Budweiser American Ale - with Taste notes

[Arneba28]

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.

 

[Freezeblade]

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.

+1 imho that's probably what will happen

 

[Revvy]

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."

 

[Saccharomyces]

Revvy, been staring at my avatar???

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]

Revvy, been staring at my avatar???

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

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.

 

[Saccharomyces]

... 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 ssoooooo see a quote coming out of that.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

This could be interesting. I have wondered why lagers are so abundant in the American market.

Its because the American beer market was started by Germans.

 

[Special Hops]

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.

 

[Tankard]

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.

 

[BierMuncher]

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…&#8221
  
• 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.

 

[IrregularPulse]

I too will trying a pint at the bar for the shear idea of it. It's kind of a big deal as far as Beer in America goes. I'm not gonna buy a 6 pack until I try a pint but you can't not try it.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

+1

• 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.)

In my opinion, it's just that type of "exhaustive market testing" that will insure an uninteresting product. Mass marketers like AB will be shooting for a product that essentially doesn't offend anyone...the lowest common denominator if you wish. I can't imagine anything coming out of such market testing that would have much (if any) appeal to the craft brew crowd.

I guess we'll all find out together.

 

[BierMuncher]

...Mass marketers like AB will be shooting for a product that essentially doesn't offend anyone...the lowest common denominator if you wish...

Let's hope that's not the case. If the beer is good, I can certainly look past the label and buy some...depending on how they price it.

Maybe they'll over do it like they did their most recent beer (too much lime in their lime beer, too much spice/clove in their shock top wheat...)

Maybe...just maybe, they'll over hop this beer.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Maybe...just maybe, they'll over hop this beer.

Heh. Over hop? probably not.

I thought I read somewhere that the IBU's were around 30, which is probably as high as they could go without turning off the "uninitiated."

I don't have HIGH hopes for this brew, but I guess my hope is that it's at least drinkable enough that I could order it in those restaurants that never seem to have anything beyond a Killian's or Honey Brown. Being an AB product, it's likely to get some tap space. Though like Revvy said, the beer that's likely to get dumped from tap row in order to make room is the one decent craft brew that they might have previously carried.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Heh. Over hop? probably not.

I thought I read somewhere that the IBU's were around 30, which is probably as high as they could go without turning off the "uninitiated."

I don't have HIGH hopes for this brew, but I guess my hope is that it's at least drinkable enough that I could order it in those restaurants that never seem to have anything beyond a Killian's or Honey Brown. Being an AB product, it's likely to get some tap space. Though like Revvy said, the beer that's likely to get dumped from tap row in order to make room is the one decent craft brew that they might have previously carried.

And that, I'm sure, is the plan.

 

[Tankard]

Maybe...just maybe, they'll over hop this beer.

I doubt it. It'll be a lot hoppier than a typical Bud, but I still think Sierra Nevada will be hoppier.

 

[carnevoodoo]

And that, I'm sure, is the plan.

And that's why I only drink in good places.

 

[CBBaron]

Though like Revvy said, the beer that's likely to get dumped from tap row in order to make room is the one decent craft brew that they might have previously carried.

And that, I'm sure, is the plan.

+1 I'm very sure that is the intention of this beer. It will take shelf space and bar taps from craft beers. It may not win many customers from craft beers when given the choice but they are hoping to reduce the choice.

AB does know their beer but their breweries are not driven by the brewers but rather by the accounting and marketing. I'm sure this is a beer they think will sell but I think we will find it mostly uninteresting. Remember this is not AB's first attempt at a different style of beer. For the most part those other attempts have been bland by comparison to the offerings from the craft brewers. Bland is where the mass market is. An interesting beer would have too small of a market to justify using one of their massive kettles and fermenters. I may try it if the opportunity presents itself and something interesting is not available but I won't be sorry if I don't get the chance.

AB knows what it is doing but what it is doing doesn't really interest me.

Craig

 

[farmbrewernw]

I have heard that it's not a bad beer, this being said by one of the craft beer blogs I read, that being said I doubt it will do all that well. AB hasn't really had that much luck thinking outside of their box because their loyal drinkers only like light lagers like Budweiser. I doubt that they will peel off any of the craft brew market because that demographic is past gateway beers. I could be totally wrong, if it does convert people it may actually work in craft beer's favor bringing more people into craft beer appreciation. AB is just trying to adapt.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Being as Bud is actually harder to brew than ale, and the new ale will be only be lightly hopped, how will they justify the new ale as being "somewhat" more expensive? (to use their own word)

 

[Revvy]

Being as Bud is actually harder to brew than ale, and the new ale will be only be lightly hopped, how will they justify the new ale as being "somewhat" more expensive? (to use their own word)

Well, considering they now will be using 2 ounces of hops for every 1,000 barrels of ale instead of their usual half ounce for every 1,000 barrels of lager, they can justify the increase in cost by blaming the hops shortage...

 

[carnevoodoo]

Also, if it is all malt, the barley will cost more than rice and corn.

 

[DrewsBrew]

I actually feel quite guilty at wanting to try this stuff. I agree with the statements that this wil actually help the craft brew industry. People will try it and if they like it, will associate ALE with something they like. It will make previously unapproachable craft beers suddenly less daunting to the common beer drinker simply because ALE is something they can now relate to. People will start with Bud Ale and use that as a bridge to other things. So, this will have the opposite affect as intended by AB.

You have to give AB major Kudos here. Sure, this stuff is underhopped a bit. But, keeping all else the same and upping the IBUS, and you'd have a quality recipe that some of us brew in our kitchens. For a session beer, I prefer something tipped more towards the malty side as my palette fatigues after a couple of hop heavy brews.

An article I read made me see the light as to why the recipe is the way it is. Beers like this are done in committees and are not the "singular vision of one brewmaster". Naturally, to appeal to a couple of dozen bigwigs at AB, you will end up with a pretty neutral product. It will be much like the Michelob craft offerings. Blander than we are used to but not undrinkable. I survived in Florida for a week with almost nothing but Michelob Amber Bock. It wasn't traumatic and was exactly what I needed....a neutral beer that went well with most food...nothing memorable about it either in a positive or negative sense. I think Bud Ale will be much the same.

 

[jeder212]

Well, I got a little surprise today. My wife's cousin, who works at a restaurant/bar brought me this home today...

The Budweiser salesman brought them a sixer of it, to try to convince them to put it on tap when it comes out next month. I'm not really skilled at tasting beer, besides just knowing if I like something or not, but I will let you know what I think of it once I drink it. Has anyone else had a chance to try it yet, and what did you think?

 

[IrregularPulse]

You've had that bottle for 9 hours and haven't drank it yet?! C'mon! how is it?

 

[jeder212]

I got it not long before I posted last nite, and was headed to bed just after I posted. Had to be at work this morning for a 48 hr. shift. So sometime Sunday, I'll be able to drink it, and let you all know what I think.

 

[carnevoodoo]

I got it not long before I posted last nite, and was headed to bed just after I posted. Had to be at work this morning for a 48 hr. shift. So sometime Sunday, I'll be able to drink it, and let you all know what I think.

So what you're saying is you didn't drink it before work?

 

[StunnedMonkey]

I got it not long before I posted last nite, and was headed to bed just after I posted. Had to be at work this morning for a 48 hr. shift. So sometime Sunday, I'll be able to drink it, and let you all know what I think.

Er, it was evening when you posted the pic, and I can tell from said pic that the bottle is cold. Whether you were in the mood to drink it or not isn't relavent. You OWED it to us to wolf that beer down and report back.

I award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I think that not drinking that ale, and not posting your opinion on it immediately should carry an infraction from the mods. Possibly even a short ban!!

 

[Tankard]

I award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul.

"Well a simple "wrong" would have been just fine, but uh...."