Miller high life

[marc1]

I had a high life last night for the first time in many many years. Thus was certainly the first time that I really paid attention to the flavor.
It had a distinct almost cidery flavor component. Is that yeast derived? It was very noticeable. If I had tasted it in one of my beers I would think that something was wrong, but Miller probably has their QC down, so it must be intentional?

 

[bracconiere]

vegetable, corny?

 

[aeviaanah]

Here we go...

 

[brewdude88]

You're probably tasting the most flavorful ingredient in Miller... the carbonation!

 

[marc1]

vegetable, corny?

No, more like apple cider. It wasn't overwhelming, but it was there

 

[Transamguy77]

When I read the first post I laughed out loud, like for real, and not because I was mocking the OP but because I drink High Life several times a year when I go to my sister and brother in laws because that is the ONLY beer he drinks and I laughed because I don’t think I ever really thought about the taste, it’s not a good beer but it’s not bad either it’s just a beer.

Now the next time I’m over there I’ll have to analyze the taste a bit more.

 

[marc1]

When I read the first post I laughed out loud, like for real, and not because I was mocking the OP but because I drink High Life several times a year when I go to my sister and brother in laws because that is the ONLY beer he drinks and I laughed because I don’t think I ever really thought about the taste, it’s not a good beer but it’s not bad either it’s just a beer.

Now the next time I’m over there I’ll have to analyze the taste a bit more.

LOL! I've been trying to pay careful attention to beer that I drink to learn more about tasting. So I'm curious if maybe it was just old bottles, or that yeast throws a bit of that flavor, or my taste buds were just way off that night.

 

[Brooothru]

Doesn't High Life (the Champaign of Bottled Beers) still come in clear bottles? Probably "light struck".

 

[Dland]

Almost any kind of beer is better than no beer at all. Skunked, light struck, or just cheep beer' ...If in doubt, I recommend chilling to point just above freezing.

 

[Dancy]

Doesn't High Life (the Champaign of Bottled Beers) still come in clear bottles? Probably "light struck".

I thought commercial brewers treated their beer with “something” to prevent skunked beer when bottling in clear bottles. Is that correct?

 

[Camelot Legends]

Not sure about light struck but I can tell you this. I used to drink high life in high school quite a bit. I had a retired neighbor who only drank that and drank every day. We used to hang out in his driveway and he would share his beers. I recently brewed a cream ale with white labs yeast and liberty hops and it tasted really similar. I also fermented it low at 60 degrees. Fermentables were 2-row, Pilsner, flaked corn and honey malt. Could be one or a combination of these ingredients.

 

[Bramling Cross]

I thought commercial brewers treated their beer with “something” to prevent skunked beer when bottling in clear bottles. Is that correct?

It's been a while since I read this, so I might not be fully correct, but I do recall that Miller's work around for the clear bottles was the development of specific hop extracts that avoided the issue.

Here's a BYO article that briefly touches on the issue--second section, bottom of second paragraph.

 

[Jayjay1976]

No, more like apple cider. It wasn't overwhelming, but it was there

Reason #216 to avoid BMC products: unpleasant, cidery flavor.

 

[Hammy71]

Miller High Life is my go to lawn mower beer. Never perceived a cidery taste. At best I get a wheaty/oaty undertone. I've always said I'm a beer nerd, not a beer snob. You put a beer in my hand, I'll say "thanks" every time.

 

[marc1]

OK, there was one left, and I had it last night. The date appeared to be from mid October, so not really old. It was not skunky, so I don't think it was light struck. There is something with special hop extract that the big guys use to prevent light struck flavor.

Second tasting, the cidery-ness was still there, but more of an aroma than a flavor. I think it's just the way I'm perceiving something about it. The Miller website says it's malted barley, Galena hops, and Miller yeast, so it doesn't appear to be an adjunct beer. 7 IBUs, which to my tastes is not nearly enough, but to style.

I don't think they're late hopping this bad boy, so I doubt the aroma is from Galena. Is there a similar yeast available for homebrewers to get? I'm thinking it's maybe a yeast aroma/flavor that I'm sensitive to?

Now I'm kind of curious to try a large blind sampling of American macro lagers.

 

[brewdude88]

Second tasting, the cidery-ness was still there, but more of an aroma than a flavor. I think it's just the way I'm perceiving something about it. The Miller website says it's malted barley, Galena hops, and Miller yeast, so it doesn't appear to be an adjunct beer. 7 IBUs, which to my tastes is not nearly enough, but to style.

They do list those ingredients, but I doubt that's an all-inclusive list. I could be wrong, but I would bet my favorite dog there is an adjunct in there, they just aren't advertising it.

I would doubt they could get much aroma or flavor from 7 ibu's, so the galena is out of the question as you stated...

I did come across the following from a craft beer and brewing article on acetaldehyde:

"Certain yeast strains, such as American lager yeast (White Labs WLP840) produce more acetaldehyde than others, and indeed, a slight suggestion of green apple can be an appropriate component of light American lager styles."

This may be the case, and you may be especially sensitive to it...

 

[Hammy71]

Like Brewdude said, it's probably something you are just more sensitive to than most. Sorta like 04 yeast. I can't stand it, but my friends think I'm crazy because they can't taste the "tang" that I do. We are all the same....but also quite different.

 

[bwible]

Miller High Life is my go to lawn mower beer. Never perceived a cidery taste. At best I get a wheaty/oaty undertone. I've always said I'm a beer nerd, not a beer snob. You put a beer in my hand, I'll say "thanks" every time.

I like High Life, its a staple I keep in bottles in my beer fridge, also Landshark. I would say Landshark is more my go to in summer after cutting the grass. I know Landshark is AB pretending to be “Margaritaville Brewing Company, St. Louis MO.” That last bit is the giveaway. It’s funny, I do not like Budweiser at all. Don’t even drink it if its free at parties. I can tolerate Busch. I love Landshark.

Far as Miller, which is better - High Life or Genuine Draft? I’ve been buying High Life (established 1903 so if they’re still brewing it after 118 years it must have something going for it.) Haven’t had MGD for awhile.

I miss Red Dog.

 

[marc1]

I like High Life, its a staple I keep in bottles in my beer fridge, also Landshark. I would say Landshark is more my go to in summer after cutting the grass. I know Landshark is AB pretending to be “Margaritaville Brewing Company, St. Louis MO.” That last bit is the giveaway. It’s funny, I do not like Budweiser at all. Don’t even drink it if its free at parties. I can tolerate Busch. I love Landshark.

Far as Miller, which is better - High Life or Genuine Draft? I’ve been buying High Life (established 1903 so if they’re still brewing it after 118 years it must have something going for it.) Haven’t had MGD for awhile.

I miss Red Dog.

I think I miss Red Dog. I drank a lot of it in college many years ago. I remember preferring it far and away over Natty. I've tried Natty light fairly recently and it was not great. (Naturdays, however, is amazing).

 

[DuncB]

Note to self remove Miller High Life from bucket list.

 

[Joeywhat]

It's 6 months old, unless it was kept in perfect conditions it's probably just old.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Life is too short to URrrP.... Uh. Life is too short to drink..AAArRPP. Um, Life's too shorts..braaaapp. um, beer.
Uh, yeah.

Brrrrraaaappp.

Urp.

Ugh hhhh. Sleep it off.

 

[bracconiere]

Oh, the "high life"...friends puking on your car door!

 

[Grizwold1]

Life is too short to URrrP.... Uh. Life is too short to drink..AAArRPP. Um, Life's too shorts..braaaapp. um, beer.
Uh, yeah.

Brrrrraaaappp.

Urp.

Ugh hhhh. Sleep it off.

Thank you Jayjay--I can't stop laughing.

 

[Garfield43]

This brings up a question I have had for years.
Maybe one of you know the answer.
Miller used to admit that High Life and Genuine Draft start out as the same beer.
In fact when it first came out it was named Miller High Life Genuine Draft. (Say that after you have had 4 or 5 of 'em)
Everything is the same until time to bottle.
High Life gets pasteurized, Genuine Draft gets cold filtered.
Here comes the question:
My understanding is keg beer is not pasteurized.
I wonder if they still cold filter it?
Or is Miller High Life and Miller Genuine Draft on tap the same beer?
Now that High Life has been demoted to "sub premium" pricing are you and the bar paying more to get the same beer with a different label?
Personally I have always preferred High Life to Genuine draft.

 

[Nathan Graen]

Don't forget it's triple hopped.

I tried to clone a High Life with ingredients I had on hand: German pils, corn, Galena and 34/70. It turned out good, but it wasn't High Life. It fermented down to 1.002, so it was higher alcohol. I actually tasted a little apricot/mango.

It probably could have used more corn and maybe some six-row...and American Lager yeast.

 

[bwible]

Don't forget it's triple hopped.

I tried to clone a High Life with ingredients I had on hand: German pils, corn, Galena and 34/70. It turned out good, but it wasn't High Life. It fermented down to 1.002, so it was higher alcohol. I actually tasted a little apricot/mango.

It probably could have used more corn and maybe some six-row...and American Lager yeast.

The website says High Life is 4.6%, 7 IBU. That’s not a typo. How the hell can that be triple hopped? That’s one tiny hop addition.

It must be like the beechwood aging thing.

 

[bwible]

After I lose my sense of taste and smell from Covid I’ll be able to drink sour beers and cloudy filthy IPA’s like you, Jay

 

[Nathan Graen]

...That’s one tiny hop addition.

I think I did 1/4 oz each time.

 

[bwible]

I think I did 1/4 oz each time.

It’s insane just from a recipe perspective. Let’s say 1.047 OG to get you to 4.6%. Then 7 IBU would be something like a .15 BU/GU ratio. That seems ridiculously low, even for American lager.

This is one of those times when I say I believe breweries often don’t publish their true data. And why would they hand out the critical data for their intellectual property? There has to be more to it.

It does say they use a proprietary hop extract made for them, from Galena. So maybe the hop extract math works differently or something. I never used hop extracts and wouldn’t know the first place to start.

 

[AzOr]

That cidery flavor you are picking up could be from the yeast. Certain lager strains are known to give a tiny bit of apple/pear ester. I’ve been able to reproduce it by using WLP840 American Lager yeast (going by memory). I really enjoy that yeast but it wasn’t available at any of my lhbs, so I had to mail order. It’s a very slow acting yeast. It’s been a few years since I’ve used it though.

It worked very well in leichtbier recipes as it added a touch of complexity to a somewhat straight forward (bland) beer.

I haven’t had a high life in quite a while but I occasionally drink Weinhard’s Northwest lager and I pick up a bit of that cidery thing in the background. I can only guess that they use a similar lager strain.

Btw- I’m not knocking high life or any other American lager. They have a place in my beer repertoire.

 

[Nathan Graen]

Let’s say 1.047 OG to get you to 4.6%. Then 7 IBU would be something like a .15 BU/GU ratio. That seems ridiculously low, even for American lager.

Mine fermented down to 1.002. To get 4.6% I would need an 1.037 OG getting you to a whopping 0.19 BU/GU.

 

[jrgtr42]

I think I miss Red Dog. I drank a lot of it in college many years ago. I remember preferring it far and away over Natty. I've tried Natty light fairly recently and it was not great. (Naturdays, however, is amazing).

My dad used Red Dog as his 'boat beer' for a long time. I drank a bunch of it then - when in Rome, no? - and I don't really remember much about it. It was cold and wet, always good on a hot day.
Natty Light Ice was the unofficial beer at my college - it was awful. I had one once, and I felt worse after half a can, (I couldn't even finish it) than I did getting drunk off the 'good' stuff - probably Sam Adams at that point.

As an AAL, I can deal with MGD, but if there's any option at all, I'll have something different. Even if there is no other beer, odds are even I'll drink water, soda, even *gasp* wine for the day / night.