Old Milwaukee Review

Name: Old Milwaukee
Style: American Adjunct Lager
ABV: 4.6%

Old Milwaukee is one of the first beer brands that I ever remember seeing. Growing up we would visit Northwest Minnesota, which is where my family is originally from. During the many times we visited from Minneapolis, we would often go to the bars and VFWs in the area. It was the beer of choice for the patrons of the people who were there, which consisted mainly of old war veterans and the farmers. In fact, I recall seeing a couple of the bar patrons wearing an Old Milwaukee Racing Jacket.

Nowadays, Old Milwaukee is now contract brewed by Pabst Brewing. Will Ferrell also made some pretty funny commercials, which you can view here. Now I know nothing about the target market of Old Milwaukee, but based on the can design, it looks like a beer that my grandpa would've had back in the day. In fact, even the can design hasn't changed too much. For comparison, here's an old can of Old Milwaukee...

Photo courtesy of Bill's Beer Cans

Old Milwaukee pours a pale yellow color with a surprisingly low amount of visible carbonation. The head starts out foamy before retaining a thin foamy appearance and there is no lacing at all.

The nose has starts out with some pale malts, cereal grains, very faint hops and some very light booziness.

The flavor is very light. What I am picking up on is some cereal grains, a bit of pale malts, and some booziness. With all of that said, the flavors mentioned above are a bit stronger when you drink it directly from the can.....and I think it's meant to be done as such.

When you consider the low price (I paid $5 for a 6-pack,) this stuff is surprisingly drinkable. Make no mistake, this is by no means a great beer and if there's something better available, it would be in your best interest to go with the latter choice. However, if you're on a budget and need some beer to tide you over, then this wouldn't be a terrible choice.

Old Milwaukee - 4/10