Beer expert blind judges "bad" lagers | The Craft Beer Channel
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2024
- In one of our most requested videos ever, Jonny tries 11 macrobeers blind, some for the time ever, in a bid to work out if he's been a needless snob the whole time. I know they all say it, but you won't BELIEVE which one comes last...
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Remember to drink responsibly(ish) and not be that guy...
Guess what?! This video was so popular we have done a second edition, tasting the beers suggested as "good macro beer" in the comments and in our Patreon forum! Watch it here: th-cam.com/video/zYUgpZ-pPGo/w-d-xo.html
Gotta get the Heineken in a bottle. All of them should always be from a bottle…I like the Heineken-But I’d rather grow a unibrow than drink it from a can.
I used to be a bottle snob. There is almost no difference other than price and maybe that first drink of the evwning
I’ve only enjoyed a Budweiser once in my life. I was in Dubai and it was almost 90 degrees when someone passed me an ice cold Bud. I poured it…….over my head. It was incredibly refreshing.
Careful!! There are two brands of Budweiser beers. One is american bullshit, the other Budweiser is Czech premium pale lager, brewed in Czech republic, exported all over the world but USA.
@@alucardonusI am 100% sure he was talking about the american toilet water
@@t-bird8978 Maybe, dont care. I just wanted to mention that there are two of them and the Czech one is actually... Well i dont like it as its still the worse sort of czech beer. But outside of czech? Its a great beer. And it is really possible, that in Dubai its gonna be the Czech Budweiser Budvar not the american one.
@@alucardonus It is in the U.S it's just called Czechvar
@@bm6nation Yeah, in the US... But lets stay outside of USA and Europe. This can happen ANYWHERE else, south America, Canada, Mexico, Africa, Asia, Australia... Lets say that 90 % of Worlds population can experience this (as only 10 % of worlds population live in USA and EU combined). Plus anyone who know one brand and not the other can easily get confused in the other region. Anyone from EU in USA and the other way who dont know this Bud Bud relationship can be like ,,Hm nice, they've got Budweiser here, thats a pretty good beer, i'll have one...'' Tho i wouldnt serve a shit to ANYONE who thinks American Bud is good. Its like serving Caviar to Hobo :D
I've always used Heineken as an example of a "plain, beer-flavored beer"; totally drinkable, goes well with almost all types of food, never disappoints, but is in no way "extraordinary". I drink it all the time, because it's just regular normal beer.
There's nothing beer flavored about Heineken. It's deliberately crafted to taste as little of beer as possible. It is the lager's lager. For reference, lagering basically means you scoop the beer water at the top of the barrel so you don't have to touch the actual beer in the cask. Imagine that, but watered down in a mass production facility, and you have Heineken.
@@tedhodge4830 what can I say? I like cheap "Euro" beer, lol. I'd never claim Heineken to be "the best" lager, or even a "good" lager, but when every one else is drinking their "Grapefruit-guava 3XIPA" and "Fuzzy-wuzzy Hazy-daisy Hop-pop", I'm always glad to see that familiar green bottle at the bottom of the cooler. 👍
@@giuseppelogiurato5718 There's so many good, cheap eurobeers, though. Hoegaarden is even made under Anheuser, and it's actually delicious. Then there's Paulaner, Weihenstephan, Franziskaner, hell, even Stella is honestly not terrible for a macro lager. It's not like a six pack of Pilsner Urquell will cost you your firstborn. I drink 12 packs of Paulaner Weissbier like they are going out of production. In the Americas, everything, absolutely everything from Unibroue is delicious, and I can't complain about 11 bucks for a four pack of 9% ABV beer.
@@tedhodge4830 apparently you have more money and resources than I do... They don't sell any of that delicious German stuff where I live, at least not at my bar.... Heineken will suffice for now. The only fancy beers that sell around here are those gross modern IPAs... PAULANER and SPATEN and FRANCISKANER and KÖNIG LUDWIG and WARSTEINER and all those nice things are not readily available, and if they are, they are not cheap... otherwise I'd drink them all time.
Be happy you live in a place where you have access to all the various beers you desire, and that you can afford to purchase them. It must be nice for you.
@@tedhodge4830 "Hoegaarden" is way overrated and authentically disgusting, to me, at least... It tastes like someone added curry powder and Palmolive dish-soap and boiled toilet-paper to flat Henry Reinhart's Hefeweizen, and then put a piece of rotten orange in it... 🤮
"Blue Moon" drinkers deserve their hell.
You know this dude is reliable when he gives scores of 6-7 on a 0-5 point scale.
yup and seems to have forgotten the "blind" part of blind test.
Corn syrup glucose syrup hop extracts galore ..but it is what it is
Beer snobs are the world's gift to comedy. Thank you for the laughs in these dark times.
U have to like hops or ur wrong about beer
@@jammybizzle666 all beer tastes the same, dirty
@@alfiecrichton9834 You see this is what i thought too until i tasted some real fruity craft beer and it was very pleasant ! you just have to be willing to pay for it
😂 you wouldn’t get any laughs out of this numpty. Even ten cheap unhoppy pints couldn’t make this end of the bell interesting
you are 34 years old
I am still saying that Heineken is a safe choice if you don't trust other beers in a bar. Of course it is not the best, but from all the "mediocre mainstream beers" its one of the best choices. Tastes totally okay, its absolutely drinkable and it isnt a beer where get a bad hangover.
Stella falls into that category as well for me
I would absolutely rather take Peroni or a Stella rather than Heineken. Heineken's hopps taste really metallic in my mouth and I'd rather have a minimal aftertaste rather than a bad one.
@@otto_jk If I see a Peroni or a Stella the next time I will try it. But both beers I see pretty rarely in my region
I’ve always thought Heineken from a can or tap tastes drastically different from green bottle Heineken. Back in the day, I had it from a brown bottle while in Europe, but apparently they don’t do that anymore.🤷🏾♂️
If you enjoy donkeypiss...
*stares at peroni*
"Yeah I must have drunk this at a pizza restaurant."
The accuracy of that statement...
calling rubbish on the other hand... L
I used to work at *said pizza restaurant* and fun fact: they were the first to import them to the UK in 1965 :)
@@WeMuckAround I work at said pizza restaurant now, and I advise anyone never to work there lol
Is it wrong to be really into craft beer but enjoy lagers like these for their purpose? (cheap and great if you are doing lots of drinking)
Nah man I love going to bars and trying some weird local drafts, but sometimes it's 1 AM and I just want 2/4$ fosters at 7/11 lmao
Couldn’t agree more with that. Sometimes you just want a beer for a beers sake.
Nah. I buy Coors when I'm feeling cheap. It's fine, just don't get Coors light, there's nothing there.
Absolutely not. We aren't trying to do down cheap lager we are trying to find the best ones!
Not at all, I always have a craft variety pack or a good IPA right next to a pack of Miller lite in my garage fridge.
If you're going to do mostly cheap/"low quality" things, then mix in at least a couple of supposedly medium or high-quality things that you're not super familiar with. More than one, and make it tough to visually distinguish them. Keeps the expert on their toes, and makes it so you can't subconsciously default to "I know all of these are supposed to be bad."
Yes, that would be great.
Throw the pallette with a can of Schlitz classic
is that what's known as a control group? but yes you are right that should happen. Not that I don't trust this guy but it is satisfying when for example wine specialists are given cheap crap made to look expensive and they rattle off all this nonsense about it and feel embarrassed when told its a £6 bottle. Helps to see if they know their stuff or talk out of their .....
Agreed, and using the hazy, howlin hops as your mole is about useless as it's easily distinguished on a couple fronts.
Exactly! This is useless when he’s already prejudiced by the fact that they’re all cheap
If you've had a warm heineken on a ryanair flight you know how bad it is
The Amsterdam brew is much better than the Scottish brew though
I had the misfortune of judging the lagers at the local beer competition and I learned that the average person shouldn't brew a lager. Most either stressed the yeast too much or fermented at too high of a temp but they were all dumpers. However, I'm sure all of these macros are better than what I had to endure :D
That sounds about right! I always do very small batch lager brews as they are veeeeery hit and miss (mostly miss) but awewome when one isn't a dumper 🤣
With macros is usually the shortcuts in ingredients quality to make it cheaper, brewing at a higher OG and cutting it down to half the ABV at bottling and how the beer is treated after that, other than that, they spend milions in development to brew in such a consistent way
Sorry for your misfortune Isaac! As you probably know brewing a good lager or pilsner is incredibly difficult. No place to hide lower quality ingredients, and you have to hit the temperature points perfectly.
It is true. Many small batch lagers are terrible, but the Craft industry is getting a hell of a lot better at it as the techniques spread. And in Germany and Czechia great lager is made by breweries of all sizes.
It is true. Many small batch lagers are terrible, but the Craft industry is getting a hell of a lot better at it as the techniques spread. And in Germany and Czechia great lager is made by breweries of all sizes.
I've had plenty of stale craft brew from the dusty kegs in my day. There's a time and a place for all beers. One trend I'd like to see more of from the craft brewers is a great balanced pilsner.
Some great craft Pilsners made in my town. A couple with just the right balance.
@@McShag420 spill the beans, I never shy away from a good beer trip.
Trumer
I have found that all the craft lagers I've tasted in the past taste more like IPA's and I really don't enjoy that grapefruit quality !
You can drink Pilsner? I prefer Bock, Märzen, Export or Hell.
only five minutes in, im finding it hilarious that jonny is saying "no after taste at all" and scoring it 6 out of 5. the after taste is off the scale!
Yep. I'm an idiot
Yes I noticed that too!...he said no aftertaste yet marked them 6 should been 0 flawed test!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel your right....haha ...anyway good review and yes most lagers are utter crap I found one I like Aldi St.Etiene taste,flavour ticks all boxes...also 1897 lager..
beer is beer. Larger is larger, that's what they are. Easy drinking. You don't need a 4 quid single can craft beer for it to be nice, craft beer had a crap ton of hops and malt to make hipsters to say "wow" .. The word 'beer' is a big spectrum of flavor. No brand of beer is a good or bad beer, all beer is different.
@@gingerNinja688 but. Lager is beer too😧.
Sometimes a generic lager is just what you need. Especially if you’re hard on cash at the moment lol. But for real sometimes I just get burnt out on fancy beers and just want something simple lol. My favorite cheap lager is Narragansett Lager. It’s a New England (Rhode Island specifically) staple. And it’s 5.99 for a 6 pack of 16 oz cans lol.
gansett is my go to beer for debauchery
I've been enjoying the 'odd beers' for awhile but I never disrespected the Amstel & Heineken pilsners. You actually start to appreciate them for what they are if you drink more 'odd' styles of beer. The clearness and relative freshness is nice if you constantly drink 6-9% abv Belgian ales and the like. They are very involved and can knock you down. The hazyness is also in a very big contrast to the clear refreshing pilsners.
Enjoyed this, would love to see you do a version with "better" quality lagers that are reasonably freely available in UK.
That is the in the works already!
Crazy how well these scored for after taste. Some of them 6 out of 5! Didn't even know that was possible. Mind blown.
The problem with is that there’s a little bit of an elitist attitude towards beer. These really aren’t“bad” beers (we could go for hours naming “bad” beers).
These are more starter beers, these are the beers that people drank when they were young and had less money. Nobody starts on a craft beer.
These beers are technological marvels. They are thin on palette but remarkably consistent. And they are designed for mass appeal. They are inoffensive. People aren't stupid for liking them.
@@nothanks29 Amen. Craft is just another slap-bang label like organic.
@@jamesclerk815 It's a word that once had a true useful meaning and then the marketing team happened?
@@chrisconley8583 Some of these really are bad, but I generally agree with you. I consider Stella Artois a perfect example - it's the beer I've long considered the most overrated beer on earth. Overrated doesn't mean bad, because it's not a bad beer, it's just nowhere near as good as its highly pretentious advertising pretends it is. It's basically a milquetoast, middle of the road, so-so beer. Budweiser and Bud Light, on the other hand, are pretty much just shit.
Would love to see a double-blind test with a mix of beers you like and these you don't.
The best beer I have ever had and my dad has ever had was one he made, he has been obsessed about making beer for decades. During the phase where you chill it for a few days, he forgot about it, accidentally chilled it for 3 months... There was no bacteria or foreign yeast or mould, and came out the cleanest, smoothest beer I have ever had in my life with zero aftertaste. Until he agitated it and bottled it into smaller bottles. It was the beer to make non-beer drinkers like beer, and to this day, only us two got to try it.
Did he every try to remake it?
@@Sumunuhriginal Currently in the process now. He is lazy about it. He doesn't have more than one drum to brew, so if he makes it, he is without any new homebrew beer for 3+ months
@@reddrift3022 also there is the problem of "meeting your heroes" that comes with trying to recreate your best ever made recipe.
@@tylerriles3124 Well it was a pretty simple concept. And he had already spent years making the exact same recipe. It was the only different variable. Pretty easy to recreate.
It wasn't like he was testing out a bunch of stuff and trying to make it work, he already had everything refined, he just made a happy accident that made it better
That's actually a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing. The beer sounds legendary!
First kitchen job the sous chef walked out at the start of december leaving 2 and a kp to do the festive season. After every shift the boss would buy the kitchen a round and i remember coming out of the kitchen after a 14 hour shift and seeing my pint of Fosters (the house lager) sat on the bar with little drops of condensation running down the glass and it tasted like angels dancing down my parched throat. Sometimes all you need is a pint of something cold and alcoholic.
There is nothing more refreshing than the cheapest lager on tap in a cold glass after getting dicked for 6 straight hours on a hot kitchen line
not a pilsner, but this just makes Guinness even more impressive. It has been mass produced for a while now and they still hold their integrity. I'm from the US so I've only ever had imported Guinness, but my grandfather is Irish and says the domestic is in another league, so I'm dying to take a trip there and try it.
It comes out of the taps from the kitchen sink in every family home in Ireland 😉 but seriously, its an expensive drink out there but the taste is something else.
I agree with the end summary, a "premium" lager batch review like this would be great. Things readily available like Budvar, Staropramen, Moretti, Sapporo, etc.
beer is beer. Larger is larger, that's what they are. Easy drinking. You don't need a 4 quid single can craft beer for it to be nice, craft beer had a crap ton of hops and malt to make hipsters to say "wow" .. The word 'beer' is a big spectrum of flavor. No brand of beer is a good or bad beer, all beer is different.
@@gingerNinja688 Firstly, it's spelt Lager, not Larger. Secondly, everything else you said is utter rubbish.
Budvar is so good
@@TronciM Yeh it really is one of my favs to pick up if I'm getting a lager from the supermarket.
@@SimonLX surely we can all agree that you don't need to spend 4 quid on a beer to enjoy it?!
This wasn't truly blind judging - to do a true "blind test" or experiment, someone else should purchase and setup the beers, and you should not know which beers were brought or be able to see them at all. Do they experiment blind folded, or by placing them in black glasses could be a workaround. Also, these beers should be equally mixed with "more premium" beers. Place them in order of your favourite to worst, and then score them. Knowing which beers were involved already introduced so much biased, and knowing that they were all "lower end" beers, you already had preconceived biases. Just some constructive criticism ! Cheers.
No blindfolds. The appearance of the beer is a big part of the judging process. I agree that someone else should have bought the beers, since he was able to identify the only craft beer accurately, but it doesn't seem like that affected his score since Heineken still outscored everything else. And as far as bias, we've all tasted Foster's before, we know what we're getting, and he still gave it a moderately fair review, granted it was after he'd already had quite a few other beers.
@@ADrunkBassist I disagree. Appearance should be removed for a true *taste* test. I don’t care for what a beer looks like, so long as it *tastes* good. That can be done by using black glasses, and not necessarily with blindfolds. Appearances influence our taste, but I want a review that’s truly objective and without any influence. As an example, if you blindfold me and give me Kobe beef and American Prime beef, I’ll easily be able to tell you the Kobe is objectively better. Would seeing the marbling (or lack there of) and searing make enjoy the steak more, probably, but that’s not the point of a *taste* test. Taste test should just be on the nose and mouth, as only they together can objectively judge taste. I understand professional judging includes appearance, but that’s why it’s also a bit of a farce. Branding, marketing, appearance can all be manipulated.
Loved the video Jonny! I live in Kansas City, Missouri which is almost exactly in the middle of the US and, although we have a pretty good local craft beer scene, like most places in the US it's home to MANY domestic beer drinkers. They are fiercely loyal to their brands, and generally only drink one specific brand as though there were some significant difference between them lol.
This last Christmas I decided to put my extended family to the test. I set up a domestic beer blind taste test and had them decide which one they liked the best. They are all Coors Light drinkers. Much to their chagrin they selected Bud Light as their overwhelming favorite...and then went back to drinking Coors. haha
Haha loyalty dies hard with beer.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel you may know all this since you are pretty much a beer expert, but this type of loyalty can be traced back to the few companies that were able to survive prohibition in the US and the homogenous beer that resulted. The baby boomer generation in the US grew up on ONE type of beer: what we now know as American pilsner.
When homebrewing became legal in certain states in the 1970s is when you started seeing more diversity in brew styles, and then that escalated as more states followed suit. My relatives are from Mississippi, one of the least progressive and poorest states in the country. Homebrewing was illegal there until 2008, so they don't know what they don't know. I should've sprinkled in a craft pilsner to see what they thought like you did here!!!!
A lot of traditional macro beer drinkers are like sports fans. Doesn't matter if your team is losing, you're still loyal to them to the end.
beer is beer. Larger is larger, that's what they are. Easy drinking. You don't need a 4 quid single can craft beer for it to be nice, craft beer had a crap ton of hops and malt to make hipsters to say "wow" .. The word 'beer' is a big spectrum of flavor. No brand of beer is a good or bad beer, all beer is different.
Boulevard tank 7 greatest beer of all time
Bud is the king of beers for a reason
In Ireland, we have a lager called Dutch Gold which - as far as I know - is only sold here. Apparently, it's the country's 3rd best selling can behind Budweiser and Heineken. I haven't drank it since my college days, but this video has inspired me to pick up a can this evening haha.
When I was visiting the UK back in October I had a Carlsberg because i wanted something familiar, being from Denmark that was the obvious choice for me. I noticed that Carlsberg in the UK is only around 3.6% whilst here in Denmark it's around 4.5%. Since I'm nowhere near a beer expert myself, I'm curious as to if you reckon that makes a noticeable difference in your rating?
We have 2 versions of carlsberg in the UK and Ireland, Carlsberg and Carlsberg export, the export one is lovely, a really nice beer and it is 4.5% we call the Normal Carlsberg marathon beer, because you could drink 12 of them and still be able to run a marathon!
@@thekneebreaker4790 yeah export is actually really nice
@@thekneebreaker4790 I'm sorry but carlsberg export still tastes like slightly bitter soda water
Not sure about Carlsburg but it's a similar situation with Heineken and a pint in Holland is much nicer than a pint in Dublin from my experience. In fact its actually enjoyable
I really enjoy Carlsberg, but I live in Norway, and we get the 4.5% one - I didn't even know they had a 3.6%
even before clicking, I knew exactly how this -beer expert- was going to look and sound like
An award winning beer expert having his mind changed about two macro beers?
I have never wanted to drink a shitty lager more than I do right now
Ha. Well my advice is avoid Kronenburg
@@TheCraftBeerChannel As a complete beer pleb it's pleasing to know that I have the objectively worst possible taste in beer 👍
I'm having the exact same feeling, I want a piss warm can of Heineken haha
Exactly.
@@TheoHiggins its definetley not objectiveley bad, i love corona and pilsner old style or banquet way more than the dozens of craft beer i had. no offense to craft beer people, love ya but craft beer sucks
Interesting that Heineken came out on top, a lot of people here in the Netherlands dislike it. The most popular pilsners here (among young people at least) are probably Grolsch and Hertog Jan. Jupiler is really popular as well, but that's technically Belgian.
Among students, Klok is popular, since it's a lot cheaper than the big name brands and it's surprisingly drinkable at room temperature.
I totally agree with your shout-out of Paulaner, it's one of my favourite beers.
When I visited St. Martin (I guess the Dutch side is spelled Sint Marteen) when I was in the Navy, Heineken was about all you could find. I didn't like the taste back then, but I was young then. Now I love Heineken. It's certainly better than when I visited Bahrain and the hotel only had Fosters which was complete garbage.
Once put into a blind taste test, you kind of realize how much "name brand" can put a bias on your opinion.
It took me 20 years to settle on Grolsch beer. Very underrated beer imo.
Goed te drinken hoor
So my college beer of choice was Coors Light. I drank a lot of it. Then the microbrew phenom started and I got into real beers. Several years ago, I had been playing volleyball for like 2 hours at a company picnic and was parched. I went to the company cooler and all they had left was ol' Coors Light. OK, it can't be that bad, right. I opened it and took a swig. As the metallic nothing liquid hit my throat, I poured the rest in the grass. I grabbed a piece of ice out of the cooler instead. That was the last time I've had a macro.
This has got to be the snobbiest comment I’ve ever read. Y’all are pathetic. Most of them taste like water and you’re pretending that they taste bad. It’s hilarious listening to people like you pretend that these beers taste bad when in reality they taste more like nothing than they do bad. Besides most craft beers taste like hoppy ass. I can’t believe anybody enjoys that. I’d much rather have a Guinness or a yeungling any day of the week then any of the overpriced craft crap that nine times out of ten tastes way too hoppy. “That’s the last time I had a macro” 😂 you sound like such a hipster snob. You’re hilarious
I went to school with Jonny and really amazing to see him excel in the beer world. Great video with a very surprising result.
@@Lleeeot always. Dr gunn would be subscribed im sure…
I'd love to see you do an "American" beer version of this with things like PBR, Old Milwaukee, Busch, and some other "cheap" beers.
Why? Those are shit even by our standards. Might as well include Natty Ice and Natty Lite.
@@davidtuttle7556 To be honest, I'd rather drink PBR over Corona, Heineken, Amstel, Peroni, Carslberg, Budweiser, Coors Light, and Stella. Those are truly crap beers.
@@jonathanhopper2026 you are correct. PBR, Old Style have won World Beer Cup awards for Am Style Cream Lager
@@crookedfurrowbrewing8450 Which is crazy, because it's like drinking water. Good water, but water.
@@jonathanhopper2026 I won’t disagree, though an ice cold corona 7.5 after cutting the grass in July here in Florida isn’t a bad refresher, especially with a slice of lime. But yeah all of those are generally crap. I’m nursing a Guinness as we speak.
All I drank when I was in Prague for my 30th was Pilsner Urquell. It was excellent then and continues to be now.
Just like everything else in life, cheap and cheerful absolutely has its place! I absolutely love good beer, but one Budweiser after work does the trick!
Sometimes I just want a crisp ice cold brew that isn't too demanding or trying to reinvent the wheel.
I used to drink heavier beers but now I’ve switched to Pilsners, Hef or even the Lights.
I think the reasoning is that anytime I drink something I have a tendency to guzzle the entire glass. For dinner we always have a glass of water, but as soon as I sit down I guzzle it down and pour a second glass. I think that’s the reason I can’t enjoy wine, I drink it like water.
Thanks for stoppin' by
I went off lager for ages but have now discovered that there are actual good ones out there (a lot of the pubs round here serve Spitfire Lager which is pretty decent).
I’d love to see a budget beer lineup. Natural Light, Rolling Rock, Carlings Black Label, Blatz, Hamm’s etc
There's no right or wrong with beer or any drinks or food. You like what you like and that's that. If others don't like it, that's their preference, doesn't mean you're "wrong".
Budweiser is greatly improved with an orange slice; in a similar way that Corona is vastly improved with a lime.
I find that these get worse the more you drink. They become both sweeter and bitterer which is odd. Rheinbacher is not too bad though in my opinion.
Good point especially cans I found along with the hangovers.
So true. I used to think I couldn't stomach more than a few pints of beer - until I had real German lager at the Brewhouses and fuck me, could I put some away!
Ive always thought it was odd when beer nerds get all testy over what others drink. Sure its mostly not that great, but judging people for liquid choices seems a bit silly.
Personally ive had thousands of amazing beers from all over the world and would still drink a Coors Light if you put it in my hand. Its easy drinking and you get to socially hang out which is more important than any beer ever made.
Agreed. See my comments above. I know a lot of people who are drinkers. All of them drink main stream beers. My brother hates all craft beer. No one is right or wrong. It's personal choice.
Absolutely. We are very geeky about our beer but we always try not to let it get in the way of the important part, socialising, which is why we (used to) put some much emphasis on travel on this channel. Hoping we can again some day! We also try hard not to be snobs, which was the idea behind this video. Unfortunately we discovered the best of these is the one we refuse to drink on ethical grounds... so we'll just keep downing Pilsner Urquell.
Coors may be the smoothest American beer that exist. Sure I have not had every beer on the market, but Coors and Coors Light are the smoothest big name American beer I have drank. I have never drank Coors on a regular basis, but when I have drank it, it has always been very smooth. Budweiser is the worst of the big name beers in my opinion, because it seems thick to me. Not sure how to explain it, but Budweiser seems like it is thicker than other beers.
In the early 2000s I drank Bud (before my senses got educated).
A friend who had been drinking my beer for months asked me if I had anything “less beery tasting”!
His favorite swill was Coors Lite!
As soon as a craft brewery was close to me, I never went back to macro-brews.
Cheers!
“You know what my favorite beer is? Cold beer” Anthony Bordane.
I love that man, and understand the sentiment. But it's as nonsensical as me saying "You know what my favorite food is? Cooked food.” There's good and bad cold beer.
Foster's has recently become my go to macro lager. Partly because it's ok, but also because the child in my kinda finds the large "oil can" format hilarious for some dumb reason.
The container it comes in is half of it for me. Can’t buy old E since they put the 40’s is plastic bottles. Mickeys for me.
i can see you’ve played knifey spoony before
Jokes on you, that's what us Aussies ship overseas to gullible yanks and poms, you'll never find us drinking that swill, you won't ever see it on a shelf in Aus lol.
@@vpdownunder9032 Fosters sold in the UK is brewed in the UK mate (by Heineken, no less)
I love how he's like I quite like that !!!
Gives a low score in each category
Ehh this one's quite boring
Gives moderate score lol
Heineken is probably my favorite on this list. It actually tastes a lot better in country as well.
Try tyskie it's a polish lager which imo is quite nice & it's 5% so a nice bite to it.
@@pauliboi9976 fucking minimum unit pricing In Ireland has made beers like this hard to find now :'(
@@orrinnirro it's in literally every supermarket in Ireland, its always in lidl for €2 a bottle & supervalu & tescos....
These are what I call lawnmower beers. Good to drink on a very hot summer day after mowing the lawn.
Indeed! Though as an upcoming video will show there are much better lawnmower lagers!
Ill basically drink any beer as long as its not heineken
The results mostly make sense to me. I'd have probably scored Coors and Bud lower (I spent my 20s and a good chunk of my 30s thinking I didn't like beer because of those two), but overall, of the ones I've actually had, these line up with my opinions pretty well. In particular Heineken is one of the few macro beers I'll choose for myself.
Interesting video. It’s hard to do a completely blind taste test with these sort of beers because it’s so easy to recognise the taste of a macro lager, and then it’s impossible look past the shady ethics and give the liquids they produce any respect at all.
What's the shady ethics sorry?
@@notsosecretsnacker5218 Heineken was brewing in Rwanda during the genocide. Just one example.
@@notsosecretsnacker5218 generally it’s the way these big businesses put profit before people. But if you want to look into one case, Heineken’s alleged link to genocide in Rwanda.
I mostly agree with that, but I'd never rate Heineken above Stella, it'll always be my go to (after Paulaner, that is)
Stella lost itself when it went from 5.2% to 4.6%.
Stella is overrated for what it is. Id rather a Heineken for sure
You should start with a Budweiser that isn’t expired
Until the last two minutes I thought this was just an overly elaborate heineken commersial
Throughly pleased that Heineken scored the highest as it’s one of my favorite beers
I usually dont drink lager, I am more into the black stuff. Imperial stout, scotch ale, porter and so on. But honestly, out of all of those you blind tasted, stella is probably my favorite. It has got a nice bitterness to it and not too much of that washed down lager character. Dont know how to describe that better. The kind of almost rancid buttery lactic taste you get from most cheap lagers after a few good sips.
Would be good to compare different versions of the same beers. Comparing the stuff brewed under license to the original.
exactly my thoughts!
Just here to say Budweiser is great and I love it
Here's the thing, cheap beers are meant to be easily drinkable. Try chugging, beer bonging, shotgunning a dark german lager for example. There are beers for chugging and beers for sipping. That said, of the cheap american beers that I enjoy the flavor of: Budweiser(kinda standard bar beer), Coors(non-light, really hard to find sometimes), New Castle(ok this is a European beer, but still cheap and common), and my favorite daily beer(malt liquor) King Cobra :)
Totally agree! Our aim here was to discover the best chuggable beer after years of not drinking them.
I think that when you're at the pub, especially as a teenager, you find the lager on tap that is the "least worst" and you just stick with it. Even though I enjoy a good craft beer, I'll still find myself going back to a nice ice-cold Peroni. Maybe it's nostalgia. Maybe it's that you don't have to think about what you're tasting. Maybe it's simply because we all have different tastes and what is "good" or "bad" is irrelevant when you're not judging beers professionally! Who knows.
I had no idea people drank Peroni outside of Italy, let alone have nostalgic thoughts about it like so many Italians do. Heartwarming ngl
@@StormKidification Yeah, Peroni is actually quite popular in the UK, if not a little bit on the expensive side. It's my "restaurant beer", I guess. I have many good memories of sitting with friends or family usually outside in blistering sun, drinking Peroni. That's what I associate it with.
When I'm not drinking my native broon ale, peroni is usually my go to lager, its the least offensive and it's actually quite nice if served freezing cold.
Peroni does that to me too. My enjoyment of it is somehow inexplicable, but palpably there.
...So i don't question it and thank my lucky stars I found something cheap AND enjoyable for once.
as a Dutch person, it's just heartbreaking to see Heineken win.... together with Amstel they're literally the worst lagers we make over here. (That's why we export them.)
In that case, what is a good Dutch lager/pilsner?
You spoiled the video by telling me who won!
@@Ozone280 that's why you should watch first and then read the comments. It's TH-cam's version of listen before you talk. I'm guilty of that too.
@@deifor I was doing both at the same time. But Heineken?
@@Ozone280 lol, when I was a teenager mu parents and I agreed that Heineken was the best lager. Then one day I started to not enjoy it buy I was afraid to offend them haha. Now all I drink is IPA.
Stella, Millers, and Heineken are some of my favorite for macro, but still haven't tried it all. Most mexican logers like Corona are tolerable summer beers without much character, and Bud is where you start just tasting things as bread-water. Been trying stuff like sapporo now and its... confusing, but doable.
I actually did beer ratings with my friends yesterday. We bought tons of beer our local and hipster supermarkets had and tried them out. around 20 different beers. Now 12 hours later while i have never looked up anything relating to beers online this video comes in my recomended. First vid about beer in my recomended. We are actively being watched. Also good ratings i had generally the same opinion when it comes to ranking.
Did you get a hangover?
I never thought of Foster's as a bad beer. I haven't looked too hard for it in my local liquor stores but the only place I have ever had it was at Outback Steakhouses. I've always really liked it, probably because it is a little sweeter. If you pair it with a steak dinner it complements the savory very well.
It's mainly because no one drinks it in Australia and it's ranked pretty poorly
Would have be good to seen this done with an equal mix of craft lagers. Also literally with a blindfold. Would give a much better indication of how much taste difference is real or imagined.
We did that before many many years ago! Perhaps time for v2
Im an actual fan of Fosters, in terms of the cheap alcohol and I've never seen the hate, honestly compared to something like bud its down right great. but id go for Moretti or Staropramen if given a choice and budget.
I remember the Fosters from OZ in the 70’s.Tried it one more time today (US) version. No. Staropromen was my fave in Prague’s
I’m Dutch and Heineken is my go to beer. People shit on it a lot but seems like it’s one of the better ones. And it’s available everywhere. A W in my book
I’d love to see a beer expert get their hands on a bottle of Spotted Cow or Two Women from New Glarus, Wisconsin in the USA. It is not sold outside of state lines and people will legitimately drive 6+ hours to pick up a case of it. It’s not expensive without lacking in quality. Most people admit it’s the best beer they have ever had, even visitors I’ve known from England, Ireland, California, Australia, Turkey, Poland, Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, etc.
I only order PBR for myself though, gotta stay loyal to the classics.
Kinda hard to take seriously when he didn’t even follow his own scoring rubric
He talked up Corona and quite liked it but gave it literally lowest score... also straight away identifies the craft and gives it a high score lol
Yeah im an idiot. But at least i was a consistent idiot.
This is a really good illustration of subconscious biases. He rated the Fosters as better simply because it was darker than the others, despite knowing that Fosters is crap.
I generally avoid this class of beer but my go to is Yuengling. It's a bit odd in that it is a budget US lager that's been around for ages but unlike its peers has stayed relatively small and regional. I don't think it's available in more than a few states.
One of the very best mediocre beers
I'm lucky enough to be in one states that gets it and I do like a Yuengling from time to time. Check out Yuengling golden if you can find it! It's their take on traditional German beer and honestly it's the closest an American beer has come to copying that flavor, at least from the beer that I've tried so far.
@@dylanfarley8136 nothing more Pennsylvania than Yuengling Hershey's Porter. 🍺🍫
Yuengling may not impress me much but it never disapoints.
Silly Willy, clear bottles skunk faster, which is why corona is always marketed with a lime in it to cover the skunking that happens almost inevitably with corona
Your commentary is not wrong, Bud is a nothing beer. That’s why I drink it to be honest, after hard work I don’t want to think about my beer. I just want to sit down and drink beer while watching TV, with “nothing” beer in my hand.
Dare I admit it here, but I like Fosters for being the easy, refreshing no thrills lager when you do not want to get overly drunk and enjoy a drink without spending a small fortune.
There are an absolute TON of micro breweries in my area (Roskilde, Denmark), and in town there's a wine and beer bar that sells a bunch of them. Their selection always varies depending on what they can get, but I always get great beer from there, when I ask for a recommendation. I'm partial to a good stout. Not much of a fan of the hoppy bitterness of IPA. 😂
I used to love a 4 pack of 1664 in my youth. Thank god I came to my senses.
Would be a good video if you did mass produced bitters as well. Boddingtons, Tetleys, John Smiths, GK etc.
To be fair, it might be a completely different beer today.
This could be a lot of fun!
@@Its__Good Trust me, they're not.
GK Abbott is actually a fine beer. Now my beer of choice seeing as Bombardier has just been completely ruined by the Eagle Brewery.
@@MarmiteTheDog Agree with you regarding Bombardier. But, for me anything that GK makes is just not worth drinking. But, beer is subjective. What might be lovely for one person the other one it might not. Wouldn't it be an awful world if we all liked the same beers.
I watched this because heineken is my favourite lager.
Soo happy you agree its good and rated the highest 🎉
Calling Fosters Australian is a bootable offense in the country lol
The thing about a lot of these beers, for me, is that the taste brings back memories of my stays in various European countries where I had precious little time to seek out quality, and could only drink what the corner shop had in stock. Combine with some cheap crisps or whatever and I'm taken right back. An example not shown would be "Jupiler".
I feel the same way about Peroni
I see you’re a man of culture, Jupiler is one of Belgiums proudest beers
I’ve tried Heineken in different countries and the differences in flavour are immense. Hilariously, the best one was the one I’ve tried on their factory tour in Amsterdam.
If you do another video of this series, stick a Pilsner Urquell in your list of 12 or however many, as your "experimental control." See if any of the others can hold a candle to a tried and true quality pilsner. Loved the video idea.
beer is beer. Larger is larger, that's what they are. Easy drinking. You don't need a 4 quid single can craft beer for it to be nice, craft beer had a crap ton of hops and malt to make hipsters to say "wow" .. The word 'beer' is a big spectrum of flavor. No brand of beer is a good or bad beer, all beer is different.
@@gingerNinja688 indeed. Talk about appropriation. Low brow and fun turned into hipstery rigidity. That’s the truly awful aftertaste here.
"Kronenburg when I was feeling fancy" lmao so true, it was my go-to in the students union whenever I wanted to pretend I was a grown up 😅
Victoria, brewed in Málaga, is a gem of a beer. Great choice! Love the arty label as well, of what looks like an Englishman in a suit under the hot Spanish sun. I love a cold bottle of thìs beer when I go to the Costa del Sol. I was speaking to a bartender who told me it was an old beer that they stopped making many years ago but in recent years they decided to reproduce it again. I don't know the details.
I like how when the 2 normally skunky beers were on the table for sampling, the comment was made about there being a skunky one among them but when the held to the nose directly the skunky-ness wasn't as noticeable, I've had that come up in conversations with friends in the past with both Peroni and Heineken. you can notice it right away when you open it but it can seem to fade until you drink it and then it just jumps back out once you take a swig and I personally just can't get past it after that. Peroni especially if not kept cold and exposed to direct sunlight for even a small amount of time can become one of the skunkiest beers I've ever had.
beer is beer. Larger is larger, that's what they are. Easy drinking. You don't need a 4 quid single can craft beer for it to be nice, craft beer had a crap ton of hops and malt to make hipsters to say "wow" .. The word 'beer' is a big spectrum of flavor. No brand of beer is a good or bad beer, all beer is different.
Kronenbourg is generally my go to and the only one I feel has discernible flavour. Funny how palates differ. I usually stick to craft but there’s many, many, occasions where I will drink macro lager. Had Leffe lagre on the PD recently that was pretty nice. Also agree about Pilsner Urquell, ever since I had that in Prague it’s my top lager. Been Oktoberfest a few times think the beers are overrated to some degree. One think I always say that my partner mocks me for is “lager is lager”, it’s like the difference between Cadburys or Galaxy to Asda smart pure chocolate. Would rather have the former but the latter will do the trick if need be.
Indeed. It is all subjective
dont even say u went oktoberfest and u thought the beers were overrated. Just say u dont like beer then mate. As a genuine drinker in ur given country, u shouldnt be able to then go to oktoberfest and think the beer is “overrated”, or you must have drank the shittest of the oktoberfest selection, cos any big beer drinker who goes to oktoberfest and compares their big name brands back home to it, is going to be impressed. If ur a fan of beer u *love* oktoberfest beer. The flavour, aroma, quality and balanced of ingredients perfected -its the epitome of a perfect beer
i’ve always enjoyed ‘holiday’ lagers, super bock, estrella damm, efes etc. could be a good taste test. far better than UK/US macro
Estrella Damm is so good.
Have you tried Estrella Galicia
@@jackakaemo I've had Damm, Daura, and Inedit Damm, according to Untappd.
I haven't seen Galicia on any of my local shelves. How does it compare?
@@music2myear it's great, my new favourite at the moment. Think you can buy it from ocado and Sainsbury's so deffo check them out
@@jackakaemo I'm in the US, in the Pacific Northwest. I'm lucky to find Damm as it is. But I'll keep my eyeballs open for Galicia.
For years I thought I hated beer.
And then craft beer exploded
Drinking Urquell in Prague was life changing for me. I totally "got" it and really came to understand why Czechs drink the most beer on earth per capita
Had exactly the same lighbulb moment!
I love a Peroni or a Stella every once in a while. Peroni goes especially well with a nice pizza/other good Italian food. Lagers are also great session beers. If I'm making a night of it, I don't necessarily want something super flavourful that's going to overwhelm my palate after 3 or 4 of them.
That said, I'm also a big fan of craft brew, and we have some great ones where I live.
I love lagers and pilsners too, but the point is there are way, way better options than any of the beers in this video if you feel like drinking something on the lighter side
Moretti is much nicer than Peroni imo
@@gyberic yeah, that's definitely true.
@@TheScotDrummer I like Moretti every once in a while, too.
@@TheScotDrummer This video popped up in my algorithmn even though I rarely drink lager these days (switched to wine).
When I was first dating my partner (been together 12 years this summer), one of the few lagers that we both enjoyed was Peroni. It's also the lager that I buy from the supermarket if we're in the mood for lager or have guests and want some easy drinking.
That said, maybe our taste buds have matured somewhat because I definitely notice the lack of finish on Peroni. When we have tried Moretti, it is more hoppy, maltish and has a better, if somewhat slightly bitter, finish.
The posted claiming that this subject is a bunch of BS and there are no objectively bad lagers has not drunk Budweiser or Carling. I'd rather a stranger pissed into a pint glass and handed it to me to drink to cut out the middle man.
This is basically like a soda/soft drink expert, who's used to home made craft soda/soft drink... giving coca cola a go.
Just because better exists don't mean there is anything wrong with a coca cola.
Was lowkey rooting for Heineken from the start, to my taste one of the 'best' macro beers. especially during an Australian summer
Heineken is definitely one of the better non craft beers. If I’m at a restaurant and craft beer isn’t available, I go with either Heineken or Stella Artois.
Heineken is decent, especially when frosty. In terms of other lagers you can readily get here in Aus, Asahi and Sapporo are nice and dependable. As for really really cheap, my old man introduced me to Hammer n Tongs green, and for ~$35 for a slab of 30 they very drinkable lawnmowing beer and weigh in at a respectable 4.9%. Also I really don't mind a Sol with some lime in there with tacos and nachos, hits the spot every time. I say all this as a bonafide craft beer nut- the most fun I have is to hear someone (older) say "I have been drinking X all my life" and then recommend them something similar that's more punchy, more flavourful, better mouthfeel etc. Generally I do not judge any beer as anything brewed is a lovely thing. That being said, I cannot actually drink PBR and Budweiser, and pretty much anything Aussie ALDI sells is soapy dishwater.
@@MrSeropamine Sounds like were on a similar wavelength mate, cheers
I'm glad the important questions are still being asked and answered. Faith in humanity is not completely lost
I am a beer snob - love craft beers and cannot stand the commercial American beers nor do I like lighter beers. However I have to be honest - I DO like Corona especially with lime and salt. It has a unique taste that I know what it is and it can be refreshing to me when I am in the mood for it.
Very good choice on the beers that I have derided for years. Honestly I wish you could've added Pabst Blue Ribbon to that list. (A beer I was told was good my entire life - but was wholly disappointed by once I know what good beer was.)
It is a very, very bad beer. Might do a special internstional/regional one and include it
@@TheCraftBeerChannel PBR is the only American Macro Lager I like, and I've just about tried them all.
Pilsner Urquell doesn't travel as well in my view though, maybe lager in general doesn't? In Czech it tastes amazing but when I drink it in UK from a bottle I can't see much difference between it & other bad macro lagers. Of course it's still better than the ones you mention but I wouldn't say it's that much better in bottle form imported from CZ to UK. However, on draught in CZ, it's like mother's milk.......
Yeh rubbish in bottle as pasteurised! I think
I actually prefer a can of stella than a can of pilsner urquell..
To be honest, NO beer travels well. That's why we encourage people to travel to it. It is always best at source
@@TheCraftBeerChannel hey you're 100% right, just listened to your podcast, thanks for highlighting this! I don't think enough ppl realise this & appreciate local beers enough! Beer should be like Novak Djokovic, staying at home as much as possible! lol
last time i had a can of urquell it was borderline undrinkable. you're much better off drinking a decent golden ale from a local brewery than lager in the uk. i live in yorkshire & am spoilt for choice tbh, even black sheep do a good one lol. just avoid anything by marstons, they're disgusting.
Seeing kronenberg get the lowest score made me happy
When the "bad" lagers are the expensive ones, you know you are broke
Drinking a Heineken as I watch this, you're damn right it's a decent lager!
It's often said that the best place to enjoy a beer is near the source, and the nicest Heineken I ever had was in a little bar in Amsterdam that was frequented by locals and was off the tourist trail.
Many bars in Holland have switched to Belgian Jupiler Lagers interestingly. I think it's much more tasty.
I grew up drinking Amstel in bars in Holland which scored pretty bad in this test.
The best beer is the beer you love and that's that!