Bud Light

Brewed by Anheuser-Busch InBev
Style: Pale Lager
St. Louis, Missouri USA

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

I really loathe this one. It is everywhere you go, and a really bad macro. No aroma at all, drink it in bottles. A pale amber color, not much in way of taste, a very watered down beer to avoid.

Smells like vomit. Tastes like shit. Heartburn afterward. Thats was just one sip.

Me: What kind of beer do you have on tap? Waitress: Bud, Bud Light and Michelob Ultra. Me: I’ll have an iced tea.

UPDATED: DEC 29, 2010 Bottle. It is what it is. Aroma and flavor seem chemical. Slight hoppy aroma and flavor, but mostly malt, and woody accent in aroma and flavor. Pale straw yellow color. Watery complextion. Light on the palate. It matches the original Bud flavor though, fairly well. That said, it is not a strong or memorable beer. It is affordable and easy to drink ice cold.

When you compare a beer to a train wreck pop star you might feel the need to defend such a statement, no? Well, if you can’t make the connection, allow me to explain: Bud Light is as mainstream as you can get. Now, this in and of itself is not necessarily a flaw, but the fact Anheuser-Busch tries to market this beer as some kind of quality product is what makes it so fraudulent. It’s only popular because it was destined to be popular - it has no depth whatsoever.

POUR, COLOR AND AROMA

I was surprised Bud Light poured so rough, but it’s actually a good thing in this case because it produced a perfectly-proportioned head. Smooth pouring (even straight out of the tap) results in almost no head at all.

At least the beer, much like a pop star, is nice to look at: a pretty, crystal-clear, light gold body with a lot of carbonation evident. The head is bright white and extremely fizzy – perhaps more so than most sodas. It evaporates in seconds and leaves zero lacing on the glass.

The aroma is rather mild for such a mass-market lager. Typical “beer smell” or a grainy scent is pungent, but at least it isn’t skunky.

TASTE

What taste?

For a beer that is brewed with an abundance of adjunct ingredients, mostly rice and corn, Bud Light is surprisingly taste-free. Use of such adjuncts is not always a bad thing, in fact, some of my favorite beers have a noticeable corn flavor, but this beer is basically alcoholic water. It doesn’t even have the crispiness of an even remotely quality pilsner - something which would have given the beer an average taste at least.

Bud Light is about as diluted as a lager can be while still fitting the definition of “beer.” Any more water and it would officially have to be called “beer-flavored water.” I have to at least give it credit for not having a bad taste in the least. Frankly, I’d prefer a flavorless beer to a disgusting one.

FINISH

“Drinkability” was a term beer drinkers of America were using to describe the appeal of Bud Light years before Anheuser-Busch started using the buzzword its recent marketing campaign.

And yes, it is very drinkable. It starts out with a bit of a coarse edge but it eventually smoothens to an easy finish (I use the word “easy” because “smooth” implies there is even some element of friction at all). Ironically, it’s even easier to drink out of a bottle than a pint glass.

BODY

Along with its so-easy-a-caveman-can-do-it-finish, Bud Light is so light even the lightest lightweights should have no problem downing many of these brewskis in one session. A more perfect, arbitrary party beer there probably could not be. At only 110 calories and 4.2% ABV, this beer is about as heavy as Britney Spears’ lyrics.

In fact, the problem with Bud Light which frat boys, hobos and alcoholics will NEVER address is that it might actually be too light. Yes, really. Why waste so much time and space in your bladder drinking this beer if you goal is to get drunk? Surely beer with more taste and more alcohol will get the job done faster and in a more satisfying way, right? Drinking this beer with the intention of inebriation is taking a very roundabout route.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Don’t get me wrong, I know why Bud Light is the #2 beer in America and the #1 light beer on the planet, I just never understood the appeal. Just because it’s so ridiculously easy to drink doesn’t mean it’s worth drinking. Perhaps while gobbling down bar or party food it works as a thirst-quencher, but that’s about all it’s useful for.

NOTE: watch the video version of this review at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBUw5CEkr68

Suspiciously clear appearance. Light yellow, urine yellwo colour with a thin white lace which dissipates fully. Citrus aroma with chemical, metallic notes. Extremely thin in flavour. Thin texture, close to water. Honey flavour with chemicals. It wets the palette from the coal dust. Crap.

Aroma: Metal & alcohol, Appearance, pale gold with a white head, Taste, none to speak of, corn and fizz, its watery and fizzy, burns the mouth on the way out, overall, yech. I wouldn’t buy this.

Refrigerated bottle. Taste is semi-sweet malt (almost all corn) and a wee bit of hops. I wouldn’t buy this, but if it is free and the only thing available I have been known to drink some. It is somewhat insulting to other beers to call this beer, but such is life. I would have rated this lower, but the taste is not absolutely horrible.