Budweiser Chelada

100th Rating. My very first rating was the Motts Clamato Red Eye, the most putrid substance I’ve allowed entry into my body. So, I thought it’d be fitting to have an american clamato be my special 100. And here it is.
As I crack open the can I can smell the tomato juice and that nice clam funkiness. This beverage pours pink, very similar to grapefruit juice. The pink head is a soda-fizzy and abundant, but diminishes rather quickly. The aroma... oh man, the aroma... it’s nauseating. First whiff made my stomach churn. This isn’t a good sign. It’s like opening a jar of tomato-based pasta sauce that had been sitting out in room temperature for a couple days. I don’t sense any beer aromas, though. Just spoiled tomato puree, old socks, some hints of clam, subtle hints of lime, and some various spices. The flavour... why am I doing this to myself? Spoiled tomato puree is dominant. It has some sweetness at first. No traces of a beer taste, though. As this beverage starts to pass, it becomes rather salty. The back of my throat instantly has that burning sensation that feels like I’ve hurled. Clams become apparent now to delicately meld with the wonderful flavour of spoiled tomatoes. I’ve never put a used sock in my mouth, but I’m pretty sure the other flavours in this would taste relatively similar. And why is this continuing to burn the back of my throat? I’m hoping I’m chewing on bits of tomato, otherwise I have no clue what that is...
This doesn’t nearly meet the atrocity that the Motts Clamato was, though. But it’s up there. My complaint is that there’s too much clamato, not enough beer. I was looking for the clash of flavours between the beer and clamato that Motts had. But alas, all I taste is bad tomato. I also wish Budweiser sold these in 12 oz bottles, but alas, they come in 24 oz cans. I’m in for a really, really rough night. Yeah, happy fourth of july for me...

So, after creating this rating, I attempted to chug the rest of this beer. I even recorded it for amusement purposes. I first poured this into the second largest glass I own, an english pint (it’s easier to clean than the weizen). I realized that this ended up pouring darker than my initial tasting. That probably means more intense flavours. Oh boy! Well, I stare at the beverage for a second then start chugging. It’s actually not that difficult to chug, as compared to the Motts. At one point I did have to stop because the carbonation was bothering my throat to the point to where fluids would’ve returned back into the glass. But the grotesqueness wasn’t enough for me to start gaining gag reflexes. However, after a couple seconds rest, I realized my stomach was instantly in disagreement with my current actions. After mentally telling my stomach to not be a wuss, I chugged the rest of the glass. That was actually difficult. Gag reflexes were starting to emerge. But there wasn’t enough of the beverage for the reflex to surface. Now, that burning sensation in the back of my throat during the tasting was nothing. After rapidly consuming this atrocity, my throat was on fire. At this point my stomach is loathing its very existence. Why... just why did Budweiser have to sell this in 24 ounce cans?

24 oz can, QT in McKinney, TX. Pours orange-red, not translucent, no head. Aroma of tomato sauce and . literally, faint vomit on first impression...Flavor takes a few sips to get use to, it has a slight peppery spice, salt, faint hints of garlic? Oh, and tomato juice....Mouth feel seems like medium carbonation and medium body....Overall, I am almost done with the first glass and the taste started to grow on me...At first smell, I honestly almost gagged.....but now that it is almost done, not all that bad, kinda like it....similar to a poorly made bloody mary.......I read that it contains Shellfish on the can.

7/1/08 From 16oz can. I don’t really know how to take this, but I’d have to agree with other raters that reviewing this as a beer is a bad idea, both for you and the ";beer";. Think of the thinnest bloddy mary you can imagine with basically no spices and a spritzy carb texture, and I think you’ll have a pretty good idea if the flavor.

pretty tasty for what it is smells like beer and spicey tomato juice flavor is the same taste good for what it is

As already stated, the concept of mixing beer and tomato/Clamato juice is nothing new. A "red eye" has been around for decades, and I don’t believe its origins come from south of the border. I think AB went the "chelada" route because of recent trends, and the fact Clamato juice has really taken off in Mexico and Central America, and has become a huge market for Clamato. I’m a big fan of Clamato juice, I enjoy a red eye, so how bad could it be? This beer pours to a opaque pink color, with a pink head that quickly fades, and a vibrant carbonation. The nose on this beer is a mix of lime/Clamato which is nice if you like that, trouble is, most don’t. The palate is salty, with Clamato flavor, which pretty masks any beer flavor. This beer ends with more Clamato/salty flavors, then ends with a hint of lime flavor and salt that lingers. Not a very good example of red eye. If you like Clamato (I love it) it is palatable for that reason alone. That being said, you would do far better making your own red eye with a better tasting beer, Clamato, or what ever tomato based juice you fancy. Worth a try for the curious, but not a beer I would ever purchase again.