My neighbors own a convenience store so I popped in there and figured I’d grab a beer, because I wanted a beer. They cater mainly to people who stop in every day picking up a 12 pack of this, or a 20 of that. It’s nothing special and most of it is lousy and I prefer at least a halfway decent microbrew. Watered down beer is not pleasurable to drink. Fortunately we have access to some decent beer and wine stores that offer tastings, one of which brings back some pretty nifty finds when returning from trips, but I was tired and didn’t feel like making the jog across town.
While I was in there I saw something different, tucked in the upper left corner of another cooler. It was Budweiser, and some effort was put into giving the box a modern retro look. An actual retro look would have been much, much simpler, but this is neat, with a recycled paper feel to it and an eagle on the box. The beer was also devoid of the amped up look that is common in the “get you drunk fast and cheap” beers. I hate being drunk.
So I bought it. It claims to be a “Carefully brewed with Barley from American’s Heartland and Cascade Hops from the Pacific Northwest” American Ale. They oversold the “American” part, but this is a Belgian company now with a Brazilian president, so what would you expect. I’d have been more impressed if they had claimed to import the best materials available from around the globe, but it’s Budweiser, so I’m not expecting much.
Forget the beer lingo. You can find reviews for it HERE. They do the sniffer test well enough. I’m just going to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this beer. It was inexpensive, and halfway decent. This combination has been lacking in the American Beer market since about forever. Is this the best beer you can buy? Not by a long shot. The best beer you can buy is made by monks and you should really make the trip to Europe to get it. Is it bad? Not at all. In fact, I’ll probably go ahead and get it again, provided they continue to sell it. It’s a good beer for a cookout. It’s not too strong and would probably satisfy a beer snob while not offending the Busch Light crowd. After people have had a few you can bring out the carbonated urine. The Beast, Busch Light or even Pabst Blue Ribbon should be fine. They won’t notice, unless they’re beer snobs.