British beer expert blind tastes American macro lager | The Craft Beer Channel
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2022
- This week we're blind again as Jonny dives into a terrible care package from the States, loaded with 13 regional and national American macrolagers. Which one will win this blind lager taste test and how do they compare to the previous episodes?!
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CHALLENGE! Before you watch to the end, place your bets on what came first and last! Hit us up below.....
I recommended the Sam Adams Boston Lager and it did well. I've never had Pabst Blue Ribbon and I've never heard of Coors Banquet, I'll have to check those 2 out.
I think Sam Adams should be first, and last...maybe Bud light?
Coors banquet had always been my north american go-to (if craft is unavailable).
Can't say what worst might be, probably one of the light beers. They're pretty tragic.
My guess is Sam Adams at No 1, Budweiser bottom. Love these blind tastings.
Sam Adams top and Budweiser last.
As an American, I've always loved Coors Banquet and my beer snob friends make fun of me for it. Now I feel vindicated
I always keep it handy for the summer months. Its a tasy bevrage.
Used to sell in the UK as Extra gold. Loved it.
Same brother. It’s hands down the best “cheap beer” out there.
Also American and a beer snob, but if you open my refrigerator Coors Banquet (in the stubby bottles) is in there. Why? Because it tastes good is cheep and if it is 100 degrees out and I just mowed the lawn I don't want the latest 8.5% NEPA from Treehouse.
Damn i've never had Coors Banquet will be fun to try, and it will be a fun difference as i normally try and buy something new and crafty, cheers!
PBR and Coors getting the love they deserve. I unironically like those beers. Banquet in a bottle is very drinkable.
I exclusively drink local craft beers and being in Colorado I was spoiled AF but I was at a banquet ironically with only a couple beer options and banquet was one of them. I figured it had to be the best of the terrible selection and was pleasantly surprised. For a while after that I would order it at bars that only had a few taps until eventually every bar included at least a couple craft beers and that was the end of that.
I love my PBR. ❤
He should of tried the Miller High Life out of the bottle. Its a different beer out of the bottle.
Banquet in a STUBBY? I'm a sucker every time.
@McP1mpin Colorado brews are some of the best. I drank my way across the Rockies a few times. I'm in BFE NM now. Albs has a couple of nice spots and a few other contenders spread throughout the state. Banquet is sometimes the only option I have at the local "general stores" that is not Anhauser Busch rice water swill. It's not the greatest brew ever, but it does have the most complex palate of the US mainstream fare.
When I drop down from the mountains into Socorro, I am sure to load up on New Belgium IPA.
I am a brewer for Coors in Golden, CO and makes me proud to see that you enjoyed banquet. It is by far my favorite macro brew in the US. And that was before I started working there lol. You should give blue moon a try as well. It’s funny because we make all the coors and miller beers you have in this video lol.
Wow this is cool to see! Welcome to the channel! Was really surprised by Banquet. Good stuff.
Good old yellow jackets, can't beat em.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Definitely try blue moon. Really nice stuff especially with an orange slice!
He's right! the blue moon is absolutely worth I go.
thats awesome we welded alot of the tubes there glad to see someone working there!
Yuengling is pretty unique amongst this round up. It's probably the last of its kind. It's a independently owned regional brewer with a macro instead of craft attitude. San Adam is the biggest micro brewer, Yeungling is the smallest macro brewer. Most of the other names, PBR, Gansettes, were once independently owned, but now they've been gobbled up by other companies. One of the best regional macros I've ever had was Rainer beer from Washington state.
Yeah but they're anti union so f em
Yuengling and Boston Beer co. have been going back and forth for largest American owned brewery. Neck and neck.
As a Washingtonian it was a sad day when the Rainier brewery shutdown. It was one of those regional icons that gave the area character before all the tech bros came in and changed things. And it was a genuinely good beer! Seeing the old brewery building turned into a bunch of boutique hipster pop-up shops adds insult to injury. Olympia beer was another surprisingly good American Macro lager. Also no longer exists.
Yuengling only recently got pupular in the last 15-20 years outside of PA when Rolling Rock fell off the map. It's cheap and decent. Way better than RR. I don't know how I drank that skunky crap back in my clubbing days.
@@CodeBleu724 RR tastes like creamed corn, especially as it begins to warm even the slightest. It’s gotta be ice cold to get past that.
I was amazed to see Yuengling be treated like an expensive import even as close as Maryland about 20 years ago. Living in PA, I knew a bar for every day of the week I could find dollar Lagers. It’s not that inexpensive now, but it’s still damn cheap in southeast and central PA.
Yuengling has always been a cheap beer with more flavor than who they believe their competition is, and that’s the boring watered down American macros.
I’ll take a Lager any day over a Bud. Still reminds me of high school beer bashes. Yuengling was the beer of choice in the Philly burbs.
I knew PBR would score fairly well. After all, it won a blue ribbon.
If they reintroduced it in bottles again they might win their first blue ribbon since 1893...
The glass 40oz bottles are good, the only bottles they have and only when you are lucky enough to find them.
@@leviturner3265 They sell 6packs of glass bottles around SC/NC
When i moved to america i was near the pabst brewery...ice cold ( beer ice cubes ) all summer.....and on tap in the biker gang pub.
Def blue ribbon from me.
I'm 75 years old now and I've been a beer drinker since I was fifteen years old, and I've sampled dozens of beers, all kinds of beers made from all around the world, and in my opinion PBR is the best beer for the money here in the US.
They don't just give those blue ribbons out.
American here- super happy to see that PBR, yeungling, and Coors banquet did well. It's worth pointing out that PBR (nationwide) and yuengling (at least in the general eastern PA region) are CHEAP. Like, bottom shelf cheap. They are my go-to choices when just grabbing a 6 pack of something.
Yuengling is cheap in eastern PA because it was created and still headquartered in eastern PA (Pottsville). Their original brewery is less than an hour from where I am.
@@TenOfTwenty Alabama resident here, Yuengling has been my go to beer for years now. I got excited when i saw the brewery on my travels as a truck driver.
Miller High Life is the CHEAPEST beer I enjoy. Yuengling is more expensive in the south (and tends to give me hangovers). Totally agree with Coors and Coors Light. Also agree with Michelobe (pronouced MIH-keh-"lobe") Ultra. It's beer for when you should be drinking water.
No yuengling where I live (Las Vegas), or none that I seen. I've never tried PBR despite being a hipster beer. I have tried all the light beers on this list, and they are all horrible. Ultra being the worst. I'm glad he agrees with me. I didn't understand when I bought it why it tasted so bad. But it was all I could find in Utah that I thought I might like.
i live in WNY south of Buffalo, $5.99 for a 6 pack tall boys of yuengling hands down my favorite beer and so fucking cheap
The Birra Moretti plant as a means of recalibrating the scoring system was brilliant. Perfectly demonstrates American beer isn't as bad as it's made out to be lol
Not really. Birra Moretti isn’t very good. I don’t think he underscored it but over scored it in the other tasting. I should add that l am not at all anti American. I have US family and greatly admire the US, warts and all as we say, maybe you do too. Things have improved on the beer front in recent times but the market leaders are still terrible
American macro beer is pretty terrible. There were only around 4 on this list that performed well. I say this as an American. My favorite Lager currently is ArcoBrau Zwickl Lager. My favorite Ale is Bell's Two-Hearted American IPA. Both of these beers are a night and day difference from any of the ones discussed in this video. That being said they are MUCH more expensive. The ArcoBrau lager was 13$ for a 6-pack of bottles and the Bells two-hearted was 10$ for a 6-pack of bottles. However, most Americans that I know who consume alcohol drink to get drunk, so flavor or quality. Also looks like I need to try Coors banquet now.
American mass-produced beer compared to local American micro brews are worlds apart. The mass produced corporate beers, for the most part, don't touch what's being made somewhere close.
@@narendra7817 Saying "American beer" just ruins the plot though. It shows you're, respectfully, kinda snobby about it because you're really into beers, and you thus have an inherent bias against anything "American." Which is a common trait amongst beer people, wine people, car people, gun people, sports people, "foodies," etc.. In reality, you know(I can tell you know, you're not dumb) damn well there's an abundance of phenomenal beers from breweries littered all over the country.
@@charlesbrown4483 Its true. Since this post two of my favorite breweries have emerged. Both American. Urban chestnut brewing co, and toppling goliath. Both American made and phenomenal.
As a longtime Bud drinker that switched to Coors Banquet a few years back, I of course appreciated this video, lol. However, I would have scored it higher on the finish because I'm not a fan of bitterness. I might drink more craft beer if 95% of what's on the shelf wasn't another goddamn IPA. Maybe it's the German in me, but I much prefer a lager over an ale. A good domestic small batch I've found is Session Lager from Full Sail Brewery in Oregon.
I use to drink Bud light then I switched to Busch light and now every time I drink a Bud Light, I like it. Some weird taste that I can't get past
I like session too and I’m a banquet guy lol
When he said…” I would have expected some head, going to be quite disappointed here.” I felt that in my soul.
"Expect head, expect disappointment" - The Buddha
literally why I'm single
so no head?
Coors Banquet (in the stubby bottles) is stocked in my fridge because: 1) I think it tastes good, 2) I enjoy drinking out of that bottle, and 3) because Johnny Lawrence drinks it. Now I can add a "4)" to my list.
Cobra Kai never dies!
John Dutton also likes it
Southeast USA, I’ve actually never seen a bottle of Coors Banquet. Only ever seen it in tall boy cans
@@christiannelson3416 I've never tried it cans, so I can't attest to the flavor difference. The bottle is similar to Red Stripe, so if you've had that, you'll understand at least the drinking experience.
i love those stubby bottles too! 🤣
Coors Banquet tastes even better in a bottle instead of in the can. It is what I drink as my favorite macro beer, and has been for about 40 years or more. My favorite craft beers all seem to come from a small (very small) brewery in Randle, Washington called Timber Patch Brewing. I am not usually a fan of wheat beers, but their Grassy Mountain Wheat is my favorite of their beers. Followed closely by the Kosmos Kreme Ale.
Coors banquet is my all time favorite even though I'm a very casual beer drinker. I'm glad to see a proper beer connoisseur really like it. Makes me feel like I have good taste lol.
Michelob Ultra is the “over the pants hand job” of beers 😂
Perfect description. Worst beer I've ever had.
My first beers were Michelobs that I stole from my friend's mom....this makes it very weird..........
The only time I’ve ever drank it was golfing because it seems to be popular for golfers… who clearly don’t want to be intoxicated like I do.
It's a beer for people that hate beer.
😂😂😂😂
As a Pennsylvanian, I'm fairly pleased with Yuengling's performance here. Fun fact: most places in south eastern PA you would order a larger not a Yuengling. It's so ubiquitous that Lager = Yuengling, Yuengling = Lager
The color not looking like diluted pee is a big plus.
We're also the only state the calls itself by it's abbreviation "PA", especially during face to face conversation.
I miss the Premium! I'm from New England and can only get it when I travel to my in-laws house in PA.
It’s true! Love Yuengling.
My favorite beer. It's definitely better than PBR although i still drink and enjoy PBR
Great review. Miller High Life is a very interesting Beer. Its something even most Americans dont drink. But its very light and airy and refreashing, its probably the 2nd most popular cookout on a hot summer day beer. Nothing beats grilling up burgers and hotdogs and drinking a high life out of the old school glass bottles
Hell yeah i think he underrated miller high life and yuengling here a bit, but to be fair it's easy to get bad batches that were left out of the fridge after having been cold
I agree!! Ain’t no cover charge for the High Life!
"Airy" is a way better way to describe than other things I've heard. The flavor barely exists but what's there is likable at least.
I like Miller Genuine Draft better lol
"Busch light is the worst light beer in America"
Keystone Light: Hold my....wait
Hamms
@@ethanbenfield2285There's a Hamm's light? I've never had it.
@@Beefnhammer I must have skimmed over the word light, and just saw "worst beer in america".
Weird I’d still drink either over Coors light. I know people like em but I never did.
I live in a fairly cold climate and when I was younger was a beer snob, really only liking porters and stouts. I visited family in Texas one year in August and an uncle was kind enough to mail order some porter for me. In the 110 degree heat, it turns out that a full flavor porter is NOT what you want to drink and that the Bud Light that my uncle habitually drank was much, MUCH better. You really do not want a lingering aftertaste when it is hot, which probably goes a long way in explaining the character of American macro beers.
Agreed! Nothing hits better in the winter than a dark dark Stout. But if it's gonna hot and humid, it's the last thing you want. It feels like it turns into a hot tar in your stomach.
Sounds like you had a Ron Burgundy moment. "Milk was a bad choice!"
Craft beer makes crushable refreshing beers too.
Cheap summer beer of choice: Tecate.
I mean, of course it is better, it basically tastes like water. Water is good on a hot day.
I remember being at an all inclusive beer fest at a resort in the woods of Northern Minnesota about ten years ago. I spotted a bunch of craft brewmasters sitting together during a brunch and wandered over to say Hi. They were all drinking Coors Banquet. I talked to them and they all loved it as an example of a refreshing Vienna lager. It’s my favorite Macro for sure.
I’m just impressed that you can remember it!
Grand View Lodge! My favorite resort ever.
@@EllRiver Also expensive!
vienna lager? oh vey
Miller Lite is probably my favorite light beer that I get the most. Once Yuengling came to the St. Louis area (because Budweiser basically locked them out) its easily taken over as one of my favorites and pushed me away from always getting light beer. I still have better beers every once and a while, but I get cheap beer for when I usually drink. I also agree that Busch light is the worst light beer, regular Busch isnt half bad surprisingly
Coors is my go to camping/yardwork beer, and Pilsner Urquell has been my favorite all around beer for years now. These taste testing videos have been very validating!
Solid distinction. Any half-decent pilsner is a major step up from lagers and macros like these.
I’d love to see you do a blind tasting of American malt liquor. Mickeys, king cobra, colt 45, steel reserve, that kind of swill. Maybe throw in a bud light and Clamato chelada for comic effect. 10/10 would watch.
Good old steel reserve... I always liked the hurricane malts liquor as well (by liked I mean it was cheap and effective lol)
Don't forget about Olde English too.
I guess I should of read your comment before I basically copied your comment, nevertheless it be a great show
🤮 ughhhh my 20's ruined alllllll that for me
American here, if we're going malt liquors I'd suggest the thing from most Americans childhoods, MD 20/20 which comes in different flavors as well. It's kinda one of those you wish you were dead the next day kind of drinks in my opinion haha.
Being in the US, I can agree with most of your rankings. Coors Banquet is shockingly good: don't knock it until you try it, folks.
Yuengling and Sam Adams: you'd expect them to beat out most macro beers; and they do (lump in Sierra Nevada Pale Ale too).
PBR, Coors Light, and Hamm's are fine if they are ice cold and you want something bubbly and refreshing, like at a BBQ.
Michelob Ultra: I will not drink this beer even if it's free. Same with Amstel which I equally hate.
I don't know how Michelob Ultra is so popular, it barely tastes like a beer. Regular Michelob is awesome though.
@@grahamsmith6210 it sells because they advertised themselves to women and people dieting... people who want to have a beer but don't want all the calories. Obviously I would prefer to have less of something that tastes good than a bunch of crap.
@@grahamsmith6210 What MystryDaMachine said mixed with a bunch of people like to drink it out on the golf course on hot days because it is so light.
@@MystryDaMachine Miller Lite only has 1 more calorie and tastes like an actual beer at least
@@grahamsmith6210 what I am saying is that michelob ultra advertised themselves into that segment of the ultra low calorie beer... if that is true or not does not matter people see ads and believe them
Coors Banquet has always sealed the deal for me when I needed a general all around alright sorta beer. Glad to see it stayed true!
Great video. Excellent work mate!
High Life has to come from a bottle. It's nearly untolerable from a can, surprisingly decent from a bottle. It's weird.
That is 100% accurate!
Have personally done side by side comparisons, High Life must be drunken from the bottle. It’s at least twice as good.
It’s best on tap.
@@jamiecompton8116 Have you even had it out of a cold ass 40, wrapped in a brown paper bag? Because, I think that's the real winner.
@@jacobedmonds7460 So twice as good as shit is what? 😂🤣
I'm an American that has lived in the UK for the last eight years. Just took a trip back to the US and Coors Banquet was what I had in the cooler for the 4th of July. Interestingly, my dad used to work for the beer distributor that was the first to legally bring Coors east of the Mississippi River. He still has a six pack of stubby bottles from the first truckload.
th-cam.com/video/IOgUaFkpS3Y/w-d-xo.html
Did your dad know The Bandit
Wow, growing up in Coors country (it didn't used to be a available nationwide, because Coors refused to Pasteurize it), I'm gonna say that you've discovered our secret 😉. Another Texas Beer you should try is Shiner Bock. It's a dark lager in the German tradition...P.S., getting back to Coors and its lack of national distribution in the USA (traditionally), there was a great movie based on that theme, called "Smokey and the Bandit" 🤠
E.T. enjoyed Coors Banquet as well.
Just had a Shiner earlier tonight. Do you have any recommendations for more craft or traditional styles of beer that are similar to shiner bock? I really enjoy the sweetness mixed with the caramel and that other unique taste that I think is special to bocks, I’ve never had anything close to shiner from other macro beer, besides banquet maybe. Maybe I would like other German styles
@@MnemonicHeadTrip There is a nice bock style south of Texas. A beer called Noche Buena from Mexico. It is on the shelves here about mid October and is a seasonal beer for La Navidad. The bottle is festive looking with a poinsettia theme to it.
Try Karbach's Crawford Bach out of Ft. Worth. It's a Texas local that my brother got me into. Love Street by them has become a favorite of mine as well. None of their beers seem to try too hard like I think too many micro brewers do.@@MnemonicHeadTrip
@@MnemonicHeadTrip Weezer fan beer enthusiast? Lol. Shiner Bock is the best. Paulaner Munich Lager is somewhat similar in it's sweetness and is available in the USA. I too, am interested in other brews similar.
Good honest assessment of these legendary beers. Enjoyed the video 👍🏾😁🍺
One thing to note is the calorie comparison of the light beers. Would explain why Miller Light and Michelob Ultra have no flavor. It’s very purposeful, and they should probably exist in a category of their own
They're made so frat daddies can pound 12 of them in a night and not puke lol.
Throw Coors light in there too
The whole Busch Light craze is a weird phenomenon. Busch regular has less than 120 calories- it's already a VERY light beer, even by US macro standards. The "light" version of this beer seems almost unnecessary to the market, yet it's clearly more popular.
Problem with your theory - Guinness Stout (very dark, full flavor) has FEWER calories than American light beers.
@@benjaminlewis671 you’re just salty
Mich Ultra was designed for people who don't want the calories or carbs from a beer, and as you found out it clearly does not have any taste either. This was a fun taste test, for I grew up with all these beers. These are now regulated to lawnmower beers for me now, for I enjoy craft beer much more. Cheers!!
Came to say the same. It's bang on for what it wants to be ultra light in flavor, calories, and carbs. It's a "diet" beer if you will.
Used to come in tiny bottles here years ago. I loved it when in the mood for something very light with less waistline guilt. I thought it was stronger, back in the day, nearer premium strength?
You've gotta ask at that point, what's the point of drinking beer haha
Yeah Ultra seems to be the choice of beer for diabetics and super fitness enthusiasts.
@@vaughnsigal4560 may as well just drink hard seltzer at that point
Back in the 70 s Labbats made a 150 commemorative malt ale called extra stock, it is a shame they do not brew it anymore. Stopped a Labbats rep here around Chicago he never heard of it.GREAT BREW!
I really like Narraganset, and I'd never thought of Coors Light as an acceptable beer. The Coors Banquet is a good "dinner" beer in my opinion. I also like the Birra Moretti.
Banquet has been my go-to for years and years, and even my dad (who introduced me to it in the first place) has given me flak for sticking with it. Colorado pride, and it's a damn good lager, macro or not. Cheers!
Yeah of the beers tast tested my personal rankings were close to what you ended up with. Coors light is a great beer pong beer. It's refreshing and its lack of aftertaste works to its benefit there. Coors Banquet is just a well-done macro beer. Now I would do a mega Mexican Lager blind taste test (you can even throw in which makes the best michelada)!
Coors light is great when you want to drink, but never get too drunk too.
Gotta try the Banquet now....I've heard very good things about it from fellow craft beer drinkers, but never actually sought it out. Nice to see the 'gansett up there!
It's the best macro lager by leaps and bounds. It's not even close. It actually tastes like beer! And good beer at that!!!!
I've always said coors banquet is one of the better standard fare beers. The banquet bottles and the can design definitely give it an edge too.
I think Yuengling will come out top. I have a soft spot for PBR simply because its a classic American dive bar beer. Served luke warm in the can. Good times.
He didn't pick up on the egg-fart taste of Yuengling.
Also Sam Adams and Yuengling both well known “Regional” beers from the Northeast US now have distribution Nationally and Worldwide so I can’t really call the craft anymore myself but I do respect their craft roots. Yuengling Black & Tan is one to check out as well
As a native Texan, I will testify in a court of law that Lone Star sucks! My go-to's are Shiner Bock and Yuengling. One of my happiest days was buying my first case of Yuengling in Texas, not quite a year ago! Long story short, had it in PA about 20 years ago. Then it moved south and west and STOPPED in Louisiana about 5 years ago. My oldest brother who lived on the TX/LA border would call me to say, "Making a border run, how much you want?" That meant how many cases of Yuengling did I want!. I only wish we could get their Black and Tan in Texas. It reminds of how Negra Modelo USED TO taste! TX is limited to Yuengling Lager, Light, and Flight.
Yuengling is pretty much always in my fridge, for almost like 20 years now. Typical grocery store pickup is a sixer of craft and 12 Yuengling cans. I honestly can't even critique it anymore, it's just been a staple in my life for so so long, even while loving homebrewing and craft beer. When I first started drinking beer I could get a 12 pack for 8.99 at the Walmart by my college, and the on campus bar used to sell $3 huge mugs of the stuff. Being a broke student I couldn't really splurge on craft that often, but Yuengling was such an upgrade over BMC in my opinion, and for the same price or less, it was a no brainer.
Yeungling: there is better beer, there is cheaper beer, but there is no better cheap beer.
I used to like it more before it became a national brand. I bought it in Texas and it did not taste as good.
@@SuiteCaseLaw I’ve noticed too that it tastes different depending on where it’s brewed. Much better from PA than TX.
It might be interesting to see a Texas beer taste test. You mentioned Lone Star, but there's also Shiner, Karbach, Saint Arnold, Real Ale, and tons more. I live in San Antonio, TX; home to the Lone Star and Pearl breweries. Both of which no longer brew beer, unfortunately. The Lone Star brewery is abandoned, and the Pearl brewery is now an upscale shopping mall with a farmer's market and restaurants. My go-to Texas beer is Shiner Bock.
Sort your spreadsheet by score at the end so we can easily see the standings without having to pause and scan up and down the list.
Exactly. So dumb
But they aren't labeled by name on the spreadsheet.
Coors Light is def the go to bbq, beach, pool beer. I'm really blown away you picked Coors Banguet as the best, that was always my most hated beer in my early years of drinking, we used to call it Rocky Mountain Piss Water haha. I always heard Busch Light was nasty but never really got to drink it in California since it's sort of a regional southern states beer and we got the Budweiser variant of Anheiser-Busch.
im aussie and ive tried PBR and Boston Lager and they were quite pleasant!
id love to see you do an aussie macro review. Australia's market is interesting since a few once smaller breweries (Feral, Little Creatures, White Rabbit) got bought out, Coopers became huge, and James Squire was sorta astrohopped to begin with, so theres a huge commercial interest in Real Ales here.
American here, but my sister lived in Australia for three years. Really wish you could find VB in the states. That was my favorite.
Fun fact about Coors Banquet: the movie Smoky and the Bandit was about two dudes smuggling Coors Banquet to a party because that was literally the only good American beer you could get in the seventies here in the US.
I went thru a phase with it. You get used to it and it tastes syrupy.
It was being smuggled to Atlanta because, at the time, it was not allowed to be sold past a certain distance from Golden, CO. Texarkana, TX was as close as it got to Atlanta.
"The boy's are thirsty in Atlanta and there's beer in Texarkana so put the hammer down and give it hell".
Coors Banquet is the best macro beer in the USA. Love it so much. Perfect on so many occasions when you want something a little lighter or you're somewhere with not a great selection to buy from.
As an American who loves craft beer but will also crush a 30 rack of Busch light on a weekend while camping, this amused me greatly.
LOVED the video! I'm located in the Chicagoland so the "macro" beer I tend to enjoy is Old Style. However, I was at an event in the suburbs this summer and they had Coors Banquet on tap and it was surprisingly really good!
Wasn’t Miller Lite (7) the lowest rated, rather than Michelob Ultra (8)? Might be best to sort by score before announcing first/last 🙂🍻
As a craft beer fan in Charlotte, NC with a great local scene, I drink Miller Lite as my go to macro and I feel disrespected.
@@jmal716 To me it's like drinking a saltine cracker, which is not an insult. Miller went Light first and they know what they're doing; just vaguely beer-ish enough to register, but without the nasty sweetness of most of the others.
Yep!
@@jmal716I also am flabbergasted as Miller Lite destroys Coors light and about 50% of the other beers in this comparison. I think he got a bad can, Miller is known for thick head and lacing and there was none in his glass of Miller Lite. Maybe he mixed them up with a Coors Light which appeared to have more body to it and head. Coors light typically produces no head or lacing. After a minute it’s tepid beer-water
I've always loved a High Life in the summer months. I treat it as more of a beery seltzer than a proper beer. Crisp, refreshing, and best enjoyed ice cold. I write this as I sip my 6th pony bottle so take that as you will
I will fully admit that nostalgia for my college years plays a big part in this preference.
Cheers 🍻 to the High Life
Well done for sourcing the US brewed ones! I've noticed Bud Light especially is 4.2% in the US but 3.5% in the UK; they taste completely different.
Not a big beer snob but glad to see my palate matches your. Coors banquet is always my go to for the larger companies. My favorite lagers were Boston lager and Yuengling. But my new go to is anything from Kona brewing co, if you haven’t you have to give big wave (golden ale) or longboard (lager) a try! They have some good ipas as well
The one you’d never heard of, Narragansett, is brewed in my state, Rhode Island (the smallest state in the union). We refer to it as ‘Gansett and it is definitely the cheap beer of choice around here. You can’t go to a local show or festival without seeing a million of those tallboy cans in people’s hands. They also pass out these bumper stickers that have their tagline “Hi, Neighbor!” and you could make a game out of how many cars you see that DON’T have one on their bumper in the capital city of Providence.
The brewery has been around since 1890. The brewery in Rhode Island closed in the 80’s and production moved to Indiana as popularity began to fall off sharply. A lot of folks said it didn’t taste the same. I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t born yet. Some time in the mid 2000’s, the company started a campaign - “You buy a case, we build a brewery” - on the promise that brewing would return to Rhode Island. And strangely, they made good on the promise. It’s made here again and they opened a new taproom in Providence that is proving pretty popular.
The beer itself had a pop culture moment in the movie Jaws, in which Quint crushes a can of it. One of Narragansett’s ad campaigns is “Crush it like Quint,” with a still of the character crushing an old school can in one hand. As far as the name goes, here in New England, we have a lot of places named after Native American tribes. Narragansett is a seaside town in Rhode Island named after the Narragansett Indian Tribe.
Hey neighbor have a gansett!! I live in Bristol
Hi Neighbor! Fellow RI-er here. I've always placed 'Gansett in the "cheap beers" category alongside things like Bud Light, etc. but I've had friends from Indiana and Kentucky try it, and they seem to prefer it to the others in its category. For the price you get it for here in state, it's definitely a good price to taste ratio, in my opinion. It's nothing fancy, but has more flavor than its mass-produced peers. I also love how if you get it in glass bottles, the tops have little puzzles on them - a real thinking man's cheap beer. But the taste between the bottle and can is very noticeable. It'd be interesting to see what Jonny would think of the bottled variant.
Is it really a macro lager, though? They are not small, but well outside top 10 producers overall, right?
My understanding is that while many of the specialty releases are brewed in their Rhode Island facility, the lager is still contract brewed by Genesee.
I only know about it because of Jaws. If it was good enough for Captain Quint I had to try it.
I'm surprised Hamms wasn't on here. It actually won a blind taste test for macro brews here in the states.
Hamm’s is a great beer!
Hamms is out of business.
@@vincedibona4687no it's not. Available here in almost every store
You can still buy Hamm's.
Nice. Coors light is indeed refreshing and my go-to when no other choices.
I don't drink much beer and when I do, it is either a local brew (Boulevard) or Coors Banquet. Coors banquet has been my go-to macro beer since college in the early 90's. Glad it got a decent review here as I've always considered it leaps better than the AB swill.
I live in Colorado so Coors Light is always the beer of choice for parties. I like Michelob Ultra for the reasons you mentioned. It's easy to drink a lot of in the hot sun without as many calories and while having the water-like refreshment.
A beer that would definitely be difficult to get your hands on would be Michelob Golden Light. Despite being made in St. Louis you can really only find it in Minnesota. Another popular Minnesota lager is Grain Belt, which I'd be interested to see you try.
I agree, Michelob ultra is great for long and hot days of day drinking. Just because a tasting snob doesn’t like it doesn’t mean the beer isn’t good. He also proved in this video that he is pretty inconsistent.
Technically you are correct that all these probably qualify as "macro" these days, but think many folks forget that the modern era of American beer really only started in the 1980's. In this way Sam Adams is very much a prominent member of the first wave of deviation from macro-bland land that was so dominant in the 20th century prior to the 80's. Seen in that context, and by your own reaction I expect you can understand why sam adams in comparison so many of the other beers you tried was an early notable step on the path to a much more exciting American beer world. (Sierra Nevada would also fall into this same category as a notable example of an early 1980's hard shift away from macro-bland land and into new areas for american breweries)
Yeungling is still very much still a regional brew only available in the east of the US. It's also notable for being one of the few beers to have survived through prohibition and the mid 20th century brewing consolidation that swallowed up all the diversity in American brewing until the craft beer movement took off.
heh, tend to agree mostly with your reviews here. While i agree with your review of Michelob ultra, i will point out that it is the vodka and soda equivalent beer in the US. As close to nothing as possible while still delivering alcohol. this is as designed and intended for the "calorie/health conscious".
Little bit of news, Yeungling is slowly stretching out west along the Gulf. My father was really excited to see it on tap and in stores in Houston, Texas as of a couple years ago. Unfortunately, it does not stand up to his favorite brewery, St Arnold's. Cheaper, though
Grew up drinking Sam Adams but got away from them when they went public (stock offering).
What's he saying is so true. It's amazing how much variation there is amongst beer that is all marketed to us in the sane way, and all has the same stigma in regards to American mass-marketed beer culture. I remember a night not too long ago where I ran out of Bud Light and cracked open a Miller Lite I had leftover. I was astonished at how truly different the taste/feel was; it was an eye opening experience and something I overlooked when I was younger.
My grandpa drank coors banquet only. Still find the stub bottles on the hill from where he would throw them up there while he was mowing. It’s the first beer I went to when I turned 21. Still my go to today.
The first banquet beer I sampled was in Minnesota, long after I started home brewing and expanding my pallet from American lagers. Imo your assessment is bang on. Sweep the leg Johnny! 🐍
I make yuengling lager for a living currently so I'm glad you like it. Its weird seeing it here since the company is such an odd size not quite macro yet and def not micro. Just telling others you may taste a very slight difference in the taste of it depending where you purchase in the US depending if you get the PA plants or tampa or even some of the west coast stuff now.
Being from PA Yuengling is my beer. People either like it or they don't most of the time when I have them try it. Still my go-to.
New the Coors would surprise you! My favorite. Awesome to see how good your palette is. Wish I could pick out all the stuff you do!
Coors and Coors light are my go to beers. Absolutely agree with your assessment of Michelobe ultra. I would encourage you to try Leinenkugel’s original lager.
Would have loved to see you add in a Molson Canadian to this. Obviously not American, but very much in the same camp. Come to think of it, there are enough Canadian lagers to do one of these videos on them.
Could be a video!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I think you’d like labatt blue (major Canadian beer). It’s even allegedly a Pilsner
@@TheCraftBeerChannel AB InBev makes 3 different macros in Halifax alone (Keith's,, olands, and schooner )
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Macro Canadian lagers? You could do a whole other video.
Molson Canadian, Canadian Lite, Molson Dry.
Labatts Blue, Blue Lite, Labatts 50, Wildcat, Labatts Genuine Lager, Schooner Lager.
Moosehead Lager, Moosehead Lite, Cracked Canoe lite lager, Alpine Lager.
There are others from those 3, but would be considered Ales, or Export Ales, or IPA. Keiths is decent, but is supposed to be an IPA, or at least mimick the IPAs that would have been on ships sailing out of England.
Molson and Coors are essentially the same, they merged in 2005 and became Molson Coors
I agree with your assessment of Michelob Ultra, beer for someone that doesn't really like beer. Also, I found it funny that your first impression of Budweiser was the cloying sweetness. That is always what I thought of that beer, way too sweet. One beer that might be worth trying for an American macro is Schlitz. I used to live in Milwaukee where it was relatively easy to find and I thought it wasn't bad for a "cheapo" or "macro" beer. I could buy a 12 pack for around 8 bucks at the liquor store near my apartment and it was pretty good.
Been a while but have worked as a contractor at Anheuser in st Louis. The fermentation rooms were hot but they have lots of buildings that are kept at 34 degrees for beer storage for I assume is for lagaring
As a coastal New Englander spending my life in and around Narragansett Bay, I grew up on Narragansett. It went away for awhile until the brand name was purchased by a different outfit and brought back. I was amazed to find that after 20 years off the shelves, it came back tasting exactly the same. I'm not sure this is a compliment. But, it was a joy to whichever tastebuds are directly linked to nostalgia. I will say that there is no better beer for a Michelada - especially made with a bit of clam juice. Something in the chemistry just blends perfectly with tomato juice (Clamato) and a touch of salt.
Out of all of those I probably would have picked the Sam Adams (Macro Craft beer lol) as my favorite! I agree with you on almost all of them, especially the Mich Ultra haha.
Always looking forward to your videos, especially stuff like this and the "what even is..." vids. Maybe you could try this with dutch lager sometimes, would love that! Greeting from NL
We'll look into it!
Does Dommelsch still exist, or has it been destroyed by the Macro's? I always used to enjoy a couple of them on draught, decades ago, when I took the wife shopping in Venlo.
@@johnp8131 It still exists! Also think it's one of the underappreciated macro lagers here
As a Dutchman in the UK, I would love that. Real Dutch beers are not that easy to get here though. Heineken and Amstel are different here for example.
I used to drink Coors a lot, then started drinking light beer (some folks will say Coors is already a light beer). Now I enjoy IPA’s, Pale Ales, and sometimes a stout. Thanks for the review.
My grandfather's brothers used to grow special Moravian barley for Coors. They had farms at high altitude (7600 feet above sea level) in southern Colorado's San Luis Valley.
Love to see u try Irish dry stouts .. u know the guinness murphys , black forge , islands edge and other Irish stouts etc. Not certain some are available in can or bottle though
I agree with these scores 1000%.
Sam Addams may have edged out ahead of coors sometimes depending on my mood and how thirsty I am, and I would have had michelob ultra ahead of bud light, but that's ONLY because I dont like the flavor of BL and I cant taste MU. Otherwise, it was a pretty well ranked test.
Also, when it comes to yuelinling, I like it, but I think it's a bit overrated for what it is.
My two go to cheap Pilsners are Coors original and PBR. Love them both.
Man, Coors Banquet in the stubby glass bottles brings back fond memories. I always thought of it and High Life as kind of an inside joke, interesting to hear an outsider’s perspective!
Great video to stumble upon.
You’re reminding me of the “love in a canoe” joke about light beer.
Lmao one of my favorites as well…..Fucking close to water
I would recommend trying some of the Narragansett and Sam Adams seasonal offerings. Those are where those brands really shine. Another New England quasi Macro but not really beer that I'd highly recommend is Wachusett.
Wachusett blueberry is my favorite
I brew beer and I typically have a case of Coors Banquet in the beer fridge. I personally like it more than the other "gas station beers" and I try to keep something in the fridge for folks who just don't have the palate for home brewed beer. Great video!
Fun Fact about Coors Banquet, it is only brewed in Golden Colorado, using water from the Rocky mountains. All their other brands (i.e Coors light, Killians, blue moon) are brewed at different locations around the US. So even though macro's stress consistency at scale, Banquet is their only brew literally using the same water.
and coors tastes like water lol
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's the only true logger of the group too. Fermented with lager yeast at low temperatures
Fun fact: it still sucks
He thought Busch light was bad, I wonder what he'd think of old Milwaukees best light draft ice 😆
Or red dog😂
You ought to do a "cheap beer" sequel, to include: Old Milwaukee, Schlitz, Milwaukee's Best, the light versions of those, Bud Ice, Icehouse, Yuengling Black & Tan, and Hamm's. Throw in Miller Genuine Draft if you can get it.
My fridge is full of Hamm's at the moment, 15$ for 24 here in socal
i mean coors and pbr are as cheap as you can get
Don't forget the Genny Cream Ale, I'd love to watch this guy toss his cookies lol.
I've lived off Hamms for years and am better for it.
@@felironmaden1429That's too good
As yet another American in the comments - I'm both quite into beer but also drank more than my fair share of the cheap ones years ago. I'd say your review is pretty spot on. Coors (either one) was the usual choice for something cheap but decent along with PBR. Yuengling is also solid but often hard to get your hands on out west. Sam Adams IMO is my favorite of the bunch for being the most "serious" beer and honestly it's the one which is responsible for getting me into beer properly in the first place.
I 100% agree with your assessment and rankings of these beers...I sampled all of them at various times and Coors and PBR are my preferred beers
I've tried a few American and international beers and I gotta say for me personally I love Miller High Life. Also if you want to try beer as close to water that you can get try Natural Light or Natty Light as some people call it.
Keystone Light
Miller High Life bottle is my go to cheapie. Very good product for the money.
Natural Light is only good when it's super cold. As a fan of Anheuser beer products, I would almost always vote Anheuser above Miller products but yeah Natural light is not very good. Don't let me get started on Natural Ice
....is way better than natty light@@snakedoctor5397
@@rjmurphyo0 only good natty is naturday imo, or natty daddy if youre down bad
As someone who lives in Golden, CO where banquet is produced I was very excited to see it score so well.
I'm down in Englewood. Also excited. Boy that place smells sometimes though when I'm rock climbing on North Table Mountain. I think Banquet tastes better here too, I assume since it hasn't spent near as much time getting to my mouth as other places I've lived.
Fellow Coloradan here! Grew up driving past the brewery. I no longer drink as I turned into a massive alcoholic. But BOY do I miss my favorite beer… COORS! and the stubby glass bottles are my JAM! Were my jam … :(
That’s awesome! I actually live in Denver but work in the fermentation dept at the Golden brewery! Was so glad to see someone from another country enjoyed our beer so much. Makes me feel very prideful knowing we are the only brewery in the entire country who makes it
@@rushthezeppelin hhhaha it’s the water treatment plant for Golden that’s right by the brewery that causes that smell lol.
@@mcgarner1992 Lol damn all this time I thought it was y'all cooking the mash that caused that smell.
Is the papery postage stamp flavor you are getting is that possibly the water they are using to water it down with? If they ship in the water and it sits for a while in a container it can have a papery flavor
Really well done! I’d like to see this done again with all of these beers in bottled form and see what changes. I prefer Miller High Life out of the bottle myself. Also I think the addition of Rainier could be appropriate. Cheers!
As an American, I consider Boston Lager to be far above all of those. Additionally, it should be drank on draft. It's my favorite beer ever fresh on draft, and I've run the gamut.
Fact. Best draft beer goes to Boston Lager. Superior beer.
Gamut
@@lostrules4815162342 Fixed thanks!
That's a, for lack of better word, Craft Beer. Different weight class!
Hamms and Genesee Cream Ale are my go to cheap brews .
As far as craft beer , there's plenty of local breweries in southeast PA to choose from .
Well done sir. The truly hipster choices of the bottom shelf!
My first job out of school was working for a beer distributor. We sold Coors, Pabst, Heineken, Corona, Olympia, Black Label and Hamm's.
It would be interesting to see a test of all the "old school" beers...Pabst, Olympia, Black Label, Hamm's, National Bohemian, Schaefer's, Stroh's, and Schlitz. Sadly, I've only seen Pabst and Hamm's in stores...the other brands, I haven't seen in a decade (or more in the case of Black Label...probably 25 years).
Coors Banquet is what I will go for whenever I want to fill a cooler with beer for a camping trip or something along those lines. It really is quite good.
For the most part I agree with the outcomes of his taste test but I would rank them slightly different. I’d rank them Narragansett, PBR, Coors Banquet as the top three. I don’t think Sam Adam’s belongs in this lineup-it’s an altogether different beer. I’m not crazy about Yuengling lager. It’s too sweet- as if it hasn’t been fermented out completely. I think that they have several other beers that are much better than their lager.
Coors Banquet and PBR were always my go-to picks before I even got into craft hah! I recently tried Banquet and I hated it because it was WAY too sweet.
I live in denver and am quite fond of banquette beer when out for live music. Even more fun in the stubby bottle.
When it’s super hot outside and I’ve been mowing the grass for a couple of hours, an ice cold Coors Light sure hits the spot. It’s one of the few beers I’d describe as “refreshing”.
I love the fact you have a "control" beer. Never seen anyone do this before and I think it should be an industry standard, for other guys who review foods and drinks, helps keep things consistent. Personally, of the big name American Beers I like Miller High life most, PBR is good too, I find them less filling then Coors Banquet and it goes down easier when I just want a drink. Coors makes me all gassy and burpy. Also I can get a Miller High Life 12 pack of 12 oz Glass bottles for $12 at my local C Store so that helps, I do like a glass bottle more :)
It would be so easy with these to write them all off, so decided we needed to make sure I didnt! Glad you liked it.
I get a 12 pack of 16oz Highlife for $13 where I live but we also have Rainier which is great
I'm Dutch and tested most of them over the years and Coors Banquet is the Rochefort 10 of American Macro Lagers.
Maybe next time do Czech Pilseners actually from Czech Republic
Good call! When a friend of mine told me he liked a certain Czech Pilsner I asked which one? He told me Staropramen. I told him to look at the label more thoroughly? To be fair Staropramen is a better British effort of cloning a beer over here, the majority of British cloned Lager/Pilsners are dreadful!
Never had Coors banquet. Will try the gold bullet soon! Thanks
glad to see my two go to marcos in PBR and Banquet score so well.