Hamm's....Spend the $12.99?

Yes to your question OP, but in my case, I get 30 packs for $11.99. Hamm's is always in my beer fridge. It tastes above average and saves me beer $$ that I can use on the good stuff. I like to mix it in as palate cleanser and my wife (and liver) thank me for maintaining a level head.

 

Hamm's is my summer pool beer... Cheap, refreshing when it's sweltering, and it stays ice cold in my knock off Yeti can cooler. And yes, I slug it right out of the can while floating away. I don't have to think about it and I can buy a couple 24 packs and load the beer fridge up to so eliminate the "Damnit, I'm out of beer" syndrome.... Expect what it is and everything will be fine.....

 

From the land of sky blue waters...I mean, Milwaukee.

 

And Irwindale, CA and Golden, CO* as well, at least according to MC , the owner of the brand since Miller bought it in 1999 from Pabst while those two brewers divied up the vast Heileman-Stroh portfolio (most of which went to Pabst).

To be fair, when Hamm's existed as an independent company, they had owned breweries in Baltimore, SF and LA in California and Texas. The brand would later be brewed in even more cities after being bought by Olympia and then by Pabst in the late 1970s-1980s.

MillerCoors announced recently that they are doing a big push for Hamm's likely since Miller's traditional "economy" brand, Milwaukee's Best, hasn't been doing so well - it made one of those annual "__ Beers Americans No Longer Drink" lists, which stated MB was MC's biggest barrelage loser, down nearly 60% in the 2000s.

.
--- http://www.millercoorsblog.com/news/hamms-beer-resurgent/

Hamm's is brewed with Water, Barley Malt, Corn Syrup (Maltose), Yeast, Hops - so, corn syrup as an adjunct, the same as all the other MC "economy-" and "premium-priced" brands, as well as most of the beers they brew for Pabst. It's likely the Hamm's recipe might even be the same as other beers - a former MC worker who used to post here (LAD) once noted that Pabst's brands brewed by MC - Stag, Old Milwaukee,Schmidt's & Black Label - were all the same beer.

* The MC site doesn't list Milwaukee as a brewing site for Hamm's (previously they had listed Ft Worth as a Hamm's source) - people can check the date code - 2nd and 3rd digit on second line -on MC products for actual origin of their beer:

 

I have come full circle on AAL's over my beer drinking life. I began drinking in the early 80's -- a time when there was no craft beer (at least in my area of the country). I quit drinking altogether for about 10 years from mid-80's to mid-90's. When I started again in 1996 their was a whole new world with some craft beer mixed in with all the AAL's at my local grocer. I branched out and started trying these. Within 2-3 years I became a total beer snob/asshole who not only drank "only" craft but who disdained anyone who dared to choose differently. Thankfully I met some wiser beer lovers who calmed me down and showed me that (almost) every beer has its place in the Pantheon of styles. So for the past 10 years or so I have become "Om-beer-vorous" - I will drink most any beer (with the exception of 'malt-ternatives' and light beers). I don't really track what my consumption of 'craft' vs 'AAL' vs 'imports' is anymore. I drink any and all of them and enjoy them all at various times. Hamm's is among the many that I find quite palatable.

 

JK, I have a can of Hamm's sitting on my desk and it has a code of 08 so apparently my Hamm's beer was brewed in Trenton, OH.

Cheers!

P.S. For the interested reader I posted a discussion about Hamm's beer in last Sunday's NBS thread: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-670.552604/#post-5799290

 

Spend your money on something else.

Cheers!

 

You'll drink 3 and the rest will probably sit for awhile. Hamm's isn't the worst beer, but it's pretty close.

 

My son in college up in Chicago swears by Hamm's. I hear it's a pretty decent beer for the price point. I say go for it!

 

To the OP:

If you seriously walked away from AAL's, then move on from Hamm's. You will be disappointed.

As for the beer itself, it's not that bad. Actually, for what it is and the QPR...its pretty good. I drank it a few times in college, but it wasn't my go-to or something readily had in my area. Furthermore, there are far worse (less palatable) beverages out there labeled beer/malt liquor. I know; I have tried many of them.

Most people like a cheap date every once in a while. For what it is, you could do much worse.

 

Hamm's is the superior AAL. Huge fan over here!

 

Where's the fun in that.

 

Buy it. Good enough beer at a great price.

 

I usually see $9/12 pack or $15/24 pk at one place in town.. Pretty rare sighting.

Since that one blind sampling linked to in here, I gave it a shot. Turned out to be the one AAL that didnt give me hangover like head aches. Just enough malt flavor. Doesnt feel artificially sweet. I'll only buy the $15/24 pk when available. Other than that, I think there are better values out there

 

Corn Syrup is fully fermentable. You will not taste corn syrup in a properly made beer.

I sorta get it that you have a prejudice against corn syrup as a beer ingredient but...

Cheers!

 

I suspect that I will not be of much help to you with this specific query. I personally have never perceived the flavor of circus peanut candy in AAL beers (or any sort of beer for that matter).

While I drank plenty of AAL beers 'back in the day' (e.g., many decades ago) I do not remember tasting "fake sweet" in any of those beers. My memory, likely influenced by the beers I drink today, is that those AAL beers tasted more like nothing (watery?) than "fake sweet".

I can relate that I regularly brew what we homebrewers call a Classic American Pilsner - the popular beer that was consumed in America circa 1900. In that beer I use a grain bill of 80% North American 6-row malt and 20% corn (I used flaked maize). I do not pick up any "fake sweet" flavors in that beer.

Maybe some other BA can provide you with input on your query?

Cheers!

@jesskidden @Sixpoint @SierraTerence