Tell us why you hate AAL beers

Liquor stores have lots of out of date beer. If I find some Jack's Abbey craft lager 12 packs lying around it might be expired old stock and not as fresh as a AAL straight from the cooler which is more likely to not be out of date. I recently picked up a Von Trapp variety pack which is and it was on the floor of a massive walk in cooler and there was no date on the box but I got it anyway. Sure enough I opened it and the cans said BB 10/24/23. It still tasted good but of course it was out of date. Point is if you want craft lagers go straight to a brewery to get them.

 

I'll rat myself out here.
I think my preferences lean into craft-y for several reasons: I associate AALs with my college (oh hell, and graduate school) days of consuming whatever, whenever, for low $.
Now, I want my beer to have enough $ bite to my wallet for many reasons: to moderate me, to support small businesses, and to savor. every. moment. of my life.
Sure, I'll do an occasional Negra Modelo with Mexican food or Tsingtao with Chinese food, or... you get it. ... but otherwise? I'm supporting the small breweries or the craft ones at scale that have kept their quality.
I'll liken it to my taste for running shoes (IYKYK), I don't run in $30 Keds or VANS. Why would I?
Cheers... to each their own.

 

I have nothing against AALs. Not my favorite style by any means, but they’re good, especially when they are ice cold and one has done much labor in the yard/house.

I do, however, have much against Bud, Miller, Coors.

Luckily, I have lots of Narragansett Lager in my neck of the woods, so if I have an AAL itch, it’s easily scratched. They’ve recently had their old school Narragansett recipe on tap at the brewery. I can’t remember what year it’s from, some point in the 1940s. It’s allegedly the version they brewed back then. It’s good. Not sure if it’s an AAL, but, if it is, then I’ll take one of those please.

 

I really enjoy AAL, not all though. I like the fact that they are easy to buy and drink. When I want a beer that taste like beer I get AAL. The price is also right. I drink AAL much more in the summer and warm times. Hamms, Gansett, Reading Premium(not a cheap beer) High Life and others. There are local craft versions but I can get a 30 of Hamms for $14 or MHL case of bottles for $18 vs $10-12 for a local six pack. Are they better? Maybe but pretty sure not that much better.

I used to get Dab 24 packs for $18 but those days might be over. Need to look next time I go look for beer.

Enjoy

 

One of the best, imo.

 

Yes I dislike Budweiser and never buy it but I have no idea what Coors Lite use as an adjunct but I have a special kind of hatred for that beer. I suppose these two turn me off AALs in favour of the behemoth Euro Pales like Stella and Heineken. To my tastebuds I think there is a difference between EPs and AALs but perhaps it’s much more nuanced.

 

Does Molson Coors brew Coors Light at their Burton-on-Trent brewery?

The US brewed Coors Light uses dextrose/corn syrup according to Molson Coors website's pdf at
https://www.molsoncoors.com/nutritional-information
(perhaps if you list the UK upon opening the site, it might have different beers and stats? That'd be interesting but I think the pdf specifies US only?) The >snip< below from the above pdf shows all of the US MC flagship beers use a form of corn syrup, either maltose or dextrose.

Both the export versions of Heineken and Stella we got in the US used to use corn. Heineken stopped way back in the 1990s and Stella Artois is now brewed in the US as an all-malt beer - previously the Belgian-brewed version used to list "maize" on some AB-InBev material (but not on the label that I recall).

Going 'way back (1940s or 1950s?) Van Munching, the now-defunct but long time US importer of Heineken, used to claim Heineken was an early user of rice in beer. Never read anything from the brewery that confirmed that (but never delved too far into it, either).

 

I get the same list when I access from here.

 

Yeah, gotta agree with @moodenba on this one. Schaefer was no better nor worse than most of the AALs of the era. If anything it was probably a bit heavier tasting (+hoppier) than the national brands from the mid-West, a remnant of it being one of the last great Bushwick pilsners. As AALs got lighter and lighter in the post-WWII era, they tended to start all tasting the same - lowering the ibus and raising the Real Degree of Fermentation, and there ain't a lot left to distinguish them. (Brewers knew that, it's why most of their advertising eventually concentrating on everything but flavor by the 80s).

This era was when I started researching the industry and while I'm a stat guy and have lots of info at hand, I've always stayed away from the "critic" angle. As I'll note below, AALs weren't my beers of choice. I liked some more than others but I freely admitted my opinions and purchases were based on aspects of the beers and the brewers other than taste. If someone professed a love of AAL, my tendency was always to aim them toward the local and regional brewers' beers. Hell, at the time they were usually cheaper, too.

I always think of the 2 most common opinions of AALs one often read in the early days of BeerAdvocate (still around, of course) and other internet site.

And I'd think, "Wait. Ergo piss tastes like water? Nah, that can't be right...".

Well, the 70s and 80s were changing times for both Schaefer and Genesee but Schaefer started out the decade as one of the 10 largest brewers in the country (where they'd been since Repeal), #5 in 1970, right behind Coors. Using popularity and sales as an indication of quality around here (or when taking books, movies, TV, music or even who gets elected to Congress...) isn't the best indicator but, hell, if they could sell 4 million barrels of nasty beer, that's gotta say something.

Checking ads, Schaefer, when independent, was typically sold in NY State for a bit more than Genesee and Utica Club*, but as a large regional, less than Bud and Schlitz. Eventually UC was replaced by Matt's Premium as that brewer's flagship and sold around the same price as Schaefer. Not sure if, once a Stroh brand (after 1980) if Schaefer got cheaper.

Oh, now - that statment is like a Bat Signal for me. I don't jump into tights and head to the cave, but I do warm up my mouse finger and do a copy/paste of my non-AAL favorites from that same pre-craft era:
Ballantine XXX Ale, Ballantine India Pale Ale, Ballantine Brewers Gold Ale, Ballantine Porter (also marketed as Krueger Old Surrey Porter), McSorley’s Cream Ale, Lord Chesterfield Ale, Black Horse Ale (Trenton and Koch), Rainier Ale, Pickwick Ale, Croft Ale, Genesee 12 Horse Ale, Schaefer Cream Ale, Schoenling Cream Ale (Little King’s), Carling Red Cap Ale, Pabst’s Old Tankard Ale, Liebotschaner Cream Ale, Kodiak Cream Ale, Tiger Head Ale, Neuweiler Ale, Anchor Steam Beer, Haffenreffer Private Stock Malt Liquor, Mickey’s Malt Liquor, Yuengling Porter, Stegmaier Porter. (Looks like this version of the list omits the seasonal bocks but ya get the idea).

 

But I do disagree with this part:

I always found Schaefer draft especially creamy - not sure I'd call that delicate. Funny, because if I was buying a Brooklyn AAL in bottles I'd go with Rheingold (Chug-a-mug, esp. ) but on tap I'd always opt for Schaefer. My favorite spot was also Italian, Pete's La Pizza. 25¢ a sham pilsner - so I'd throw a couple of dollars down, get a few beers and use some of the other quarters in the pinball machine. Leave one or two as the tip?

 

But why would you attribute this to maltiness? Do you think that BMC are made with more malt than an average IPA? That would certainly run counter to all of the other (exaggerating) accusations in this thread about them being flavorless… or all the usual accusations of cost cutting. That IPA will probably have more alcohol and carbs than BMC, so those factors probably aren’t the culprit for you. Differences in carbonation levels between the beers can be the culprit.

 

Never noticed there's no "Canada" listed, that's odd. If I click on "United Kingdom" the pdf lists:
Coors 4.0% Water, Barley Malt, Wheat, Barley, Glucose syrup, Hops.

So, they don't specify Coors Banquet or Coors Light, but 4% is lower than either of those two US beers, neither of which contain wheat or (unmalted) barley or Glucose.

 

Where one lived could change perspective. Living on the east coast, or even the midwest, gave me an easier task of finding distinctive beer. Most of the west was a beer desert, especially the Northwest. When I visited family there in the 70s, one of the beers on you list (Rainier Ale, which was too strong for me) was available.

For me on the east coast, drinking at home usually meant some of the beers in the JK list. I'd add Andeker and Augsburger. Going out in the 70s (including for the family dinner previously mentioned) meant mostly AAL. Actually, for a while that restaurant/bar owner had a few Black Horse Ale (Metropolitan/Champale) bottles that I drank. When he ran out, I switched to Schaefer draft. A shabby Patchogue tavern (Mr. Fadeleys) hosted our homebrewer meetings. Their taps were usually dedicated to imports, but occasionally had McSorleys. Fadeley's survives, still fairly shabby.