Accel
Matt Brewing Company / Saranac Brewery

 

Ever since I first tried this beer a couple years ago, I've had a soft spot for it. Compared to the competition, it has some flavor and actually kind of tastes like beer. The attraction this time around was a $5 12 pack at Total Wine in McLean VA and I found my arm had involuntarily gripped one of these and stuffed it in the cart. Sometimes the less beer adventurous guest is thankful for something more their speed!

Accel looks decent in the glass (for a while) and drinks OK. Can't detect much aroma. The malt flavor seems sort of stapled on but is not unpleasant. The beer is clean and smooth and in the right kind of environment (wrapping up some lawn care, etc.) a couple in a row might be nice. I had actually thought Matt discontinued this beer but am glad to see it's still around.

poured a very pale yellow color. Smell is missing with maybe a slight maltiness. Taste is so light that I don,t think it exists. Mouthfeel is wet and not nothing else to mention. As easy to drink as water, and unless you are really thirsty, about as enjoyable.

Pure swill. this beer tasted so horrable, i would gleefully pick up bud light over this. A very light and yet very bad taste. At least bud light has no taste, it's main fault. But this? has very little to no taste but the little bit of taste it has is bad. My mouth was overcome by a cereal type malt, with an equally bad aftertaste. If youre looking for a low carb beer, get michelob ultra, it has little taste but at least the little that it has isnt bad, and for.0002 carbs it's worth it.

When faced with a selection of miserable macros, I decided to give this beer a try. It pours a very pale...faint...yellow color with a slight white head. It's not unlike a typical mass-produced beer, but lighter. No much aroma. Virtually no smell...maybe a little grain. The taste is hollow and light. No charachter, but nothing really displeasing either. Quiet, tasteless, lowest-common-denominator beer.

As far as specifically labeled "low carb" beers go, I think F.X. Matt has put out one of the best with their Accel. It pours an absolutely crystal-clear, deep golden body beneath a short head of white foam that dissipates readily and leaves only minor lacing about the glass. The aroma is limited but clean, and it does offer a light note of sweet malt. The body is light; and it's crisp on the tongue. The sweetish malt returns in the flavor. It's delicate and light, and it does offer a note of corn in it, but it's at least got something there. I've had regular "light" beers that have less flavor. Bitterness is subdued as might be expected, and in fact it's almost non-existant. But then again, there's not really any malt there to balance. It finishes almost without notice. Still, it's clean and refreshing and would be a perfectly acceptable first beer during on a hot summers day.

Hoo boy, another entry into the Low-Carb Beer sweeps. Accel is made by the Matt Brewing Company, who also brews the surprisingly palettable line of Saranac beers. The only thing that makes Accel stand out from the competition of Michelob Ultra and Rolling Rock Green Light is that it actually attempts to retain some real beer flavor. With that being said, there still isn't too much here that will excite a BA.

Accel pours a bright yellow color with a sudsy, 1 finger foam head that lasts about 20 seconds. The smell reminded me of canned fruit, and to be more specific: canned pears. Certainly sweeter smelling than I expected it to be. As for the mouthfeel, this beer feels thin and sudsy to your senses. And yes, this beer has a very watery flavor, but there are some discernable elements in here, as that fruity aroma seems to make its way into the taste. A flat seltzer water taste is present as well, along with some wet paper and a moderately dry graininess. The aftertaste continues the wet paper motif, and believe it or not I detected some toasty grains as well. It all finishes out with no alcoholic warmth.

I have absolutely no use for these beers, but I saw this one available in singles, so I decided to pick up 2 bottles (1 for me and my brother) for the sake of reviewing them. No way would I purchase a 6 pack of this. Compared to other low-carb lights, I would pick this one, but give me a nice rich porter or stout anyday. On a side note, the porter or stout probably wouldn't have much more calories or carbs than this anyway.

Plain and simple F.X. MATT was able to make a product that could compete with Mich Ultra. I like to see a local beer doing as well if not better than someone bigger like Mich Ultra. The beer itself is not bad, I will say there is not a lot of taste and that is sort of expected from a low carb light beer. If you are into the new low-carb trend try Accel.