No love for American Adjunct Lagers?

They serve their purpose. When they are cold, cheap, and you just want a cold, mindless drink. PBR, Rolling Rock, or High Life can fit the bill for me.

 

If "AAL" is accepted as a recognized beer style, then, as with all styles, it should have a specific definition - it should be more than just any American beer fermented with a bottom fermented yeast that uses adjuncts. There are US bocks, US "amber" beers and US malt liquors that all fit the adjunct + lager yeast criteria yet are not considered "AAL's".

The so-called "Bastard ales" of the US brewing industry - fermented with a brewer's standard lager yeast at higher temperatures and, typically, more and/or different hops resulting in a higher IBU and different taste profile (and often higher abv) than the same brewer's lager beer - have been recognized in this country as "ales" for over half a century - most I'd call "golden ales" (or, in BA jargon "blonde ale" )or, if so labeled, cream ales. That has long been the industry standard AND the current legal definition in the US of "ale":

Compared to the original post-Repeal FAA Act's (1935) much more specific definition:

Wahl & Wahl discussed this - the US industry's attitude on top/bottom fermenting yeasts - in their post-Repeal brewers' handbook (as have Jack and I , but I'll reprint it for others): Wahl - Beers and Yeasts

As for Chesterfield Ale - I don't know what Yuengling did to that beer, but it is nothing like it was in the 1970s and 1980s when it was a regular choice of mine when I went beer shopping in PA. It used to be much more hoppy and fragrant.

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This is the equivalent of saying Wendy's crushes McDonalds for certain. Who cares? They're both crap

 

My current favourite AAL is Coors Banquet. Less watery than Coors Light and the taste is pretty good, too.

 

I owe a lot to AAL's. Thanks to them, I developed a taste for wine relatively early in my life

Seriously I have not had a domestic AAL since I began rating beers ( I had a Corona, sans lime, and disliked it) and I do intend to give them another chance. They will have my previous associations to overcome. And this is not at all about only liking extreme flavors. Right now I am drinking a Sam Adams Downtime Pilsener, and enjoying it much (just came off a bike ride) . I do not recall liking AAL'S as much.

 

Jack, I am drinking a CAP right now that was 6 row, 20% corn meal in a cereal mash, Cluster, and a 50/50 blend of Mount Hood and Liberty to finish. It would fool many, they would think it was a German beer. We are not getting a lot of corn off of this beer. Going to be sad when the keg is gone.

 

I was at a friends about 6 months ago, had run out of beer, and he had some Michelob Ultra in his fridge that someone else had brought. I figured, what the hell, I'll try one. It was the first BMC I'd had in over a decade. I was actually pretty shocked-the beer was clean and delicate, and had a very nice light floral hop aroma and flavor to it. I doubt that any craft brewery in the U.S. could pull a beer like that off (well, maybe Sierra Nevada, but that's about it). I really don't know what there was to dislike about the beer. It was solid, and hit the spot at the time. I haven't had once since, but I've got a ton more respect for the people that brewed it, packaged it, and shipped it out.

 

Both of you guys have me seriously missing a really great beer that I was drinking last spring, made by Callicoon Brewing near my parents' house in NYS. I suppose it was a CAP, it certainly was hopped like one, but the malt base was Belgian Pilsner malt along with the flaked maize. It was a real thing of beauty, delicate and clean as a whistle, and I went through many growlers of it myself. Unfortunately they haven't brewed it again, I assume due to (un)popularity. Yup, it's gone, and I'm sad about it.

I guess this highlights a problem these types of beers have with the modern craft drinking crowd- even if it's a stellar example it's hard to gain any real traction.

 

I hear you. I would have figured a brew pub type operation could make a go of it on a small scale, but alas it hasn't returned. Next time I'm there I shall inquire about what happened.

 

To me, nowadays, it's just a bit more bitter than standard AAL's (which, given that they usually hover in the "10 ibu's" isn't hard to do ) but that's all I get - slight bitterness - I get very little aroma or hop flavor, compared to what I remember and liked about LCA. I've tried it in cans and throw-away bottles (bought by the case), never saw the revived draught version. In the past I'd always purchased it in deposit bottles - either green or sometimes even brown (when the brewery would run low on returned green glass).



Has made me wonder if they're using hop extract rather than pellets and/or no longer dry-hop it. IIRC even Michael Jackson called it "floral".

 

All hail Lord Chetty!

I love that beer. It is by no means a good beer, but it's definitely my go-to whenever times call for drinking large quantities of canned beer. Think beach, camping, tailgating, etc. I enjoy AALs in general because they tend to be very dry, and they don't all lack flavor despite what most people here seem to think. I'll drink Budweiser on the golf course (if I forgot to toss some Chettys in my bag, of course) because it finishes clean and has a nice fruity profile from the yeast they use. If I'm at a party and they're serving light beer, sure, I'll drink some. It's really not that bad. The dryness makes it a good complement to most foods.

 

Much like Heady Topper, you HAVE TO drink it from the can to get the full experience of the hops

My guess with this beer is that freshness might be an issue. You don't see people drinking it much, and it's usually stored warm at distributors that have it in stock. I don't know if Yuengling puts dates on their packaging, but I typically assume that the cases I see of this are probably pretty old.

 

I don't think this mindset is unfortunate at all. Life is too short to drink beer that doesn't taste great.

 

AAL's have their time and place. I don't always want to be hit over the head with an 8+% abv stout/belgian ale. Sometimes I just want something refreshing and not have to think about it. An ice cold Bud or Coors Banquet are damn tasty on a 90 degree day.

To those of you talking about the Classic American Pilsners, those sound tasty! I wish there were commercially available versions of what beers you are talking about.

 

There's a reason that Budweiser is (or at least was) the best selling beer in the world. As far as beer cognoscenti go, I've always said that there's a time and place for every beer.

 

Sometimes I genuinely enjoy the taste of adjunct lagers. On a hot summer's day, they just hit they spot.