An Observation on AAL

Yeah, we don't need no stinkin rules.

 

Thanks for the pro-tip, fellas.

I understand the first part, but not the second. Why would someone expect that craft AALs would be more enjoyable than those from the macros?

 

Maybe he was talking about those who view craft beer as a cause.

 

AAL should be banned. It generally uses inferior ingredients such as "Brewers Rice" which is a common denominator in lower quality dog food.As far as corn goes , please leave that to hard mash.

 

Correct, and the same thing also goes for the most common analogies you hear- white bread, fast food burgers, etc. There’s good, bad and everything in between.

 

I guess I am confused about all the Solid Gold hate. It was $18 for 24 cans. That is pretty close to the same cost of other cases of light beer. The beer definitely had more flavor than other AALs. I could pick up on some hop flavor in the beer, but in other AALs I get zero hoppyness. Maybe I am one of the few that doesn't want every beer they drink to be super complex with a bunch of flavors. I actually enjoy different AALs.

 

This is a common misconception. Rice used in brewing such beers as Bud or Fkying Fish’s Exit 16 is of high quality and sometimes even costs more than barley, The problem with any Rice in dog food is that it doesn’t even belong there at all. (Regardless of its quality grade.)

 

Tom, this guy spouted this same crap in the Founders Solid Gold thread.

I tried to educate him:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...s-solid-gold-lager.542715/page-6#post-5965860

I am starting to think either he is a troll or he is incapable of learning.

Cheers!

 

I like beer, I like good tasting beer. Not a fan of AAL, so I don't buy or drink them. A lower cal, hot weather beer? Sometimes Notch or Jacks Abby fits the bill.

 

Or, those folks have actually had the same tastes and made the same drinking choices all along and the making of such beers by craft brewers has empowered them to feel they can speak more freely around here about what they enjoy.

In general, the typical craft beer buyer/drinker, according to more than one independent marketing research study, is someone who often drinks AALs and drinks the more expensive beers from Craft Breweries as their special treat or for special occasions. Those of us who consume only craft beers are a very small minority of folks who enjoy craft beer and may actually be a minority on this site.

 

Whenever I am at my local beverage center, browsing around and feeling like a kid in a candy store, I usually notice that, during the time that I am in there, at least a half-dozen guys will come in, make a beeline to the Bud/Coors cooler, grab their 30-pack, check out, and leave. They show no interest whatsoever in anything else that is available, in spite of the huge variety the store has to offer.

In fact, I swear that some of them actually seem downright militant in their refusal to acknowledge that there is any other kind of beer available !

It crosses my mind that if Founders is to have any hope in tapping in to that multi-million
dollar market and find some favor among the beeliners, they need to at least put their Solid Gold in the Bud/Miller/Coors cooler, and not in the microbrew/craft section.

I tried the SG, by the way. Thought it was awfully watery tasting.

 

A-ha. I understand now.

I guess there are people out there that think that the macros made an inferior, i.e. low quality, product. Even though I don't enjoy their products, that couldn't be further from the truth.

 

For some reason, this situation makes me smirk. Probably because I know exactly what you're talking about, I just never really thought about it that way.

 

I’ve said this before but AAL drinkers are among the most brand loyal customers there are. They won’t even switch from miller to bud even if it’s on sale or vice versa. I am willing to bet that if you had founders Gold lager for cheaper than Miller light they probably still wouldn’t buy it.

 

Exactly. This makes me wonder how well-thought-out the plan is of craft brewers trying to "capture" some of the AAL market.

 

Let’s see if Founders can make it as a year long beer. In today’s day of craft beer of wanting bold flavors and new all the time I doubt it. The reason other founders 15 packs sell well is that they have a “craft” flavor but more importantly have a perceived value a customer can stand behind.

 

I think, without any hard facts to back it up (only anecdotes), one of the main reasons that AALs (and lagers in general) are becoming more popular is because the average age of the craft beer consumer is going up. It seems to me that as one drinks through all of the beer styles and burns out on intensely-flavored style after intensely-flavored style, one eventually comes all the way back around and settles on styles with more subtlety and less aggression.

Another reason you see it more here is because lagers are (rightly) finally getting their due and becoming more sought after and more common in the craft beer industry.

Finally, I take a little umbrage to the insinuation that I'm "suppressing my tastes" or that I'm "easily persuaded" by anyone, least of all Big Beer. I am just drinking what I like, as I always have done, and I come here to talk about it, like we all do. I guess the difference between you and I is that I try not to take unnecessary digs at people for liking a beer style that I don't.

I will agree with you that Solid Gold is nothing special even insofar as AALs go, though it's definitely better than Budweiser.

I have said this in other threads on the topic, but Founders Solid Gold is not a good value compared to (in my opinion) better beers. Most of the hate is coming from the folks that enjoy AALs already, not those who dislike the style on principle.

Compare, in my area, $14 for a 15 pack of Solid Gold (I haven't seen the 24s, but I would be willing to bet they'd come in around $20) to Pabst Blue Ribbon ($12 for 30pk), Miller High Life ($12 for 30pk), Hamm's ($12 for 30pk), and Stroh's ($16 for 30pk), all of which are better than Solid Gold to me on flavor alone. The former three are all $0.03/oz. Stroh's is $0.04/oz. Founders Solid Gold in my area is twice as much than the most expensive at $0.08/oz. Even if we falsely use your prices, it is still $0.05/oz still almost double the cheaper PBR, High Life, and Hamm's.

I wish I could've had Solid Gold in my tasting. Maybe I'll put it up against the top three and see what happens. I'll put Hamm's in, too (which I tried again last night, and I feel strongly that the can I had in the tasting was a poor representation...I really enjoyed it this time around).

This isn't on topic, but you think you can just change your avatar? I almost had no idea who you were until your typical, "Cheers!"

 

And Cheers to that!