National Bohemian Beer
Pabst Brewing Company

 

 

After two twelve ounce cans were emptied into a clear glass liter mug, the label can be read through the beer. That's how translucent this brew is. It's almost clear, save for some bright and light amber tinting. The stark white head is modest and enduring. It has the typical American Adjunct Lager smell, mildly sweet and faintly hoppy. As for the taste, there's not much there. What can be made out isn't too bad. It is lightly sweet, although the body is pretty good for the style. There's just enough hopping to define this as a beer, but it is there, too. Perhaps a testament to its body, the glass lacing is much more evident than expected. Only a slight upturn in the hoppiness occurs during the finish, making that pleasant. This may not be a good beer, but it's drinkable and for any beer lover, much preferable to a hard seltzer or cider.

 

 

 

Pours a clear straw color, golden to slightly amber. A moderate foam head retains well and yields lacing and a layer of film throughout.

Not much going on in the nose at first, mostly clean. However, I soon pick up notes of sweet cereal grain. There are little to no hops aromatics.

Very clean taste that highlights bready malts and a touch of corn. Moderately sweet and well balanced by a touch of peppery bitterness and grassy hops bitterness.

Light to medium bodied with a mostly smooth mouthfeel. The finish has a light crispness, is dry, and evokes lightly lemony and earthy hops spices. The carbonation is moderate.

As far as AAL beers go, this one is quite good. Well balanced, easy to drink and inoffensive. Nice season beer; I feel it’s much better than what the ratings indicate.

 

 

Cool cans, but I’d prefer a Coors Light or a Bud Light.

 

My go to, but I'm biased. I grew up on this stuff, lol. Best with crabs and a ball game ( baseball or football), cookouts, friends, card games, etc. Great all around beer

Modest head and carbonation. The initial nose is somewhat dank (in an old-school sense). Initial palate is simple and very modest, no heavy aftertaste. Somewhat gassy five minutes after first sip. Strongly reminiscent of PBR.

12oz can stamped MAR1620 poured into a shaker pint glass at fridge temp, no ABV listed on can. The beer pours bright, light golden yellow with nearly white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island. The aroma is faint with thin malt, corn and a hint of pear or apple. The taste is light with a pleasant, lightly sweet malt note first before the corn and hint of fruit from the yeast arrive at the party. Minimal bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin bodied with just above average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. There is a hint of diacetyl, but I'm looking for it and consider the level acceptable for an AAL. Overall, very good. I'm not sure which brewery produces this for Pabst (although my can lists G. Heileman as the brewer), but it's better than most of the other Pabst legacy brands.

 

 

 

A beer that is so remarkably unremarkable, so utterly average, so completely neutral, that I have nothing good nor bad to say about it.

It's a watery, American "beer". A cut above the dirty dish water Budweiser produces, but only in the sense that unlike the vile horse urine of Budweiser, National Bohemian is mostly inoffensive, unless you find a lack of flavor or imagination offensive.

Drink only if you have no sense of adventure, are the kind of person who doesn't want anything better for themselves, or your taste buds were dissolved in some horrible accident.

 

(12 oz can, DEC2319; purchased cold single... poured into 14 oz mug)

L: polished-clear, extra-pale, yellow-gold liquid; ridiculous amount of foam on the pour, barely getting just over half the can into the glass... did manage to build an impressive alpine peak of white foam high above the glass lip; slow, rocky crumble... the foam has an exploded sponge structure, but the overall pour was quite a sight!, huh...

S: more champagne than grain? - that's basically the case, with a little saltine-like flour note beneath the cristal; bit of a soapy note as well, but decent overall potency

T: cereal grain, soft bitterness with a floral/herbal, grassy character; rather 'beery'... hop/fermentation interplay with floral, vaguely spicy banana/clove nuance altogether similar to Busch, but with a marginally more grainy, bready base in contrast to the cleaner, doughier malt I get when I head for the mountains... lingering flavors: flour-ed dinner roll, soft cidery spice

F: soft carbonation; subtly-silky, fleecy-smooth flow and residual film upon palate... the finish has a slight clip to it at the very back... mad gulp-able; dry but with some substance

O: did have this one previous time in either Chicago or Milwaukee in June 2014; swilled from can... neat finding it sort of close to home; an easy buy... not a bad lager, maybe most similar to a Helles in derivation? did grow on me as it went - certainly would revisit (the midwest, and this beer) (1565)

 

 

 

Chalk up another regional favorite that I don't understand the love for (Yuengling being the other one). I've got friends and family who swear by these brews but I can't get behind watery sourdough flavors and metallic aftertastes.

 

This old school AAL has much better bubbles and mouthfeel than others in its class. Not much flavor, of course, but it's nice easy drinker. Don't be a snob. Enjoy!

 

Very pale and brilliantly clear. Pours a modest white head, tightly bubbled with decent retention.

Soft corn sweetness in the aroma. Otherwise pretty bland (or clean to put a positive spin on it). No hops!

Flavor has the same subtle sweetness and overall clean lager profile. Not full of flavor, but as a low gravity adjunct lager it really shouldn't be big in flavor. A slight boost in IBUs to balance out the sweetness would improve it.

Light-medium body, medium-high carbonation. No astringency or anything unexpected.

Overall fairly standard macro lager stuff. Overall very clean, a bit sweet, and a bit boring. But exactly what it is trying to be.

 

 

Clear light gold color with large white cap and lasting lacing.

Aroma of clean grain, somewhat malty, and light floral hops.

Mostly tastes of sweet grain with a malt accent. Can't quite place the accent so I'll call it generic European. Very low hopping level, just enough to keep things on the dry side. Fuller flavor style AAL sorta like PBR or Miller but without the rough edges of those two.

Medium to full texture with balancing carbonation.

Overall impression is an AAL with class.

 

 

 

 

I am rating this against other US big brewer non-craft pilsner lagers like Bud and Miller. You cannot rate any of these against the craft beers because that is a totally different class. For me, Boh is as good or better than the other big name stuff. It costs less and tastes just as good. Wasn't that a commercial about 30 years ago?

Light straw body and clear. One finger of fizzy white head vanishes quickly.
Grain and corn in both the aroma and taste. Very little hop presence aside from a nip of pepper in the finish.
Light body and mouth feel with good carbonation.

This is the first time I have ever poured a Natty into a glass and I have to say, it is much better out of the can where it stays ice cold. I don't have this beer often but I drink a lot of it when I am in Maryland and it does what it is supposed to do.