Favorite/Worst Cheap Beer?

[titleguy99]

I didn’t see any votes here for Genesee Cream Ale. I had my first taste on beer with one many years ago and while I haven’t had one in years I probably could still stomach one.

 

[fluketamer]

Remember back in the’70’s when the generic products hit the grocery store? The packaging was always plain white and just had the product name in black block letters and the obligatory product information panel.
I was on campus then, without transportation, but walked over to the A&P a few times to buy “BEER”

(Down in the fine print along the bottom of the can, you could read that it was made by Falstaff)

View attachment 878868

it was in the "no frills " aisle

I didn’t see any votes here for Genesee Cream Ale. I had my first taste on beer with one many years ago and while I haven’t had one in years I probably could still stomach one.

i love jenny screamers when i can find one.

 

[agentbud]

Remember back in the’70’s when the generic products hit the grocery store? The packaging was always plain white and just had the product name in black block letters and the obligatory product information panel.
I was on campus then, without transportation, but walked over to the A&P a few times to buy “BEER”

(Down in the fine print along the bottom of the can, you could read that it was made by Falstaff)

View attachment 878868

Absolutely I remember. 40+ years later, I still have an unopened can because even as a broke college kid I could not bring myself to drink it:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/favorite-worst-cheap-beer.694541/post-9150317

 

[wdavis2003]

There's only 1 correct answer and it's "The national beer of Texas"

 

[balrog]

I didn’t see any votes here for Genesee Cream Ale. I had my first taste on beer with one many years ago and while I haven’t had one in years I probably could still stomach one.

I was kinda surprised at this as well.

So, you know, +1 vote.

 

[rmr9]

I didn’t see any votes here for Genesee Cream Ale. I had my first taste on beer with one many years ago and while I haven’t had one in years I probably could still stomach one.

Second the Genny Cream. I always pick up a 12 pack when I’m back home. Perfect lawnmower beer!

 

[balrog]

Second the Genny Cream. I always pick up a 12 pack when I’m back home. Perfect lawnmower beer!

Pfffsh! Amateur. 30 pack for $17.

Maybe my lawn is bigger.

Maybe.

 

[MaxStout]

Two beers that actually made me ill, and not in the "simply too much to drink" way.

Black Label. I lived in a state where it wasn't distributed, and I had only heard of it back then (1970s). Had a buddy who was an OTC truck driver and he brought home a case one time. "I got a kennel of black labs! Come over and help us drink it." I had several, but not more than my typical Saturday night session. Sunday I was quite green around the gills.

Stroh's. They started distributing in my state in the '80s, so curiosity got the better of me. I bought a sixer and brought it to a house party. I think I gave away a couple and I drank the rest. IIRC, it actually tasted pretty good. But next day I was talkin' to ralph on the big white telephone. Never had beers that gut punched me quite like that.

 

[Cameronl]

Really? Never had a next day case of the Genny Splats? Or the Genny Screamers? There was a difference, though I won't go into it.

I've always heard of the Genny screamers (but not the "splats") but never experienced it (drank plenty). I can't imagine what would be different about Genny Cream that would cause a distinctive reaction (other than by over-indulgence). Still, I prefer regular Genny to the the cream ale.

 

[scrap iron]

When me and the crew were young it was Mickey's Little Kings cream ale as go to for cheap beer. When stationed at Ft Lewis in Washington state I was introduced to Heidelberg beer with the [velvet tang]. Both were ok to my young experiences. Then later when sent to West Germany an Army bro said try a Hofbrau. It was pretty good but I went on to discover really good German beer, after that Mickeys, Coors and the rest just didn't cut it anymore. The tour in West Germany spoiled me and that's the reason I started homebrewing.

 

[Broothru]

When me and the crew were young it was Mickey's Little Kings cream ale as go to for cheap beer. When stationed at Ft Lewis in Washington state I was introduced to Heidelberg beer with the [velvet tang]. Both were ok to my young experiences. Then later when sent to West Germany an Army bro said try a Hofbrau. It was pretty good but I went on to discover really good German beer, after that Mickeys, Coors and the rest just didn't cut it anymore. The tour in West Germany spoiled me and that's the reason I started homebrewing.

Same story of my (brewing) life.

First time in Germany, 1976ish. Drinking Pils and Helles at the Marienplatz in Munich while on a Navy TDY. I'd been a beer fan since my late teens back in the states, since Kansas was an "18" state. Watered down 3.2% AB(W)% Coors and Bud.

Drinking that first beer in Germany was, quite literally, a life-changing event for me. Nothing stateside could compare. I had made rudimentary attempts at brewing beer beforehand, but now I had a mission, to brew a beer like I the ones I'd tasted in Europe.

Now, more than half a century and well over 100 trips to Europe and other beer consuming places on Planet Earth later, I'm still trying to replicate the Master Brewers, and mostly coming up short, though I do have a few success stories to tell. Not to mention a lifetime of good times and camaraderie. Life's too short to drink bad beer.

 

[hungupdown]

In UK.
Lidl's 'Biere Triple'. A wheat beer in swing top bottles is my favourite.
Pretty budget range, but its a really nice wheat beer. And getting a free 750ml swing top, makes it a no brainer.

I bottle 25% - 30% of most batches, for easy transportation. And now only use lever top bottles.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I've always heard of the Genny screamers (but not the "splats") but never experienced it (drank plenty). I can't imagine what would be different about Genny Cream that would cause a distinctive reaction (other than by over-indulgence). Still, I prefer regular Genny to the the cream ale.

"....over-indulgence." Yes.
It just seemed to affect me in ways other beers didn't. Even so, it didn't keep me from drinking it. For a considerable amount of time Genny Cream was my favorite beer.

 

[scrap iron]

Same story of my (brewing) life.

First time in Germany, 1976ish. Drinking Pils and Helles at the Marienplatz in Munich while on a Navy TDY. I'd been a beer fan since my late teens back in the states, since Kansas was an "18" state. Watered down 3.2% AB(W)% Coors and Bud.

Drinking that first beer in Germany was, quite literally, a life-changing event for me. Nothing stateside could compare. I had made rudimentary attempts at brewing beer beforehand, but now I had a mission, to brew a beer like I the ones I'd tasted in Europe.

Now, more than half a century and well over 100 trips to Europe and other beer consuming places on Planet Earth later, I'm still trying to replicate the Master Brewers, and mostly coming up short, though I do have a few success stories to tell. Not to mention a lifetime of good times and camaraderie. Life's too short to drink bad beer.

Looks like we had very similar experiences. When I became legal age Coors was only sold to the east as far as Kansas. We drank that 3.2% beer too. My cousin in the Army at the time loaded up his custom van with cases of Coors and drove it to Indiana where he was stationed at the time. He said it sold out in no time on base.
My tour in Germany was in the mid 80s and I was in beer heaven. I have a nice German Pils on tap now that I've been working to perfect for some time.

 

[Mr. Vern]

Cheap beer has its place but I stay far away from Natural Ice and now the Voodoo Ranger series ($/ABV they are cheap and gross IMHO). Anything with a big fusel hit is not desirable for me.

My wife still loves her Labatt Light and I will get a 12 pack of mass produced IPA for summer heat and swimming. Bell's Official was my goto I guess I like wheat IPA especially under $1. American industrial beers would also include Coors and High Life which I still enjoy. We would always "suck it up" and drink Molson XXX at Red Wing games just because for $10 we wanted more kick, and punishment apparently.

 

[Broothru]

Looks like we had very similar experiences. When I became legal age Coors was only sold to the east as far as Kansas. We drank that 3.2% beer too. My cousin in the Army at the time loaded up his custom van with cases of Coors and drove it to Indiana where he was stationed at the time. He said it sold out in no time on base.
My tour in Germany was in the mid 80s and I was in beer heaven. I have a nice German Pils on tap now that I've been working to perfect for some time.

Summer of ‘72 I was going through Navy jet pilot training in Meridian, MS. The BOQ officer, who was also in charge of the Officer’s Club, commandeered a base transport (grey school bus) and drove from Eastern Mississippi to Oklahoma, loaded it up with kegs and cases of Coors, drove it back to the base and sponsored a Coors’ Night on Friday at the O’club.

Not sure how many State, Federal and military regulations were broken in the process, but the end result was a big success. It was “Smokey and the Bandit” years before it became a thing. Of course the beer was ‘meh’, but the mystique at the time made it all worthwhile.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

San Miguel, not the export. Cheap, plentiful and good.

 

[Broothru]

San Miguel, not the export. Cheap, plentiful and good.

I’ve had San Miguel from Spain to South America to the Philippines. It all tasted the same: absolutely disgusting!

 

[Miraculix]

I’ve had San Miguel from Spain to South America to the Philippines. It all tasted the same: absolutely disgusting!

I can report that the Nepali version is by far the worst.

But it is from Nepal.

So I'm bound by oath to love it. And I love it.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

I’ve had San Miguel from Spain to South America to the Philippines. I

Grew up on the stuff. It brings back great memories. Another beer is Bir Bintang.

 

[fluketamer]

I've always heard of the Genny screamers (but not the "splats") but never experienced it (drank plenty). I can't imagine what would be different about Genny Cream that would cause a distinctive reaction (other than by over-indulgence). Still, I prefer regular Genny to the the cream ale.

its a cream ale its got lactose i think so theres that! too much of anything will eventually get you over your threshold. you can prolly make anyone briefly lactose intolerant if you give them enough of it.

 

[BongoYodeler]

its a cream ale its got lactose i think so theres that! too much of anything will eventually get you over your threshold. you can prolly make anyone briefly lactose intolerant if you give them enough of it.

To the best of my knowledge there’s no lactose in Genny Cream Ale. But having said that their recipe isn’t publicly available so there’s no way to be sure.

 

[fluketamer]

thanks i thought i had read that it had lactose but i see you are right

 

[BongoYodeler]

thanks i thought i had read that it had lactose but i see you are right

I think the big question is do they use ale or lager yeast, or a co-pitch of both.

 

[BrewerofBeers]

It's modelo for sure. But it's not as cheap as some of the others. Back in the day I used to stomach Old English, Mickey's, Steele Reserve -- those are cheap "malt liquors," which used to come in glass 40 oz bottles. Mickey's even had a green glass bottle. Those were amazing to carry around on a weekend night. You could also play Edward 40' hands with those, which I don't recommend.

This was before IPAs busted onto the scene, so these malt liquors were rarities being both cheap and high ABV. Hey, you gotta start somewhere. And if you can handle the trash, the good stuff tastes even better and more nuanced.

Much more recently, I got a big mystery box of cheap "regular" beer and was able to sample, side by side and all at once, bud, coors, pacifico, heineken, michelob, PBR, 805, a local brand, you name it, and Modelo. It was basically a blind test, and modelo won because it had a nicer hop and wasnt as sweet or succulent as the others. It's amazing what a side-by-side blind test can tell you -- I never would have guessed the results -- but I wasn't surprised Michelob was dead last.

 

[BrewZer]

1. K&B Lager, house-brand specialty beer brewed by the now-defunct Royal Brewing Company of New Orleans for the Katz & Besthoff drug store chain -- also defunct.

2. Pearl Light. Why isn't IT defunct?

 

[Iowa Brewer]

I just got back from visiting my son in northern Wisconsin. He is devoted to Hamm's. I had plenty of it while there, and I'll admit that I liked it.
View attachment 878733

Hamm's is an institution. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Iowa Brewer]

Schlitz was the one and only beer I couldn't finish. Had one on tap long time ago in a bar in Chicago. Couldn't finish it. Maybe it was a bad barrel but I have never wanted to give it a second chance.

Now I'm going to have to give it a try!

 

[Cameronl]

I'm headed off to Utica, NY to run the Boilermaker 15k this weekend. That means I'll be stocking up on...

 

[Bago-0]

Ice cold PBR.