Paste Magazine Reviews Cheap Macro Lagers

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by cid71, Mar 13, 2018.

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  1. BeRightBock

    BeRightBock Zealot (557) Apr 27, 2007 New York

    Oh Micheloeb in thr early eighties....

    Geez I’m old....

    WAAAH!
     
  2. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,071) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
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    Yeah, pretty weird but apparently Yuengling Premium (which was the brewer's flagship beer up to the late 1980s) distribution is kept pretty close to "home" - we get it in NJ, where it's sold typically by the "suitcase" and a lot cheaper than Yuengling Traditional Lager.

    Note, too, that they used Yuengling Light Lager (i.e, the light version of the Trad. Lager) not Yuengling's light AAL, labeled Yuengling Light Beer (extreme right below).
    [​IMG]
     
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  3. BeRightBock

    BeRightBock Zealot (557) Apr 27, 2007 New York

    I got a case of the Porter for $9.99 last year ‘cause it “wasn’t selling”.....

    Hee hee.
     
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  4. steveh

    steveh Grand Pooh-Bah (4,030) Oct 8, 2003 Illinois
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    Completely agree with that.
     
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  5. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    It has been years since I have seen Schlitz with the labeling of "1960's Formula". FWIW, I was a fan of the beer that was labeled with "1960's Formula". That beer was cleanly brewed and more flavorful than a 'standard' AAL beer (e.g., Budweiser).

    Cheers!
     
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  6. AWA

    AWA Savant (1,183) Jul 22, 2014 California

    I gotta say it breaks my heart to see Schlitz so far down. Not that I'd drink it or anything, but still.
     
  7. pjbear05

    pjbear05 Pundit (770) May 28, 2008 Florida

    I checked on Mickey's, and yes, Miller now brews it.
     
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  8. muck1979

    muck1979 Zealot (531) Jul 3, 2005 Minnesota

    I seem to recall a thread a while back where a poster was questioning whether the repackaged Schlitz with no mention of "1960's Formula" was still the new/old "Gusto" formula. Someone posted an email response from Pabst indicating that it still was the "1960's Formula."

    I too enjoyed the "1960's" Schlitz version--even with the Cascade hops that clearly weren't available back then.
     
  9. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
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    I recall that post indicating a response from some Pabst Marketing person. FWIW, I did not believe that response from the Pabst person then.

    I made a personal decision that if I ever saw Schlitz beer with the labeling of "1960s Formula" I would purchase that beer. I have not seen this beer in a number of years (4-5 years?).

    Cheers!
     
  10. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,058) Feb 15, 2010 New York
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    That's funny... when I did a blind tasting with Corona and a few others, I was surprised that I could detect some hoppiness in the Corona (which I never noticed when having it on its own). When I posted about it here, the notion wasn't met with any agreement from others. :slight_smile:
     
  11. ZebulonXZogg

    ZebulonXZogg Pooh-Bah (2,766) May 5, 2015 Illinois
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    I may have learned something here! I just found out AAL stands for American Adjunct Lagers. I always thought it meant Awful American Lagers! Thanks everyone!
     
  12. Crusader

    Crusader Pooh-Bah (1,651) Feb 4, 2011 Sweden
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    It's worth noting that two of the three beers which were tested in this article and said to taste skunked were canned beers. I think Heineken is a mild but enjoyable European pale lager beer. Europe is a diverse geographical and cultural area of course but in general I would say that one thing that separates European macro lager beers from American lager beers is a mild bitterness and hop flavor. Some countries brew their beers to be adjunct lager beers rather than brewing all malt beers, yet they typically have more hop flavor and a mild bitterness compared with the American brands. In Sweden the typical IBU of the domestic Export style is around 23IBUs (based on the answers I've gotten from the 5 remaining macro breweries), see for example the product pages for two different popular Swedish brands on the website Finnish alcohol monopoly who measure the IBUs of the products they sell: Sofiero (5.2% abv, 25IBU, was the most sold beer at the Swedish monopoly for the last decade), Fagerhult (5.3% abv, 28IBUs). Compare that with Budweiser (5%, 6IBU) and Coors Light (4%, 6IBU). Miller High Life's own product page is now listing an IBU value of 7. IBU values do not convey hop flavor of course, and hop flavor can't be quantified, but I would argue that a similar pattern exists there as well. In Europe we only get the big name AAL brands however, so I can't speak for the smaller brands.
     
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  13. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,071) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
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    The Pabst "Schlitz" page lists the "Gusto" hop recipe:
    And website's "Timeline" ends with:
    ...but the distribution footprint sure seems to have shrunk (only saw it in central Jersey once or twice).

    Constellation's Corona website lists the IBU's of the 3 Corona beer (Extra, Light and the new recipe Familiar) at 18, 18 and 19.5 - pretty much twice that of what is usually stated for the US AB and MC flagships.
     
    #33 jesskidden, Mar 13, 2018
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2018
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  14. Bitterbill

    Bitterbill Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,772) Sep 14, 2002 Wyoming
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    I reviewed it in 2009 but it disappeared from my market shortly after. Same thing happened with Olympia 95% Malt only in 2011. :slight_frown:
     
  15. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
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    But there is no mention of the fermentables. The Schlitz "1960's Formula" when it was marketed a few years ago listed that it had a higher percentage of malt.

    Cheers!
     
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  16. TongoRad

    TongoRad Grand Pooh-Bah (3,848) Jun 3, 2004 New Jersey
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    A couple of weeks ago we did a throwback-type beer day on WBAYDN and I got a big can of Heineken for it- and I liked it! If I bought two I would've kept on going, too :grin:.
     
  17. Bitterbill

    Bitterbill Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,772) Sep 14, 2002 Wyoming
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    Good on draught as well.
     
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  18. anfield86

    anfield86 Pooh-Bah (2,594) Nov 21, 2006 New Jersey
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    I honestly considered including Mexican Adjunct Lagers in my post but then I noticed no Mexican beers were in the article. Sometimes I wonder why we classify all adjunct lagers as “AALs” even when they’re brewed in, say, Korea or Okinawa for example...anyway, I digress.

    When I lived in Arizona I grew to love Mexican adjunct lagers. I always thought Corona was okay but I guess I over drank them in college so I wrote off most AALs from that country. Tecate, Pacifico, Carta Blanca and perhaps the searing AZ heat and delicious Mexican food changed my opinion on the matter. I think the aforementioned beers would easily top the list, especially if they also bought Canada into question, who makes some great AALs like Molson Golden, Molson Canadian, Labatt Blue. If we included all of the (North) Americas on this list I think most of us would agree that the US wouldn’t fair very well on the continental scale.


    Cheers!

    EDIT: I forgot about Moosehead, probably your best bang-for-your-buck AAL out there
     
  19. TongoRad

    TongoRad Grand Pooh-Bah (3,848) Jun 3, 2004 New Jersey
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    Have you had St. Pauli Girl lately? Any thoughts on that one?
     
  20. anfield86

    anfield86 Pooh-Bah (2,594) Nov 21, 2006 New Jersey
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    I actually haven’t! My friends mom was a big St. Pauli Dark fan (and Becks dark). I had it once years back and it compared similarly (perhaps favorably) to a Beck’s or Heineken. I’ll have to pickup some next time I’m hankering a good Euro Pale Lager
     
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