Schaefer

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

Like robharing, this was the first beer I ever had as a kid. My father was a Schaefer man most of the time. He also did Ballantine, Rheingold, Piels, and Knickerbocker from time to time. All about the same. If I rated on the memories, this would get some good points. However, the beer sucks. Sorry, Dad.

the first beer i ever had my old man used to drink this beer when i was a kid he would give me a little glass full then it was good stuff back then wouldt touch it now

A lot of hay has been made about ratings style, and I most recently heard and read some discussion about whether its proper to include discussion about family, friends, and certain situations in discussing the actual beer. I tend to tuck this into my ratings sometimes. The fact is, there are some beers that your experience of them is very much affected by the people and scene you have them in. Their value and your opinion of the beer is affected by how well it suited you in a particular situation, beyond its taste and other characteristics. Schaefer is one such beer. I drink this beer, as I did again this other night, and I see wheatfields. No wait, that’s just the can. But that symbol is a part of it -- I see heartland America, and I see bristly faced American men with trucker hats and three chins sipping these suds at a local bar. Places where the choice is not between Hefe-Weissen, Amber, or Stout, but between Beer and Lite. It’s true, its not the best of beers, and most macros aren’t be best of beers. But it’s evokative of America, and when I drink this I have good feelings that I’ve grown up to be a man drinking beer in this country. The whiffs of this type of stuff when I was a kid are remembered by my nose as I sip it, something I may have done much less as a kid, and it gives you a much more earnest feeling of completeness with adulthood. It strikes me as an excellent companion to pizza, but this is perhaps because of so many Friday nights I’d see my father drink it while we ate pizza and talked politics growing up. See, these external characteristics mean a lot here, and give more dimension beyond the flavor/aroma, so they also need to be factored in. This is one of those beers that is both tolerable to me, enjoyable to sip (when cold), and gives me feelings of adult Americana. Just as I wouldn’t order a Bud in Montreal when trying to experience true Canadien bar life, or shun a Snakebite when offered it by a student in England, I would feel out of place going into regular town bars in places like the blue collar towns of Massachusetts and asking for their house I.P.A. After all, drinking the same that the people around you drink gives a great sense of bonding, comraderie, even intimacy (gad!). It’s not so much I don’t recognize what comes with a good knowledge of beermanship, but I think that in rating beers, situational elements are relevant to the beer’s feeling and evocation. Schaefer gets a couple points up for such an impression with me. Pale color, dispensible head that does very little, slightly bitter taste, yet easy on the palate (when cold). Can.

You might look at this six-pack in the cooler and laugh, but this inexpensive brew ($3.21 a sixer, including tax) has at least 4 times the flavor of any BMC brew. Sure, there’s adjuncts here - a sweet, almost apple flavor, mixed in with the malts and a slightly grainy feel to the palate. Very lightly hopped, but I kept wondering "are there actually hops in here at all?" - I guess there are, there’s some dryness there. Of course, this is definitely meant to be consumed very cold - save this for a hot day after you’ve mowed the lawn.

Well, I had a Schaefer Light a couple of months later. It was bad. I had this one today. It was bad. But not AS bad. There’s not much to say, except don’t drink it. It’s crappy. OK...that’s all I have to say. Oh yeah, it did make me gag. At least it didn’t make me puke...

The aroma is...better than Colt 45. The appearance is...like unto a cheap beer...the flavour is...malty with a tinge of liquor to make you whinge, the palate negligible and the overall impression ehhh pretty uninspired.

Normal Milwaukee lager. Just like all the rest. I’ll take Schlitz instead.

I really like this beer. It is great for a cheap buzz. It is very light and crisp. I do recommend.