1001 Beers: Budweiser And The Beginning Of Craft Beer

This is going to be hard to do. I am going to try and take myself back to a time where all of the outrageous, insane beers we have today did not exist. I am going to try and live in a world where there is only one beer and it is The King! I am going to try and see what it would be like for a new, obscure, random company that claims to be offering something better and more flavorful would effect my outlook on beer. If I were around, would I make the change? Or would I stay with the familiar...

Beer Number 33: Budweiser



We all know the story about Budweiser and all have our opinions on the company. That is a whole different issue though. So, what I am doing here? This review is taking the classic beer of the time and putting it up against New Albion. The brand new brewery on the block offering a beer that is different from the rest. Beers from overseas that offer more to the consumer. Will it sell or is it just a waste of time? Might as well get this started... without BIAS... as much as I can.

Surely there are more challenging, rewarding beers? Yes, but Bud never pretends to be something that it isn't: this is a beer about refreshment and drinkability, not for sipping out of a china teacup with a pinkie extended.

Budweiser stands for what all beers of this time were like. I mean, they call themselves "The King Of Beer", right? There had to be something to that. They were better than the rest? They actually took the quality of their product to heart. Did whatever they could to maintain freshness and the appeal to their market. This can I have in front of me today was born on 12.12.12... That is kind of funny for me to think of. One brewery was having a major release party and another was doing the same old mundane taste of packaging beer. Interesting.

When I cracked the tab on my can... maybe I should have gotten a bottle, but this was all that the store had in a single... I noticed the this beer was really clear and had a small short lived white head. There is a signature scent to Budweiser. That caramel, green apple scent. A lot of it carries on into the flavor as well. Smooth, a bit of caramel sweetness that fades and green apples comes into the finish. There is a fairly big level of carbonation but nothing you would not expect. Crisp, Clean... dare I say it? Flawless... and you thought I was going to say Refreshing. Though, maybe it is.

Then one day, this guy rolls around. A new beer that promises to be better. Nothing like the beers that are available. Ones inspired from across the pond that actually have... Flavor.



New Albion was the pioneer for the craft breweries of today. People say that Jack McAuliffe literally started the revolution. Back in 1976, Jack opened the doors to this place just five years after he finished college and about 10 years after he fell in love with the beers he had in Scotland. Jack was a man that truly cared about what he tasted when he drank a beer.

I do not know what he liked to drink before he entered the Navy but once he got back, he really wanted to make a difference. While being very vital to the beginning of the movement, he may have came just a little too soon. In 1982 he closed his doors due to a lack of financing and economic trouble. Breweries that are around today, such as Sierra Nevada, give credit to Jack for their success and the start of their breweries in the '80s.



This beer looks like the same that one should be used to drinking. A small white head that dies rather quickly, a very clean straw like color. Though the first noticeable difference is what you smell. Yeasty on the nose and a faint scent of grassy hops. When you drink this beer, you do get a more aggressive ale. The carbonation is high on it as well but there is a sharper bitterness in the finish and not the normal sweet, green apple taste you are accustomed to. It is grassy and piney. Has a noticeable heaviness to it too, comparatively.

I can see how different and aggressive this beer is tasting them side by side. When I had my first bottle of New Albion, while still trying to put myself back in time, I wondered...

What is the big deal? Did this beer just fail because of the price point? Because beer drinkers were not willing to branch out? This is almost the same beer they were drinking.

This has let me see there is more to it than that. Now we are just all washed away with beers that have 739 Thousand IBUs, 10.3% ABV, and Oak Aged with all the colors of the rainbow. New Albion is a truly great Pale Ale. The world of Craft Beer is far different today than it was back then/there was not one, but Jack took the stand and today there has been a lot done in his honor.

968 Bottle Of Beer To Go!

Cheers!

Superbowl Beer: Black Crown

After the great success of my last Superbowl Beer Review, Bud Light Platinum, I decided to give this years promotion a try. I did not do things like I usually do for that review but I figured for this one, I would treat it like any other beer.

I always try to give an honest opinion on a beer, whether I like it or not. Sometimes I am drawn in by my obsession with a particular brewery but when it falls short, It feels disappointing. Here is a great post on the matter from Sheppy's Blog, one of the few that fall into my email every so often. He even says "inconceivable" in this one!



So, Black Crown. It was suggested by another blogger, Daily Beer Review, that this beer was actually part of the Budweiser Project Twelve Series, Batch No. 91406. He said, "based on the beechwood, description, alc % and brewmaster", he is pretty certain Black Crown is nothing new. Just another marketing ploy.

Reading on the back of the bottle they broke it down and explained that out of the 6 beers taste tested across the country, from the 12 brewers who put forth a beer, Batch No. 91406 won the "Black Crown". I guess Daily Beer Review was right. I used to live in 91607, not too far from this place. No point to that. Just random fact.



Now down to this beer. It pours a crystal clear light amber with a small, quickly dissipating white head. Aroma of crystal malt and green apples. Overly sweet. When you drink it, that sweetness is still there and the apple flavor again. A higher carbonation level and actually a decent body. It says this beer is beechwood finished but I cannot pick that out... I don't think. There is a little bit of a tang on the finish.

Doesn't seem all that bad if they would have put a few IBUs into this one to counter out the sweetness. I don't mean make it bitter or give it hop flavor, I just mean better balance out the sweetness. ABInBev gave their Brewmasters a chance to branch out and make something new. While this still holds true to the spirit of the company, it is actually one of their better products. I'd say give it a try.

Cheers!