Budweiser American Ale

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

Serve in English pint, Shaker

Had this beer to long ago, just transferring from a app I was using to rate beer. As I drink these again I will add a better review.

Nose of sweet malts and caramel, not much else. Amber with a lighter amber / golden / light copper head. Taste of sweet malts and, yes, citrus hops. Real hops in a Bud. Thin in the mouth. Finish is actually bitter. Not great, not even very good, but certainly not bad.

12oz bottle from Pick’s poured into a shaker. Pours a somewhat cloudy amber with a half finger of off-white head. Very light aroma of caramel. Taste is about the same. Lightly bitter with a very light caramel taste. Light bodied with a thin texture. Fizzy carbonation and not much of a finish. Overall, not very good. I would drink this over light beer any day but not something I would seek out.

Bottle. Clear amber pour with a foamy off-white head that fades to a ring. Aroma is caramel malt with a touch of hop. Medium palate, not overly carbonated. Taste is caramel malt, a little bit watery, and just a touch of metallic tinge at the end. Not too bad.

After some skepticism due to the fact that I hate all things Budweiser (except for their commercials), I was actually impressed. It’s nothing like their other products; it actually has that after-taste that beer is supposed to have, instead of tasting like piss-water. Thumbs up!

Bottle. Pours amber with a medium beige head. Aroma of sweet malts/caramel with a hint of citrus. Slightly watery and sweet with flavors of malt, caramel, cardboard and roasted nuts. Maybe a hint of hops with a slightly bitter finish.

Tasted from bottle in nucleated pint glass. Pours a nice, clear reddish-amber color with thick persistent beige foam. Noticeable hops aroma (almost certainly Cascades judging by grapefruit-aroma,) which is a brand new experience with a Budweiser product. Medium-body mouthfeel from seemingly complex grainbill. Malty-sweet with notes of bread, caramel, fruit. Sufficiently balanced by hop bitterness and hints of roasted grain. This is clearly an Anheuser Busch marketing strategy to compete with the surging popularity of microbrewed American Pale Ales, but I’ve got to admit they got closer to the target than I expected. It still bears some of the sharp, harsh, metallic, excessively carbonated traits that mar all their products, but no nasty adjunct off-tastes. It is surprisingly drinkable. I sometimes bite when it goes on sale under $6/six-pack. If nothing else, these are nice, thick pop-top bottles to reuse for homebrew.

Amber, good head. Not bad considering its heritage. Some detectable toasty malt flavor with a decent hop bitterness.