How do you rate the Macro Brews?!

This. There are several AALs that use quality ingredients and are brewed well, like Budweiser and Coors Banquet, but I don't rate beers that are brewed to a style I don't like because I would find it hard to be objective.

 

Schlitz Gusto is the best one I've had, although if Yuengling counts I do think it edges Schlitz out.

I purposefully haven't drank too many AAL beers, but when I do rate them I try to be fair. I consider 4.0 "average" for all craft beers, but AALs I consider 3.5 to be more of an average. So Schlitz and Yuengling are much better than most at 4.0. Miller High Life was drinkable at 3.38 but it isn't something I'd return to often by any means. Lonestar was also very drinkable and I would probably drink it again. Old Milwaukee was my lowest rated beer at 2.75 but I'd frankly still consider drinking it again if I was in the mood for it. Haven't had 'Gansett yet but it seems to be good. My biggest problem with these beers is that the carbonation is so high it's damn near undrinkable. Too harsh, I'd prefer if they were smoother. To me, the closer an AAL is to Weihenstephaner Original Premium, the better it is. I judge all AALs by substitutability with that perfect Germain lager.

 

I enjoy drinking beers. The buzz is like a plus. That being said, if there's only some shitty macro beer selection I'd just rather not drink. Not just gunna drink to get drunk

 

I admit I'm likely biased, but even before I knew what craft beer was (aka in high school) I hated AALs. I was that guy who drank Mike's Hard at parties (if I wasn't drinking vodka) because I couldn't stand the taste of beer. I tried, I really tried, to like beer...I thought something was wrong with me. Then I discovered craft beer...

 

American adjunct lagers are a perfect example of why there should be two ratings. One for style, and one for overall rating.

Because if you rate to style, I see no reason why a beer such as Budweiser or Miller High Life wouldn't be close to a 5.

And then for your overall impression you can go ahead and score them as a 2 because you don't think they taste good.

 

Somewhere in between. I try not to rate hefe's lower than IPAs just because I like them less (and I think I succeed in doing so) but I also don't think the best AAL in the world deserves a 5.

 

Mostly non-offensive, but rather dull. That's pretty much the extent of my rating of AALs.

 

I don't but I can see the argument about rating to style. But who wants to spend that much time, energy and money finding the nuances in AALs?

 

people who like AALs. i don't know. i think there's an objective sense whereby they just are bad (why not water? if you're an alcoholic, why not hard liquor, or craft?). but maybe not, i don't know.

edit: i mean, fuck, i think all soda (*all* soda / pop / whatever, coke pepsi dr pepper cherry coke mountain dew sprite local shit like "hosmer mountain soda shack" in CT and even root beer and shit) tastes like disgusting sugar water. rating that shit is absurd. but obviously i am not "right"; other people like it. why would their experience be invalid?

 

Have you ever been so hungry that you ran through a drive thru? Was it because you thought McDonald's makes the best cheeseburgers?

If you are mowing the lawn or sitting at a ballgame or at a party then AALs do fine, just like drive thru food.

I don't rate AALs very high and I don't confuse them with good beer but sometimes I drink them anyway.

If I met someone who said they'd rather not drink beer at all than drink a Bud or Miller or Coors then I would make a mental note to never invite them to my house.

 

Yeah, this one time a guy came to my party and was eating broccoli. I offered him some cauliflower, but he said "no thanks, I don't really like cauliflower," so I kicked him out.

 

The food example is perfect for rating beers you don't enjoy, but I still want to rate every beer I drink. I feel like I can enjoy a beer for what it is and rate it accordingly. Also if I was checking someones beer ratings out I think I could point out a trend if they disliked something more than the other.

What I'm trying to say is I think you should rate every beer you shove down your throat.

 

With a grain of salt, a pinch of corn, a measure of piss and a miserly helping of hop extract. And if I'm lucky a shit load of skunk to offset the offore said. Sometimes Raul likes it. Enough said my bretheren.

 

In order from best to worst (only North American macrobrews):

1. Yuengling (actually quite good, IMO)
2. Dos Equis (the amber lager, not the gold one) (OK)
3. PBR (OK)
4. Bud (Bad)
5. Miller (Terrible)
6. Coors (Piss-water)

 

I think many of us still have the ocassional macro(admit it or not). As for me, I'm particular to Michelob. Always have been. Bud, Miller, and Coors just don't quite match up. I know its an AB product but it taste separate to me. However, Yuenling is pretty dam good too.

 

I rate macro breweries just like I rate all other breweries--fairly.

 

I try my best to rate all beers according to the style in which they fall. I'm sure that, as a human, my personal biases slip in. I generally am ok with adjunct lagers. I accept them for what they are, instead of hating on them for everything they are not. Like every beer style, I believe adjuncts have their place. I respect people who choose not to drink them at all. I don't, on the other hand, understand people who don't drink adjuncts, yet seemed to be obsessed with railing against them.

 

I would say Yuengling is far and away the best of the macro lagers as well as the cheapest .It is a fine beer not offensive and very drinkable. If there was a PBR maybe and maybe not I would drink it.That is it for BMC beers for me.If all they have is Yuengling I will drink it.Other than that; no, I will drink water.

 

I don't like the whole rating to style thing because:

1) It assumes that the best example from every category should get a five rating. I think a five rating should be reserved for the ultimate beer experience, not the best of a bad bunch.

2) Style criterion is massively arbitrary.