 years. The US is HANDS DOWN the best country in the world for beer right now.
As a lover of all beers, IPAs and cheap pilsners alike, I am getting sick of the beer snobs out there continuously bashing macro breweries. Macros like Anheiser Busch and MillerCoors are loosing market shares to micro brews, it's true. But they still hold the vast majority of market share. Beer snobs like to think this is because of consumer ignorance or frugality, but maybe it is just because a lot of people out there enjoy the taste of lighter beer. Get off your high horses and try to understand that just because you are enjoying chewing and swallowing your ten dollar Russian imperial stout, it doesn't make the guy next to you a hick just because he is enjoying his Bud Light.
"The beers I seek out have flavors ranging from grapefruits – a common descriptor for many IPAs – to coffee and chocolate, found in various imperial stouts. There are Christmas-style beers that taste of gingerbread and subtle English mild ales that have flavors of toffee and caramel. These are flavors that are familiar to most and can be identified easily when drinking the beer. I cannot say the same about the beers listed in the lawsuit."
on board with you BeerMe – look at the quote above. A yuppie pansy arse pretty boy statement.
Yeah it does.
Sometimes you just need a Bud pounder. ;-) But dear God not Bud Light! It feels like sandpaper going down....
they dont enjoy the taste more, they buy it because its cheap and are the only beers served at their bars
Sorry...but it does...
Yes, some people really do like them. My brother asked a German national visiting here (California) which beer he liked better, American or German. To my brother's surprise he said "American, because I can drink them all day long!" To each their own.
Honestly, I think the "King of Beers" is one of the worst tasting beers...too light. That being said, a lot of people like it and I'm sure they would be able to tell if the next beer tasted different, or had less of an affect, than the last beer. I'm sure beer drinkers can tell if they're all-of-a-sudden drinking Coors Cutter or Buckler!
Bottom line: This lawsuit is designed to line the pockets of greedy lawyers and has little, or nothing to do with how much alcohol is posted on the label.
Craft beer has opened the doors for beer drinking pu$$ies all around the United States. We used to be a country full of hard working men, and at the end of the day we wanted something that went down easy, and was refreshing. Thus – the beer in America did wind up a little more watered down. Beer drinking used to be a working man's passion. Now, with the advent of craft brews on every corner – it's become a yuppie pastime. These dodo's used to sit around drinking wine and apple martinis – but now they can pretend to be manly men and drink beer......with a hint of apricot and a touch of earthiness (treating beer like wine, pathetic). Back when the Pyramids of Egypt were being built – the workers were given beer at the end of the day that had an even lower alcohol content that the lightest beers of today. They were thirsty – they didn't want to chug down a pint of soggy Oatmeal. Go chop wood for three hours and tell me that your Coors, Bud or Miller didn't taste great and go down nice. When you want to sit around and discuss the hints of this and notes of that – get a glass of wine and hang out with the ladies. I'm changing the title of this article to "I hate Budweiser because I'm a pansy"
Great article. I slowly started getting into craftier beers towards the later years in college and mainly drink nothing but that style of beer now. When drinking a craft beer you can taste the multiple flavors that were used in the brewing process. When drinking seasonal run beers, the flavors are reminiscent of their season. Not only are craft beers more flavorful, they usually have a higher alcohol content and have more body. So instead of slamming beers as if I was in my fraternity all over again; I can sit, take my time and enjoy the beer. I believe drinking a quality beer also introduces responsible drinking, not just because you are paying a higher price, but because there is simply more body to the beer; you are getting full quicker.
I am enjoying the beer culture that is growing in this country. We formed a craft beer exchange group at my office. There is a growing movement of consumers sticking with locally made consumable goods and the beer culture is picking up on this as well.
One thing that needs to be noted is that craft beers are an acquired taste. Not every beer drinker out there are going to like craft beers, or even grow to like it. It took me a while to enjoy IPA's and now they are among my favorite type of beer.
We're lucky. When disinterested in fussing over merits of microbrews, here in PA we live in Yuengling country, on tap in every bar posh to dive.
I don't think Yuengling is that great, sorry man. I went to college in upstate NY and some native Pennsylvanians were ranting and raving about how they were going to truck a keg of Yuengling up to one of our college parties (it was not available in the area at the time). From the way they were talking I was expecting a powerful concoction of a beer that tasted like honey that flowed from the nipples of Christ. When I finally tried it, it was OK, but definitely not great. In broad macro brew terms, it was much better than Busch, but clearly not as good as most brews from Sam Adams.
Bud and it's ilk shine on a hot July afternoon just after you finished mowing the lawn. I'll give that much to them.
you were probably waiting for the beat-down from the sun's heat.
When you buy this stuff you expect a water taste.... My wife has been know to put, dare I say, an ice cube in her beer. I will stick to the thicker stuff personally but I think there is a time and place for this water. If they didn't break any laws, I don't see an issue with what they have done. If you don't like it vote with your dollar and buy something else.
I drink beer for ( 3 ) reasons : ( 1 ) taste ( 2 ) aftertaste ( 3 ) Thirst ~ Quenching ability.....Let's start with # 1......I love many beers, and being 62, have tried a zillion of them. I know what to expect for the taste, being that most all brands are consistent, so you know, before you buy a six pack exactly what to expect. I have never been disappointed, unless I'm trying a new beer for the first time. So before I go into the store, I fantasize different tastes in my mind, so I know exactlty what I'm going to purchase, depending upon my mood. For example–If it's really hot in August, and I'm really thursty, and know I'm going to drink a couple, I might buy Coors lite, or another "lite" beer. If it's cold in the winter, and I know I'm only going to have one, I might buy Beck's DARK, because it's one of my favorites, as far as TASTE !! ( or ) maybe buy a pack of Yeungling BLACK & TAN, which has the deep taste of the malt & hops.......( 2 ) As far as the after taste, this is just as important to me as the taste.....I like to still taste the aroma after i've swallowed it down !! RULE OF THUMB :: A good AFTERTASTE makes you wanting to go for MORE SIPS !! ( 3 ) I drink beer for it's thirst quenching abilities, NOT TO GET DRUNK !! When you are real thirsty, and drink fruit juice, the after taste makes your mouth TACKY, and really doesn't quench it, because at that point, cold spring water will have to be swallowed to wash down the fructose sugars left in your palate from the juice !! But drinking a cold beer for thist quenching ability–should be ALL you will NEED !! -I feel sorry for people that drink beer for the sole purpose of getting drunk !! These are mostly KIDS that are afraid to drink straight 100 proof alcohol !! Drinking a zillion beers in a short period of time is only going to make you urinate frantically a few good times, make you sleepy, and give you possibly a bad headache !!
This guy, is just a little beer b!tch, like all the others hipsters. What used to be special occasion beer is beer that the hipsters must have every night, they're not just drunks, they have a BMW in their mouth.
careful your jealousy is showing
Waaahh! A little too much whining here? Who ever said that good and flavorful craft beers were only meant for special occasions? Also, who said that all craft beer drinkers were hipsters? I'm far from a hipster.
Spoken like a clueless, crap beer drinker... I suppose you prefer your steak at Ponderosa too... step outside of your watered down beer world and try tasting a good craft beer sometime... you will discover the difference and it has nothing to do with anything other than a good brew vs. bubbles and water...
Beer is maybe a dollar a bottle for the higher end stuff.
What kind of life do you lead to where a dollar is a "special occasion"?
LOL,,,I'm judging beer at a competition later this month, there will probably be about 50 judges in there. Take one look at that room and tell me that craft beer is just for hipsters
Oh, alcohol content should be a result of the brewing processin most beers – not an intended attempt at increasing or decreasing the abv..
It's a shame that a brewery like Budweiser has strayed so far from their German roots. Some of the best beer in the world comes from Germany. And, I'm sure the original Budweiser tasted completely different than today with all the adjuncts (we home brewers call them "add junk") in their urine water. I compare the craft and home brewing boom to that of the coffee boom of the 1980s, when Starbucks owner delivered a much higher quality drink to Americans, who, over the years, had been programmed systematically to accept diced coffee products. People will pay for quality. If you want to drink a real beer, visit a small craft brewery. They are always giving tours. Or, do what I do and brew your own. I'll even teach you... http://www.howbrewbeer.com
I don't drink beer, but for your information – the original and real Budweiser is made in Cesky Budejovice – Czech Republic. That makes it Czech beer, not German. It was Budweiser US, that made a very ugly deal with their wealth, and forced the Czech company to re-name their export to "Czechvar" in the US. I will forever hate Budweiser, as I am Czech. Money and power will always squash the smaller person. I will never ever allow Budweiser in my house – it's basically pee anyway.
It's been years since I've drank a Czechvar but I do distictly remember it tasting like a Budweiser... no wonder I didn't really like it. I do really like the glass wear they sell – I think I use my czechvar glass more than any other because of it's shape. I probably ought to give it another shot sometime, probably wait for the summer.
I'll definitely have to give it another shot. I remember getting it at a gas station, so it's entirely possible that the six pack had been sitting on the shelf for ages. There are only a few beers I disliked when I first started drinking (Stella Artois being one of them) that I've found weren't so bad after I went back and tried them again.
It's a crime that A-B not only took the Budweiser/Budvar name away, but that their beer is nothing like Czechvar, which is excellent. And to JT, I can only say that you must have been drinking something else. Czechvar has a nice malty character that Budweiser doesn't come close to matching (rice just kills any taste it might have). And Czechvar has enough hops to balance the flavor. Bud barely uses hops at all, since there's very little flavor to balance. I would recommend trying Czechvar again (and make sure it's relatively fresh).
Well, technically the original Budweiser comes from the Czech Republic, not Germany. By the way, it is still available in Europe and that is also why Anheuser-Busch has not been able to sell their products in Europe with the Budweiser name.
...And I'm glad for that.
A-B do sell Budweiser in Europe, mainly on military installations.
All the more incentive to support your local breweries! There's a reason the craft beer market is growing...
WARNING! ALCOHOLIC ALERT!!! Quote from the article – “I do care about the taste .... I want a beer to taste like nothing but still have alcohol in it.” If the only attraction is the 'beer buzz' you may have a problem. I lived in Australia for five years and the standard joke was American beers were like sex in a canoe, "F***ing near water."
I think this lawsuit is complete nonsense, and here's why:
There's no requirement to put the ABV on the labels at all. What's more, there are a lot of beers on the market with much less alcohol than 5%...and I'm talking "real" beers, not stuff that tastes "watery." Guinness and Murphy's are at 4%. Sam Adams Light is at 4.1%. Amstel is at 3.9% Saranac has some varieties at 3.5%.
So why would Anheiser-Busch go out of their way to put a high number like 5% on the label when they know it's not true, and deliberately expose themselves to an embarrassing public relations scandal like this? It doesn't make any sense.
Now I'm starting to second guess myself...perhaps the labeling requirements have changed and they do need to list ABV. I know it's required on spirits, but I thought it wasn't required on beer...and now I'm not so sure.
Nonetheless, I still don't see why they would do this, since there are so many beers with much lower ABV than 5% and it just seems baffling to me that they would deliberately open themselves up to this kind of scandal.
it is required to be listed on the bottle within the United States. however, I completely agree with your statement. other than they might list higher than in the case with people who are just looking to get hammered and want the best bang for the their buck. a 30 pack of Busch Light runs about the same price as a 12-pack of those you listed.
DB- Do a little homework on that one. Beer is a perishable product, affected by three major factors.. light, heat, and oxygen. Warm temperatures (above 50 degrees) accelerate the aging/staling process and the rate increases as the temperature does. "Better" beers, ones with more malt and hop chacteristics, are more negatively affected by warmer shipping and storage temps than light or "watery" beers.
so if you bought 80/20 ground beef (80% meat, 20% fat) and in fact you got only 20% meat and 80% fat you would be ok with that?
or if you bought a car that was listed as a v8, 300 hp, but you got a 4 cylinder 120 hp, you would be ok with that too?
i don't think that it's because it is less than 5% ABV. I think it's because it is listed AS having 5% abv. your box of corn flakes may say 12 oz. they are required to have 12 oz of corn flakes in the box (plus or minus a small margin of error) they can't put 4 oz in and call it good. same thing here.
What is going on here is actually a lot more subtle than you realize and its only been hyped all out of proportion by the millions of beer snobs out there. I'm a home brewer myself with an extensive capacity to make beer and yet I realize that what I like, other will hate and that's no reason to be a complete jerk about it. There is NO right answer about what is "good" beer, its just a mater of taste.
You may dispute that what AB produces is not beer according to German beer laws, but the last time I checked, AB products were still being brewed in St. Louis Missouri...USA. Beer is also not a German creation...its Egyptian and they were making it a thousand years before Hops were even discovered.
What AB does is brew their beer to levels beyond 5% (7.5 – 8 is what I've heard) and this is no big feat, I do it all the time. Then they add water to reduce the percentage DOWN to 5%. This also gives it a "smoother" taste (or more "watery"...you pick your own term).
Its just that simple. This lawsuit is completely without merit. Even the article above says that they independently tested AB beers from all over and weren't able to find any with under 5%.
Old Joke: Why is American beer like making love in a canoe? Cause it's f-ing close to water.
You're right, it's an old joke. Old enough that you should stop telling it.
It sure is old. Bud isn't even American any more. Try to keep up son.
Actually most "American beer" is quite the opposite anymore. As long as you eliminate the few huge domestic brewers that give American beer a bad name. Out of the thousands of American craft brews out there, very few make "watered down" Budweiser-like beer mostly because they can't afford to. It actually takes great expense and technical skill to make a malt beer imitation beverage as uniformly bad as Budweiser. Lemme guess, you drink Heineken, or Moosehead because that's good imported beer? Or, you live in an area that outside of Coors, Bud and Corona, only offers Sam Adam's or Guinness as a decent beer alternative.
I ask again, why does every article regardless of what it is about, somebody has to bring in religion or politics?
Well duh watered down beer, politics and religion are hand in hand....ha, no, I was just thinking the same thing.
I love Micro brews, However on a hot summer day just after mowing my lawn, nothing beats a Bud light.
A number of the good seasonal summer brews will also go down nicely on a hot summers day.
Or a pint of carbonated horse urine...so cold and bubbly you can't taste it anyway.
While I'm not a fan of BMC (Bud-Miller-Coors) products, we have to give them respect for how they have innovated to make the craft beer world a better place. Refrigerated transport? Yep, Bud figured that out to move beer from east to west, and in the end, they made the world a better place for those of us who want to taste the good stuff that we can't get elsewhere. If they water down their beer ... have the mass of customers really complained? No, because they honestly don't care.
Regardless, the article is about responsibility and taste. Responsibility-wise, Bud doesn't claim to be a traditional Lager or Pils (don't know what the hell Bud's supposed to be), so if they add rice or corn syrup, who gives a crap? If you like it, drink it, if not, drink something else. We don't have to posture as craft beer lovers, we just have to let people know there are tastier alternatives out there, and that there are breweries who care more about us. For example, Sierra Nevada is not only known for starting the hop craze that so many of us love, but they are responsibly "green". Using solar power, grain feeds the cows that eventually make it to their restaurant, ... these guys are showing us how business should be run in this day and age, even beyond what they innovate on the beer side. Much love for all of the breweries who step outside the box, whether beer-wise or operation-wise.
There's absolutely no good reason to ship beer cold. It's a myth that letting beer fluctuate between warm and cold will cause it to go "skunky." Shipping beer cold is just an advertising gimmick which needlessly wastes natural resources, causes pollution, and makes the beer cost more by driving up overhead.
There is absolutely a reason to keep beer cold during shipment. The flavor stability of a beer takes a nosedive as storage temperatures rise. Beer is a perishible product. While a beer will never go "bad" and make you sick, it just wont taste the best. Keeping beer cold and dark are the best ways brewers have to ensure their products make it to consumers and taste just as intended. Also, some beers are not pasteurized (especially most keg beer), which necessitates refrigeration during transport.
@DB The "skunkiness" comes from UV exposure, not heat. Temp matters for beer perhaps more than it does for wine. There's a reason why Stone is dropping lots of cash to build a brewery in Europe, cuz the boat ride across the ocean to get sales over there changes the quality of their product. You mention Guinness and Murphy's in other posts, and I assume you're in the US ... have you had these beers in Europe?? The difference is night and day.
The reason why beer is cold is so that you can't taste it. A beer that's cool is one that doesn't mind letting you know what it tastes like.
I live in Denver, I can't throw a bottle without hitting a microbrewer. I love it, there's so much variety to keep things interesting and pair with foods I'm having. The best part of all though is that I keep my money in the local economy. 99.9% of Colorado liquor stores are locally owned by law, each grocery chain is only allowed one store with liquor sales in the state. Plus all the beers are made by local people and many source their ingredients locally when possible.
I brew my own beer as well, in fact I just bottled 2 cases of a English IPA. But with that said, I'm by no means a beer snob, sometimes nothing taste better then an ice cold Bud whether at the ball game or barbecuing by the pool on a hot summer day in Phoenix.
Like Jim so eloquently said above, try local beer, not only do they taste great, but your supporting your local brewer.
You mentioned Phoenix, do you live in the valley? I'd love to make my own brew but I have no idea where to start. Do you know of any businesses around here that could help a hopeless novice?
Simply put, American light lagers and what many of us consider "good beers" are truly different sorts of beverages entirely- there is more variety among beer than nearly any other beverage category you can possibly think of. I find it hilarious that some restaurants offer "six kinds of beer", and they're all the usual- miller, bud, bud light... this is like offering nothing but six generic pinot grigios on your wine list.
But really, this whole beer snobbery needs to stop. Congrats, yes, we all can throw out names of great microbrews or trappist ales and tout our wonderful taste (don't get me wrong, I like Westvleteren as much as the next guy), but it's really not the same drink as Budweiser. Budweiser drinkers are not the same as IPA drinkers, who are not necessarily the same as stout drinkers. They're different beverages, with different flavors (or lack thereof), and different fans. Let's all just agree to disagree. :)
The snobbery does get bad, but I have to agree. I hate going out to eat and only seeing beers own by the big three. It's not that I don't like them, I just want variety and choice. Every beer style has it's place, but it does get annoying to see the big three taking up an insane amount of shelf space.
I didn't realize there were "IPA drinkers" and "Stout drinkers" ... I just say drink what you want when you want it. I generally mix it up when I'm at the beer store, try to get something lighter, something heavier, etc.
I guess what I"m saying is that while there are people who only drink Budweiser, there are probably a whole lot less who would go out of there way to drink microbrews but only of one particular style. Usually people with an open mind palletwise aren't going to box themseleves into one flavor, or so I've seen.
I drink both. Depends on my tastes at the moment, time of the year, etc. Sometimes I like a Pale Ale so hoppy it will curl your toes and other times I like a Chocolate Stout so thick you can drink it with a fork. I really don't get those who are strictly one or the other and keep their taste buds in a box. Like being a wine enthusiast who only drinks whites...it's stupid actually and only shows you have a limited palate...nothing to admit to or brag about IMO. One thing I will not drink is bad beer (or bad wine) and sorry but I'd rather drink a Smirnoff than Coors or Bud. All those bad beers do is make me thirsty for water.
I've also found that people who only eat certain foods are more likely to only drink Miller, Coors or Bud or limited kinds of beer. Your friend who hates vegetables and only eats cheeseburgers, chicken fingers and pizza, is probably not going to want to drink and English ale or Belgian Triple.
I don't always drink beer but when I do I prefer something with flavor.
I take my time and enjoy life, I savor...........
if your just mindlessly guzzling AB + miller/coors products and the like are fine.
however if your interested and interesting, you look for something better and in the beer world
it is a wonderful time, perhaps the golden age of brewing!
I probably wouldn't drink beer at all but I live in a city that is real big in to the craft beer market (asheville)
and with all the wonderful flavors around...... I have a couple sometimes.
I won't waste my time with the commerical products tho......... I don't drink kool aid and I don't drink box wine either.
Every so often I actually like a PBR or AB. The mass produced beers cleanse the palette without the bite of hops and make the return to drinking craft beers that more enjoyable. The mass produced genre also can be a pleasant drink on a hot summer day. I associate craft beer with a more autumnal if not winter experience.
I brew beer at home. I drink microbrews when out. I love to go to a local brewpub when traveling. Microbrews have richer flavor and far more diversity in style/taste than the macro-beers. Drink locally, think globally.
Now Aquafina and Dasani have some serious competition.
It's Miller Time!
It is hard for me to believe anyone likes flavored beer. One of my favorite brews is Sam Adams' Octoberfest, but I detest their flavored beer. I have in the past purchased one of their cases of several flavored beer varieties at CostCo. I had to throw over half the case in the trash because I considered it undrinkable.
Its not "FLAVORED BEER" being talked about..its beer WITH flavor. Beers, good beers, are brewed with a variety of grains, roasted grains, malts, and spices or fruit additions DURING the brewing process.. beer like Bud Lite LIME are just the flavorless brew with lime flavoring added after the brew is complete.
An analogy would be boiling a chicken in water and serving it with cheap bbq sauce on top vs. slow smoking a chicken covered in bbq spices and serving it in all it flavorful glory.
Forget industrial beer. Home brew and grow your own.
Amen, brotha. Amen.
Best beer I've ever had was a home-brewed espresso stout my sister and I developed from a bunch of homebrew recipes we found online. Sure, sometimes a homebrew batch doesn't turn out quite like you imagined it, but then you know what to do differently next time. Our biggest problem is waiting for the carbonation to fully develop. Usually a week or so ahead of time we start popping bottles just for a taste, and it's half-gone before it's ready.
" Marketing" in the USA in particular has become professional lying on a grand scale, with the sole purpose of persuading people to buy one brand over another, based on any false premises they can get away with. And our citizens don't seem to care about the implications.
The paradox is that so many Americans identify as Christians, yet are completely oblivious to the instruction of the Ninth of the Ten Commandments.
Well remember that the christian religion itself has often ignored the commandmants against killing and stealing and lying when it suits their purposes.
Craft brewery water downs their opinion Budweiser controversy
Nothing beats flavor...and there are so many different flavors represented now in the beer world...sweet, tart, earthy, bold, subtle...I've never been a fan of Budweiser or Coors or MIller...preferring a glass of unadulterated water to one of their "beers" on a hot day. But give ma an IPA with an ABV in the 8 to9 range and I'm happy...or a Gouden Karolus, rich and layered in flavors that I am still just discovering and an ABV of 11%, great on a cold evening.
I don't see what all the fuss is about. If you like it, what difference does it make what that alcohol level is (well unless it's significantly higher than stated, and you have health or other concerns).
I don't really like AB, and as a rule most really good tasting beers have a higher alcohol content, but a couple that I like are quite moderate, which is a good choice for my dinner time drink.
The fuss is that a company is lying to its customers. Do you think that is acceptable?
But it is not lying and we all have a choice. If you don't like bud buy something else.The suit is nonsense. What a waste.
How is it not lying if the stated alcohol level is less than the actual alcohol level
Politicians lie more than any business man ever...
The problem is if you're a beer drinker you don't prefer AB and if you are drinking it is not for taste. When people drink AB they don't want/ don't care about taste or they just want to drink cheep booze (which is okay, we've all done it). Either way taste has nothing to do with what the customers value about AB. What customers do undeniably value about AB is that it is alcoholic. Lying about the ABV of AB is cheating its customers. On the occasions when I do drink AB it's because it wasn't Busch or Coors that usually have ABV of around 3.5%. If I wanted a cheap beer with a lower alcohol content I would have just bought some other generic beer like the ones named above. The point is that if AB wants to have a lower ABV that's fine but when I want to drink a generic cheep beer that does't require me spending half my night in the bathroom just to get a buzz then damn it I'm going to get it. If AB can't give it to me that's fine I'll get it from someone else but they shouldn't lie to me so I buy their beer and I don't get what I was promised. Admittedly the evidence to support the claims is pretty weak but if AB is lying about ABV then this suit definitely has merit.