- Bottoms Up (RSS)Tasting Budweiser American Ale: I give it three stars
By William Brand
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 10:42 am in Uncategorized.
If you’re into good beer like I am, you’re gonna’ hate me for this. Tried Budweiser American Ale last night. I liked it.
This is truth: A medium copper color with a big, long-lasting head of tan foam and a malty, spicy nose. Finish is hoppy, maybe Cascades. I give it THREE STARS.
It’s due in stores in bottles and in kegs in taverns next month. More info here: Budweiser American Ale; An Interview With the Brewer
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August 19th, 2008 at 10:48 am
*gasp*! Say it ain’t so!
August 19th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Quite the irony: Budweiser couldn’t come up with an “American Ale” until they became Dutch.
August 19th, 2008 at 10:59 am
William – I agree… I was lucky enough to score a six pack, and although a little malty/sweet for my taste, I was amazinging surprised at how good the beer was. Many of my friends also enjoyed it and plan on making it regular once its released.
August 19th, 2008 at 11:27 am
are they going to change their advertising now? no longer bashing ales and dark beers?
I’ll skip it. I’d rather get something from a local brewery
August 19th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Saw the commercial for it during the Olympics (as well as a Sam Adams’ like Michelob ad) and the wife asked if I’d drink it. I said I’d try it. If it’s good, then that is great news.
It’s not the problem with the breweries, it’s a problem with their products that inspires such bad feelings towards the macros. If they start producing high quality products, can you really complain?
August 19th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I do not understand all simmering distrust for Bud. They make an honest beer. It is a beer I do not enjoy or choose to drink. But it is not like they torture puppies or use child labor to produce Bud.
I have a lot of respect for Bud and the people that make it. Every Bud tastes the same, regardless of where they make it. That is not easy to do. I am sure Bud can produce any style of beer they wanted. If they put their mind to it, it could be consistently the best beer in the world.
Fact is most Americans don’t care about beer. (Lite beers are #1) It is something cold to have in your hand on weekends. I bet most Americans spend more time reading their TV Guides than I spend reading W. Brand’s beer blog. That is the way in America.
I will have to give this Bud a try. Hopefully it is good enough that when I am forced into the situation, I can order it at restaurant or bar. In those cases, I can say, “Thank God for Bud Ale”
Until then I say, “Thank God for the ‘What’s On Tap” blog.”
zymot
August 19th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Abpiut changint their advertising. Good question. My real concern is — if the marketing wizards get their clutches on the beer, they’ll make it lighter and lighter. Also, shudder, how about a Budweiser Ameican Ale Light?
August 19th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Brewnot-
Certainly everyone has a right not to drink AB beers. But mistrust in what big corporations do to make the almighty dollar? That’s assumed. AB might not kill puppies, but they certainly aren’t out there to play games, they are big business that needs big profits to feed the machine.
Here’s a little anecdote (100% true) on how far AB will go to acquire favored distribution over microbrewers: my friend owns a fledgling brewery and distributes beer to another friend who owns a restaurant. The 5-gallon keg of fine microbrew is roughly in the $100 to $120 range (wholesale). It’s a big beer, lots of time and ingredients to make it. The restaurant owner is a big proponent of supporting and rotating his taps with local brews. Great, right? Well, AB comes in and says “Hey, we’ve got this new brew, Shock Top Belgian White. You can have it for $37 per keg.” $37?!? That isn’t competition, it’s downright un-American, that’s why we have monopoly laws. There’s no way any microbrewery can make survive at $37 per keg, it’s AB’s (now InBev’s) intent to crush microbreweries with “new” styles and I’m afraid American Ale is an indication that they are laying the groundwork for a big fight in the near future.
You are right about one thing, most Americans don’t care about beer as long as it’s cold. But the palate of next generation is changing toward more flavor and AB/Inbev is going to do it’s darndest to capture as much of that market share as it can. Don’t be surprised when you drop in your local bar and the taps say “Bud/Bud Light/Bud American Ale/Stella/Bass/Becks/Hoegarden”
August 19th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
You are absolutely right, Discdude. It’s a damnable situation.
August 19th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
[...] are starting to pop up on random blogs and there are a few that are rational like here and here. The second seems to sum up the mid-ground on this [...]
August 19th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Bud has a beer that it believes will appeal to enough American’s taste that it is worth kegging and distributing. Evidently, Bud can produce it for $37.00 per keg.
I do not understand how selling your product at an attractive price evil. It is what I expect any business to do. Bud is the McDonald’s of beer. Cheap, lot’s of it and not gourmet.
What do you want Bud to do? Sell it for $89/keg so they do not compete with the smaller brewers?
Bud is in no way a Monopoly. They have competition left right and center. They are good at what they do. They make large quantities of a popular product, they are efficient at producing a product and they are very good at promoting their product.
If Toyota figured out a way to lower the price of a Corolla by 35%, would you be up in arms because Honda sells a Camry for twice the price?
Hand crafted solid wood furniture is going to cost more than Ikea laminate and wood dowel stuff. Doesn’t make Ikea bad, evil or deserving of my scorn.
Maybe this blog entry is getting to be more about politics than good beer.
brewnot
August 20th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Disc, and that’s where you can step in as a consumer and not purchase the $37/keg beer. You can tell your friend who owns the restaurant, “Hey, I used to like coming here to drink my other friends beer, but now you seem to carry nothing but phony AB crafts, so I’m taking my money elsewhere. We can still be friends though.”
And if your buddy is charging the same per pint for Shock Top as the craft brew, well, your friend is as guilty of chasing profits as anyone.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Wow! some of you guys are pretty amazing in your thoughts.
I have been drinking beer since before micros came along and drank many of the regional brands that massive brewers like A-B helped to kill off. I remember when there were only 30 breweries in the US.
I also collect brewerania and beer cans (since 1982). One thing I’ve learned from my collection is that very few brewers survive longer than a decade, micros included. There have been many thousands of breweries go bust in the US and they keep coming back. Tasty beer is not going away just because the big guys wish they made it too.
Some of the best beers I ever had are gone. Not because A-B gunned them down but they just didn’t have what it takes to compete. The micro guy who commented about distributors has a very valid point. There is some “unfairness” in the beer distribution buisness (I watched this kill the Tomcat brewery in Raliegh NC in the 90s). Small brewers need to be careful when getting in bed with the Walmarts of the world for the sake of growth. They will squeeze you hard and then move on the the next victim. Run your buisness smart and you’ll have nothing to worry about from the likes of In-bev/A-B.
As for the Bud ale? I’ll try it and if it’s good I’ll buy it. I’m pretty sure that O’Dells 90 Shilling Ale and Duck Rabbit Milk stout will still be in my fridge too.
It’ll be nice to have something with a little flavor in those out of the way gas stations that sell only national products. I don’t know what it tastes like but I will say this. From the ads I have seen they absolutely nailed the color of it. I bet a brew kettle of cash was spent just on making it look right. I just hope it doesn’t taste like Bass…
August 20th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Great comments Wiley. You’d have to do a side-by-side comparision, Bass vs. Bud American Ale. I think the Bud has more body these days. Bass is a bit of a shadow of its former self.
August 21st, 2008 at 1:42 pm
THE BIG LIE!!!! Budweiser used to be American. It didnt need to be labeled American, it WAS American. Now that the Dutch own it, they need to label it American.
What a FRAUD!!!
August 21st, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I’m looking forward to tasting this new brew.
Let’s clarify right off the bat that I love craft brewed beer, and have sought out and enjoyed unusual and well brewed beers for 40 years (and yes…there were quite a few excellent and world-class US made beers available even way back then); also, I am not an apologist for Anheuser-Busch and generally not a fan, but one thing is absolutely certain: they have the technical capabilities and experienced masster brewers which can allow them to make great products.
I enjoy craft beer as much as anyone, but to tell the truth, the micro brewery scene has lately gotten very strange, with an awful lot of really mediocre product coming from that segment of the brewing industry. Not all of the failed micros got squeezed out by bigger brewers or bad distribution; the reality is that a lot of them just made really bad beer.
If Budweiser American Ale turns out to be a great product I will buy it. Some of the naysayers point to the fact that it likely won’t have an intense “in your face” flavor profile. But folks who _really_ know beer will point out that balance is often the difference betwen an ok beer and a truly outstanding one.
A part of me is rooting for A-B on this one…and I can’t believe I’m saying it…I for one hope it turns out to be a breakthrough product.
August 27th, 2008 at 5:58 am
[...] does Budweiser American Ale it taste like? I don’t know, but you can check here (Lew Bryson), here (three stars), here (a “huge splash”) and here (”not [...]
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:13 pm
hirteesdotnet Says:
August 21st, 2008 at 1:42 pm
THE BIG LIE!!!! Budweiser used to be American. It didnt need to be labeled American, it WAS American. Now that the Dutch own it, they need to label it American.
What a FRAUD!!!
….
Just so you know this guy spams this message on every website.
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I had to opportunity to try a bottle of BAA this past Saturday with my wife. She said it was weak (What did I expect from a DogFishHead 120 lover?!) I felt that it was flavorful, but lacked finish. It was a total palate cleanser in a weird, get out of the pool and be totally dry, kind of way. However, I hate to say it, but I do agree that it is a pretty good beer. I would definitely buy this if nothing else was close by, or in a pinch. My initial worry was that Bud was trying to create a Sam Adams killer by making a similar product and then putting the squeeze on bars to carry BAA instead of Sam Adams. I could see them “killing off” the competition slowly and then when they find that it is not cost effective pulling the plug on this beer.
September 24th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Yeah, putting the squeeze on craft brewers. That is a worry isn’t it. I intend to taste Bud against a bunch of similar ales, like Red Tail Ale from Mendocino, something from Anderson Valley etc. Don’t think it stands up, but we will see.
September 24th, 2008 at 7:54 am
InBev is Belgian and Brazilian, not Dutch.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:44 pm
My opinion: Doesn’t live up to the hype. Tastes like a 50/50 mix of a good ale and regular Bud. Taste doesn’t last. A little bitter. Not smooth. Might be good consumed in mass quantities (pitcher form) with pizza, but that’s about it. Not something to compliment good food or stand on its own. Will not be trying it again after this first 6-pack is gone.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Advice to Dennis: NEVER buy a sixpack of an Anheuser-Busch product. Go for singles.
October 5th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I just have to respond to the quote of a $37 keg because that comment is very misleading. I’ve purchased a lot of their kegs, and that price is for a 1/6 barrel keg (In fact, I just bought one for $37 as well). There are no $37 half barrels out there with these types of beers.
That equates to a $111 half barrel which makes more sense. It’s still a value in my mind, but not nearly as extreme as posted in this thread.
October 6th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Thanks for the info. You’ve inspired me to call a pub owner friend and get some keg prices, which I will pos.