Molson Ice Review

Name: Molson Ice
Style: Adjunct Lager
ABV: 5.6%
IBUs: N/A

Remember Molson XXX? For those of you not familiar with my blog, I consider it to be one of the foulest beers around and I've had my share of bad beers, trust me.

Well the other day I was putting together a mix-a-six when I saw this staring back at me on the shelves. I could tell that it had been there awhile and judging by the Expiration Date of June 11 of 2015, I knew it didn't have long to live. With its shiny label, blue-hued red Canadian leaf and 90's inspired futuristic look, I had found the father of Molson XXX: Molson Ice.

You see back in the 1990's when I was just a kid,  I remember seeing ads for Ice Beers while I was watching the Red Wings play on TV(Hey, we didn't have the Wild yet!) because Ice Beers were the big thing back then. Ice beers, as you may or may not know, are made when you take a standard beer, lower the temperature, remove the ice crystals from the said beer as a result of lowering the temperature. This in return gives it a higher-than-normal alcohol content but it also explains why it smells and tastes like freezer burn (more on that later.)

Right now, the two biggest ice beers that I know of are Natural Ice (Natty Ice) and Bud Ice. I know Natty Ice is still being made but I haven't seen a Bud Ice on store shelves for a few years now and I'm starting to wonder if it's been discontinued or if distribution has been reduced. Either way, I'm still seeing new check-ins and reviews for it on a fairly regular basis so I doubt production has been stopped completely.

Appearance - Clear pale yellow color with a moderate amount of visible carbonation. The head is quite thin and has a thin filmy retention. And.....there's lacing here!!! Not just some soapy lacing, but good lacing at that! I can't believe my eyes!

Aroma - I'm getting some cereal grains, a fair amount of pale malts, that signature cardboard scent that is fairly common in this style and some light rusty metal. There's also that smell of frost mixed in with that metallic scent. If you've even been outside in the dead of winter

Taste -  I wish there was any changes from the nose, but there sadly isn't. You've got the cereal grains, pale malts, some dried cardboard and that frost-burn/rusty metallic taste. At least the aftertaste is dry and nothing lingers on the palate long after consumption.

You know, after having this, I'm convinced that it's a good thing ice beers are no longer popular. I mean, anyone who's had freezer burned food knows just how unsavory it is and the same exact thing can be said about this beer. Now is it as god-awfully bad as Molson XXX? Of course not, but you still shouldn't drink this beer because it's still bad; Not extremely bad but just merely bad.

Molson Ice - 3/10

Molson XXX Review

Name: Molson XXX
Style: Malt Liquor
ABV: 7.3%

When I picked this up as part of a mix-a-six, I wasn't really sure what to expect. On the front it says "Super Premium Beer" with a fairly high ABV of 7.3%. I figured it was Molson's answer to Bud Light Platinum. Upon looking this up, I discovered that I had purchased a Malt Liquor. You really don't see them in 12 oz. bottles much with the slight exception of Mickey's, which come in those 8 oz. ”Grenade” bottles.

Aside from the name & information above, I really don't have other information about this beer, so let's dive right in shall we?

Molson XXX pours a clear pale yellow color with a filmy head and a high amount of visible carbonation. In terms of lacing, there isn't anything here.

The nose starts off with a very powerful boozy smell with some cereal grains, pale malts, cardboard, grassiness and some skunk. Well, it for sure smells like a malt liquor!

The flavor is a cross between burnt cardboard, pale malts, booziness, grassiness and skunkiness (If it wasn't a word before, it is now!). Oh dear god, it's like they took the boozy & skunky scents and made it into a flavor!

The body is fairly light and crisp but the carbonation is very strong and it really doesn't matter much at this point.

If there is a beer underworld, then this deserves to be cast down into the furthest depths. This is probably the worst thing to come out of Canada since Justin Bieber and that's saying alot.  I've came up with a motto for Molson XXX in the event it is horrible and it is very much so. So here it is:

Molson XXX, it SuXXX.

Molson XXX - 1/10