Tell us why you hate AAL beers

Jack Horzempa has a slightly wider definition of AAL that includes Lord Chesterfield Ale and Yuengling Trad. Lager. For simplicity, I'd exclude them based on advertising identity (Chesterfield meant to at least mimic ale) and color (Trad. Lager is amber). Those both come closer to my taste preferences, but not close enough. I suspect most AAL drinkers today would not be too happy with either of those Yuengling products. Back in the 70s, lots of the really flavorful domestic lagers, bocks, porters and ales would have fit his definition. I think AAL definition should probably include pale color, low hopping rate, as well as alcohol content (4%abv to 5.5?).

 

Whenever I'm reading a spirited thread about AALs I'm tempted to buy a couple of bottles just to refresh my memory. I usually cave to the temptation and this time was no different, I went with MGD this time around.

I've always thought that MGD had the best looking packaging and label of any beer currently in production, and still do, it looks very appealing to me personally. So it has that going for it. Tastewise and in terms of aroma it is exceedingly light, bordering on tasteless however. It has a slight sweetness when first tasting it (I'm drinking it at room temperature), but after a few sips that sweetness starts to subside (thanks to the carbonation acting as a balancing "flavor") and in its place there is essentially nothing. Virtually no malt, no hops, no bitterness, no aftertaste even. It is very clean tasting though.

When I drink a (light colored) lager beer I want to have something for my tastebuds to grab on to, some malt, some hops and some hop bitterness. It doesn't have to be strong tasting necessarily but I want the taste to leave an impression, whether it is dry and bitter or bittersweet, more or less hoppy, more or less malty. A beer that is simply lightly sweet and nothing else just feels empty and hollow. That's the worst I can say about this beer I guess, that it tastes empty and hollow.

For years I've opined that I think the American AALs would benefit from upping the hopping rates to match those of a myriad of European brands of adjunct/all-malt, light colored lager beers and I still am of that opinion. A simplistic notion perhaps, but even within the context of modern adjunct lager beers, or all malt lager beers coming out of mainstream breweries in Europe visavi mainstream American adjunct lager brands, I think the difference in hopping is an apparent, and important distinguishing factor in terms of flavor and aroma. It helps give heft and character to a beer even if you're working within very similar parameters in terms of original gravity and abv. And it becomes quite apparent when drinking a beer such as MGD when one is accustomed to drinking European macro lager beers.

 

You'll realize soon enough that this is an ongoing debate here with no right or wrong answers. It all comes down to a matter of taste. Some like 'em, and some don't. Personally, I don't, not that it matters. If I blow calories on beer, it won't be insipid swill.

 

The government monopoly which is the only retailer for beer above 3.5% abv in Sweden sold around 2.4 million barrels of beer last year. So basically the same amount of sales as that of Yuengling, or maybe 2.5 Sierra Nevadas, or thereabouts. So compared to the US beer market it's very small. Of that 2.4 million barrels around 3185 barrels sold was MGD, making it the 92nd most sold beer brand last year, which represents a decline of 11.38% from the year before. There are no other American brands on the top 100 from last year. Corona Extra was the 55th most sold beer at 10 256 barrels last year, a decline of 12.69%. In my experience these types of beers, which are more expensive than domestic all malt beers, or even imported Czech brands for example, are more popular with people for whom image is important. The in-crowd. They pay more to have the right brand in their hand at parties and at the bar. So among those people these beers are quite popular, although the popularity might be shifting from one brand to another over time, and the people in question belonging to a minority. But among the average beer drinker they aren't really popular.

I wholeheartedly approve of breweries trying to approximate classic American lager beers, whether Pilsner type or not. So kudos to Von C for their efforts I say.

Sounds like a tasty homebrewed pilsner to me.

I don't think there's any really. The closest thing would have been Kronenbourg 1664 brewed by Carlsberg, which hasn't been sold here for a few years.

 

I had Carling several years ago when it was imported here and I didn't like it, it had an unclean flavor I thought and tasted like it came from a brewery making cheap beer. In terms of body however for a 4% beer it wasn't any different from the Carlsberg Hof (circa 41 800 barrels sold in 2023) or Tuborg Green (circa 25 600 barrels) sold here, which is 4.2% abv, sold through the monopoly. And in grocery stores we get 2%, 2.8% and 3.5% abv beers (of mostly domestic brands) which would be lighter in body compared to the Carling, although in terms of hop flavor and or hop bitterness many of the brands would have a stronger flavor. I remember watching a documentary about beer brewing which showcased the Carling brewery and even though it showed "high gravity" pipes the amount of hops that they described visavi the amount of beer brewed was miniscule, even in terms of modern brewing standards. It stuck with me.

The reason why the average beer drinker in Sweden prefers a beer with more heft has to do with history in my opinion. From 1955 beer above 3.5% abv was sold through government monopoly stores, and very little of it. The absolute majority of beer sold was maximum 3.5% abv or 2.25% abv, sold in grocery stores. I can remember when I was a kid in the 90s my dad would have a crate of returnable bottles of tax free 2.25% beer sitting next to the crate of soda meant for us kids, I never saw him drink anything else. Then as I got older he stopped buying the crates of 2.25% beer and switched over to buying six packs of 16.9oz cans of 2.8% beer, which was also tax free since Sweden's entry into the EU in 1995. In the last 10 years or so he's switched over to only buying beer from the government monopoly stores, in the form of Export type beers of 5.2-5.3% abv and around 23 IBUs. This represents a pretty typical evolution of the Swedish beer drinker over the last 70 years or so I would argue, from weaker to stronger beer, thanks in large part to tax reductions and increases in disposable income. As stronger beer has become relatively cheaper, and incomes have increased, people have opted for stronger beers, which have tended to have a stronger taste than the lower abv beers.

The 2.25% beer which is still sold here has less body than a 4%, or 5% adjunct lager beer of course, but could depending on the brand have a higher hop bitterness or relatively stronger hop flavor, as this has been a common means of increasing the flavor of lower abv beers. In fact for one major brand I find that the 3.5% abv beer has more bitterness and hop aroma than the 5.2% full strenght brand, even though the full strenght brand has 23 IBUs according to the brewer (Carlsberg Sweden).

 

The counter to the mass produced AAL that are mostly being discussed here are the local craft examples. The one that always comes to mind for me is one from a local place called Tonewood, I included the beer below, notice their description as they take the hopping into account.

It is a very well made and tasty beer in my opinion and even though it is an AAL, it has a perfect little hop character that pops out and cuts through on the finish, they use Tetnanger. Your little note about the hopping in an AAL resonated with me and this beer.

If your interested in reading the beer and the two reviews:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46284/631268/

I also find the BA description of AAL horribly innaccurate for this beer and the few other craft examples I've had...

 

The only Swedish beer I've ticked was a Blue & Gold. A place I used to work had a Band come through, and they gave me one. I'd describe it as an AAL-style brew.