Budweiser American Ale

Brewed by Anheuser-Busch InBev
Style: Amber Ale
St. Louis, Missouri USA

My first thought on this as I pour it into the bottle is quite encouraging. I mean, it looks like an ale, amber, decent, off-white head. Not much in the way of aroma, slightly flowery, hoppy. The first taste is alright! Wow! Slightly dry, malts, not much bite but that’s alright. I’m shocked that a macro like A-B can make a beer like this one. Good job.

22 oz bottle. Amber coloured beer with a very thick and persistent white head. Aroma is lightly malty and a soft chewy nutty sweetness. A very soft floral/fruity hopopy aroma on the top. A kiss of floral/fruity sweetness and a bit of light maltiness. Decent balance. It’s a bit too sweet for my tastes, but it certainly isn’t a bad beer. A light sweet nuttiness.

Budweiser American Ale is a very clear and sparkling light copper ale. It has a small, elastic off-white head that leaves good lacing and has good retention. The aroma is citrusy, with notes of light grain, starfruit, pepper and alcohol. It smells like a homebrew. It is medium-light bodied, pretty smooth, with a pretty crisp finish. It has a slightly metallic feel. It is pretty mellow and well balanced and dry. There are notes of Cascades, pretzels and pepper. Not bad, A-B!

12oz bottle poured into a shaker. BAA pours like an amber with a medium-to-thin head. The aroma is purely amber ale, that is to say, sweet malt with a faint hint of hops and a bit of stale grain. The body is thin, as expected from the brewer. The taste isn’t offensive like the corn-filled brothers of this beer but it isn’t noteworthy either. All in all, this beer isn’t good but it is a step in the right direction for AB. The finish is, again, as expected, quick, watery and lacking in character.

OK -- this beer was marketed to me, I admit it. After seeing 3,000 commercials for it, I gave it a try. Sparkling honey-gold. Caramel and toffee on the nose, alongside a muddy, musty aroma. Super-sweet malts on the tongue. Lots of carbonation and a sweet, papery finish. Unimpressive.

Bright golden-amber colour. The aroma is faintly woody, caramelly but mainly has stewed peaches and canned mushrooms. There’s some earthy character and lots of sweet caramel. Fairly bland, more amber than APA so I guess I was hoping for a bit too much. There’s certainly no evidence of dry-hopping. The light, appley fruitiness may not be terribly attractive on its own, but here it cuts through some of the thick caramel sludge. Still, the big guys were making better pseudo-craft beers in the mid 90s than they are today.

OK, as much as I wanted to hate this beer I could not. Truth is that it is a decent attempt at an amber. Ambers are, by nature, not the usually the most exciting of styles. That being said A-B does a fine job with this brew, sticking squarely in the style category and delivering a decent, if somewhat boring, attempt at an ale. Pours a nice clear amber with a 1 finger head. Mine actually had some retention. Nice biscuity malt character with an even balance throughout. A touch of hops wipe the palate near the finish. Nice to see A-B attempting a craft style without hiding behind made-up subsidiary breweries.

Nice amber brew with a somewhat frothy, lingering white head. That surprised me, and the color was nice as well. Nothing special, but this is Budweiser, so had somewhat low expectations. Nothing against Bud, but it’s mass-produced domestic swill, for the most part. This did manage to change my mind, though. There is a bit hops and malt in the aroma, and the same is true for the taste. I emphasis a BIT of hops and malt. Medium body, and a slightly thick mouthfeel make for a pleasant finish. I have to admit...this isn’t bad, and in fact has become my "typical beer". I’ve bought a few six packs of it, and will continue to do so. It isn’t great, but it’s above average and is a cut above Bud’s usual offerings, IMHO.