motleybrew
Well-Known Member
Stella. Smells like bottled skunk piss
Worst Commercial Beer You've Ever Had?
- Thread starter MeatyPortion
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
joe_four_strings
Well-Known Member
Couple of years ago, a friend of mine that only drinks Heineken discovered Heineken Light. He gave me one... Worst beer I've ever had. Tasted like dishwashing water must taste. 
Baja_Brewer
Well-Known Member
It was purchased by Pyramid in 2008 and Pyramid was purchased by north american breweries and in 2012 that was purchased by Cervecia Costa Rica. (I knew the first part but the latter history was provided by wikipedia.)
Alan Newman, the brewer/founder of magic hat went on to found The House of Shandy (they make the Curious Traveler crap) whose "beers" are brewed by an independent boston beer company derivative that Koch essentially created for Newman (Not from wikipedia)- so sorta your rich uncle thing...
His style of beers (and now Shandy) have never appealed to me. I believe the Magic Hat claim to fame used to be and maybe still is that all beers contained apricot. That said, the companies have been immensely successful- different strikes for different folks!
mcartt11
Well-Known Member
I know that there are lots of people out there that really like this beer. Could be that I just got a bad sample, but I have been told that I am one of the folks that is considered a supertaster and suspect this is the reason the beer was bad t me. In supertasters, certain flavors are heightened and perceived differently than the general population. Regardless of the reason, to my tastebuds the beer was bad.
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2010
- Messages
- 17,572
- Reaction score
- 2,614
This. Hands down. Almost drank half of one before i actually threw up. It was un-godly bad. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429468327.156148.jpg
BrewinBromanite
Well-Known Member
After some reflection, I'm pretty sure the beer I was thinking about was this one: View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429501051.540368.jpg
So, not sure why my mind (probably too many beers at the time), was gravitating towards this being of Brooklyn origin?? At any rate - this one was awful, under-attenuated-tasting nastiness. Only one of a very small handful I've ever dumped because I literally couldn't drink it. I've made a few pretty bad batches, that I would have paid to drink over this stuff.
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
iijakii
Well-Known Member
I like most of the asian lagers! They're great on a hot day or after downing some spicy as **** Korean food. Hite, Tiger, Tsingtao noms. Just like Corona with some lime after mowing the lawn. I'd take those over a big craft IPA anyday on a hot summers day after some yardwork.
drainbamage
Keep HBT weird.
I've seen that around stores lately. I'm assuming it's the new Tequiza?
marcownz747
Certified Cicerone, YPG vet
First, let me say that I genuinely believe that all beer is beautiful. There is a time and place where I will drink any and every beer. No exceptions.
That said, I had a beer that I would only ever drink again if it were 110 degrees outside, the beer were ice cold, and a friend offered it to me.
I live in upstate NY. Up here, we have a little gas station that's really famous for its icecream and dairy products. Well, they wanted to jump onto the beer bandwagon, so they got Genessee to contract brew "Stewarts Mountain Brew". The beer is literally $3 for a six pack. I have yet to find a cheaper way to buy six beers at once.
Well, the beer was sickeningly sweet, metallic, and lacked any character whatsoever. Like... I really do hate most hop character... but I was going "Come on, give me some hops. Anything to change this horrid taste".
Well... I'm not alone in hating this beer. Somebody created this rather accurate mock commercial for the beer.
That said, I had a beer that I would only ever drink again if it were 110 degrees outside, the beer were ice cold, and a friend offered it to me.
I live in upstate NY. Up here, we have a little gas station that's really famous for its icecream and dairy products. Well, they wanted to jump onto the beer bandwagon, so they got Genessee to contract brew "Stewarts Mountain Brew". The beer is literally $3 for a six pack. I have yet to find a cheaper way to buy six beers at once.
Well, the beer was sickeningly sweet, metallic, and lacked any character whatsoever. Like... I really do hate most hop character... but I was going "Come on, give me some hops. Anything to change this horrid taste".
Well... I'm not alone in hating this beer. Somebody created this rather accurate mock commercial for the beer.
Last edited by a moderator:
marcownz747
Certified Cicerone, YPG vet
Stella smells like skunk piss when you get it in 6 packs because it's bottled in green bottles. Hop alpha acids are broken down by blue-green light (whether it's artificial or natural light doesn't matter) and when in the presence of hydrogen sulfide (A think all beer has at some level) forms mercaptan, which is the same aromatic compound skunks release.
However, there are ways around this. Stella ships its 12 racks in fully enclosed cardboard boxes. If you insist on having stella in a bottle, drink it from a 12 rack. However, the best way to have stella is on draught, due to the fact that distributors are usually required to keep the kegs at cold/consistent temperatures and the fact that, rather than brown bottles that block 98% of blue-green light, kegs block 100% of the wavelengths of light which denature alpha acids.
Honestly, drinking a green bottle that has been exposed to light will ALWAYS smell like a skunk. That's like... beer storage lesson #1. When you have green bottles, mitigate light. When you're buying green bottles, don't buy ones which have been exposed to light.
I do a tasting every week or so with my coworkers. Last week we actually did a side-by-side lineup of stella draught, stella from a 6 pack, stella from a 12 rack, and a stella which was left purposefully outside in the sun for 5 days. Stella from a 6 pack is very similar to stella left in the sun. Stella from a 12 rack is much closer to stella on draught.
Everybody is entitled to their opinion on beer, but please, if you're drinking skunky beer, it's usually a storage problem (On your part, or on the part of the distributors/shop-workers who either have no idea that green bottles skunk beer, or who think it's an overblown urban legend).
I still don't get how beer companies get away with selling "fakesican" beer in clear bottles at a PREMIUM over normal okay beer.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Stella is a really solid beer (its basically Belgian Budweiser, but better) but green bottles are garbage. I've found it to even be skunky in the cardboard wrapped 12 packs, so I only buy it in cans now when i buy it.
Bowtiebrewery
Well-Known Member
Probably the worst commercial beer I've had is called Lion's Head... For those of you in Pennsylvania, you might know what I'm talking about. I think it was like $11 for 24 bottles... It was just... ugh.... I mean, the things you will drink while you are in college :smack:
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2010
- Messages
- 17,572
- Reaction score
- 2,614
I've never had Tequiza, but that would be my guess. And for the record, I did not, nor would I ever, buy this. A freind brought it over for me to try. Or should I say, ex-friend.
MagicRat
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2013
- Messages
- 120
- Reaction score
- 43
Enjoying the heck out of this thread.
For about 25 years my answer would have been Rolling Rock but a friend brought a 12 over for a party last year and it wasn't as awful as I remembered.
My first beer was Schmidt's (big Phillies sponsor back in the day). Pretty awful.
Red, White, and Blue - discount PBR?
When I was in the Navy in Orlando in the '80s, I was assigned to phone answering duty for several weeks while I was waiting for my class to open up. I was put up in an old wooden barracks from the '40s with no AC but it was literally right across the parking lot from the post liquor store where you could get MeisterBrau for $5 a case. Bad as it was, we sure did drink a lot of it.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429566679.668778.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429566694.591425.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429566713.217683.jpg
For about 25 years my answer would have been Rolling Rock but a friend brought a 12 over for a party last year and it wasn't as awful as I remembered.
My first beer was Schmidt's (big Phillies sponsor back in the day). Pretty awful.
Red, White, and Blue - discount PBR?
When I was in the Navy in Orlando in the '80s, I was assigned to phone answering duty for several weeks while I was waiting for my class to open up. I was put up in an old wooden barracks from the '40s with no AC but it was literally right across the parking lot from the post liquor store where you could get MeisterBrau for $5 a case. Bad as it was, we sure did drink a lot of it.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429566679.668778.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429566694.591425.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429566713.217683.jpg
botigol
Well-Known Member
New Belgium's Salted Belgian Chocolate Stout. I wanted to like this, but the 'salt' component had such a strong chemical flavor that my tongue curled up.
MagicRat
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2013
- Messages
- 120
- Reaction score
- 43
I bought a couple bottles of this recently and thought they had a kind of nasty sour taste - chalked it up to maybe just getting a couple bad bottles and was going tot give it another shot. Think I might pass on this one.
lmeforlife
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2015
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 2
Bud Ice overall. Worst 'craft' beer I've had is a Kroger exclusive (I think) called Taproom IPA; brags about it's hops and 60 IBUs but tastes like an AAL.
BrewinBromanite
Well-Known Member
I second that taproom series. Haven't had one that's not horrible.
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
shanecb
Well-Known Member
I think Dark Horse's Raspberry Ale is absolutely foul. It is not only one of the worst commercial beers I've ever had, but one of the worst beers period. I am amazed that that's the best they can do with it.
cyanmonkey
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2014
- Messages
- 1,074
- Reaction score
- 153
Seriously. I bought it for my wife and as far as I could tell it was a Light American Lager.
Roscoebrewdog
Well-Known Member
Red Dog. Tried it for nostalgia a couple years back, horrible idea. Couldn't believe that they still brewed it, or maybe it was left over from 1992...
motleybrew
Well-Known Member
This would have been my response sans the buying it in cans. In full disclosure, I've only had Stella given to me by a relative who had bought the enclosed 12 pack and shared them with me. I'd be interested to do that side by side comparison of purposefully exposed stella
Far and away, the worst commercial beer I have ever had was when I was in high school (yeah i know), some buddies of mine and I had one of my dad's employees go buy us some beer and we "hid" it in the bushes for a few days in the Texas sun. So, TX heat + Corona Extra in clear bottles. It tasted like skunk ass.
Probably the next worst would be Lone Star Light. Can't even imagine. Stay away.
Probably the next worst would be Lone Star Light. Can't even imagine. Stay away.
paperairplane
Well-Known Member
Golden Anniversary - made by Genessee. Used to be $1.99 a 6 pack. Get a pack of "Jacks" cigarettes from Sheetz for $.99, got your party for under $3. (circa 1992)
chisena
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2013
- Messages
- 1,170
- Reaction score
- 231
1977Brewer
Free Dan Hess.
This is my favorite example because it generates such a response... But I had the red-wax Dark Lord (I think it was 2012) with 3 of my friends. We traded a bottle of Juicy for it. It was awful. I love big-ass alcoholic stouts. One of my all time favorite beers is BCBCS. This was pure syrup. All of us hated it. We poured it out and lamented the loss of a bottle of Juicy.
shanecb
Well-Known Member
I think Dark Lord is EXTREMELY overrated, personally.
drainbamage
Keep HBT weird.
Agreed. It's nowhere near "bad", but it's mostly fueled by the scarcity and hype.
shanecb
Well-Known Member
100% agree. It's not a bad beer but it's nothing totally world class, I think.
But the hype/event around it is kind of fun I guess, so it is what it is
I hate to disagree, but it was bad. Nothing redeeming about it besides the alcohol. I've read many reviews of this particular vintage, and it's definitely considered the worst of the bunch, but nothing as bad as I describe.
I can only assume it was a bad bottle or someone hoodwinked me, because it was undrinkable.
A friend of mine has I think 3 different years stored up, I think. Might do a vertical. Maybe it'll redeem it in my eyes; we'll see.
I can only assume it was a bad bottle or someone hoodwinked me, because it was undrinkable.
A friend of mine has I think 3 different years stored up, I think. Might do a vertical. Maybe it'll redeem it in my eyes; we'll see.
shanecb
Well-Known Member
To each their own! Maybe it was just a bad year/bottle you'd had. I wouldn't go out of my way to get it again, but I thought it an average, decent beer.
Similar threads
