Blatz

Pabst Brewing Company
Brewed at Miller Brewing Company (MillerCoors)
Style: Pale Lager
Woodridge, Illinois USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, English pint, Lager glass, Shaker

I am all for retro when it makes sense, but retro beer? I can see that being true if the beer was originally good in the first place, but some brews really shouldn’t be brought back no matter the amount of nostalgia it entails. We all know the saying, sepia-colored memories. Well, that sepia is so that our memories can hide behind false recollections of better times when, in actuality, they really weren’t as rosy as we would like to make them out to be. The same can be said of all the old beers of our father’s day. One in particular that I got to try recently was Blatz. Let’s just say that I am glad I didn’t have to grow up with only Blatz to satisfy my thirst.

My Blatz poured an unimpressively golden yellow into my glass with no head but plenty of bubbles screaming for freedom as they race to the top of my glass. I would want to escape too, if I was stuck in the middle of a sea of Blatz. A sickly nose of processed sweet corn wafts past before disappearing upon the wind. Closing my eyes, I brace myself for the first quaff. Watery, thin, and with hardly any flavor, but there is plenty of carbonation to compensate. A very faint hint of sweet corn makes a weak showing in his palate, but those too are washed away by his spritzy, seltzer-esque body. If I didn’t already know this was a beer, I would have figured someone gave me a glass of some out-dated cheap seltzer water. A few sips were all I needed, and the rest of the Blatz was willfully dumped onto the ground. Hopefully it won’t kill the grass.

Seriously, were you really expecting me to place glowing words of praise and wistful reminiscence upon this ghost of a retro beer brought unwilling back to life by people looking to make a few extra bucks by appealing to our blind nostalgia? If you were, too bad. It’s not the worst cheap beer that I have tasted, but pretty close. Anyone got some Dale’s Pale Ale so I can cleanse my palate with a good beer in a can, please.

Had straight from the can. Not great... not terrible. About what I expected. Glad to have tried it, though.

From the Can at the GABF, Colorado Convention Center 13/10/2007 Some carbonation. Floral aroma. Clear golden coloured floral and hoppy with a crisp malt finish.

Bottle: Sweet malt, grain, and mild floral hop aroma. Clear, golden with little head. Malt, grain, with mild hop presence. Watery with mild bitter finish.

UPDATED: JUN 9, 2009 Very VERY grainy and acid. Hard to really drink more than one if you’re not already drunk. Its dry taste makes it hard to get past that first one. Not really cheaper than the other light options so I don’t see any advantage to buying it.

Bought in cans in Duluth, MN on my way to Orr for a fishing trip. Very light golden color with a small white head that is mostly diminishing. Sweet corn and barley aroma. Flavor follows, with a bit of metal and wet straw. Clean, watery finish. I drank this side by side with Blatz Light - they are essentially identical.

Phillybeer2112, thanks for bringing this to the throwdown. Pours yellow, clear and grainy, like it should be. Taste is the same.

LMAO at this being brought as a good joke at the O-town throwdown. Skanky, grainy and plain old nasty. Best of the joke beers though.