AB Shock Top (warning?)

[maltMonkey]

I had this beer several months ago. I didn't think it was bad by any means (especially for AB). It doesn't compare to some of the really well done Wits, but it wasn't disgusting.

 

[z987k]

Yay! We made it 13 posts this time! Sweeet! I think that might be a new HBT record.

:rockin:

Well you know I saw it happening and was like... wtf no one has bash bmc yet. It must be done.
And so I took this so momentous and important task upon myself, to not let a HBT thread that mentions bmc to go without bmc=piss.

We used to go to BWW in college because there was nowhere else in town that really served good wings. And their wings aren't bad. Especially the "Blazin" sauce. We'd all get 4 apiece and see how long we could last without taking a drink.

And let's be honest, here, folks...it's a buffalo wing bar. I don't think I've ever gone to get wings and said "hey, you know what would go well with these furiously spicy sauces? A stout!"

Indeed, very funny.

 

[Evan!]

I am being honest. I went there for the wings. I was excited to learn they had 30 taps. Then I was disappointed in the lack of variety...and even more disappointed in the beer I chose to try. They do have Guinness if you want a stout with your wings.

The reasoning behind what I said is that, in my experience, the best beer for really spicy wings is light lager. And the price can't be beat. Our local wing joint sells "buckets" of BMC bottles on the patio for cheap as hell.

Really spicy stuff will numb your palate and a good beer (which would undoubtedly cost twice as much as a BMC) would essentially be wasted. Believe me, I've done this before. Ordered a Dead Guy at the Wild Wing Cafe here, only to have it taste like nothing after 2 or 3 hot wings. Hey, great...I spent $4 on a beer I can't taste when I could have spent $2 on a PBR.

And if you go to a buffalo wing place and don't get hot wings, then, well...um...you suck anyways

 

[maltMonkey]

Really spicy stuff will numb your palate and a good beer (which would undoubtedly cost twice as much as a BMC) would essentially be wasted. Believe me, I've done this before. Ordered a Dead Guy at the Wild Wing Cafe here, only to have it taste like nothing after 2 or 3 hot wings. Hey, great...I spent $4 on a beer I can't taste when I could have spent $2 on a PBR.

I was just thinking the same thing. Regarding the Shock Top (I'm not trying to defend this beer BTW) it could have been a bad/old keg/tap. I've ordered draft Sam Adams in BMC bars before and you could tell it had been sitting in the keg for who-knows-how-long and it was flat....tasted nothing like Sam Adams out of a bottle.

 

[c.n.budz]

A BWW opened up around here a few years ago. When they opened the food was great. Nice big juicy wings and tenders, a nice variety of sauces, etc. Then after a few months, I swear they started using smaller, crappier wings and they stopped doing their 25 cent wing day. If a wing joint can't make decent wings, I ain't eatin' there... As for beer I don't think I ever bothered with anything better than a Blue Moon there.

I haven't seen Shock Top around here yet, but if I do I think I'll pass on it...

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Regarding the Shock Top (I'm not trying to defend this beer BTW) it could have been a bad/old keg/tap.

Doubtful. It tasted fresh and almost completely bland...just like BMC brewed "craft" beer always does.

 

[EinGutesBier]

Yuri, I can back you up on this one. My friend bought a sixer of Shock Top and invited me to try some. Who was I to turn it down. I tried it and it reminded me of past-its-prime Blue Moon mixed evenly with Bud. A heaping glass of not good. It wasn't godawful exactly, but it definitely was not wholesome. I'd drink it for free, but I probably wouldn't buy it myself. There's too many other good beers in this category to waste my time.

Now, while we're on AB beers, I would like to add something. Even though Bare Knuckle tastes like a creamy, watered-down version of Guiness, it's not terrible. The nice part is, I usually find Guiness to be mostly tasteless, so when I get to pay $1-1.50 less for a tap of this, I'm fine with it.

 

[Dr Vorlauf]

I used to frequent a BW3 back in college (a long time ago).
It used to be Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck. Weck is apparently another name for hamburger if you believe the adds.

Havn't been to one in over a decade.

Craig

I went to college in Buffalo. A weck is a roast beef sandwich on a salted, caraway seed roll. It also has a German name but I forget what it is...

 

[furlow008]

What is BMC?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Bad Motherf***ing Crap.

 

[Brett0424]

The one here says Buffalo Wild Wings West on the sign, that' why it's BW3's and yes it is lame for a restaurant to nickname itself.

 

[mmb]

What is BMC?

Bad Motherf***ing Crap.

I usually use Bud - Miller - Coors

But I like Yuri's much better!

 

[IrregularPulse]

I saw the shocktop in the store last week and was goinmg to try it but had some left behind millers in the fridge. Glad I didn't waste teh money. I didn't realize it was AB beer.

+1 to the guiness guy up above. I hate when people think guinness is soo thick and bold. I think's it's quite watery and tasteless for a stout!
I guess it's the BMC drinkers way of saying "I know good beer"!

 

[Chriso]

I had a few pints of Shock Top when it was first released in this region about 3 months ago. Didn't think much of it. Not bad, not good.

Picked up a 6 pack today (because it's hucking fumid outside and i want something lawnmowery) and am less impressed than I was to begin with.

4 letters to describe it: YABW. Yet Another Belgian Witbier. Tastes just like Blue Moon or any other gag-me citrus coriander mass-market wit.

Interesting note, though, I had not noticed prior that Shock Top *IS* Spring Heat Spiced Wheat with a new label. I wonder if they're axing their seasonal line, or finding something else for spring? If I re-read this thread, the answer's probably in there, I know, I know. It's still hucking fumid though and I'm too cranky to re-read. This Shock Top isn't doing anything to quench my thirst.

Time to go make some of my Sweet Mint Iced Tea instead. Boo-ya grandma.

 

[-Dan-]

Shock Top gets marked around here (East Central Florida/Space Coast) as a Belgian brew ... some ppl at bars even say its an import and I just can't stop laughing! I guess they just don't know it themselves. Quite a few bars carry it as 'premium.'

As far as the taste goes, I guess one of the better ABs but not really what it is supposed to be. Probably done by the end of summer. Oh well ... I have to give AB the credit to be somewhat creative when it comes to defeat marketshare I mean you need to trick the customer somehow. Overall I prefer a shock top over most other bmc that you get during happy hour.

 

[MattMann]

MOD EDIT: Threads merged.

I was at the store the other day, I saw these sitting there, never noticed them before. A wheat beer with lemon juice, lime juice and coriander. Looked interesting. Needless to say, I bought it, brought it home, and cracked one open. I have to say, that this is the nastiest beer I have ever drank. Hands down! And damn screw off lids to top it off. And that's when I noticed the born on date. Anheuser Busch, should of known it.

 

[Revvy]

holy crap that freaked me out

It took me a long time to search for the link to show him...

Next time you woosh me away give me some warning

 

[MattMann]

Well I searched first, guess I just wasn't holding my head right.

 

[GloHoppa]

So this is my question..

If InBev's bid for Anheuser-Bush goes through, will Budweiser become an import?

DRINK LOCAL!

DRINK HARPOON!

Actually drink any craft beer, even SA!

 

[-Dan-]

So this is my question..
If InBev's bid for Anheuser-Bush goes through, will Budweiser become an import?

Well one thing is sure: They need to remove all the signs at every single one of their parks that say AB is a great American company and American owned.

 

[mmb]

So this is my question..

If InBev's bid for Anheuser-Bush goes through, will Budweiser become an import?

Well, then they can ditch all the AB craft stuff. InBev already owns/holds much better.

But damn InBev to hell for selling Rolling Rock to AB, moving it out of Latrobe and ruining it. I've not bought any Rolling Rock since the change happened. Must be the brewing water in the "Oil and Petrochemical Refinery State."

 

[Homercidal]

I bought it a few weeks ago, not knowing it was AB. I had just tried soem Blue Moon, so I had expectation. Man, what a letdown. Not very good at all. But, suppose a BMC drinker tries it out? It has less taste than some others, so it might make a good "intermediate" beer for them. I'd never buy it again.

 

[DubbelDach]

Yeah, A-B is a parody of itself....

http://www.slashfood.com/2007/04/29/michelob-ultra-fruit-infused-beer/

I saw this the other night on a commercial. These big marketing companies use fancy-ass words and trendy names on these products and idiots eat it up...

Seriously, a beer called "Tuscan Orange Grapefruit"? Can I get this at Olive Garden with my Tour of Italy? I mean when I want authentic Italian, I think OG and Michelob....

Love the use of "ethnic" in their descriptions for "Lime Cactus"... Nothing says "ethnic" like Taco Bell's buzzword "carne asada", so let's use it. People need something "ethnic" to wash down their "ethnic" Gordita.

And can we just please stop using Pomegranate in EVERYTHING??? Did scientists just discover pomegranates? Three years ago, I never heard of them. Now, evidently, they go well with raspberries and beer and EVERYTHING.

Damn, I long for the days when I could still buy "B to da E". <----sarcasm

 

[drunkatuw]

I visited Sea World in Orlando last week and it was my first time tasting Shock Top. I actually though it was pretty good. Of course, this was after drinking an Amber Bock (Sea World's "premium" beer), then two ~8oz samples of the awful Bare Knuckle Stout, a sample of the disgusting Bud Lime. Then we did the brewmaster's club tasting where I tested all my samples, plus my wife's samples and my sister-in-law's samples. So by that time anything probably would have tasted good. I might try it again when I'm sober to see if it really is any good.

 

[Rhoobarb]

I'll be sure to avoid this stuff. I won't touch the Miller Chill - just sounds awful.
The BWW near me has decent food and used to have a decent selection. Last Winter they added Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter and Burning River to their tap list, which already had SNPA. Last time I went, the had discontinued Great Lakes and SNPA on tap. I had to settle for a Sam Adams - and not even their seasonal! It comes down to serving what the masses who gorge on wings, watch NASCAR on the big screen TVs and talk about their dull lives want to drink. And these ilk don't want to drink anything that has any flavor to get in the way of their buzz.

 

[paulvp]

I was duped into this last year when it was called Spring Heat... They'll probably continue to rename it every year in hopes that it will fool others. This year I saw through the BS and didn't make that mistake twice. I've learned to ask who makes the beer now if they say they have *insert crazy name* on tap. Deep down I know that it's probably AB and majority of the time I'm correct.

Luckily the BWW's in the Cities area here carry at least Sam, Leinies, Summit EPA and sometimes Summit's seasonal.

 

[homebrewer_99]

BMC - Basic Mediocre Crap marketed as "beer"...




Just goes to show you...1000 scientists can't brew beer as well as 1 brewer!!! :rockin::rockin:

 

[jamescb77]

well i actuallu drink this beer every so often and think that it's not bad no it's not the greatest beer in the world but you know what i can get a six pack for 7 bucks and they are pop top bottles so i can reuse them sometimes i think the people on this site just bash AB to bash them most people in this thread haven't tried the beer but are still bashing it because it's AB i mean seriously you pay for what you get like i said not the worst ive ever had but not the best either and on another note why would you order a random beer without asking what style of beer it was?

 

[Chriso]

Here, have some punctuation.

.,:;.,/.,!.,?

Now that that's settled. Most of us HAVE tried them, that's the POINT of us posting here. In fact, the majority of us admit to drinking cheap swill when the mood strikes us: See https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=67479 for proof. There are a dozen other older threads just like this one. I myself am a dedicated Miller High Life drinker.

And Shock Top is not pop-top, they're twist-off bottles, at least in the markets that people have reported from above. I guess your market could have pop-tops, who knows?

As far as getting what I pay for goes, last time I stopped at the corner store, Shock Top was $7.99. Heineken was also 7.99, and Boulevard (multiple varieties) was 6.99. I could also get Goose Island for 6.39 for a 6-pack. So if I'm paying $7.99 for 6 bottles of AB fruity tasting swill, I expect perfection, otherwise I can spend less and get more, and will do so.

In summary,

 

[Yuri_Rage]

why would you order a random beer without asking what style of beer it was?

I couldn't decipher the rest of your no-punctuation-no-capital-letter-babbling, but this last part caught my eye.

Why wouldn't I order a beer I've never tried without knowing the style? I can find at least one beer from almost any given style that I REALLY enjoy, so style plays little part in my decision to order. However, the last thing the American beer market needs is another piss poor attempt at a Belgian wit. Had the beer been a good (or even decent) example of the style, I'd have been very happy with my "random" choice.