Olympia Beer
Pabst Brewing Company

Havent had this one since 1999 when they quit selling it here va. Iam from washington state, born and raised there. back when it was mostly oly or rainer. oly or rainer was the beer we drank. i had wanted to try the ca version since the famous tumwater brewery has been closed for years to see how it stacked up to tumwater brewed version, so had some sent on dry ice by a freind liviing near inwindale ca were oly is now produced. pours bone white head,retention low to average not flat by any means golden pale color some adjunts"to be expected in this style" ,barley,fruit note, light hop note no offensive smells or tastes, light tasting crisp good finish, for a standard amercian beer not too bad (good price) its alot better beer than most over priced and over advertised swills. not a bad beer when you want to knock a few back.inwindale cal version not quite as good as the tumwater made olympia but still is a solid classic beer that stands up and beats most swills. has got many accolades and awards. 2010 world beer cup GOLD MEDAL winner. more states and better availability like in the past would be nice.

This is one of the first dozen beers I had when I first started drinking beer. So, I remember this beer fondly and have had it many times over the years.

 

 

Old school early 2000's Olympia after a day at the salvage yard is a dream come true. #Fond memories.

 

L: Pours as a classic lager, golden and translucent. Solid inch head fades after several minutes
S: Smells slightly juicy, definite hops and hints of citrus- aroma reminiscent of a hazy IPA
T: less hops and more malt than the aroma would suggest
F: Gentle on the palate, light and thin
Overall: A water of a beer but one of the better waters out there. Quite a bang for your buck if you seek macro-cheap beer

12oz can stamped JUL 1320 poured into a Pabst thumbprint chalice at fridge temp, no ABV listed on can. The beer pours bright gold in color with nearly white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. The aroma is faint with just a hint of unmalted grain and dry ground corn. The taste is slightly sweet and tangy grain with a little dried corn and barely there sulphur & diacetyl on the mildly bitter finish. The mouthfeel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a somewhat dry finish. Overall, ok to good. Not a lot of taste or flavor here, but what's there is pleasant if you're just looking for something to wash down food or drink with friends.

 

Continuing to run through macros...

Is this really “better” or “worse” than the other adjunct lagers? I supposed. At least its drinkable. Some must. Some grain and corn. Finish the job!

 

 

It's been a little bit of a while since the last time I had this brew. Would rate it just a touch above half way between poor and average. Was an ok tasting beer, but not one that I would seek out.

 

 

Olympia can vs Bud bottle

Both poured in standard pint glass before best buy date. They have similar aggressive carbonation and clear pale appearance. Oly a shade darker than bud and has about half a finger more of head and better lacing

Not alot of smell for either, mainly pale malt & corn with hops for oly and the other smells like sweet grain with no hops

Easy drinking AALs one rice the other corn for adjunts. Oly's hop profile is definitely more pronounced which makes sense as head retention is better. Bud is sweeter but not so sickly sweet as other chepos, still refreshing which is surprising that it has no corn. Even tho, olys better bitter nearly outweighs buds malt rice and hops.

Between these two macro lagers pabst brewed olympia has a little more to offer than Bud. It's got a noticeable hop bite where for any AB product you almost cant even imagine any hops. Questions come into ingredient quality, who has the cleaner barley, water, etc?

Looks like piss, somehow it’s worse than coors.

 

 

I bought a 12-pack in Berkeley for $7.99, which is a good price here. It's not good beer, but it's drinkable and the price is right. I'd rather drink Olympia than Bud, if only because the price is lower.