Shock Top Belgian White

Brewed by Anheuser-Busch InBev
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
St. Louis, Missouri USA

I’ve had worse beer. A fake belgian white that is mixed with bud. The spice seems right, the yeast seems wrong. I bet they add fake stuff to make it look hazey. Well, it actually is kind of thirst quenching and tasted pretty good with a Walleye sandwhich. Not that bad.

03-Jun-08 (12-oz bottle, Born on 29-Feb-08: Purchased 12-May-08 for $1.79 at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, CA) Brewing a high caliber Belgian-style white ale requires a delicate touch to successfully marry subtlety and balance, and that’s just not the American style of brewing these days. As a result, masking the underlying beer with copious amounts of coriander seems to plague many of the examples made in the United States. And so it is with Shock Top, either because the heavy handedness of the brewer shows, or because the underlying wheat base is of lesser quality. The strong scents of coriander and citrus peel are unmistakable. Coriander dominates the flavor as well, but modest notes of orange and lime peel in the background add some complexity. Unfortunately, the wheat aspect of the beer seems somewhat lost behind all the coriander. A doughy character finally emerges in the finish, but so does a mild and unpleasant bitterness. Body is medium, but seems to get heavy in the finish because of the doughiness. A medium level of carbonation is expected from the style, and this beer delivers there. Unfortunately, because of the heavy finish, the beer fails to provide a refreshing feeling in the mouth. But credit must be given for a bottle-conditioned beer from Anheuser-Busch. After pouring the cloudy, golden-yellow beer into the glass, a dense ring of sediment is stuck to the bottle like clay. The white head is small on the pour, providing a quarter-inch layer before quickly settling to a thin ring. Overall, this could be the best of the seasonals produced by Anheuser-Busch. With the overabundance of coriander, it’s not going to be confused with the better examples of the style, but it’s not bad. I’ve most certainly had worse from smaller brewers, and I think this is better than Blue Moon too. Maybe there’s hope for A-B yet!

Tasted somewhere along my trip through the States.
Orange colored brew. Artificial flavors. Mass production kills beer.

2008 Bottle - Pours light orance with a small white head, aroma is bread and citrus, slight spice...flavour follows, totally bogus flavour, but not nearly as offensive as some of the other AB abominations, heavy on the orange, light on the yeast and spice, but close your eyes when pouring and don’t expect much, wasn’t as bad as I expected (still sucks)...

Hazy and bright brutn orange coloring, with a small fizzy white head. Very generic on the palate, with loads of palate killing coriander, and thas is pretty much all you taste throughout is orange peel and grainy, metallic cereal maltiness.

Shared a couple of beer towers of this with friends at Old Dominion Brew Pub in DC. Hazy orange with a fizzy, foamy white head. Looks like slightly carbonated orange juice. Aroma is fairly generic, slightly metallic, with a hint of oranges. Flavor is equally generic, oranges, maybe a little spice, more metal. Finish is thin and watery. A poor attempt at a Hef aimed at the lowest common denominator. Then again, it was either this or Heineken so it was an easy choice.

yet another example of anheuser trying to trick the public into thinking they are drinking a microbrew. starts ok with some thin citrus and spice flavor. but the aftertaste is that same cheap artifical flavor of a lot of their beers. and the overall flavor is weak. in the end, its the same old story here-its an ok product, but there are better versions on the market. why is AB so scared of bold flavors?

12 oz bottle available just about anywhere. Pours a light orange with a thin white head. Yeast sediment is visible. Aroma and flavor have orange and spice, with a very creamy palate and finish. Very refreshing.