Third Shift Brewing?

Has anyone tried the Third Shift Brewing Amber Lager yet? I've been seeing commercials for it on TeeVee lately but never heard of it before. Curious to know what those who have tried it think about it. Thanks everybody.

I posted about that beer a few days ago, in this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/great-beer-coors-398741/

I didn't buy it, so I can't say how it tastes. I was just so mad about the deceptive marketing that I just couldn't get myself to buy it.

can't trust advertising, gotta do your homework

Yooper said:

I posted about that beer a few days ago, in this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/great-beer-coors-398741/

I didn't buy it, so I can't say how it tastes. I was just so mad about the deceptive marketing that I just couldn't get myself to buy it.

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Ok Yooper, now I'm confused... (which wouldn't surprise you if you knew me) I read that whole thread in the link above but it looked like it was about some beer made by Coors.

The beer I'm curious about is apparently not made by Coors but by some brewery in Fort Worth Texas, see link below:

http://www.thirdshiftbrewing.com/

nope...

MillerCoors

that's why Yooper is calling it deceptive. I had to search for this information (although BeerAdvocate plainly lists it as MillerCoors)

It's made by Coors, just not marketed as such. There are a lot of others that fall into this category. The Wild Blue Lager (Wild Blue Brewery), the Green Valley Brewery, stuff like that. They are deceptively marketed like Yooper said.

Edit to say, I clicked on this thread thinking it would be about people like me who have to brew at night while our children are sleeping ala "third shift"

I had this the other day when it was on tap smack in the middle of several craft taps.

I enjoyed it, checked it in on untappd, then saw it was coors. wow.

this isn't new. PLANK ROAD BREWERY makes Icehouse and Red Dog

and was the name of the brewery that Frederick Miller bought in 1855 to start the Miller Brewing Company

Right here, about 1/3 way in from the left: Third Shift Brewing

http://www.millercoors.com/Our-Beers/Great-Beers.aspx

What you guys are missing is that it's made by Miller Coors brewers who really care about their beer! This is what they make when they aren't making that crap they sell en masse to the masses. It's the GOOD STUFF!

Sheesh! Did you even read the box??

Homercidal said:

What you guys are missing is that it's made by Miller Coors brewers who really care about their beer! This is what they make when they aren't making that crap they sell en masse to the masses. It's the GOOD STUFF!

Sheesh! Did you even read the box??

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oh, so it's not like McDonald's coffee!

it's McCafe!

I picked some up a couple weeks ago and called to ask about ingredients. It's made with high fructose corn syrup. It tasted okay, nothing special.

I tried it at the bar several months ago. It was bland and boring. It lacked any kind of depth or character. And it just wasn't very good tasting. I didn't know it was Coors until just now.

I had it right when it came out and found out it was MillerCoors upon a little investigation. It's not a horrid beer for the cost. I think all the big breweries want to get into the pockets of the craft brew crowd and having products that don't have the "big name" on it is their plan. Most home brewers wouldn't touch it if the saw "Coors black lager" or "Miller Midnight".

Tried it and won't buy it again. It just didn't really taste good at all. I didn't know it was Coors at the time, but in hindsight, that makes sense. Not much flavor. Boring. Not great. An obvious and deceptive attempt at grabbing craft brew money.

The ad campaign made me suspect. Not a lot of real craft brewers can afford super bowl ads for their product lauch.

Airplanedoc said:

The ad campaign made me suspect. Not a lot of real craft brewers can afford super bowl ads for their product lauch.

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Didn't see the Superbowl ad- but when driving home from Texas last week through central Wisconsin (within about 5 miles of Central Waters Brewery, a real craft brewery) I saw the billboard.

I was surprised because I have friends who own small breweries and they don't have that kind of money. So, I stopped for gas and there it was on the shelf. LOTS of shelf space in a gas station. New Glarus had about 2 six packs wide, while this new craft beer had about four shelves.

That definitely made me suspicious.

I had picked up the package and read it carefully. NOwhere does it state anything about MillerCoors- just "third shift brewery, Fort Worth Texas". Since I had just left Texas the morning before I knew damn well that there was no new microbrewery in Fort Worth.

That's when I googled it.

I'm all for free enterprise- but I dislike being lied to. I dislike laws that let corporations get around truthful packaging. Damn it, if Twinkies have to list trans fats, breweries need to list their true company.

Anyway- rant over.

I will not buy this. It may or may not taste ok. But I hate being deceived.

Do yourself a favor and save your money anyway. It is overpriced for what you get. I think it was $5.99/6 pack. I'd take a Double Take anyday for $1 more per 6 pack. Or Kona for $2 more. Or just about anything; even Simple Times, which is way cheaper and better tasting to me. Or maybe it's just because I feel I'm getting a better value with that.

It is cheap tasting beer marked up. If I want something as bad as Coors or MGD then I'll just buy Coors or MGD.

Yooper said:

Didn't see the Superbowl ad-

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Only Inbev can advertise nationally during the superbowl. They ran a local ad spots for it and reds apple ale here. Even a local spot during the SB can't be cheap.

Nothing against MillerCoors, they're just a parent company of many breweries. Blue moon is among my favorite mass produced beers and in the summer, Linenkugal (sp?) summer shandy is awesome! Maybe Third Shift will expand their brews and go after more flavorful styles. It'd be nice to be a craft brewer with the money backings of a huge company.

looneybomber said:

Nothing against MillerCoors, they're just a parent company of many breweries. Blue moon is among my favorite mass produced beers and in the summer, Linenkugal (sp?) summer shandy is awesome! Maybe Third Shift will expand their brews and go after more flavorful styles. It'd be nice to be a craft brewer with the money backings of a huge company.

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point is, they are not a BMC owned craft brewer (like goose island), they are a fictitious brewery marketed as a craft brewery.

SharonaZamboni said:

I picked some up a couple weeks ago and called to ask about ingredients. It's made with high fructose corn syrup. It tasted okay, nothing special.

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That's enough for me, if it's made with HFCS then I wouldn't touch it if it's the last beer on earth. There are two ways to make HFCS and the most polular way involves using mercury, yeah that sutff that the FDA now says it's ok to eat.....

Thanks for the feedback everyone, the ad on TeeVee looked good but I'll stick with mine instead.

it's not worth it. bought it last week seeing that it was something new on the shelf at the liquor store. was disappointed to say the least. googled it afterward to find it was miller/coors but tasted worse than both. save your $$

I'm with Yooper here. I'm willing to give any beer a try even if it's made by the bog boys. But this kind of marketing is just vile. They can shove it.

There is WAY more than enough other beer I have not tried yet to even give this stuff a second thought.

I tried some, nothing great, certainly not worth the cost. I was duped into thinking it was something different by the packaging. I remember reading some info that was on the carton, that the brewers on the third shift at Coors decided to make a special recipe. BS!

atom said:

point is, they are not a BMC owned craft brewer (like goose island), they are a fictitious brewery marketed as a craft brewery.

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Yes, that was what I was trying to say. I don't care if Blue Moon is owned by Coors, or that Leinenkugel's is also. They don't hide it, and it's readily known.

What bothers me is the subterfuge to try to sell people on the idea of Third Shift being a new craft brew.

I like the term I've heard about this lately- "crafty" beers. Crafty beers are want-to-be craft beers, but done by the big boys to try to grab some of the market share.

VApatriot said:

That's enough for me, if it's made with HFCS then I wouldn't touch it if it's the last beer on earth. There are two ways to make HFCS and the most polular way involves using mercury, yeah that sutff that the FDA now says it's ok to eat.....

Thanks for the feedback everyone, the ad on TeeVee looked good but I'll stick with mine instead.

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I called to see if it was brewed with corn, because I have an intolerance. I was surprised to hear they used HFCS, but drank it anyway because highly refined corn products don't cause any reaction for me.

atom said:

point is, they are not a BMC owned craft brewer (like goose island), they are a fictitious brewery marketed as a craft brewery.

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Ohh, that's completely different and I will now jump on the "angry" band wagon with everyone else.

I saw it in a store here in Alaska, saw a commercial on the TV; knew it must be bull****. No craftbeer makes it up here without having a firm hold in the lower 48 (we literally just got New Belgium a couple weeks ago).

At our corner shop in town they have some craft beer. And they also have a pile of stuff that is "crafty", but obviously made or sold by the big boys. Angry Orchard Cider is in there too, but for cider, that's pretty good stuff.

Why is no one complaining about Redd's Apple Ale (Redd's Brewing Company)? it's a Miller product and not advertised as such.

GrogNerd said:

this isn't new. PLANK ROAD BREWERY makes Icehouse and Red Dog

and was the name of the brewery that Frederick Miller bought in 1855 to start the Miller Brewing Company

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I drank a lot of those beers and now truly enjoy my own

I just saw this yesterday in a store display with signs saying "Local Craft Brew". It included things like Mike's Hard Lemonade, Hornsby's cider, and Leinenkugel. The only really local beer I remember was Deschutes Red Chair NWPA. Hell even the Portland Brewing Rose Hip Ale on display wasn't really local if you are talking ownership (same company that owns Genesee, Magic Hat, Pyramid and LaBatt, among others).

I wish Utah got NB... Third shift was drinkable. Not much more. The swmbo was duped by the packaging and though she found a new gem for me. I set the other five in the back of the fridge for when the in-laws are over. The old man loves it.

hatedheretic said:

I saw it in a store here in Alaska, saw a commercial on the TV; knew it must be bull****. No craftbeer makes it up here without having a firm hold in the lower 48 (we literally just got New Belgium a couple weeks ago).

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bknifefight said:

Why is no one complaining about Redd's Apple Ale (Redd's Brewing Company)? it's a Miller product and not advertised as such.

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Redd's was another "local craft brew" in the display in which I saw the Third Shift.

Airplanedoc said:

The ad campaign made me suspect. Not a lot of real craft brewers can afford super bowl ads for their product lauch.

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Thought the same thing about Red's Apple Ale. There were so many ads so many places all at once - I figured it had to be a BMC product.

I think most people automatically discount Reds Apple Ale as the apple flavored wine cooler that it is...

Although, to be honest, I don't like fruity beers, and generally don't like cider most of the time (but sometimes I like it), but I'm very curious to see what it tastes like. My gut feeling is that it's made because someone in a beer company felt the time was right to revisit the 80s.

Big end-cap display of Batch 19 at the Total Wine with a big banner above it and in small little letters it said Coors

Homercidal said:

I think most people automatically discount Reds Apple Ale as the apple flavored wine cooler that it is...

Although, to be honest, I don't like fruity beers, and generally don't like cider most of the time (but sometimes I like it), but I'm very curious to see what it tastes like. My gut feeling is that it's made because someone in a beer company felt the time was right to revisit the 80s.

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Funny you should say 80's...

I ordered one at our local on Friday, just for sh*ts and giggles, and it reminded me of a these guys:

I did quite a bit of research on Third Shift for a blog entry I did (you can click the link in my signature).

I guess I can't be surprised that my blog entry makes up more than half of my views and I think its within the first ten google results for "third shift amber lager", though I haven't checked in a long while.