Budweiser American Ale - with Taste notes

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niquejim

Burrowing Owl Brewery
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Let's see if they can get this one right


Budweiser American Ale rolls out next month: An interview with the brewer
By William Brand
Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 7:00 pm in Bud, Craft Beer, General.


Budweiser American Ale: 5.2 percent, 25-28 IBUs, mild taste.

Budweiser, America?s Ale.?

Hey?here?s a sodden thought (to copy the late, lamented Herb Caen, the San Francisco Chronicle columnist)?could this ale coming from Anheuser-Busch in September truly become America?s ale, just like Bass Pale Ale or Courage Directors in the UK, a mild, amber companion to Budweiser, the American Lager?

Just got off the phone a short time ago with Eric Beck, the A-B staff brewmaster in charge of the project. Bare bones: The beer?s an amber ale, 5.2 percent ABV. IBUs (International Bitterness Units) 25 to 28. It?s made with two row pale barley and caramel malt. Bittering hops are Palisade, aroma hops spicy Saaz and Willamettes and piney, citrusy Cascades. It?s also dry hopped with Cascades. Every ingredient is American. No foreign ingredients.
It?s going to be released nationally in kegs on Sept. 15 and in bottles on Sept. 29. A national advertising campaign begins the last week of the Olympics, A-B says.

Why Budweiser, the American ale? ?Marketing did a bunch of research,? Beck says. ?Obviously craft beer has been doing phenomenally well. But there seems to be a gap as far as a national brand. There are a number of regionals, but no truly national ale,? he says.

Hmm. I actually think that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale may already have the title. It?s become ubiquitous in the damnedest places, like Omaha Nebraska and Chicago. However, Sierra Nevada still doesn?t sell in the millions of barrels, does it. And of course, even Sierra Nevada, the number two craft brewer after Sam Adams, doesn?t begin to have the advertising clout of A-B. And we all know that advertising sells Budweiser, so why not Budweiser American Ale.

What does the beer taste like? Don?t know. ?This is not an IPA,? Beck says. ?People who are die-hard craft beer drinkers may not prefer it. We?ve produced something that is more mild; it?s not loaded with hops. It?s an easy drinkable beer,? Beck says.

They brewed the beer with a variety of different ale yeasts before choosing a winner, he adds. With ales, compared to lager strains, an ale yeast is more important in the beer. A-B didn?t want a ton of esters, the component of ales that taste like ripe fruit. They also didn?t want a yeast the produce an overly sweet beer, Beck says. Budweiser American Ale?s been in development for a long time, Beck adds. In trials, the beer was brewed with seven different hops in various combinations.

Initially, it will be brewed in St. Louis and at the A-B plant in Fort Collins, Colo.

And what about the influence of InBev, which has won agreement from the A-B board to buy the company. That?s management, Beck says. He?s a brewer. Got a hunch that brewers will still be welcome at the merged company.
 
This could be interesting. I have wondered why lagers are so abundant in the American market.

I would give a try. Can't be worse than an infected batch, could it?? :)
 
So, they're making an ale, but deliberately going light on the hops... and deliberately choosing a yeast that won't have a lot of character... and they don't want it to have any sweetness....

Aren't they just brewing a non-lagered... well, a non-lagered Budweiser?
 
So, they're making an ale, but deliberately going light on the hops... and deliberately choosing a yeast that won't have a lot of character... and they don't want it to have any sweetness....

Aren't they just brewing a non-lagered... well, a non-lagered Budweiser?

Close, but Bud is what 10-12 Ibu's tops. So they doubled the bitterness and if just a hint of the dryhopped Cascades comes through it might be just enough to get some beer novice to go from there to SNPA and beyond.
I'll give it a try but I don't expect much, that way I won't be disappointed:D
 
This could be interesting. I have wondered why lagers are so abundant in the American market.

I wrote up some info about that here; https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=790628&highlight=Ogle#post790628 The book I got the info from is mentioned in the post as well, it's a history of the brewing industry in america...and the rise of AB...

So, they're making an ale, but deliberately going light on the hops... and deliberately choosing a yeast that won't have a lot of character... and they don't want it to have any sweetness....

Aren't they just brewing a non-lagered... well, a non-lagered Budweiser?

Sounds like it, and you know it will be as highly hyped as it will be lightly hopped...Hey I think I came up with their new slogan...


americanale.jpg
 
This seems to be a step in the right direction. But let me taste it first.

It isn't a step in the right direction though. It is an attempt to try to regain market share lost to the craft brewers. Michelob Light craft beer is a good example of stuff that never should have happened. They're pissed that the little guys are taking their market.

there's enough room for both markets and it sucks that they're trying to dumb down beer for the masses. Hopefully people who are already buying good craft beer won't be fooled by this. I think most of us are smart enough.
 
Thanks revvy. I just have a bit of beer angst in this small town. There is a "bottle" shop, but limited in selection. The grocery stores carry the usual BMC and other lagers. VERY few ales.

That info helped to make some sense. I figured the Americans back then rejected ales since they were more popular in England and Europe.

Learned something new, now it's time to go home :)
 
It isn't a step in the right direction though. It is an attempt to try to regain market share lost to the craft brewers. Michelob Light craft beer is a good example of stuff that never should have happened. They're pissed that the little guys are taking their market.

there's enough room for both markets and it sucks that they're trying to dumb down beer for the masses. Hopefully people who are already buying good craft beer won't be fooled by this. I think most of us are smart enough.

Very true. I stand corrected. Was just thinking that it would be nice if good beer would be the norm, instead of the piss water. But what they are going to come up with is just an ale version of it. I'm sure that many craft brew drinkers will try it out but will go back to the real craft brews quickly. Hopefully this will end up helping the BMC drinkers along to where they will venture out to craft brewed beers and increase the market for them.
 
Just found this on Bud's site:

bud.png


Notice the top of the bottle does not have any threads!! Could be a great source of bottles if you don't mind putting your own brew in BMC glass.

Nice color tho.
 
This is from an older article on it...I just found some things interesting.

Budweiser American Ale is meant to attract what A-B's marketing department calls "experimenters" — drinkers who bounce around among various beers such as Yuengling, Fat Tire, Hoegaarden and Budweiser.

"They love beer, they just try a lot of different things," said Dave Peacock, vice president of marketing at A-B's domestic beer subsidiary. Although Peacock acknowledged that some craft beer enthusiasts won't try a Bud-branded ale, the company expects that a sizeable portion of the market will have no problem with the concept.

The new ale's task is to bring its own sales while also drawing drinkers to regular Budweiser, which is on a two-decade slide.

A-B is slamming millions of extra dollars into Budweiser's marketing budget to promote it as the Great American Lager.

Peacock said the new ale, priced somewhat higher than regular Budweiser, is expected to enhance rather than diminish Budweiser's image.

Introducing a Bud-branded ale now "makes sense," said Peacock. "It builds on the credentials of Budweiser as a genuine American beer."

So "experimenters" lump Budweiser in the same class as Fat Tire, and Hoegaarden? In what syphillus induced fantasy land does the AB marketing exec who said this live in? Most of the "experimenters" I know, whether or not they are as beer knowledgable or snobby as I am, drink Fat Tire, Hoegaarden, hell even Killians or Guiness for that matter, because they can't stand Budweiser!
 
I'm sure it will taste better than their other products, but I still have the bar set very, very low for this beer.
 
Here's a couple preliminary reviews of it from some beer writers that were given a snek tasting in St Louis a few months back.

Before anybody starts moaning about this new Budweiser American Ale without tasting it, I say hold judgement until October. I thought that the bottled version that I enjoyed was the result of just what A-B personnel said they were striving for. The amber-colored beer was malty, with a nose that indicated a light dry-hopping of what I’m certain were Cascade hops and the muscle of 5.3% abv behind it. Budweiser American Ale was not, however, a hop-bomb, one of those toe-curling ales that have you burping up hop oils the next morning. It was, I don’t know how to put it any other way, it was…balanced. It was also very, very good in the bottle; I think it would be hard to put down, drawn fresh from the tap. And with the extensive A-B distribution network in place, it’s going to be near impossible to find an old beer on the shelves that has lost its hop nose, a complaint that I still have with some respected craft beers.


Here's a video of that tasting...

[youtube]pY4AH2KJ650[/youtube]

And another review from that tasting...

Pros
Flavorful
Nice Character

Cons
Too sweet

Description
Full malty flavor
Light hops - 30 IBUs
Drinkable but not remarkable.

Guide Review - Tasting Notes and Review for Budweiser American Ale from Anheuser-Busch

The beer pours with a thick, rocky head that sits atop a very clear, copper body. Its aroma is mostly sweet malt with some citrusy hops apologetically peeking through. The flavor follows this theme with strong, nutty malt flavors dominating and some hops. The ale is drinkable but could easily become cloying after a couple.
 
I'm sure it will taste better than their other products, but I still have the bar set very, very low for this beer.

The only hope I have , is that it won't make me puke, since you know it is going to be in everybar in the country (probably knocking out the 1 craft beer that a bar might have on tap.)

So since it's going to narrow my choices of finding a decent beer in the typical sports bar after a hockey game...I'm not hoping for much, except that it be drinkable....Which personally Bud is not...

Here's anther video I found...this is "The Making Of."

[youtube]wGcqjJootQY[/youtube]

ANd here's some notes I took watching both videos...

Pale and Caramel Malts,

Hopped with Palisades for Bittering, Willamette and Saatz for Flavor, and Cascade for aroma...Dry Hopped with at least Cascade.

Ale yeast, fermented cold, yet warmer than Lager...

14 days fermentation.

It would be interesting to keep nosing around, picking up clues here and there, and then brew a small batch of what I think it might be like, ahead of time...
 
It isn't a step in the right direction though. It is an attempt to try to regain market share lost to the craft brewers. Michelob Light craft beer is a good example of stuff that never should have happened. They're pissed that the little guys are taking their market.

there's enough room for both markets and it sucks that they're trying to dumb down beer for the masses. Hopefully people who are already buying good craft beer won't be fooled by this. I think most of us are smart enough.


Did You read it?
They are looking for the experimental Bud drinker. You don't want them to taste Cascade Hops. I don't expect it to be great, but if it get a few Bud drinkers to try an ale?????????????????? How great would that be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't understand the hatred of AB. I personally do not drink any AB product, But I'll try them
 
Did You read it?
They are looking for the experimental Bud drinker. You don't want them to taste Cascade Hops. I don't expect it to be great, but if it get a few Bud drinkers to try an ale?????????????????? How great would that be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't understand the hatred of AB. I personally do not drink any AB product, But I'll try them

Very good point!

I wonder if we'll be able to drag a few of them over to "our" side of then fence....You're right, we may have a "gateway" beer to convert the masses with.

I'm looking forward to giving it a try, whether or not I give it any hope of being decent. There hasn't been a true MACRO ale on the market since what, the 70's or 80's. (I don't count SNPA or Sam Adams as macros, since they started as micros.)

You know that soon the other macrbreweries will be putting out Ales as well (like Bud and Labat's have put out lime beers after Miller Chill became a hit last summer.)

So we might have a bit of an "Ale Revolution."

You know what would be cool? Since "nostalgia beers" Like PBR and now Schlitz are being released, if some of the macros blow the dust off their old Ale recipes, they bought the rights to.

Maybe someone will revive Ballantine's and Ballantine's IPA!!!

That would rock.:rockin:
 
The fact that AB would formulate, and advertise a beer as 'dry hopped and using top-fermenting yeast' is proof that our tastes have been heard.
 
Hopefully this will end up helping the BMC drinkers along to where they will venture out to craft brewed beers and increase the market for them.

This may have the opposite effect that AB is expecting. It lures the Bud drinker to try an ale. Once they are in ale territory, they will be looking at craft beers more and more. Then never look back.

AB would be smarter to have their own micro-brewery chain that has a variety of their craft beers and sells good food. Think Rock Bottom & Granite City..... throw in a sport bar theme. $$$$
 
This may have the opposite effect that AB is expecting. It lures the Bud drinker to try an ale. Once they are in ale territory, they will be looking at craft beers more and more. Then never look back.

AB would be smarter to have their own micro-brewery chain that has a variety of their craft beers and sells good food. Think Rock Bottom & Granite City..... throw in a sport bar theme. $$$$

I agree with that. I think it'll pull people away from Bud. Especially once they figure out what a REAL AMERICAN ALE tastes like. Damnit, it seems lik i'm always three words away from another BMC rant! :mad:
 
This may have the opposite effect that AB is expecting. It lures the Bud drinker to try an ale. Once they are in ale territory, they will be looking at craft beers more and more. Then never look back.

AB would be smarter to have their own micro-brewery chain that has a variety of their craft beers and sells good food. Think Rock Bottom & Granite City..... throw in a sport bar theme. $$$$

It's funny that you mention this as I just heard Michelob commercial (which is obviously an A-B company) state they are "Crafting a better beer". When I went to their website, I found that Michelob is making a porter, bavarian wheat, british pale ale, European style lager, and a munich malt Marzen.

This could be what A-B is trying to do with Michelob. Make them the craft brewer of A-B and bring drinkers into the A-B family.

I had no idea Michelob made any of these beers. Tis interesting.
 
Very good point!

I wonder if we'll be able to drag a few of them over to "our" side of then fence....You're right, we may have a "gateway" beer to convert the masses with.
You know what would be cool? Since "nostalgia beers" Like PBR and now Schlitz are being released, if some of the macros blow the dust off their old Ale recipes, they bought the rights to.

Maybe someone will revive Ballantine's and Ballantine's IPA!!!

That would rock.:rockin:

Don't tease like that. I can only dream about that beer:(
When DFH does a replica of Barton Ale, you know it must have been great. Aged 10+ years on oak.
I would love to have tried one
 
...since you know it is going to be in everybar in the country (probably knocking out the 1 craft beer that a bar might have on tap.)

Dude, that's EXACTLY what I was thinking as I started my way through this thread. Back in the early 90's my then girlfriend (now SWMBO) used to frequent a downtown restaurant for happy hour on Friday after work. This was before micros were common, but they had Whitbred Ale on tap of all things. At the time, that was a pretty exotic offering for these parts. One Black Friday we went down there and the Whitbred was gone, replaced by the brand new Bud Ice.

The place closed about six months later. I'd like to think it was Karma.
 
I could see the handwriting on the wall the other day when I went into a Thriftway in Oregon to buy some beer. Everything - EVERYTHING - visible on display was a local craft brew. If you wanted a BMC, you had to go into the walk-in freezer to to get it.

I'm interested, and I think it will give momentum to the movement toward better beers, so good for them. I do not imagine it will put even a single craft brewer out of business.
 
Hey, I actually think this is kind of cool and am looking forward to trying it out when it in September when it becomes available. I am expecting a 'watered down' version of a true ale, but hey, that is what they are going for. If anything it'll be a halfway decent beer to grab when nothing else is available out in bars/restaurants. Pics show a nice dark red body, thick head, and they are talking about multiple hop additions (including dry hopping) for a light hoppiness and some specialty malts for a good maltyness and some gentle toasted flavors. Could be interesting.

I don't get all the hatred for BMC anyway. Sure, the light stuff is nasty and watered down but hell, if someone likes it who cares. IMO, the 'regular' stuff like Budweiser isn't half bad. Everyone talks about BMC having no flavor but when something comes out that could possibly be halfway decent, no one is still happy. Not trying to start some flames, just some observations. I say hold off on judgement until it comes out. It's beer! And beer is awesome!

A buddy and I split an ice cold bucket of Bud at the ale house last night watching the olympics and it wasn't bad at all, even somewhat enjoyable I daresay. That's not to say it can compare to a great all malt beer but whatever, there is a time and place for everything (especially when pints of 'good' beers are ~$5 a pop, $15 a pitcher).
 
I saw the new TV ad for it last night. I got the impression that they were trying to tell us that they have just invented a new style of beer. The colour and head looked like they were trying to keep it looking at least a little similar to what people would expect to see from a regular Bud so as not to scare anyone off. Colour was on the pale side and the head was, as they say, "rocky" with little evidence of a good lacing. It just looked like a cheap bottled ale to me. It's not that those characteristics are wrong necessarily, it's just that you can see exactly what they are doing regarding not straying too far from thier trademark style. My only real objection to all of this is that it will be "somewhat" more expensive than a regular bud. That seems to indicate that many people will be paying way too much when there is better beer available at a similar price, but without the branding they will follow blindly......But what do I care what the sheep do, I have my home brew. ;)
 
I could see the handwriting on the wall the other day when I went into a Thriftway in Oregon to buy some beer. Everything - EVERYTHING - visible on display was a local craft brew. If you wanted a BMC, you had to go into the walk-in freezer to to get it.

I'm interested, and I think it will give momentum to the movement toward better beers, so good for them. I do not imagine it will put even a single craft brewer out of business.

I think you've hit it right on the head...at least for me, and most people I know. I love a SN Pale Ale, but it's got to be at least a month since I've had one...even though that is pretty much the default beverage around here. Rather, I'll opt for a seasonal from Sierra Nevada (like Anniversary, Cele, etc.), or pick something up I've never had before. I want variety, and I'm not interested in drinking the same beer all the time. I find that a lot of friends and family are the same way: at BBQs and parties, I notice that people rarely bring the same thing they brought to the last party.

The only exception to the rule here is the Corona/BMC drinkers...which seems that is the only beer they will ever buy. I don't think that they would even try the Bud American Ale, since they've already found their silver bullet. I haven't tasted the new Bud Ale yet, but I imagine it will be like the Michelob "craft" styles...uninteresting but not horrible. We'll see when some BMC partygoer brings some Bud Ale to my house.
 
WOW - reading the comments surprises me and makes me AGAIN - glad I gave this forum money.

You guys are being freaking adults about this.

I was anticipating a ton of rants and whining about Budweiser American Ale taking over but what I read is adults talking about a new product and what it really does for the industry and craft movement.

Well done!!!!
 
My hopes are that this beer opens peoples eyes that would of never tried an Ale but would of just stuck to the same old BMC that they know they like.
Maybe this will be a good thing for the craft market. There have to be some people out there that will try this new bud ale and think they like all ales. So at first they will just start looking for something that is the same color, so then they may try some Pale ales, maybe even a Kolsch or, or even an IPA if they cant read the writing on the bottle or they just dont know what an IPA is. Then eventually there eyes will open and they will only buy beer of the craft variety!!

Then, the revolution is put in motion. Previous BMC drinkers, now called Converts, will take over all the BMC brewerys and start brewing there own Micro on a Macro scale and they will now dominate the market. Every month they will rotate beers and keep the styles varied.

or









BMC people will continue to drink BMC and BudAle will be reserved for Yuppy tool bags that wanna look cool by not drinking the BMC stuff.
 
BMC people will continue to drink BMC and BudAle will be reserved for Yuppy tool bags that wanna look cool by not drinking the BMC stuff.

But yuppie toolbags are only one step away from crossing over to "our" side...they're malleable.

"Hey dood, you like that BMA you're drinking, well try this, it's called "Arrogant Bastard. It's just your style." ;)

ArrogantBastardAleBeer1.png
 
Revvy, been staring at my avatar??? :D

It'd be a notch up if they carry it in swill bars where I end up with friends of SWMBO or Bud sponsored events, two places where you can't get anything besides style 1-A now...
 
Revvy, been staring at my avatar??? :D

It'd be a notch up if they carry it in swill bars where I end up with friends of SWMBO or Bud sponsored events, two places where you can't get anything besides style 1-A now...

For a hot moment I almost considered using it for mine, but then I remembered you had it :D

But I agree with you...I do a sports bar a couple nights a week during IHL hockey season next to the arena, and honestly I get tired of drinking guiness or PBR (they even replaced pbr with one of the other new bud products.) So hopefully it will be decent enough to quaff, without feeling like I gotta brush my teeth and gargle with a homebrew when I get home.
 
I'll probably give it a try for ****s and giggles. But I doubt I will buy many - unless I am at some event where they only carry bud products.
 
I'll try it.

I think this will be a good thing for the beer market. If this product is successful, and it probably will be, we'll have more ale drinkers out there. They will probably get the urge to try different kinds of ales, which will help support micros across the country.

I highly doubt this product is going to be good enough to take people away from the micro market. I'm pretty sure this will be a gateway beer for BMC lager drinkers.
 
I'll try it.

I think this will be a good thing for the beer market. If this product is successful, and it probably will be, we'll have more ale drinkers out there. They will probably get the urge to try different kinds of ales, which will help support micros across the country...

+1

Some indisputable facts:

  • AB has mastered the art of mass producing a consistent, exceptional example of the light lager. (Watery and rather tasteless…yes…but a recognized style none the less.)
  • AB employs some of the very best brewmasters in the world.
  • These Brewmasters by their very vocation, desire to expand their horizon and develop new recipes for a wider variety of beers.
  • The AB Brewmasters creativity has likely been constrained by profit objectives of the corporation. (“Yes Jason, we know you have a great recipe for a great IPA, but that’s not what we do here…”)
  • AB does not release a new product until they have performed exhaustive market (taste) testing on their target audience. (In this case, the targeted audience includes craft beer drinkers.)

Don’t kid yourself into thinking that this is a half hearted attempt to just fill the shelves at the grocery store. They have the resources. They have the brewing talent. They have probably tossed out 25 recipes to hit upon a universal winner. They didn’t test this on their normal BMC market audience.

They fully intend to sell an exceptional example of an American pale ale.

And I fully intend to hit the local tap room in September and try a pint. :D
 
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