Archives : American Macro
American Macro Week 2: Milwaukee’s Best Ice
January 24th, 2009
Milwaukee’s Best is (anecdotally) a decent beer in the American Macro style, better than many of the others. Unfortunately I didn’t get a hold of any to review this week; it’s only sold (at minimum) by the half-case and I was only buying singles. On the other hand, Milwaukee’s Best Ice was available in the 24-ounce can size, so that’s what I ended up with.
It’s brewed by Miller and has the magic 5.9% alcohol content that most of these American "Ice" beers seem to have.
Appearance: Amazingly dense and creamy head compared to all the rest… it sits over a clear golden color.
Smell: Very "beer"—grains, husks, a sweet note. Very mild.
Taste: Cold beer. Muted sweet corn/barley note, slightly bitter but appropriately so for the style. Probably the most on-target of the beers I’ve had this week.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, a slight bite, more body than a non-Ice but still light.
Overall: Entirely decent which is surprising—I don’t expect much from "Ice" beers. This one’s worth drinking again.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of D+. On RateBeer, it scores 1.22 out of 5 and is in their 0 percentile.
American Macro Week 2: Corona Extra
January 24th, 2009The inclusion of Corona (a Mexican beer) might seem strange for a week about American Macro Lagers, but I contend (or at least suspect) that more Corona is actually sold/drank in the United States than in Mexico. Indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s targeted for the U.S. market directly; and why not? I’m sure Corona seems like an exotic splurge when you’re a Budweiser or Coors Light drinker.
Thus the inclusion of Corona Extra for this week’s beers. It’s brewed to the American Macro style and is 4.6% alcohol by volume.
Appearance: Clear yellow with a weak white head that fell almost immediately.
Smell: Skunky Mexican lager; corny light beer with the typical skunked (lightstruck) aroma that’s become a signature of the style.
Taste: Grainy and light, bitter from the skunky lightstruck character. A touch of sour character.
Mouthfeel: Light, fizzy on the tongue and leaves a bitter aftertaste.
Overall: Really not very good, the skunkiness is overpowering yet doesn’t cover the cheap beer taste very well.
(The best way I’ve found to drink Corona in the past is not with a lime wedge in the neck, as you commonly see; it’s with a shot of tequila poured into it.)
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of D. On RateBeer, it scores 1.68 out of 5 and is in their 2nd percentile.
American Macro Week 2: Bud Light Lime
January 23rd, 2009Bud Light Lime is Anheuser-Busch’s answer to Miller Chill. Unlike Miller, who claims their Chill is brewed with limes and salt, Bud Light Lime is only stated to have "natural lime flavor."
It’s 4.2% alcohol by volume, and (to ruin the surprise) rates higher than Miller Chill on the rating sites.
Appearance: Gold-yellow, white head that fell quickly.
Smell: Same Zima-fruity "limon" aroma as Miller Chill; no real beer character here.
Taste: Really strongly reminiscent of 7-Up, or lemon-lime soda. There’s a "beer" thing more-or-less going on below that—but you might as well be drinking pop.
Mouthfeel: Very light, crisp. A bit watery.
Overall: The 7-Up character is really strong… I could see this appealing strongly to those who don’t like beer, but it’s a little too sweet for my own tastes.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of C-. On RateBeer, it scores 1.58 out of 5 and is in their 2nd percentile.
American Macro Week 2: Miller Chill
January 23rd, 2009A revisitation of the American Macro genre wouldn’t be complete without checking out the so-called "chelada" beers being offered. Miller Chill was one of the first in this category, and is brewed with lime and salt.
Or it’s at least blended with lime and salt; I’m not entirely sure how the brewing process with those ingredients is purported to work.
At any rate, this beer is 4.1% alcohol by volume, and a more premium-priced beer than the usual Macro offerings.
Appearance: Very fizzy, super-clear and pale yellow. Head is pure white and reminds me of whipped egg whites.
Smell: Lime-citrus and sweet; reminds me a bit of hard lemonade. Rather pleasant, actually.
Taste: Light and limey—like a Zima—overlaying a mild corny/grain note. Sweet almost like a Kool-Aid or Jolly Rancher.
Mouthfeel: Very light and bubbly. Finishes snappy and super clean.
Overall: It’s different but actually not bad—it’s something you have to be in the mood for, but it’s refreshingly different when compared to other macros. And it’s not over done and excessively fruity.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of D. On RateBeer, it scores 1.42 out of 5 and is in their 1st percentile.
American Macro Week 2: Bud Ice
January 22nd, 2009Bud Ice is, of course, the "ice beer" offering from Anheuser-Busch. A-B claims that it’s the first (American) draft beer to be "ice brewed", which I’m not really in a position to verify thoroughly; they claim it was introduced in 1984 which seems early enough to be plausible.
This beer is 5.5% alcohol, which seems to buck the 5.9% trend of the other ice beers I’ve got my hands on this time around. And I will say that it has perhaps the most interesting bottle I’ve seen (though one of the worst, most boring labels): the shoulder of the bottle is all beveled angles and edges, like it’s been chipped or carved from ice. Clever.
Oh, and there’s apparently even a "Bud Ice Light" too, which I didn’t see in the store but is listed online. That seems magnificently pointless.
Appearance: Gold, almost orange in color. Crystal clear with some bubbles rising constantly.
Smell: Very neutral, low profile; there might be a slight fruity off-aroma but I can’t be sure.
Taste: Fairly bland but for a bit of corn or vegetable—squash, perhaps. Aside from the DMS-iness, not much to report.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, clean, a bit (over)carbonated, and featurelessly light.
Overall: Eh. Very bland even for the style.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of D. On RateBeer, it scores 1.27 out of 5 and is in their 0 percentile.
American Macro Week 2: Landshark Lager
January 22nd, 2009Landshark Lager has an interesting pedigree, and probably one I’ll bet you didn’t think you’d see reviewed under the "Macro" category. Not so. Even though it’s marketed by Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville franchise, the beer itself is brewed by—you guessed it—Anheuser-Busch and is in fact brewed to the "American Macro" style.
I’ve been curious about this beer since I first saw it, but was deterred by the negative reviews and the spendy price for a six-pack (relative to the style). So instead I picked up the one bottle for this week.
It’s 4.7% alcohol by volume and marketed as an "Original Island Lager."
Appearance: Nice clear golden yellow with a frothy white head that looks sticky—and in fact leaves nice lacing on the sides of the glass throughout.
Smell: Grainy, light aroma with a bare hint of sour/skunk that reminds me of Mexican beer. Otherwise very neutral, not much there.
Taste: Richer, grainier (maltier?) character than usual for the style—it definitely has more character and (surprisingly) not coming off as skunked. (I was worried because of the clear glass bottle.) Decent.
Mouthfeel: A bit thicker than your typical Macro; nice presence and doesn’t leave any weird after tastes/effects.
Overall: Enjoyable for this type of beer, actually. I’m not sure I’d pick it over a PBR, say, but it’s very competently done.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of D+. On RateBeer, it scores 1.75 out of 5 and is in their 3rd percentile.
American Macro Week 2: Natural Light
January 22nd, 2009
I’m probably reviewing Anheuser-Busch’s "Natural" series backwards; yesterday I reviewed Natural Ice and tonight it’s Natural Light., which was introduced first back in 1977. Oh well.
Natural Light is pretty typical for the "light" beer category; it only comes in at 4.2% alcohol by volume, and, well, I picked up the can for 70 cents. What’s that tell you?
Appearance: Clear and yellow with a fizzy, broken white head.
Smell: Neutral, a hint of grain, and that soapy carbonation smell.
Taste: Mineral water character with a dash of grainy, grassy notes. Very neutral, and a little "hard" (as in water).
Mouthfeel: Very clean, super light and crisp—washes down and leaves almost no parting notes behind.
Overall: Typical "light" beer, little flavor or character; more of the mineral, bicarbonate character than "beer".
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of D-. On RateBeer, it scores 1.01 out of 5 and (again!) is marked "n/a" for the overall percentile.
American Macro Week 2: Natural Ice
January 21st, 2009Natural Ice is a relative newcomer to the Anheuser-Busch family, introduced in 1995. (Natural Light was introduced in 1977.) Along with the Busch line, the "Natural" beers are part of A-B’s "value priced" category—also called "subpremium-priced."
The beer is 5.9% alcohol by volume (which seems to be the trend among the ice beers, I’m noticing) and by and large the packaging (in this case, the 24-ounce can) is fairly generic. There’s just not a whole lot distinguishing it from other offerings on the shelves.
Appearance: Clear golden in color, nice look to it. White head that fell quickly as usual.
Smell: Smells more like "beer" than the previous beers this week; grainy, a bit of sweet, no real hops.
Taste: Crisp and clean, very decent for the style. A touch of that sweetness evidenced (I think) by the higher alcohol, i.e. sweeter than a typical American macro lager, and at the same time, not as cloying as Keystone. Dry barley notes and a bit of steely grassiness.
Mouthfeel: Light but more body than typical. Prickly carbonation at first, then finishes crisp and clean.
Overall: Better than I would’ve expected, frankly. Solid contender for the category.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores and overall grade of D-. On RateBeer, it scores 1.01 out of 5 and—I’ve never seen this—is marked "n/a" for their overall percentile.
American Macro Week 2: Keystone Ice
January 20th, 2009Keystone Ice is the so-called "ice beer" version of Keystone Light (or just plain Keystone), which is purportedly "regular" beer which has been subjected to "ice brewing"—that is, lowering the temperature to below freezing so that water freezes out, yielding higher levels of alcohol.
(Of course, the actual process may be quite different, but that’s the traditional urban legend story and I’m too lazy to look it up right now.)
Keystone Ice, brewed in fact by Coors, is 5.9% alcohol by volume—fairly strong if you’re used to drinking ~4.5% beers—and comes in a "specially lined can".
Appearance: Deeper golden color than is typical or expected for the Macro category. White fizzy head fell flat pretty quick.
Smell: Really clean and neutral aroma; a bit of hard water, a bit of a soapy note that you get sometimes from the carbonation.
Taste: Corn, sweet enough so that it’s almost cloying; that’s the predominant flavor here and it’s hard to get past it. Otherwise, fairly non-descript.
Mouthfeel: A bit more body than a typical Macro. Fairly smooth, but leaves an odd coating/residue in the mouth.
Overall: More body seems more appealing than a typical Macro, but the excessively sweet corn is off-putting and screams "cheap".
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of D. On RateBeer, it scores 1.35 out of 5 and is in their 1st percentile.
American Macro Week 2: Busch Light
January 20th, 2009Last year I reviewed Busch Beer but I never got around to it’s "lite" counterpart, Busch Light. I rectified that this time around.
(If "rectified" can really be the right term to apply here…)
Busch is the value brand from Anheuser-Busch, first introduced in 1955. The Light version was introduced in 1989 and is 4.2% alcohol by volume (only 0.4% less than regular Busch).
Appearance: Clear, pale yellow, darker than I’d expect. Very effervescent underneath a pure white head that fell quickly; bubbles kept rising like an active champagne.
Smell: Faint floral note, a sweetish note over mineral water.
Taste: Almost no flavor profile; touch of corn, grassiness. Kind of a sparkling mineral water character.
Mouthfeel: Very lively in the mouth—really fizzy. Thin, watery.
Overall: Very bland, like drinking a carbonated mineral water—notably a mineral/soda (bicarbonate) character. Too bubbly.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of D-. On RateBeer, it scores 1.14 out of 5 and is in their 0(!) percentile.
American Macro Week 2: Not the Big Three you think
January 20th, 2009When I write "American Macro", it’s generally understood that it refers to (beers brewed by) the American Macro Brewers, otherwise known as the "Big Three" (though my no means restricted to them): Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors. (It also refers to the general style of "Macro Lager" that they tend to brew.)
Once upon a time those were all American companies, but with the takeover of A-B by InBev last year, none of those Big Three are American-owned anymore. (AB-InBev is Belgian, and MillerCoors is, respectively, SABMiller which is South African and MolsonCoors which is Canadian.)
Which begs the question: what does "American Macro" mean now, and does it even have relevance anymore?
The new "Big Three" of American-owned breweries are Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams), Yuengling, and Sierra Nevada Brewing. (Pabst is a contract brewer/marketing company that doesn’t own any breweries, instead contracting with Miller to produce their beers.)
None of these three are considered "macro" brewers, certainly not on the scale that the others produce, but then, it depends on your perspective. Compared to a small brewpub that might produce only a couple thousand barrels per year, Sam Adams could well be considered "macro".
Could the "new American Macro" be Boston Lager, or Yuengling Traditional, or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale? Why or why not?
Something to think about. For the purposes of this week, though, I’ll be mostly sticking to the genre of "fizzy yellow beer" we all know and love.
American Macro Week 2: D.B. Hobbs Golden Lager
January 19th, 2009You probably thought the first "American Macro" review was going to be something from one of the megabrewers—not so! I’m reviewing any beer of the "American Macro" genre (i.e., pale lager optionally brewed with adjuncts), and D.B. Hobbs Golden Lager, brewed by City Brewing of La Crosse, Wisconsin, is exactly that.
I rather like the retro look of the can; kind of a throwback to the ’50s and ’60s. The beer inside is 4.81% alcohol by volume. Overall it’s reasonably priced—in the neighborhood of $7 for a 12-pack, similar to PBR (here in Oregon, at any rate).
Appearance: Light golden yellow, straw-colored. Fizzy, pure white head.
Smell: Corn, hard water, fairly typical of the American Macro Lager style.
Taste: Corn-sweet on the tongue, with a fairly clean profile. Some light grassy notes and maybe a faint metallic taste. Otherwise, not much else going on.
Mouthfeel: Light-bodied, but not watery, fairly crisp and a bit effervescent.
Overall: Decent for an American Macro; thirst-quenching on a hot day.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of C+. On RateBeer, it scores 1.95 out of 5, and is in their 7th percentile.
American Macro Week 2
January 19th, 2009This week is Theme Week here at the Brew Site and, like last January, I’ve decided to dedicate this week to a(nother) overview of American Macro beers: welcome to American Macro Week 2!
Last year’s AMW was fairly one-dimensional: I sat down and drank/reviewed/rated 15 different macro lagers. Those beers, and how I rated them were:
- (tie) Coors Original and Pabst Blue Ribbon
- Olympia
- (tie) Icehouse and Miller Genuine Draft
- Hamm’s
- Miller High Life
- Rainier
- Budweiser Select
- Budweiser
- Miller Lite
- (tie) Bud Light and Keystone Light
- (tie) Coors Light and Busch
In the year since then, we’ve seen a number of changes to the industry—for instance, the release of Budweiser American Ale, A-B’s first ever ale under the Bud brand—which have shaken things up, so accordingly, this year’s American Macro Week will mix it up a bit.
Don’t worry, I’ll still be drinking and reviewing macros—somebody has to—but hopefully I’ll be able to give you something more to think about too.
American Macro Week: One final shot
January 26th, 2008For general amusement/amazement:
This past week and a half of drinking these and writing about them was the first time that blogging felt like work.
In a good way, though.
American Macro Week: Another tasting
January 26th, 2008
A few days before I started American Macro Week, Wilson over at brewvana hosted a tasting of his own of three macros: Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Lite. Good timing!
His was a blind tasting, though, of the three, rather than a review comparison like I did. Still, the results are interesting:
However, they were clearly three different beers. One had a more prominent aroma, one had a more pronounced flavor, and the third was clearly the least engaging, trounced by sulphurs that I couldn’t enjoy.
Along the lines of what I determined; there is a difference among all these, if you’re willing to look for it.
And, you know, provided you don’t take any of this too seriously! (Check out brewvana’s previous post to see what I mean.)
