Busch Light Review

Name: Busch Light
Brewed by: Anheuser-Busch 
Style: Light Lager
ABV: 4.1%

I've mentioned before that my review of Busch Signature Copper Lager is, and remains to this day, my most viewed post of all time. So the other day I asked myself the following question: What does Busch Light taste like? Well....it didn't quite go down like that, in all honesty. What really happened is that I was at the store and noticed that this was on sale, so I figured why not try it out. After all, what's the worse that could happen?

So we're looking at Busch Light, and one could argue that it's the parent of Busch Signature Copper Lager. Neverminding the fact that sales for Busch Light have been on the decline over the past couple of years and that it takes its name from its parent company Anheuser-Busch, there really isn't a whole lot to say about this beer

Appearance - A very pale yellow color with a moderate amount of visible carbonation. The head is quite thin & soapy that sounds like a bowl of Rice Krispies and there isn't any lacing to speak of.

Aroma - Pale malts, adjunct grains, light booziness and maybe just a light touch of floral hoppiness. It smells just like I'd expect an adjunct lager to smell like, for lack of a better term. Of course, there is that skunky smell that starts to gain momentum as it warms up

Taste - Pale malt sweetness on the front of the palate with cereal & adjunct grains in the back. I wish I could say there is more flavor (or do I?) but that's pretty much all there is. It is, after all, a light beer.

Hoo boy, this is quite awful! It's devoid of pretty much any good flavors yet it takes on this offensive skunky smell when it warms up. The only thing that "saves" this beer is that the skunky smell doesn't transfer over to the taste, but even that is not enough to save this beer from its blandness. My advice would be to spend an extra dollar on a bomber of Sierra Nevada or New Belgium, you'll get much more of your money's worth that way.

Busch Light - 2/10

Bud Light Review

Name: Bud Light
Style: American Adjunct Lager
ABV: 4.2%

It's been a long time coming but I think there is no better time to review Bud Light than right now. Why is that you ask? Because this Sunday is the Super Bowl and Budweiser & Bud Light will be the only 2 beers being advertised during the game! Never mind that Budweiser & Bud Light sales have been slipping over the past few years and that Anheuser-Busch will be using the Super Bowl to target specifically to Millennials, an age group in which almost half of them have never had a Bud before.

Rather than spend money on a six-pack of this, I opted for a tallboy can that was on sale. Now this isn't your standard 16 oz. tallboy can. No No, this is a whole 25oz! Upon closer inspection, I noticed this little ditty written near the top of the can....

A whole extra ounce of Bud Light?!?!? Why A-B, you shouldn't have!!!! I'm serious....you really shouldn't have. Let's take Bud Light's slogan, Up For Whatever, and run with it. After all, I'm up for whatever with reviewing this beer.

Bud Light pours a pale yellow color with a high amount of visible carbonation. It possesses a very foamy-fizzy head with no lacing to speak of.

The aroma starts off with some cardboard-like notes, some cereal grains, light booziness, and some light pale maltiness. There is also some skunkiness present too as it warms up.

The flavor consists of cardboard, cereal grains, booziness, some skunkiness that gets stronger as the beer warms up and light pale malts. Bear in mind all the flavors listed above are quite mild when drank from a glass & the aftertaste is about as dry as you can get. In fact, the only time I got any mildly vibrant flavors whatsoever is when I drank it directly from the can and even the skunkiness was there with reinforcements.

I find it kind of sad that this is beer of choice being advertised at the Super Bowl in attempt to win over Millennials, an age group which I just so happen to belong to. Myself, along with many others in my age group, don't have brand loyalty to just one brewery and we are willing to spend a couple extra bucks on a beer that tastes vastly superior to Bud Light. If Anheuser-Busch really wants to win over the younger crowd, I would suggest they starting making good beer, though I don't see that happening anytime soon.

At the end of the day, Bud Light is devoid of pretty much any flavors to speak of and is quite watery in terms of taste. With all of that said, it is nowhere near as bad as other beers I've had before BUT my advice to you would be to drink better beer during the Super Bowl.

Bud Light - 3/10

Bud Light Platinum Review

Name: Bud Light Platinum
Brewed By: Anheuser-Busch
Style: American Adjunct Lager
ABV: 6%

You want me to let you in on a little secret? Of all of the articles I have written, the post that has the most views isn't a great beer like AleSmith's Wee Heavy or Schell's Arminius. No No. The post with the most views is none other than my review of Miller Fortune, a beer that I enjoyed about as much as a case of appendicitis.

Why does this matter? Well Miller Fortune, in a way, owes its existence to Budweiser. You see back in early 2012, Anheuser-Busch unleashed Bud Light Platinum, presumably as a way to reel in craft beer drinkers with its higher-than-normal alcohol content. You also may notice too that Bud Light Platinum clocks in at 6% ABV, which definitely lands it far outside the realm of what is considered to be light beer. Did I mention it just has 8 less calories than regular Budweiser?

What can be said about Bud Light Platinum aside from the blue bottle? For starters, I've had this before and it was back in February of 2012 while I was watching a Minnesota Wild game with a couple of friends. My initial reaction was that it tasted like rusty dishwater, so I'm not exactly looking forward to having this again. Just remember, I drink it so you don't have to.

Bud Light Platinum pours a clear pale yellow color with some mild visible carbonation. The head starts out thin, even with an aggressive pour, before disappearing into nothingness. As for the lacing......well there is none!

The nose consists of pale malts, some cereal grains, a strong boozy scent and a some light barley. Well, it certainly doesn't smell any different than what I remember.

The taste starts out with a strong booziness followed by some metallic rust, pale malts, cereal grains, cardboard and even more booziness. On the plus side, it feels crisp.

Remember that rusty dishwater comment I made earlier? Well in the almost 3 years since I've had this, pretty much nothing has changed in the flavor so I would say that comment still holds up quite well. Much like Molson XXX & Miller Fortune, I would turn this down if it were offered to me at a party. My only wish is that people will read this review and heed my words. I just hope my Summit glass will forgive for pouring such a terrible beer into it.

Bud Light Platinum - 1/10

Busch Signature Copper Lager Review

Name: Busch Signature Copper Lager
Style: Amber/Vienna Lager
ABV: 5.7%

It's time to look at a beer that I have been meaning to get around to for quite a while: Busch Signature Copper Lager. Released earlier this year, this is the 3rd beer (to my knowledge) released by Anheuser-Busch that contains a high-than-normal ABV than what is seen in macro lagers, with the other two being Budweiser Black Crown and Bud Light Platinum.

Released earlier this year, this beer is meant to be targeted mainly at the craft beer crowd with using the ABV as a justification for buying the product; Something which I find to be somewhat pretentious from a marketing point of view. I understand many craft beers are higher in alcohol content, but drawing from personal experience, it doesn't always necessarily mean that it's better.

Since I wasn't willing to spend the money on a six-pack, I opted for the 25oz. tallboy which just so happened to be on sale. A sign of good travels or a bad omen lurking on the horizon? Let's find out...

Busch Copper Lager pours a clear copper color with no visible carbonation to speak of what-so-ever. The head takes on a white filmy appearance with decent retention and there is also some light lacing here.

The aroma starts out with a surprisingly decent scent of Munich malts, roasted barley/grains, toffee sweetness and there's is even some faint hoppiness at the very back end of the nose! It actually smells like an amber lager should!

Now the flavor starts out with some good Munich and toasted maltiness but then the adjuncts (corn, cereal grains, etc.) seemingly come out of nowhere, hijack the rest of the flavor and it ends up tasting like a typical adjunct lager when it's all said and done. As for the faint hoppiness, it perished as well.

Now the palate is very light-bodied and the carbonation is so mild that it teeters on being almost non-existant. To it's credit though, it does make it very easy to drink even if it comes off as very watery

As much as I prefer craft beer over macro lagers, I'm somewhat disappointed that this didn't possess a better taste because it gives a pretty good first impression with the aroma. However given that it's an Anheuser-Busch product, I'm not surprised either. To it's credit though, there is nothing I would consider offensive about this beer in terms of both taste and smell. After all, with higher-than normal ABV macro lagers, you could do much, much worse.

Busch Signature Copper Lager - 5/10

Budweiser Black Crown Review

Name: Budweiser Black Crown
Style: Amber Lager
ABV: 6%

Early this year Budweiser released Budweiser Black Crown onto the market. According to the company, In 2012 they asked 12 of their brewmasters to come up with their own beer and of those twelve, six were sampled nationally. This was part of their "Project 12" campaign and I remember it because I recall seeing Budweiser Project 12 Sampler Packs on store shelves, though I never really bothered checking them out.

After doing the sampling, it was the Los Angeles Budweiser Brewmaster's creation, Black Crown, which won the hearts and minds of beer drinkers everywhere and thus a new addition was added to Budweiser's line-up.............at least that's what they told the public. In my eyes, it's just another attempt to try and market to the craft beer drinking market.


This also isn't their first attempt at targeting the craft beer drinkers. Just a few years ago they released Budweiser American Ale which is, coincidently, also an Amber beer.

But let's approach this with an open mind, shall we?

Black Crown pours a clear golden color with a soapy & fizzy head. The amount of carbonation visible is quite high and the lacing is....not there.

In the nose, I'm getting some caramel, barley, pale/munich malts, toffee and a slight hoppiness.

Wait a minute....

A Budweiser with a hoppy smell? Did hell just freeze over or something?! It had to have because hops in a Budweiser is just unheard of!!!!

Sadly the hoppiness that peaked it's head through in the aroma is not present in the flavor, which is mainly your macro cereal grains, light caramel, barley, and malt sweetness. Not really much in terms of aftertaste, in fact it's quite dry.

The body is very light and on the watery side, though the carbonation is actually quite moderate and the end result is a smoother body than regular Budweiser.

Black Crown is a beer that shows some promise in the aroma. However once you drink it, you are reminded very quickly that you're drinking a Budweiser product. To Black Crown's credit, it's a lot more tolerable in terms of flavor and mouthfeel. Though as a beer I wouldn't recommend buying this unless you are absolutely curious to try it out.

Budweiser Black Crown - 5/10

Budweiser (Original) Review

Name: Budweiser 
Style: American Adjunct Lager
ABV: 5%

What can be said about Budweiser? Well, for starters it's become as American as Apple Pie, Baseball, McDonald's, Ted Nugent, and the Liberty Bell all rolled into one, despite being first brewed by German Immigrants.

Brewed by Anheuser-Busch, it's a staple of American culture and is one of the most widely recognized brands in the world. It's been referenced in movies & TV shows, produced some of the most memorable commercials in recent memory and can be found at the majority of professional sporting events, grocery stores, and households in the US.

Now I must confess, I never have had a Budweiser before. When I first started drinking beer, I was drinking primarily Miller Lite and Natty Ice. I never really took notice to Budweiser mainly because when I was first starting out in college, it was more expensive and no one was really drinking it. It wasn't until I was a junior in college that I discovered craft beer and have since never really gone back to Macrobeers, doesn't mean I'm a snob but it's more out of personal taste. Every beer serves some sort of purpose. If someone offers me a beer, I'm gonna take it no matter what it is; only a mad man/woman would refuse free beer.

I was rummaging through my fridge when I noticed a few bottles of Budweiser sitting on the side shelf, more than likely left over from the Wild game house party we had a couple weeks back. Being the opportunist I am, I've decided to review The King of Beers itself.

Budweiser pours a clear straw yellow color with tons of carbonation flying up from the bottom. Fizzy head stays around for a couple of minutes before dissipating into a filmy top.

The nose consists mainly of cereal grains, grass, cardboard and some malt sweetness. For what it is, it isn't particularly good. The aroma brings back memories from my childhood while trying to grab some food for myself at one of my parents' get-togethers, I would always catch a whiff of Budweiser coming from one of the many open bottles that I would just so happen to walk by.

The flavor is also pretty consistant with the smell with cereal grains, cardboard, sweet corn and malts. Again, it's taste is not what I would call "great". The taste brings back memories of sitting in my dorm drinking Miller Lite while playing Call of Duty 4 with my roommates, and both are very similar in taste.

The body is light and the carbonation is extremely heavy It tries to come off as crisp, but it just comes off as more aggravating on the palate than anything else.

I wasn't expecting much when I decided to review this and my expectations were rightfully set. The smell and flavor are rather bland and it feels like club soda when drinking. To Budweiser's credit however, the flavor is not what I would consider offensive or skunky like other adjunct lagers out there. Doesn't mean it's good, far from it, but they could've done worse in the flavor department. Would I ever buy this for myself? No. Would I turn it down if it's offered to me for free? No. My philosophy is just because a beer is not well-liked by beer enthusiasts doesn't necessary mean you have to be a prick about it.

Bottom line: Budweiser may be well known in our culture, but it's rather bland and forgettable when it
comes to flavor.

Budweiser (Original) - 4/10