Country Club Malt Liquor
Pabst Brewing Company

 

If this bottle has a genie, he's a greasy extrovert of a genie, probably wearing lots of bling and parachute pants.

Long ago, I helped a stranger who was struggling to unload some heavy items from her car. Afterward, she thanked me by handing me a can of Country Club, chilled in a cooler in her trunk. This is how an '80s gas station tastes. I haven't seen it again, but I recall it vividly, even now: wet dog, corn, and alcohol, with a modest armada of grit afloat. Astounding. It did have a nice sort of metallic can note, to be fair.

If I see it again, I'm gonna try it, just to remind myself of the benchmark. Nothing -- not Coors, not Keystone, nothing -- could be as quintessentially awful. The label is a perfect predictor of everything inside. If they stop making Country Club, there will still be plenty left unsold in the gas stations of 2237.

 

 

 

There’s nothing like a nice classy Country Club 40oz in the morning, before work, during work, after work, and after a nice classy 40oz of Country Club. Heck I’m country clubbed up right now if I do say so myself, the relaxing crips taste, the smooth feel down my throat, the nice refreshing smell, and that beautiful gold and white logo is enough for me to responsibly enjoy at least five Country Clubs a day. 5/5 good beer.

 

 

I remember this one from "back in the day," and found it, a rare find around here, at a backwoods convenience store. I just had to try it again. Malt liquors were first marketed to white men back in the 1960's, believe it or not, and my Grandpa Bennett would always crack open an 8-oz. Country Club or two after work. My mom reportedly gave him holy hell when he was caught giving me a few sips as an 18-month old. I guess that he was just checking to see if the Irish parts of my body, i.e., those that are involved in processing alcohol intake, were working properly. And thus my ghetto taste in beers, apparently. Anyway, I was not too impressed, overall. It was flat and corny-tasting, with a weird, psuedo-metallic aftertaste. As I bought cans, I can't blame any skunking for the less than par experience. Still, I will give it the benefit of the doubt, the six I bought could have been sitting in the cooler for years. Wouldn't try it again, though.

 

 

40oz clear glass bottle with a branded screw-top. No ABV listed on the label. "America's premium malt liquor."

Pours a clear pale copper body with a good 3 fingers worth of off-white foam sitting atop.

Aroma yields pale malt and cheap corn, lending this some sweetness but seemingly not too much.

Taste is of pale malt and a bit of cheap corn adjunct, which isn't bad when coupled with the smooth, wet, light to medium-bodied mouthfeel. I always fear budget malt liquors will be syrupy and sticky, but this avoids that.

Drinkable albeit forgettable inoffensive fare. I doubt I'll ever try it again unless I'm after a cheap buzz. More insipid than anything else.

D (2.18) / NOT RECOMMENDED

***
"Lucked" into another clear 40oz bottle of this. Pricetag reads $3.00 (USD). The white and gold label design looks like something out of the Reagan era.

Pours three fingers/7-8ish cm worth of off-white foam. Frothy and billowing. I can't knock it, and the retention is pretty nice at 6+ minutes. Body is a clear thin watery dark urine colour. No visible yeast or sediment; it's obviously filtered.

Aroma brings notes of creamed corn and inoffensive pilsner malt along with a cheap grassy hop character. Diacetyl and DMS are indicated, and it seems too sweet. More of a grainy aroma would be nice. Average aromatic intensity.

Taste is creamed corn, DMS off-flavour, and pilsner malts with some cheap syrupy sweetness dragging it down. Too sweet, though not egregiously so, and I've had more syrupy more thick malt liquors. Obviously, it's unrefreshing, but its creamy softness on the palate warrants commendation. Smooth and wet, and not as overcarbonated as many budget malt liquors.

Overall, it's an inoffensive brew that drinks best at colder temperatures and will satisfy casual drinkers after a cheap buzz. I liked it better this time around than when I initially had it; I imagine these clear bottles sitting around in seedy Brooklyn bodegas are at high risk for being lightstruck. Not a terrible beer, but I can't recommend it even at this budget tier (see Ballantine XXX for a more worthwhile choice for budget drinkers).

High D (2.24) / NOT RECOMMENDED

 

 

When you drop that beer in the return slot the next day. That's the appearance. Sweet, corn aroma, nod bad for what it is.

Woof, this gives the big fusel alcohol feels. Not even that strong, but it amps it up on your breath. Its some high bitterness low hops, high alcohol, corn malt bill type of malt liquor, but without the punch, even though its mouthfeel kinda makes you think maybe otherwise.

I am a gross fat monster and so I've been looking for Country Club for years.

I read somewhere once that it was the first high-ish ABV beer that was directly marketed a malt liquor, and I've come across more than a few old print ads showing fifties-era frat boys pouring this stuff out of what look like pudding cans while coeds stumble in the background. It would be another decade plus until ads came along that were brazen enough to directly implicate malt liquor with date rape (thanks, Billy Dee Williams!), but we still got Country Club to thank for that trend. Needless to say, this beer has long been on my must-try list.

Forties were just sitting at the bottom of the cooler in some gas station in the middle of upstate New York. I jokingly told the clerk that I thought they stopped making it in the 70s. He said they might have, considering how poorly they sold at this particular location, so that didn't bode too well for its freshness.

Untwisting the cap, however, I pick up only a faint whiff of skunk, which is actually kinda complimentary in a weird way (some green bottle Euro saisons milk this effect quite well). The skunk is almost exclusively aromatic, however, as the flavor is neigh indistinguishable from MIckey's. Trust me, I've drank a lot of MIckey's, and this is just a skunked Mickey's.

Which isn't bad, in my book, even if it's not exactly good. I wouldn't drink Mickey's so goddamn often if I truly disliked its flavor. It's not for beer geeks, yeah. But as a malt liquor served in 40s, it gets the job done and is absolutely inoffensive.

 

 

I had been seeking this out for a long time. I found it at a liquor store in Waltham, MA one summer day in 2012. It was found in the customary 40 ounce bottle, just sitting there with a gaggle of other 40's; as if to scream out "take me home." I bought it and took it to where I was staying. I cracked open the bottle to find wafts of skunk, but these skunky scents did not deter me from enjoying this malt. The taste was something else, like a classic malt liquor should taste: sweet malts and a hint of adjunct.

I was able to consume the 'Club. Overall I'd have this again. Since that day however, I have been unable to find it; s though the beer gods seem to have said "only once."

(half quart can, MAR0920; purchased cold 2-for-1 pack - poured into fat tulip; re-review 15 Oct 2019)

L: crystal-clear, light gold liquid; speckled sediment... foam sizzles away immediately, leaves a thin, spit-y collar...

S: corn syrup and sweetish pale malt, dull hint of green grass and/or old desiccated citrus peel... overall intensity moderate; no overt booze

T: relatively richly malty, long malty finish, subtle orange/champagne hard candy note on the very back... before second sip, bit of toasted grain (barley and corn), toasted caramel lingering, with the latter's subtle butterfinger-y character... marginal perception of (peppery) bitterness likely alcohol-derived

F: light-medium bodied, but noticeably extended, delicately viscous, subtly warm finish... soft carbonation; a bit lip-smacky within the interior jowls

O: canned version obviously has a vastly superior taste to the skunk bladder tankard found within the 40... finally found cans (kept my eye open for years now)... this has jumped several places in my malt liquor list, maybe even now top 5; it got what I need

original review of 2.66 on 22 Oct 2015 (40 oz bottle, FEB1516, thin tulip pour)
L: 3 - gold liquid; thin foam, little lace
S: 2 - skunky as hell, but malty, beery
T: 2.75 - malty, skunky, cardboard
F: 3.5 - light-bodied, silky flow, acid/sizzle, residual film
O: 2.75 - skunky, lousy, but worth seeking canned version (see above)

Second can picked up from the cheapo bin at Kroger. Best-by date on the bottom says December 21st, 2015.

Poured into a standard pint glass; very pale yellow while pouring, a tad darker in the glass. It's very clear, with lots of bubbles rising up constantly. Actually has a decent-looking head of foam on it at first, and though it shrinks away somewhat quickly it does leave behind a ring around the edge of the glass and some "islands" of thin foam on top.

Smell upon first cracking open the can was a pretty strong blast of corn and funkiness, though it wasn't nearly as flat-out *bad* as the smell from the first can, which I remember being by far the grossest smell I'd ever gotten from a beer (it was much more sulfurous than what I got this time, I'd almost describe it as "farty") -- I wonder why there was such a difference? Either way, the smell fades once it's in the glass for a bit, but taking a sniff gets you some corn and a bit of some not-so-pleasant sweetness. Fortunately, that weird sweetness does fade away after a while so you mostly smell just a bit of corn. It's not the worst smelling beer I've had, but definitely not all that great either, and I have to count the initial nasty smelling blast upon opening the can against it even if it is a bit more pleasant afterward.

Taste is actually a good bit nicer than the smell. It's pretty pleasant overall, actually -- certainly not what I expected going by what I've heard about malt liquor in general. The primary flavor is sweet corn, and there's also a bready, grainy malt kind of thing going on in there. There's also a bit of a not-so-pleasant sweetness which reminds me of the similar flavor I picked up in Busch Signature (just a bit more than in this one) and Foster's Ale (so strong it was overpowering and, when I got to the second half of that giant can, a drain-pour.) That kinda-gross sweetness seems to come out more if you drink bigger gulps, but even then it's still not quite strong enough to make the overall flavor outright *bad.* On a positive note, that weird sweetness (much like the smell) seems to be "tamed" more and more toward the bottom of the glass, Maybe this actually benefits somewhat from being allowed to warm a bit, contrary to all I've heard about lighter-colored cheap beers being best when ice cold.

Mouthfeel is actually pretty nice -- I was pleasantly surprised by this aspect of the beer. It's not super fizzy and prickly, but it's not at all watery or thin-feeling at all, it actually feels somewhat substantial which makes it easier to drink smaller amounts at a time to prevent the nasty sweetness from building up too much. Leaves an interesting slick/sticky sort of feel on the lips and tongue after drinking a bit, haven't had many beers that did that but I kinda like it. No complaints here.

Overall -- is this a great beer? Nah, not really. But considering the horror stories I've heard about how bad malt liquor is in general, I was honestly pretty surprised by this one -- it may not be anything super amazing, but it's definitely not anything super awful either. I've actually found it pretty pleasant to drink both times I've had it, the only real negative is the smell and even that's not so bad after the initial blast upon opening the can. If you can't afford the prices of most "craft" six-packs but still want something that tastes halfway-decent and feels like more than just light fizzy beer-water, this really wouldn't be all that bad of a choice -- I'd certainly take it over something like Bud Light, especially considering that this is 2 dollars cheaper for a six-pack!

 

 

 

It's cheap, it fucks you up, not sure why it's on BA but it is.

This is the Colt 45 they mop off the floor

 

My only advice is drink it cold, drink it fast.

 

Wow, a blast from my teenage years in Florida. I bought this on the wrong side of the tracks at a gas station in southern Virginia. When I cracked this quart bottle the first thing I noticed was the skunky aroma. the flavor was traditional ghetto malt liquor. which I grew up on. with that said, the brew was ok, but lacked carbonation to match the flavor. not completely horrible; but you get what you expected with this beer. A cheap buzz with little complexity.

Could be way worse but at 2 bucks this swill is actually drinkable .. It's not a cloying malt bomb like Mickeys

Think of it as a palate cleanser

very malty taste. taste almost like a soggy paper bag or cherrios. i miss this brew, one of my favorite 40 oz.'s Great memories of being 21 and reckless. This has been hard to find in northern cali, but a must try, much more pleasant than the traditional 40 oz. out there.