Budweiser: American Ale

If you've watched any professional football this year you've probably noticed a Budweiser advertisement approximately every 8 minutes. It's not really surprising, as normally there would be about 3-4 Bud Light commercials during any football telecast. What is surprising is that the commercials are for a Budweiser product that is an ale.

Now Anheuser-Busch as a company does produce a variety of ales under different names (i.e. Michelob, Green Valley, ect), but never before under the Budweiser trademark. At least to my knowledge.

So I wanted to give this ale a shot. See what a so called macro-ale tastes like. The beer is an amber ale. So you'll notice the ruby hue to this brew. Not much head or smell. The taste is pretty malty with a caramel after taste. Smooth aftertaste is clearly its best feature. Slightly bitter and very carbonated. Overall not bad. Not surprisingly it is very drinkable. I could easily down about 12 of these if necessary. Which is probably the point; to ease the company's target market of lager drinkers into the flavor of this amber ale. Which is also probably why it's called 'American Ale'. (Then again it could be to confuse the public from the fact that a Belgium company purchased Budweiser).

The beer is not special in any way. But then again it's not bad. And since it's a macro brew its way cheaper due to the mass production. It was 2 bucks cheaper than any other sixpack in the store. So, if you do a price-taste analysis I could see people opting for this beer in a pinch. That's what they should put in those football advertisements: not bad, drinkable, and cheap. Cheers

Anheuser-Busch: Bud Light Chelada

A few months ago, Mattie alerted me of the existence of Chelada, Anheuser-Busch's latest foray into the Latino market. This peculiar new product from the makers of America's favorite beer was not available in my current home of Massachusetts, so I had to wait until I returned to California to give it a try. Some of you might remember my obsession with V8 Juice, and by extension, love of bloody maries. It was only natural that I write this review.

First off, the Chelada is a (some would say unholy) union of Bud Light and Clamato. The latter concoction is made from some of the best stuff on earth: reconstituted tomato juice concentrate, reconstituted clam broth, and high fructose corn syrup. Mmm, that's good stuff. I've never really been a drinker of it, but since I'm okay with tomato juice, I can handle it. I didn't really notice any "clam" flavoring, but I'll assume it's there. As for the Bud Light, I'm sure you all know what it tastes like going down (as well as back up).

Apparently the Michelada is a popular beer based drink in Mexico, and it's based off of the bloody mary. The drink dates back to the 1940s, and has many different variations. It's basically a combination of lager, clamato, lime juice and salt. That said, the result is a combination of lager, clamato, lime juice and salt. The flavors are pretty much all there, and they all hit you in the face. I was able to find another bottled version of the Chelada here in Boston, but it was missing the crucial tomato ingredient that made reviewing this beer so essential. Can keep an eye out for that one. Anyways, Beer Advocate rates the Anheuser-Busch Chelada as a "chile beer" (sic), but it tasted about as spicy as ketchup. But we all know how my last experience with spicy beers went, so too much can really be a bad thing. Thanks, Habo!

Due to its distinct cultural connection with Mexico, the Chelada has been unleashed primarily in the southwest. That means that those of us living in the winter-blighted northern cities not blessed with a concentration of la raza will probably be out of luck. One can only hope that this alluring potion will capture the hearts of America's Anglo population, and will one day spread throughout the country so that it can be imbibed in its colder extremities.

I was finally able to stumble upon a can of the stuff at a shifty truck stop outside of Coalinga, CA. After reaching San Jose and playing a few games of Beirut, I finally prepared myself for what could be my death. I made sure I had put the can in the freezer, as nothing could possibly be worse than warm beer combined with warm mollusc-tomato juice. It only comes in tall boy cans; once you open it up, you've got a long way until the end, so drink up!

Once popped, a faint aroma of salty tomato juice filled the air. The taste, well... it tasted what it sounded like, and slightly less repulsive than I had imagined. The consistency was far less thick than normal tomato juice, and the carbonation kept it feeling light. The lime and salt complimented the tomato juice quite well, contrasting with the standard piss based Bud Light.

I prepared myself for a possible gag reflex, as it's happened to me in the past with previous attempts at gross beers. It never came. I had another sip, and was relieved that I could drink it with ease.

Despite this, Chelada is not for the faint of heart. But faint of heart is one who simply cannot stand tomato juice. Honestly, if you like bloody maries, you're probably going to like this. It's light, and possibly great for a summer day (brunch, maybe?). If you can't get past the whole "BUT THERE'S CLAMS IN IT!" mindset, there's no way you're going to like it. If you can, bébala! Besides, if you were already concerned about your health, you probably shouldn't be drinking beer anyways. You might as well kill a few brain cells and get a dose of something else besides the carbs.

Unfortunately, I was only able to procure one can. Since I was already a bit inebriated, my taste buds were likely not as sensitive as I would have hoped. That said, feel free to post your own reviews of this stuff. I honestly thought it was not as bad as expected, but nonetheless unsettling that I was enjoying such a combination.


Anheuser-Busch Chelada, also known as the "red one," is available at shady truck stops off of California highways and other privileged locations.

Anheuscher-Busch: Natural "Natty" Light

Despite the similarity to the author's name, you needn't be psychopharmacologically enhanced to enjoy this time honored classic. Officially billed as a "sub-premium" beer by the marketing crack-squad at Anheuser-Busch (yes, they really said this during the factory tour), Natural Light is a cold (when properly chilled) refreshing lager that's certain to leave you wanting more--although that's usually irrelevant, because you'll probably find yourself drinking more regardless of whether or not you want it.

Optimized for high-volume, high-velocity drinking, Natty Light is a staple in almost any game of Beirut, king's cup, flip cup, 7-11-dubs (a.k.a. "Jerry's Kids"), pyramid, fuck the dealer, crimson pyramid or just plain shotgunning. Let's face it, when you're on your 10th beer of the evening, the very last thing you want is to be tasting beers one through nine. And with a price tag of 3.4 cents per ounce, there's no need for tears if your uncoordinated, belligerent Beirut partner knocks over a few cups in a valiant attempt to block a bounce (which was likely just the balls being returned on a balls back anyway).

Although KennyNC from topb.com ranks Natural Light as his nineteenth favorite beer, with his eighteenth being "Dying of Thirst", I surmise that he has not played many drinking games in his life. Online beer reviewer Brad007 at beeradvocate.com says: "If you like your beers to go down easy and taste like nothing, this beer's for you." Well put, Brad007. And, after enough of Anheuscher-Busch's Natural Light, hopefully the same can be said of our women. Or something like that...

So come join us in Nattyville--where the kegs are cheap, peer pressure abounds, and severe drunkenness is always just a few games away!