Rice vs. Corn Syrup in Beer

I'll do the flight with one Coors Corn Syrup, one Coors Flaked Corn, one Coors Rice, and a Coors Quinoa, please.

 

The whole rice vs corn thing reminds of a tag line form a song I heard in Texas . . .
"If you know beans about chili,
then you know that chili has no beans"

And I've met people willing to get into a fistfight over the subject.

 

I would have to dig to find my sources but AP InBev brings out the rice vs corn argument every generation or so. I am pretty sure they used in on Pabst and Schlitz way back when. When you have products that are indistinguishable, it takes a lot of effort to create distinctions. The issue with GMO crops is not that GMO corn is going to cause you balls to fall off or destroy your central nervous system - it is the kind of round-up ready agriculture that it encourages. That is a big and important discussion but probably better done somewhere else.

 

You just added 10 beers to my tick list.

 

You reminded me that there are some amazing and hilarious reviews of Sam Adams Triple Bock, so I was glancing through. Lo' and behold I found that you reviewed it... and you liked it!.

 

That was fun. They use corn in several brands I looked at, Stella and Boddingtons for example. Bass Pale Ale listed corn and rice.

 

Joe 6-pack knows absolutely nothing about what makes a good beer, probably far less than they think they know. They are mostly after something they can tolerate at a decent price, while pretending their choice is better than the others. If you polled a group of average macro drinkers before and after the commercial, I expect that some who had no idea before are now convinced that corn syrup in beer is bad, and Coors and Miller drinkers may be second guessing their favorites - though in the end hardly any would switch. Might get some that drink anything to go with Bud.

Pretty good marketing for Bud, they got some laughs, and added some doubt for Coors and Miller drinkers which may equate to a few switching to or at least trying Bud. They won't lose any customers over it. They're also adding some competitor doubt regarding their nutritional label - nobody will care what it actually says, or compare it to competitors if they ever have one. Many will assume that if they're the only ones to do it, they must be better. Again, they won't lose customers over it, and can gain small numbers.

 

Guessing most don't know the details, but the impression is : "Corn Bad"
It's not (just) the corn, as much as the cultural practice, that goes with it . Herbicides, & the "inert" ingredients as much or more than the actual herbicides, habitat loss, and soil erosion.
Also, given the revolving-door corruption present, ~ everywhere, in FDA, USDA, Congress, executive branch, universities, lobbyists, and the companies in the industries, how many trust anything that is said in either direction?

For myself, I can't stand the smell, and the beer tends to be too sweet.

It might be as much about maintaining loyalty among existing customers, as with that Bud "Big Beer" ad, from a few years ago. ('15?)​

There's been some , at least preliminary, evidence that the way HFCS is processed, it turns off the "I'm satisfied" signal, leading to more consumption. ???

& , maybe, to force it on smaller brewers too. Adds a proportionally greater cost for them. New (watered-down) organic food labeling legislation was pushed by the big guys , 15?(-ish) yrs ago, in part because of the extensive record-keeping required . That led a lot of small producers to drop it. This too? ???

Yeah, that wasn't good. Gave me a headache, but I've had worse. Or at least it doesn't recall an automatic, visceral feeling of revulsion as others do. It's intellectual/academic knowledge of "No! Never again. "

Others worse than Bud Light?​

*Cave Creek Chili Beer, as others have mentioned. That was a true masterwork of bad beer.
*Labatt Max Tropic Charge - My absolute worst : https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/478/271029/?ba=mikeinportc#review
*Palma Louca
*Black Label - might have a slightly different view now, but I remember spewing it back out, on the second mouthful, because I couldn't get it down.
*Miller 64

I had a negative impression of rice , due to AALs, but after trying Kuhnenn DRIPA , & something by Finback (name?), I have an open mind about it. Once I got used to the dry white wine finish, I really liked the DRIPA. Why there's no review, just a rating. A spectacular storm was about 1 minute out , when I got home with the growler, on a hot July day. I sat on the porch, watching the show, with the growler and a glass. About 2/3 gone by the time the storm passed. Senses in no condition to write a full, fair review.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2097/36988/

 

To my palate, the corn I can taste and is for the most part undesirable. The rice is taste neutral. Shrugs.

 

If you expect to be taken seriously, you may want to ease up on the ****** and urine references. Just a thought.

 

The Bud ad didn't say GMO specifically or did it ? Can't remember, I was kinda in a lull.

 

I think the term 'mutated' bothers a lot of people

 

The ads were better than the game. ... Also if we are going to make a fuss about whether a poisonous beverage(yeah friends, beer isn't good for us, but neither is a rare steak or football, but life sucks without them) has corn syrup in it , I for one, appreciate the levity of the commercials .

 

Yeah and I will cut them this much slack "" since those don't carry the Bud name, but if you scroll down to
Bud Ice: Ingredients: Water; Corn; Corn Syrup; Barley Malt; Rice; Hops; Hop Extract; Malt Extract.
And they are also using Corn and Cane Syrup in their Bud Lite variants (orange, lime and premium).
So I think that is a pretty shitty thing to do.

 

Yeah maybe. I'm not actually that passionate about it. My only opinion on bud light is that if there are somehow worse beers i hope i never drink them.

 

Dis-information, confusion, obfuscation? Lately these are daily tactics pointing at straw men or changing the subject on a whim. It's almost become say whatever serves you (one) best. Mad Men on steroids.....

 

Here’s a short article I found informative:

https://www.apnews.com/96ae41effb5f4f30ac3d36babc28d9ec

A couple of interesting thoughts from the article:

“Sweeteners and starches can be used in the fermenting process to make beers, even if little remains in the end product. In fact, 12-ounce cans of Bud Light and Miller Lite list zero grams of sugar, while Coors Light lists 1 gram. Each has around 100 calories, with carbs ranging from about 3 to 7 grams.”

“Garrett Oliver, brewmaster for Brooklyn Brewery, said corn and rice are used in fermenting to lighten the overall character and flavor of beers, but he agreed that there was not much difference in the ingredients used for that purpose. He said the Bud Light ad seems to play into the unhealthy image of high-fructose corn syrup.”