"Lawnmower beer" question for everyone...

DISCLAIMER: I am not trying to "make fun of" or start a brand X is better than brand Z discussion. This question also excludes "ICE" beers because those are an animal all to themselves.

All the talk of "Lawnmower beers" has me thinking...

I am under the impression that this type of beer is supposed to be near flavorless, tasteless and cold as you can get it before it freezes. So why buy "top shelf" if it is all pretty much the same? I get the difference between adjuncts and the minor variations between brands but isn't one pretty much just like the other? or so close you prob couldn't get 3 of 5 right in a blind taste test anyway? especially lite/light beers??? (Yes, I am aware that there are exceptions to this "blanket" thought...)

I completely understand the brain washing and massive advertisement campaigns as well but we should all know better than to believe a specific beer will make us more attractive to the opposite sex by now...so what gives?

My question is. If folks like ICE COLD tasteless beer on those hot summer days, what makes one better than another? and why spend your hard earned dollars on the top shelf stuff if you intend on "pounding it down" anyway???

(FYI - Years ago I did drink the "super cheap" versions like: Mountain Creek and Jacob's Best that were $6 a case/flat. Simply because they tasted just like the "top shelf" versions to me when they were ice cold...Now, I really do not care for any "lawnmower" beer because I like to taste what I am drinking but may revisit the "budget lawnmower beers" just for fun.)

THANKS!

Zamial said:

DISCLAIMER: I am not trying to "make fun of" or start a brand X is better than brand Z discussion. This question also excludes "ICE" beers because those are an animal all to themselves.

All the talk of "Lawnmower beers" has me thinking...

I am under the impression that this type of beer is supposed to be near flavorless, tasteless and cold as you can get it before it freezes. So why buy "top shelf" if it is all pretty much the same? I get the difference between adjuncts and the minor variations between brands but isn't one pretty much just like the other? or so close you prob couldn't get 3 of 5 right in a blind taste test anyway? especially lite/light beers??? (Yes, I am aware that there are exceptions to this "blanket" thought...)

I completely understand the brain washing and massive advertisement campaigns as well but we should all know better than to believe a specific beer will make us more attractive to the opposite sex by now...so what gives?

My question is. If folks like ICE COLD tasteless beer on those hot summer days, what makes one better than another? and why spend your hard earned dollars on the top shelf stuff if you intend on "pounding it down" anyway???

(FYI - Years ago I did drink the "super cheap" versions like: Mountain Creek and Jacob's Best that were $6 a case/flat. Simply because they tasted just like the "top shelf" versions to me when they were ice cold...Now, I really do not care for any "lawnmower" beer because I like to taste what I am drinking but may revisit the "budget lawnmower beers" just for fun.)

THANKS!

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My Guess is it dont much matter what brand you drink, back in the day i drank Ice house,Coors Light or Red Dog.I wouldnt call any of them top shelf and honestly i cant stand to drink them now at all no matter how hot it is out. I would try making your own lawnmower beer, you know it will taste better than anything in the store anyway right!

Vance71975 said:

I would try making your own lawnmower beer, you know it will taste better than anything in the store anyway right!

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To be perfectly honest I think this is one of the hardest styles to homebrew. I can't lager ATM and that limits me even further. I am sure I could brew up some lawnmower like beer and am going to be making a golden cream ale soon. That really is not what I was trying to get at.

I have been reading all the posts of I love my "PBR" or my "MGD" or my "BUD". I do not understand why folks would pay for what I am calling "top shelf lawnmower beer" when there are plenty cheaper options available? I can understand a bar will more than likely not offer Keystone light but that is not "I just finished mowing the lawn, it is hot outside, I want a Yellow fizzy..."

Zamial said:

To be perfectly honest I think this is one of the hardest styles to homebrew. I can't lager ATM and that limits me even further. I am sure I could brew up some lawnmower like beer and am going to be making a golden cream ale soon. That really is not what I was trying to get at.

I have been reading all the posts of I love my "PBR" or my "MGD" or my "BUD". I do not understand why folks would pay for what I am calling "top shelf lawnmower beer" when there are plenty cheaper options available? I can understand a bar will more than likely not offer Keystone light but that is not "I just finished mowing the lawn, it is hot outside, I want a Yellow fizzy..."

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Oh ya i hear that, I will say this If memory serves me right MGD does taste better than Natty or even worse white can with black letters that say "Beer". I think there is better and worse quality even among the BMC beers, of course none of them taste nearly as good as a craft brew to me, but i did use to love Hienkin.

I like a cold, dry, spicy, and flavorful American wheat beer on a hot summer day. Not flavorless at all.

A bartender told me when a table of people orders different light beers they just tell the bartender 6 yellow and no one is the wiser. Now I am sure folks can tell the difference but when buzzed and given the placebo beer I doubt anyone notices.

Pappers_ said:

I like a cold, dry, spicy, and flavorful American wheat beer on a hot summer day. Not flavorless at all.

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As do I. Pretty sure he is not talking about Oberon here.

Zamial said:

I have been reading all the posts of I love my "PBR" or my "MGD" or my "BUD". I do not understand why folks would pay for what I am calling "top shelf lawnmower beer" when there are plenty cheaper options available? I can understand a bar will more than likely not offer Keystone light but that is not "I just finished mowing the lawn, it is hot outside, I want a Yellow fizzy..."

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Fortunately, I don't have a lawn to mow. Just a bunch of pine needles I hit with the leaf blower twice a year. But it's barely starting to get warmer, and I'm really enjoying Full Sail's current LTD (Amber Lager) while it lasts, even though they ignore my pleads to quit using twist tops.

Rarely get the urge for the yellow fizzy. Might have a tall boy of PBR at the strip club every now and then for $2 at happy hour, or whatever a friend has to offer at his place.

A lot of beers styles can be lawnmower ales. pales, goldens, saisons, even stouts. Make your favorite, just keep the abv low (imo 4's and lower) and get a low fg so the beer is dry and crisp.

Beezy said:

As do I. Pretty sure he is not talking about Oberon here.

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No, I fully am aware that there are FANTASTIC FLAVORFUL beers that are also perfect on a hot day. I am going to sit back and see what answers I get because I really am curious about this.

Thanks for all the input so far everyone!

I brew my own "lawnmower" beer. A very light blonde ale with a hint of hop flavor and a dry but slightly sweet finish. They are not hard to brew, they require premium pilsner malts and attention to your pH. I took a keg f the stuff to my friends birthday party (they are all bud light drinkers) and the keg got drained fast. A little flavor IS better than no flavor. This is also a great way to introduce people to new beers, to let them know there are better options out there without overwhelming their palate right off the bat.
I only buy top shelf beers. If I'm going to spend money on beer somebody else made it better be awesome. I want to be jealous of their skill and inspired to work on a new idea.

Here in Texas St. Arnold makes a beer they call "Fancy Lawnmower" which is a kolsch. It's light bodied, clean, and very lager-esque. But there's also some nice maltiness and slight hop character. For me there's a big difference between that and your regular adjunct lager.

Also a kolsch would be a great option for something you can brew without the ability to lager.

as far as yellow fizz goes, if i'm covered in sweat and panting i would rather have coors light. to me it seems the lightest. its like having sex in a canoe. other than that i like pbr, to me it tastes a little better than the other yellow fizz. the one i care for least is miller light, it has a weird flavor that i don't like. i think i might be able to pick these out of a blind taste test, but maybe not. when it comes down to it, all of these beers are interchangeable to me. someone always brings over some ****ty beer and it always gets drank (dranken? drunk?). if i'm buying fizzy yellow beer i rarely look at the price tag, its gonna be cheap and its gonna taste pretty damn close to the same. i just grab one and go.

I just brewed the Midwest Trappist kit with the Wyeast high gravity trappist yeast. The esters produced by the yeast leave the beer very freshing with hints of citrus. It's very refreshing on a warm summer day, but still might be a little on the heave side with an OG of 1.050 I wouldn't waste my time making a brew that lacks flavor. If I'm aiming for an ice cold beer I can't taste, I'll just drink water.

My friends and family were blown away by Coopers Cerveza kit brewed with a kilo of light DME instead of a kilo of sugar. It doens't take much to make a lawnmower beer, really.

Another brew I might recommend is a cream ale.

Zamial said:

DISCLAIMER: I am not trying to "make fun of" or start a brand X is better than brand Z discussion. This question also excludes "ICE" beers because those are an animal all to themselves.

My question is. If folks like ICE COLD tasteless beer on those hot summer days, what makes one better than another? and why spend your hard earned dollars on the top shelf stuff if you intend on "pounding it down" anyway???

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I think it's all about self image. You see someone drinking a 40 of Olde E and another drinking a bottle of Bud Light, who would you think is the richer and the poorer? Neither of them really taste that good, but they both get the job done, albeit the Olde E does a lot better of a job.

Just because you want a light yellow low to med achohol super cold beer doesnt me it cant have some flavor. Try a cream ale with nottingham yeast fermented at about 55 degrees, super tasty and crisp and clean.

I had a 6er of NB's Somersault in the fridge yesterday, but just couldn't drink it while moving dirt with a wheelbarrow... Thats the kind of beer you have to shower, change and sit in the shade to drink..I went with a Miller Lite, but any yellow fizzy would work

I suppose the "why not" is a few reasons... including:

1. marketing works
2. price point is not the only purchase decision

B

I brewed a batch of NBrewer's Patersbier and have been drinking that on hot days. Ok.. And cold ones, and at night Very good beer if you like belgian yeast flavors. My wife said it tastes like Grain Belt Premium to her. I told her she's crazy but you get the picture on the flavor profile.

I never think of a "lawnmower beer" as an inferior beer. I interpret such a beer to be relatively light and easy-drinking; something you could quaff a bunch of on a hot day and enjoy. Yesterday some folks from the neighbourhood gave me a hand unloading my new cooler into my garage so we had a few pitchers of a 2B I have on tap. Great "lawnmower beer" but IMO not just BMC-ish. I guess what I mean is that to me "lawnmower beer" does not equal "BMC."

osagedr said:

I never think of a "lawnmower beer" as an inferior beer. I interpret such a beer to be relatively light and easy-drinking; something you could quaff a bunch of on a hot day and enjoy.

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+1

I personally LOVE my English Mild recipe (@ a blistering 2.8% ABV!!) on a hot day. I can drink that stuff all day long and barely get buzzed, plus when you're done drinking for the day you don't feel sick. Whenever I drink PBR or Coors I get a nasty sick feeling the next day, even if I didn't drink all that much.

Anyone who says all BMC-style lagers taste the same either has a bad palate or, in the case of posters here, either knows nothing about the brewing process or is ignoring that different ingredients, used in a different process, plus minor changes in recipe, will definitely produce a differently flavored beer.

While the difference may be slight, they are certainly there, and to laugh when someone says that they can taste the difference between Bud and PBR is complete ignorance or plain beer snobbery.

As I stated in another thread recently, the "light" versions are complete junk in my opinion, but the regular versions of most BMC beers are not much different than most European Pilsners, minus a little of the hops, and American malts.

I think op has way too limited of a view of lawnmower beer styles but I think the point was really about American mass-produced lagers. I can definitely tell the difference between several. I might not be able to pick out miller high life from keystone light but I haven't drank either in probably ten years. I could definitely spot the difference from the major three, even the light versions.

Airborneguy said:

Anyone who says all BMC-style lagers taste the same either has a bad palate or, in the case of posters here, either knows nothing about the brewing process or is ignoring that different ingredients, used in a different process, plus minor changes in recipe, will definitely produce a differently flavored beer.

While the difference may be slight, they are certainly there, and to laugh when someone says that they can taste the difference between Bud and PBR is complete ignorance or plain beer snobbery.

As I stated in another thread recently, the "light" versions are complete junk in my opinion, but the regular versions of most BMC beers are not much different than most European Pilsners, minus a little of the hops, and American malts.

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I don't think he was really trying to say that, besides didn't he start his post with this:

Zamial said:

DISCLAIMER: I am not trying to "make fun of" or start a brand X is better than brand Z discussion. This question also excludes "ICE" beers because those are an animal all to themselves.

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Then again, he said this too:

Zamial said:

If folks like ICE COLD tasteless beer on those hot summer days, what makes one better than another? and why spend your hard earned dollars on the top shelf stuff if you intend on "pounding it down" anyway???

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Personally, if we are excluding homebrewed beer, I really like PBR. It's a far cry from top shelf, but it tastes good cold. Actually I like that it's cheap. Makes for good drinking on a hot day. Just don't let it warm up; it tastes like iced-tea-gone-bad when it does.

And yes, it does taste VERY different from Bud. Budweiser has to be near the bottom of my beer list. I never turn down a beer that someone offers in a good spirit, but I have to avoid it as much as possible.

Ok thanks again for the replies. I am grasping now that many people are making there own and that is REALLY cool IMO.

What I am trying to get though has really only been addressed by a few of the replies. I am fully aware of the different adjuncts say between BUD (rice) and MGD (corn) and PBR which is a pilsner. Yes, I am sure most people can tell the difference between these because they are different, they may not be able to tell which is which but there is a taste difference, I understand that.

However, I am looking for why someone would drink a PBR when a Jacob's Best tastes identical or so close and is 1/2 the price? I would wager 95% of folks could not accurately tell me which one was which. This is not a BUD vs. MILLER question. It was supposed to be a "premium" vs. "budget/discount brand" of equal or near equal qualities. The only difference being the cost & name.

As a home brewer I can/have been snobbed by my BMC friends or the "craft/import beer only" people. We have a unique position of being able to create our own beer and do not care what others think of us for it, in most cases. I would further reason that we would be the folks drinking these "off brand" mainstream style beers when we do go buy this type of beer but I see more and more folks talking about their favorite premium brand. So why is this?

Carry on!



BTW I did not want to interfere much because I do not want to skew or guide the replies. This aspect of the "lawnmower beer" is what I find fascinating and I am looking forward to the answers I get.

My $.02, when it comes to American adjunct lagers, IMO, some of the cheapies are better. PBR, isn't bad, I won't drink it but many people like it. When I buy cheap beer, which I do regularly, I get Mountain Crest/Creek. $12 a case and tastes better than most, if not all, BMC 'beers'.
But this thread is about 'lawnmower' beer, not adjunct lager. Lawnmower beer is a beer one can enjoy on a hot summer day and still be able to do things like say, mow the lawn, etc. And adjunct lager is a fine way to do that, but at the sacrifice of flavor. I personally would chose a light American wheat like boulevard, or a tasty pilsner (despite it's real pilsener taste and triple hops, I don't mean miller lite). Pilsner Urquell is a great 'lawnmower' beer. What about all the great summer brews that are brewed to be 'lawnmower' friendly like SNs Summerfest, Oberon (although the abv isn't quite 'lawnmower'), GIs Sumnertime Kolsch?

Personally, I don't brew a specific lawnmower beer. Having said that, my bitter is on the low alc side, and could be cooled down to become one. If I do actually want a lawnmower beer, then I am quite happy to throw an ice cold BMC down my neck, they do the job just fine. I wouldn't want to take the time on brewing a beer specifically designed to be drunk this way.....This is just a personal choice though.

Zamial said:

However, I am looking for why someone would drink a PBR when a Jacob's Best tastes identical or so close and is 1/2 the price? I would wager 95% of folks could not accurately tell me which one was which. This is not a BUD vs. MILLER question. It was supposed to be a "premium" vs. "budget/discount brand" of equal or near equal qualities. The only difference being the cost & name.

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If I go commercial "lawnmower", I always go Bud, imo it's far superior to pbr or any cheap beer(bud isn't really cheap anymore). To me "cream ales" don't cut it, blech. When you get lagering capabilities, brew this. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f58/schmipielschaerheingoldter-97553/

Great hot weather beer(or cold for that matter), anyone who doesn't brew this is doing themselves a disservice. Hell, I bought a pound of cluster and styrian golding just to make this whenever I want to.


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Complaing that you hate light american lagers (lawn mower beer) because it is light is like complaining that you hate doppelbock cause its dark or you hate IPAs cause their hoppy and bitter. Let it go...the worlds most popular beer is a light lager...cause its light crisp and refreshing. And yes you can distinguish the variation in this style like all others. Bud the worlds most famous beer, consistent and yes boring to most homebrewers none the less try and brew it...beechwood aged lager good luck. Most homebrewers dont have the skill or equipment. As for me I just brewed my first all grain batch. A blonde ale....lawn mower beer?

bigdaddybrew said:

the worlds most popular beer is a light lager...cause its light crisp and refreshing.?

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That is the only part of your post I would disagree with. Marketing and choice restriction is a huge factor in this.

it think it's funny that PBR is thought of as "top-shelf", i would consider a St. Arnold's Lawnmower more topshelf than PBR.

to me all the BMC beers have their own distinct flavor, even if only slight.

Here in Texas we have Lonestar which is way better than any BMC and its 5% abv.

i know the abv rules differ in each state and i think up north beers typically have lower abv unless they are imports (correct me if i am wrong yankees). in Texas most beers are 5% except something like Natty Light and Milwakees Best. i have a hard time downing anything other cheap beer than Lonestar, down here you'll just sweat out all the alcohol anyway so its hard to drunk unless you are trying.

and they are all about the same price. any chepaer and you venture into Steel Reserve territory...yikes

i can tell that there is a difference between brands, but i don't know if i would be able to pick many out of a blind taste test. then again i don't have any reason to blind taste them. when i drink a beer after mowing the lawn i pound it down my face. it doesn't really matter what the first two taste like because the only time i taste them is when i burp. after the first two i slow down a little, but by then my tastes have adjusted to which ever beer i've been drinking. so i can probably tell a little difference, but it doesn't matter.

It's extremely easy to separate bud light, miller light, or coors light in a blind taste test.

Budweiser makes the best cheap American beer IMO.

If you wish BMC beers had more flavor, keep introducing people to better beer. They cater to the general public, and the general public doesn't like hops or dark beer. Honestly, there's not really much of a reason why Budweiser couldn't make more flavorful beers for marginally more money. Then again, this would undercut craft breweries, so maybe we don't want that. Best solution? Don't care, brew your own, and let people drink whatever they want.

It has just become yet another BMC thread at this point. I'm outa here! (Until I come back)

didn't it start off as a bmc thread?

rycov said:

didn't it start off as a bmc thread?

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Depends on how you read the OP, really.

i was thinking he meant why buy expensive BMC when there's cheap BMC and it tastes the same. (or close enough) not mockingly, but seriously asking.

rycov said:

i was thinking he meant why buy expensive BMC when there's cheap BMC and it tastes the same. (or close enough) not mockingly, but seriously asking.

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yeah pretty much that was what he was asking.