Archive for the 'Light Beer' category
Butt Monkey Chimp Chiller Ale
I came up to Pennsylvania to interview at U of Pitt but after seeing the ridiculous prices for the hotels downtown I decided to stay on the outskirts to save some money. Little did I know I would be in the middle of BFE. Thank goodness the Quality Inn isn’t a run down shack and more importantly I ran across TJ’s take and 6-pack. There wasn’t a huge selection at TJ’s, mainly domestics, but I was able to snag a few brews I’ve never tasted.
Silver Star Derby (Domestic Brew-Off)
Hey y’all. I know it’s been a long time since I rapped at ya’, but I’ve been pulled about 4 ways from Wednesday for the past week, so there hasn’t been much time for boozin’ and reviewin’. However, we bring to you today a review that may be of benefit as we get into the dog days of summer, hanging by the pool, bbq’ing, and drinking fizzy domestic beers. This, my friends, is the Silver Star Derby – named as such because a) it took place on Silver Star Drive, and b) it involves more horse piss than the Kentucky Derby.
For this review, we pulled together a sampling of 14 of our fizziest, yellowest brews to be sampled, critiqued, and compared. It wasn’t easy. Trust me. It was actually very difficult, and at times we wanted to throw in the towel altogether, but we made it through. Here’s a list of the beers we tried:
1) Budweiser
2) Bud Light
3) Bud Select
4) Icehouse
5) Schlitz
6) Southpaw
7) Pabst Blue Ribbon
Coors Light
9) Miller Highlife
10) Natural Light
11) Miller Light
12) Busch Light
13) King Cobra Malt Liquor
14) Stella Artois
You may notice a few omissions here. The three that I most wish could have been included are Rolling Rock, Schaeffer, and Michelob Light. However, we were oddly unable to find these during our single beer stop and, when you’re buying cheap beer in bulk, you gotta stop somewhere. So, bear with us. Also, you’ll notice a couple of odd additions; namely, King Cobra and Stella Artois. The former was included for a comparison basis against what is perceived as a vastly 
inferior beverage, even when compared to the cheapest of beers. The latter is included because I have always felt that it is a vastly overpriced and overhyped beer that is, in fact, on par with most domestic brews.
Our goal with this tasting isn’t to rate these in quality from 1 to 14. We felt that this would be impossible, due to the obvious similarity of all beers involved. Rather, we wanted to get some basic tasting notes and establish the 2 or 3 beers that we feel are the elite of the inferior. Our tasters today 
involve myself, Matt, and our 2 friends who recently moved to the area – Chris and Elsje. Myself, Matt, and Chris are all rather weathered drinkers of quality craft brew. Elsje is an experienced, albeit less weathered, drinker with an affinity for Bud Light, and so will be a less-biased reviewer of the beers in question.
So, there you have it – the Silver Star Derby. Now, let’s get on with the pain.
The drinking was done using a double-blind method involving numbered cups so that noone would know exactly which beer they were drinking at a given tasting. The tastings were performed in 3 rounds of 5 beers each (with the 
exception of the final round, involving 4 beers). During each round, we simultaneously drank the same beer, discussed the beer, and individually ranked that beer against the rest from the round. At the end of the final round, we were left with 3 favorites from each round, roughly equating to our favorite brews from the Derby. While this isn’t an absolutely foolproof method to pick the best of the worst, it’s good enough to get me through the summer. So, for starters, we’ll show you our concise descriptions of each of the beers involved. Here are the descriptions and the random beers included in each round; reviewed in the order they were tasted:
Round 1
Schlitz: Aroma of cardboard and lemon rind. Bland flavor with low carbonation and a watered-down, saccharine sweetness.
Icehouse: Aroma of sea salt and a hint of berry; slight peppery spice. Flavor has stronger presence at the back of the mouth, with a stronger bite and hop profile.
Bud Light: Smells like city water. Flavor of stale bread with a slight vinegary sourness
Stella Artois: Aroma full of spice and malt. Fullest mouthfeel yet with a noticeable hop bit and malty bread flavors.
Southpaw: Burning aroma with a sour citrus tone. Flavor is salty and metallic.
Winner of Round 1: Stella Artois
Runner up: Icehouse
Round 2
Pabst Blue Ribbon: Yeasty aroma with a grainy sweetness. More substantial flavor with hints of nut and smoke. ‘Meatier’ than the other beers.
Budweiser: Cheap aroma with a sugary yeast hint. High carbonation, but a flat flavor. Has a clean finish, but tastes cheap and contrived.
Bud Select: Musty bread aroma. Has a yeasty wild flavor at the top of the mouth, almost like a watered down flemish ale blended with a typical domestic.
King Cobra Malt Liquor: Carbon dioxide aroma. Slight wheaty sweetness with a bit of berry in the flavor. Not very good, but interesting flavors.
Coors Light: Aroma of sour apples soaked in gasoline. Strong flavor with fullest mouthfeel yet. Substantial malt profile with some floral hints.
Winner of Round 2: TIE – Pabst Blue Ribbon, Bud Select
Runner Up: Coors Light
Round 3
Natural Light: Smells of wet cardboard and citrus. Flavor has some citrus and light bready flavor. Quite bitter.
Busch Light: Aroma is malty and sour with a metallic backbone. A rather full mouthfeel with some saltiness. Taste more like what I expect from a ‘domestic brew’ than anything yet.
Miller High Life: Citrus and malt in the nose, and more pungent than most. Decent hop profile in the mouth with a lingering bitterness. Some evidence of lemon zest and a light sweetness.
Miller Light: Non-descript aroma, almost ‘sweaty’ smell. Quite bad, with a sour flavor that gave us all the dreaded ‘bitter beer face’
Winner or Round 3: Miller High Life
Runner Up: Busch Light
So, there you have it. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed in my own results, as I rated Stella Artois right up there with the best of the worst, whereas I would’ve preferred that it come in at rock bottom. However, I’m willing to eat crow when it is deserved. (Although, admittedly, Stella Artois is only on-par with the best of domestic beers, which isn’t saying a lot, considering the price differential and perceived value of the beer). Another surprise was that Busch Light actually ranked pretty well, contrary to what I expected. However, beyond those surprises, the remainder of the rankings fit fairly well with my expections – I feel that Miller High Life and Pabst Blue Ribbon are both above par when compared to most domestic brews, so I’m glad to see them do well.
In closing, I hope you enjoyed the fruits of the dismal experience that was the Silver Star Derby. So, when you step into your grocer’s aisle to pick out that 12-pack for your upcoming lake outing or BBQ, you’ll know that, at least in the eyes of the SevenPack crew, your best bets are:
Stella Artois Miller High Life Pabst Blue Ribbon Bud Select
Coors Light
Please direct your attention to the Venn Diagram below for the full review of Coors Light. Thank you.
Miller Lite
There’s this commercial that I’ve seen several times during football games recently. It shows a couple of Miller Brewing dudes in safety goggles hoisting a banner from the World Beer Cup 2006. It seems as if Miller Lite, for the fourth time in the storied history of the competition, is the gold medal winner in the prestigious American-Style Light Lager category. To me that’s like someone proudly hanging a new Embezzler of the Year plaque in their office. Cheers to being the best at what you do, Miller Lite. Too bad what you do borders on criminal.
Personally, I prefer to keep my World’s Best Deadbeat Dad 2004 trophy well hidden. It’s not something I like to brag about, even though it is a really handsome trophy and I worked hard to get it.
I guess Miller Lite deserves a review, so here goes… It pours a diluted Post-it Note yellow with a bubbly-ish white head. It smells of a skunk that fell in a pile of hops and tried to clean up using my roommate’s Juicy Green Apple shampoo. It also tastes of a skunk that fell in a pile of hops and tried to clean up using my roommate’s Juicy Green Apple Shampoo. And that’s all I really have to say about Miller Lite.
Quilmes Cerveza
As many of you may know, I always strive to find a tasty new brew when I travel to various states. During my journeys, I have happened upon the state of Florida on more than one occasion. The beautiful thing about Florida is that they have no alcohol cap on beer. This means that I can occasionally track down a Dogfish Head 120-Minute IPA or a Dogfish Head World Wide Stout around here. The bad thing about Florida is that, for the most part, the craft brew scene blows. Seriously, there just isn’t a big scene, and it’s hard to find anything great beyond a few select breweries’ offerings.
So, that brings us to the story of Quilmes Cerveza – “Argentina’s Favorite Beer!”. Normally, I’d shy away from what appears to be a simple light beer with little redeeming quality save it’s similarity to many American domestics. However, I’ve never seen this before and it is apparently imported into Miami and subsequently enjoys small American distribution. So, odds are good that I won’t find this many places and I’m sure that SOMEONE out there will eventually Google it and find a much-needed review here on SevenPack (if you do, please leave a comment so I’ll know my efforts are appreciated).
Anyway, this beer pours a very light golden with a head consisting of tiny stark white bubbles that quickly disappear. The aroma is reminiscent of beer – I’m not quite sure how else to explain it. It is mildly bitter and smells like a frat house or a Budweiser refinery. Now, for the taste. I know I’ve painted a rather bleak picture thus far, but this beer is actually pretty good. One thing I often find about other countries’ light beers is that they have a fuller and more flavorful body than the light beers in the US of A. This beer begins with a light carbonation burn that then moves to a lightly sour bitterness reminiscent of the hops typically used in a pilsner. On through the mouth, you can taste some breadlike malts that traverse the back of the tongue and stick to the aftertaste. The mouthfeel, while rather full, flushes through the mouth to leave a very clean and fresh sensation. The beer is overall very cool and crisp, and it is extremely refreshing. Honestly, I can think of few beers that would please me more on a hot sunny day. A pleasant surprise, indeed!
Kokanee Glacier Beer
I have to admit, I was skeptical of trying this brew. The primary selling point of this beer is that it is made from glacier water in Utah – they make no mention of hops, malt, or yeast. So, immediately I assume that I’m in for a relatively flavorless beer. But, I simply can’t resist trying something new and local. So, whilst visiting the miniscule town of Hope, Utah, I figured I should give it a whirl. As expected, this beer pours a very pale yellow, much like any Bud Light you might find elsewhere. The aroma is nearly nonexistant – what we do find is the usual tint of a ‘light beer’ aroma. In the mouth, however, this beer is actually rather pleasant. It is very crisp and very quenching, and it doesn’t seem to exhibit the bitter metallic taste that often follows with cheaper light beers. That being said, there actually isn’t much of a flavor to the beer at all. You can detect just the slightest bit of hop and malt, but it is really more about a very light and refreshing liquid that should best be enjoyed ice cold. So, while I can’t give this beer accolades for any unique flavor, I can say that it would make a great summertime beer and it is actually a pleasure to drink.
Abita Light Beer
If you were to ask if I approve of good beer companies making attempts at ‘light’ beers, I would probably say that I don’t. I suppose the only redeeming quality of these beers are that they might be a stepping stone for domestic light-beer guzzling folk to branch into the wonderful world of craft brews. That being said, the Abita light beer is one of the better ‘micro-lights’ that I’ve had thus far. It pours a light golden and smells like a watered-down pilsner. The flavor is, as expected, a little flimsy. However, there is noticeable malt and hops in the beer, and no disappointing sourness or metallica overloads that you’ll find in most other light beers. So, as far as the genre goes, I’d say this is pretty good. But, as far as beer goes, I’d say this is watered-down. I’d be interested to try this alongside the Sam Adams Light, as it seems to be the big competitor in the domain of ‘quality’ light beers.
