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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

(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.

(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.