Budweiser American Ale

Brewed by Anheuser-Busch InBev
Style: Amber Ale
St. Louis, Missouri USA

Bottle, pours amber with beige head. Aroma of hops and caramel malts. Taste is malts, caramel, and slightly bitter hoppy finish. I think this is a decent beer, and if it were a "craft beer" it would be rated higher.

The aroma is much like a standard ale that one might be used to. Brown appearance with very light carbonation. Mildly sweet taste with an unusual ale aftertaste. Overall, not too bad of a beer, but definitely not a favorite.

Slightly heavier then bud light with a more malty taste and crisp finish. Still way to watery and flavorless to ever consider drinking this more then once.

Bright red amber in color with a small off-white head. Aroma is of light hop and malts. Taste is the same...not a lot to it.

Bottle - Pours clear amber with a slightly tan frothy head. Nose and taste is malty, ends with a touch of hops. Cascade hops are apparent, good lacing. Nice to see this come from Bud.

Aroma limited to a slight earthy hop note, pours a very nice reddish amber with a decent head. Taste is quite surpising, very impressive for AB. Palate is also impressive, but lacks real deep complexity. Has a nice touch of bitterness and is a good sessionable ale. A little overcarbonated for my taste, loses 2 points on the overall just for that. BTW, don’t rate after having 4 of them, they start going down real easy and start to taste real good.

Since Budweiser is no longer an American corporation (it was sold to the Belgian brewery conglomerate InBev in July), calling its one and only ale product “American Ale” comes off as a total public relations stunt.

But is the beer worth drinking? Well, yes and no. Considering the producer and the target audience, it’s actually well-crafted for a mass-market brew. However, as a beer in and of itself American Ale is only average at best and there are many superior products available at comparable prices.

POUR, COLOR AND AROMA

Joe and Jane Six Pack is clearly the target audience for this beer, and I have a feeling they will be impressed if they decide to pour American Ale into a glass rather than chug it out of the bottle. This beer has a very beautiful, clear complexion of a dark amber and light red, resembling an “Irish Red” beer. It even forms an average-size, off white, soapy head which lingers surprisingly long and leaves quite a lot of lacing on the glass. This is not typical of a beer made by the world’s biggest brewery.

There isn’t much of an aroma to speak of, nothing notable anyway. American Ale certainly smells better than regular Budweiser since it doesn’t have that generic “beer smell.” There is a slight malty scent, but for the most part this beer is almost odorless.

TASTE

The good news is American Ale tastes nothing like regular Budweiser and there definitely is a richer, more complex palate that’s noticeable to the average drinker. The beer is much malty than it is hoppy, and it’s almost sweet in a way. Chocolate and caramel seem to be underlying ingredients. Citrus notes are also detectable which gives the beer something of a split personality. Is it sweet? Is it sour? It’s all over the place.

The bad news is the taste, although fine, is entirely too weak. My first impression of American Ale was its watered-down flavor. To detect the individual ingredients here you must consciously look for them, otherwise this beer is basically a flat ale. In fact, if you drink it too slowly the acetaldehyde (a by-product of the fermentation process) will become apparent, giving the beer an almost salty taste.

FINISH

As generic as the taste is, I have to admit this beer finishes quite smooth. Even light beer-only drinkers would probably find American Ale easily drinkable.

BODY

I’m actually surprised American Ale isn’t marketed as a quasi light like Budweiser Select since it’s easy to drink and light in body. I was able to drink a few bottles with dinner as well as a few bottles on their own and never once did I feel the least bit overwhelmed or full.

This beer is 5.3% ABV and probably has about 150 calories per serving. Its light weight makes it very appealing to drinkers already familiar with the other products in the Budweiser line.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In the end, what it all comes down to is that Budweiser American Ale is pretty much exactly what you’d expect. Yes it’s a pretty generic beer as a whole, but for a beer in the Budweiser line it’s a commendable effort. I just hope Joe & Jane Six Pack don’t drink this beer under the impression it’s some kind of true craft beer, since it’s not. I’d recommend heading over to Brew Crew instead of the supermarket to find something better.

NOTE: Watch the VIDEO review at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd1NgntDxhQ

Pleasant, but quiet aroma. Not harsh to the palate. Flavor was one dimensional - dominant in hopps - which is consistent for ales. It does not have the subtle flavors of other ales. It fits in well with the Budweiser line, and it was refreshing, which is not always true with ales. I seem to enjoy this beer best ice cold at the finish of a hot summer day.