Macro lagers: American vs Mexican

I’ll take a Modelo or Pacifico vs any American Adjunct Lager any chance I get.

 

I have my various macro lager favorites and also least preferred options from Canada, US, Mexico and other scattered countries. I'm really not partial to a whole group macro beers of a certain country over another. Just looking at my list or ratings, Estrella Jalisco is one of my favs from south of the border, but I'm also big on Miller High Life, and even Red Stripe from Jamaica. PBR and Iron City I rate very low comparied to most all other AALs. Then pretty much all of the others are lumped into "average" AALs" and would be like splitting hairs to decide which I think tastes better than the other. I can't even say I like all the beers within a macro company better than all the beers of another. AB, Miller, Modela etc. I like some beers within their portfolio and some not so much. Get 4-6 AAL singles from Canada, 4-6 from US and 4-6 from Mexico and have a friend/family set you up with a blind taste test and see if there is a legitimate taste trend preference or you are just letting personal biases creep in.

 

Depends I guess. I’d think some/ most Mexican beers are slower movers compared to say Budweiser or Miller. So fresh might be an issue to some degree. I like a nice Carte Blanca, or Tecate, a few months ago I bought some Modelo Especial, and really fought drinking it. But for the most part if ones superior to the other it’s surely lost on me.

 

Yes, this has been "done a million times before".

I always recommend Hamm's to folks in these discussions.

Cheers!

 

Later this summer, I am intending to do a blind taste testing to answer the following question:

Does Corona Extra live up to its pricing and its advertising and is it therefore better than a random cheap American AAL?

Right now the candidate beer to go against Corona Extra is Hamm's, because Hamm's is the cheapest (less expensive) AAL in the stores here. So, I'm stacking the deck in Corona's favor.

Well, except for one thing... since all those commercials show the Corona in the clear glass bottles on a sunny beach, Corona will be in clear glass bottles and the Hamm's will be canned. I won't, however, set the Corona out on the deck for 10 minutes to allow it to come to proper serving condition! I'm not that mean! We'll see how it does.

Since I haven't reviewed either of those beers (I did have a Corona or two way back - that's WAAAAYYYYY back) the results will be posted on an upcoming NBW thread and cross-posted on the What’s the Difference? Share your Side-by-Side thread.

 

I agree, but I’d also add Michelob to a short list. It’s a much different beer than any other AB product, a bit more satisfying in my opinion, a much better mouthfeel than Bud and it doesn’t come across as a carbonation bomb.

 

Presidente is from the DR, not Mexico, but it always pleasantly surprises me.

I did a side by side with it last week and would happily include it whenever I do another.

 

Only had it in the DR, ice cold on a hot day it’s pretty damn good.

 

I'm a fan of Victoria after drinking a bottle last week.

 

Mexican beer in general tastes a whole lot less like corn to me, than American beers.
And, I don't like corn in beer.
My 2 cents.

 

I tasted no corn in Victoria but do in Modelo Especial and I still do like it. I wish Bohemia would return locally.

 

"I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis". Amber for me though.
Cheers.

 

The only all that hits me with that is Rolling Rock. I grew up on RR Pony bottles, and I can’t stand it. The most repulsive AAL on the market, maybe RR Light tops it, as far as the shitty part goes.

 

I really enjoy Hamm's especially for the price

 

I bought a six of Bohemia Pilsner (new branding?) last week and I agree the beer is good. Since it is a German Pilsner, perhaps not in the same lane as aal.

 

Well if you plan to sit down with a Corona and a Hamms, that’s a side by side tasting and bias can creep in. Clearly by what you wrote you already are rigging it...talking about whether Corona is overpriced and selected the cheapest beer on the planet basically that every AAL lover here on BA has already raves about. If you only want to compare those 2 beers, how about you buy those 2 beers and have a bunch of friends over and without telling them what beers you even bought for them pour them 2 glasses blind to sample 2 unknown beers and have them tell you which they prefer. That’s the way to do it.

 

I had a Corona Extra King can last night and I stand by my 2.0 rating of years ago. I consider Hamm’s and Schlitz a full 1.5 points better. I look forward to your insight.

 

So, is RR still being brewed in Latrobe or at City Brewing?

 

Looking at my reviews, I have rated 180 AAL's. Looking at my top 10, well 11 because of a tie, 7 are from the USA, 0 from Mexico, 4 from other countries.

 

"Mexican" beers always surpass AAL's. Crisper, more flavor, more biting, more exciting. But, thats just my opinion. Drink whatever the hell you want. Cheers!

 

It'll be a blind tasting, as I said.

 

Bohemia is in a league of its own.

 

No. Not since InBev sold the brand to Anheuser-Busch and sold the brewery to City, in 2006. (Some claimed that the deal for the brand gave InBev insights into AB's financial position which benefited them when they attempted the at-first hostile takeover a couple of years later).

The US import version was labeled "Ale" in the 1970s - likely due to states like Texas and even California (at the time) which limited beer to 4% abw [aka 5% abv] or less. Though the brewer today says "4.9% abv" M. Jackson's first US Pocket Guide to Beer said it was 5.4% abv in 1982. ("Peeled" foil label scans poorly but you get the idea).

 

That I have no clue, I assumed Latrobe, but that was back in the day too, I haven’t bought any in over 15 years I’d guess.

 

Why is Bohemia so expensive in my parts?

 

I guess that's what AB hopes, 16 years after the brand purchase but the labels give one a big hint as to which breweries Rolling Rock comes out of.

 

Nowhere on there says they even brew in Pa anymore, everywhere but looks like.

 

Well, yeah because Anheuser-Busch, which has owned the "Rolling Rock" and "Latrobe Brewing Co." trademarks since 2006, doesn't have a brewery in Pennsylvania.

 

Never had a Victoria, next time buying an AAL, I’ll check it out. Haven’t had a Bohemia in like forever, forgot it even exists, might have to find that one too.

 

I have to let you know that the Victoria I drank was straight from the bottle. That could have been why I didn’t get any corny notes.

 

I’m never opposed to drinking from cans or bottles, I’m far from it has to be in a glass guy.

 

Bohemia, as with most of the other imports, is priced about the same as the craft (grocery store) selections where I shop, sometimes even more. But at a taqueria, where it’s the same price as a Corona or Modelo, that’s a different story.

 

I don't think ABInbev would be too enthusiastic about having their brand contract brewed.
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5620008
According to the story above, Rolling Rock production was moved to AB when they bought the brand from Inbev/Labatt. City did eventually purchase the brewery for its brands. Note that Rolling Rock was sold by Inbev to AB, and AB eventually was purchased by Inbev, so RR has ended up under the same ownership.

 

I doubt that there is a good way to rank pale, pale lagers. In a lot of discussions on BA personal preference is sometimes discounted. The domestic ones are cheap. If you like the style, try a few and make a decision. In the "old days", I definitely had preferences among them because I had the occasion to drink them at bars, restaurants, sports events, and concerts. Now I don't drink them. If no preferred option is available, I either choose a more flavorful brew or just have a glass of water or wine.

 

went to the local distributor to pick up a 30 of Hamm's for the boxing match tonight and they haven't been able to get it in for months now. Has anyone else ran it to this problem?