AB Shock Top (warning?)

[JMD87]

I'll loosely quote a statement from a G.E. CEO? He said "We are not in the business to make cars, we are in the business to make money... but to make money, we need to sell car's"

I guess my point is, I believe AB could care less if their beer is a hit with real beer lovers, but if they can market their new beer to a mass audience, then they did what they intended.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Ok, so it's my opinion that the American market doesn't need another crappy pseudo-witbier. If Shock Top turns enough profit to merit its continued production, then I'm clearly wrong. However, my original point stands: Shock Top is bland and very weakly resembles a true wit. If you want good craft beer, stay far away. If you like it, you're entitled to your opinion, but try sampling it alongside a Hoegaarden.

 

[mmb]

Ok, so it's my opinion that the American market doesn't need another crappy pseudo-witbier. If Shock Top turns enough profit to merit its continued production, then I'm clearly wrong. However, my original point stands: Shock Top is bland and very weakly resembles a true wit. If you want good craft beer, stay far away. If you like it, you're entitled to your opinion, but try sampling it alongside a Hoegaarden.

Call me a cynic, but I like to think A-B tosses this garbage out at us so that Joe Average Beer Guzzler thinks that's the best it gets and slinks back to Bud, cause it doesn't taste as "good" as Bud does.

Personally, I think the Orange with a Mohawk and Sunglasses on the tap handle looks stupid.

 

[jamescb77]

All I was saying is that for a cheap fruity beer i don't think that it's to bad. It's no craft beer you guys are right. Im sorry that you don't have pop tops but all the ones that i have bought were, which sweetens the deal for me. I guess when you compare this to a good craft beer then this is crap. However i don't expect the best when im buying cheap beer. Chriso I am very jealous of some of the beers that you can get cheap. There really is no options down here for cheap pop tops usually i go with paulaner and it's about 9-10 a six pack. All in all my opinion is this beer isn't awful but it's not great.

 

[GloHoppa]

OK lets take it for what it is. AB is losing ground to the craft beers of the world so they need to get into the segment. At some level this should be taken as a compliment! If you compound this with Budweisers ad campaign talking about why budweiser's so great, you can tell theyre scared ****less of companies like Allagash, DFH, Rogue, Harpoon, Magic Hat, Ommegang, etc!

Plus the witbier market is exploding right now, it seems like almost all companies are throwing their hat into wheat beer ring.

 

[Chriso]

All I was saying is that for a cheap fruity beer i don't think that it's to bad. It's no craft beer you guys are right.

There ya go, I wasn't contesting that point -- I was just contesting that you implied none of us bothered to try the beer before ripping it a proverbial "new one". I agree, it's not *terrible* - I will gladly choke it down before any of the following: Bud Light, Bud Select, Bud Chelada, Bud to the E, Steel Reserve, Hurricane, Keystone Ice, .... that's about it.

That said, if I'm being forced to buy an A-B product, it'll probably be Busch full flavor or Budweiser full flavor. Otherwise, I just steer clear, and stick to SABMillerMolsonCoors' beers.

And while, yes, many of my beers come cheaply (Leinenkugel's is often on sale for $5.49/6pk or less here!), it comes with a cost - There are LEGIONS of microbreweries that aren't distributed in the state of NE, including among others: Stone, Great Lakes, Dogfish Head, Harpoon, Magic Hat, Oskar Blues, Russian River, Saint Arnold, Avery, Deschutes, Bell's, need I go on?

Most of my pop-top's are Sam Adams - cheap, drinkable, and the labels are easiest to remove.

 

[menschmaschine]

The only trouble is, a lot of BMC drinkers may try to "expand their horizons" by trying an AB stout or wit for the first time thinking that (in their naive eyes) that "Bud is a good beer, so if it comes from the makers of Bud, it MUST be good..." (ewwww)

Then not liking it they might then think that ALL wits or Stouts or "craft" beers in general taste bad. So it may actually keep people drinking their Bud and not trying a real example of that particular style....

Then after their line fails AB can go back to their old anti craft beer marketing and say "We told you that Stouts and Wits and Ales taste bad, so here, this Bud's for you!"

Call me a cynic, but I like to think A-B tosses this garbage out at us so that Joe Average Beer Guzzler thinks that's the best it gets and slinks back to Bud, cause it doesn't taste as "good" as Bud does.

Hmm... interesting. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but I'd say this isn't out of the realm of possibility. Sounds a little like the 1980s New Coke conspiracy theory. Coke was losing out to Pepsi because of the "Pepsi Generation" and blind taste-test commercials, but after the New Coke debacle and the subsequent release of Coca-Cola Classic, they soared passed Pepsi. Probably not intentional, but you never know. It put an end to the cola wars.

 

[engine3lt]

Maybe it's a matter of personal taste, but IMHO this stuff is bad; Real bad.

It is the first time I can remember actually throwing beer away. Over 4 days, I struggled through 4 of them and had to throw the last two out. I kept thinking, it's gotta get better...but it never did.

I don't mean to rant, but even I can make a drinkable witbier. Maybe I'm naive, but how could AB screw this up so bad? Have I become a beer snob?

 

[-Dan-]

The beer is produced for the mass market. Period. Just because some of us don't like it doesn't mean the broad public doesn't like it either. As far as I can tell when going to bars is that the beer seems to be quite successful.
It's what JMD87 said; AB doesn't care what they sell as long as people like it and at least for now ST seems to do alright.

 

[MattMann]

I hate to bring this up again, but I've never been to our local micro beer festival before, and I am planning on going this year.
http://microfestivus.squaresociety.org/home.asp?page=Home
But was just noticing that "shock top" was one of there beers. Who are they trying to fool? This is AB not a micro beer.

 

[Revvy]

I hate to bring this up again, but I've never been to our local micro beer festival before, and I am planning on going this year.
http://microfestivus.squaresociety.org/home.asp?page=Home
But was just noticing that "shock top" was one of there beers. Who are they trying to fool? This is AB not a micro beer.

They want in on the craft beer market, and they got the money to muscle their way in....Now it would be interesting if people took one sip and spat it out and started laughing in the AB rep's face...

 

[MattMann]

To be honest, I was thinking of doing that exactly like the way I did when I opened the first one here at the house.