No love for American Adjunct Lagers?

612Brew in Minneapolis recently started packaging their year-round beers, one of which includes this pre-prohibition lager, although they don't distribute outside the Cities. I enjoy it. Their use of Cluster hops is quite evident and it sort of has that "dank" aspect that I've read others use to describe non-flowery/fruity IPAs.

 

No, there is no love for AALs.

I had a Budweiser for the first time in many years this weekend, and it was actually pretty good. It was refreshing and exactly what I'd want out of an AAL. Today I had to justify my new rating of 3.4 because it was an outlier. It seems AAL is the beer people refuse to rate to the style.

When compared to other AALs, is Budweiser really "awful"? I don't think so. I think it's relatively okay.

 

Schlitz Gusto 1960s formula. From McGillicuddy's in Williston VT

 

It has been awhile, but I thought the cans (the new re-incarnations) said with new.. Schlitz Gusto 1960s formula... or something I am a little inaccessible to images and such right now (as I see someone has posted some stuff) so I may have to look later I might have an old pic.. not sure...

 

I think I can pretty honestly state the following:

1) I generally always enjoy the first few sips of an ice cold AAL and don't have strong feelings brand to brand (though Coors Banquet surprised me just a little). I appreciate the crisp, carbonated mouthfeel and the slightly bready aftertaste in your nose after a big swig. Reminds me of those first sips of beer I had from my dad doing yardwork as a kid.

2) I generally never enjoy the last half of the can. As soon as they drop below ice cold I find the mouthfeel falls off and the taste starts trending towards that old beer smell of a bar cooler that isn't as clean as it should be. Reminds me of forcing AAL's down as a teen just to get drunk.

So some of it is probably association based, but given how primary the "ice cold" theme is in the marketing of AAL's, I don't feel like I'm off base in thinking that they have a very short window of time after opening when they're at their best.

 

Are you sure that the hop aroma that you detected was coming from the glass and not from the plant that you were sitting next to?

Just kidding, I'll have plenty off AALs during the summer months. I finished my Miller High Life 30-pack within the past week and have moved on to a 30 of PBR. Perhaps my preferred AAL would be Coors Original, although I can't really detect a significant enough difference to spend the extra six or seven bucks when those others fit the bill.

 

I'll have to give that a try then since I do love a bargain and have pleasant memories of drinking Yeungling (regular) at Gooski's in Pittsburgh back before it became ubiquitous up here in New England.

 

I suspect a lot of the hate on AALs as a whole comes down to the "if it's not super duper great, then it sucks" mindset that a lot of people unfortunately have. That, and the tendency toward "explosive" flavors and away from lighter beers, which came up in the kolsch/pilsner/etc. threads too. An average or "good in certain situations" beer getting dumped on as if it were the worst of the worst when actually it's just... a little ordinary, not spectacular, but also definitely not bad.

Going by the few I've had and the things I've read about some others, it seems that some adjunct lagers do have some gross smells/tastes in them (Yuengling Lager has a weird thing in the smell, which thankfully doesn't come up in the taste for me... and the Busch Signature that I tried recently has something similar, which unfortunately comes through in the taste too if it's not cold enough, a weird almost artificial-seeming sweetness)... but I don't think that's necessary a flaw of the style as a whole so much as a flaw in individual beers. I suspect this might have something to do with the "first half is nice, second half is kinda gross" effect I've seen mentioned several times in this thread -- when the beer's colder the not-so-pleasant aspects of the taste/smell don't come out as strong, but as it warms up you start to notice them more.

I suspect I'd like the Lord Chesterfield Ale. Especially if it doesn't have that "worse on the second half after it's warmed a bit" thing to it -- I'm starting to think that's the best way to judge whether an adjunct beer is well-made, is it only tasty when very cold or can it afford to warm up a few degrees without suddenly turning gross? Unfortunately I've never seen it around anywhere, and I'd be worried by the green bottle issues especially considering that it's supposed to be a hoppier beer than the rest of Yuengling's lineup.

 

I'm not sure where in PA you are, but it is apparently being carried in at least one part of the state:

http://www.ltverrastro.com/brands/spec_brand.cfm?brand=SCHLITZ

 

I've never seen it down here either but I'll try to remember looking for it. In my younger years Schlitz was considered the good stuff compared to what we usually bought. Ah, college days!

 

I was drinking beer well before the craft era. I enjoyed the AAL's than but IMO they all tasted about the same . That all were light bodied and dry. I can still enjoy a Bud or a Coors (not light) but they seem sweet now and lighter.

 

I think I have this ad framed on my wall...