Budweiser

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

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

OK, I thought this was a heavy beer when I was younger??? I don’t know if they changed it or I just have better taste now? Anyway, it is better than Bud Lite & Miller Lite so, it could be worse... (I keep it in the fridge for my rookie fam & friends because they can’t handle my Sweetwater 420 ;-)

This beer is awesome. I’m gonna buy a Budweiser jacket and wear my sunglasses indoors to let everyone know, that I know, what good beer really is!

UPDATED: JUN 12, 2010 For all the advertising, really didn’t like the taste. Almost like a cheap beer trying too hard.

A: I poured this from the can into my Arrogant Bastard pint glass (which reads: Fizzy Yellow Beer is For Wussies) just for the sake of doing it. Like many other beers of this style, it’s about as close to water as you can get. S: Ah, the all too familiar smell of corn, rice, and a bit of grain. Absolutely no hop aroma. T: There is a sweet corn and grain taste to this. There is a complete absence of hops. To be honest, it’s bad, but it’s not as bad as I remembered. M: This is very bubbly, and light bodied. That’s the point, I suppose, however. D: The drinkability of this beer is in the sense of the ability to drink massive amounts of it. The taste is incredibly bland, and that’s the point, unfortunately.

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

Quality and popularity do not necessarily go hand-in-hand. We usually associate this trend with pop culture, but it also applies to the food and drink market. Case in point: Budweiser. It’s the most popular beer in the world, but despite how it’s advertised it’s far from the best. If only it were as enjoyable as it is drinkable.

POUR, COLOR AND AROMA

Very few people other than beer nerds such as me would ever pour Budweiser from anything other than the keg. I did anyway and the pour was quite rough. It formed a large layer of fizzy, bright white head which evaporated quickly and completely. The head to most beers will dissipate but will usually linger at the top of the body, but Budweiser’s head totally vanishes. Considering the beer’s complexion is a bright shade of gold it almost looks like a urine sample. Absolutely no lacing is left on the glass.

The scent is very typical “beer” smell. In fact, this is probably the scent most people tend to associate with beer in general: grain, rice, alcohol and a general potpourri of chemicals. If the beer is allowed to warm the smell grows stronger and quite pungent.

TASTE

What’s interesting about Budweiser is the initial taste is actually quite good. It has a lively, sweet palate that is clearly derived from rice and a cereal-like grainy flavor. However, as it finishes the taste changes on a dime and becomes very dry. In fact, it almost has something of an oily character, which is typical of low-quality lagers such as this.

Still, the flavor here could best be described as neutral: neither off-putting, nor delectable. Its sweetness is only noticeable if you’re really looking for it and only if the beer is drunk while very cold. Once it warms the acetaldehyde makes itself known and gives the beer a tart, green apple-like taste (and not in that good way like an India Pale Ale).

Although no matter what the temperature, rice remains the most prevalent flavor to the palate. Personally, I prefer the taste of hops or malts (the two main ingredients in any beer, other than water), so the fact an adjunct ingredient is the most noticeable says a lot about the craftsmanship here.

FINISH

Although the beer’s flavor seems to undergo a shift during the drinking process, the mouthfeel remains very soft and it finishes clean and easy. It’s my contention that people would prefer a beer that is easier to drink to one that is tastier, which probably explains why this brew is so popular (although advertising definitely has a lot to do with it as well).

BODY

Most people tend to associate Budweiser as something you drink while eating or as a way to supplement another form of entertainment or social situation. Most don’t know just how heavy this beer really is. At 145 calories; 10.6 grams of carbs and 5% ABV these are numbers more apt to describe a craft beer, not a mass-market lager.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Until I sat down to finally give Budweiser a serious look, I don’t think I ever gave the beer a fair shake. I have to admit it’s definitely not as bad as most connoisseurs would have us believe, but then again it’s not nearly as good as Anheuser-Busch’s marketing department would want us to think, either. Remember, it’s the “King of Beers” in terms of sales, not quality.

NOTE: watch the video version of this review at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMrdKH12c_s

Don’t bother. This may be one of the highest selling beers in the world but it doesn’t count for nothing. Taste like stagnant water and corn.

My first experience with the "King" was fittingly at a Morcoccan buffet, in Abu Dhabi. Beer came with the buffet, and Bud was the only choice. At least it wasn’t a "light" beer. I’m not actually going to write anything about this beer, because, fuck, who cares? This beer has more to say with its label, its American-status symbol, and it’s history than the stale-hop alcohol-water in the bottle. Budweiser is the kind of beer that’s behind corporate-backed political campaigns. If craft beer geeks aren’t worried about the recent campaign-financed ruling, they should be. Get ready for megabrewers to start buying seats in places where their macro-swill market is being eroded by real beer, to put into place more middle-man distribution legislation that favors their product, up subsidies on their favorite adjunct, and ease tax-based incentives for small brewers. America’s official corporatization is here. And the fact that comes in a Budweiser glass, in Abu Dhabi, to be paired with a Moroccan feast is all I need to know.