Budweiser Reaches Out to Fans of Craft Brews (Maybe)--Budweiser American Ale

      Lately I've been seeing commercials for Budweiser's new American Ale, which seems to be the brewing giant's attempt to appeal to the craft brew crowd--an apparent indication that they may actually now fear losing customers to the hundreds of little breweries (and homebrewers!) that have popped up around the country. But they haven't exactly launched what you might call a full-scale marketing assault, so I've been curious about their intentions for the new variety. Are they truly test-marketing a new, more sophisticated taste to please America's ever-more beer-savvy market? Or are they just wondering if they can get away with charging a fancier price for what people might perceive to be a fancier beer?
      Either way, I figured I'd give it an honest try--I would ignore its provenance and evaluate it as I would any other beer I'd never tasted before. I even made sure I hadn't eaten or drunk anything in a while, just so I'd have a clean palette. I have to admit, however, that I was made suspicious of Budweiser's intentions right off the bat, when I discovered that they had given the bottle a non-twistoff cap. Seemed a bit desperate, that.
      I gave it my usual pour--first half down the side and second half straight up. It produced a respectable, slightly lacy one-finger head that demonstrated decent staying power. The color was a shiny ruby-amber, leaning a bit toward the ruby side. It presented very little malt aroma, just a slightly aggressive, acidic hops smell. The first sips again betrayed an under-achieving mix of malts, with a lightweight, fizzy mouthfeel. The followup was pretty hoppy but fairly unpleasant--the hops came forward more as bitter and metallic, rather than sharp and citrusy as you might expect in an APA.
      Not surprisingly, it proved easy to drink, but the overall experience was disappointing--I felt as if most of my palette was left with nothing to do. I wanted a cracker or a piece of bread or something, just to engage my grain flavor receptors. The American Ale is a step above Budweiser's famous lager, but only just. I'm still not sure exactly what Budweiser's up to here, but whatever their intentions, I doubt the American Ale will be around for long.

Curmudgeon's Corner (4): Straining the Limits of Beer Credibility

      Smokey Burner, the Broken Stove's resident curmudgeon, loves beer. Smokey sometimes brews his own, and always enjoys the opportunity to taste something new in the world of fermented grains. Smokey has standards, but has never been a beer snob, and is generally willing to evaluate unfamiliar beers on their merits, withholding judgment till he's pounded a few.
      But. There. Are. LIMITS.
      Today Smokey was happily wandering the beer aisle at his local distributor of comestibles and potables when his eyes were drawn, infelicitously it turns out, to a new label. The fine folks at Michelob have now produced for our delectation not one, but three new versions of their nearly transparent and virtually flavorless Ultra variety. From now until Labor Day, Michelob will be favoring us with Michelob Ultra "Tuscan Orange Grapefuit," Michelob Ultra "Lime Cactus," and Michelob Ultra "Pomegranate Raspberry." Smokey is not opposed to fruit in beer, per se (is cactus a fruit?). Smokey loves a Tecate with lime, any Hefeweizen with orange, and a handful of highly poofy but tasty Belgian lambics. But Michelob is abusing Smokey's fruity beer goodwill.
      Smokey has tried plain old Michelob Ultra. Once, at Smokey's brother's house, when the real beer ran out, Smokey, in desperation, tried one of the beers being drunk by his brother's calorie-conscious wife--Michelob Ultra. You know what? Smokey doesn't want to revisit that. Just pretend Smokey never brought that up.
      Here's the deal. First, if one more thing in this country that has no resemblance to anything Italian is marketed as being "Tuscan," Smokey believes that residents of that particular region of Italy would be justified in changing whatever the Italian word for "fattening and tasteless" is to "Americano." Second, Smokey doesn't even need to try any one of these three beers to know that they almost certainly taste like flavored seltzer water that has been colored yellow. Third, if Smokey finds out that any of his friends, family or casual acquaintances have given their hard-earned cash in exchange for one of these fruity urine samples, Smokey will be very cross indeed.
You've been warned.

Mr. Beer, the Sad Clown of Homebrews (but in a good way)

      O.K., I know you serious homebrewers will scoff, but I believe that with a little creativity, you can turn out a pretty decent half-batch (2.5 gallons) of beer with one of those beginner's kits from Mr. Beer. Yes, yes, Mr. Beer is the brewing equivalent of paint-by-numbers, but you can put together a pretty good wort by mixing their pre-hopped, condensed beer mixes with their unhopped malt extracts for added fermentables, and then adding your own favorite flavorings and additional hops. They even offer liquid yeasts. The benefits include a quick brew time, a smaller amount of wort to cool (which cuts down on contamination), and smaller batches mean you can try out more varieties--a big plus when you're the only beer-drinker in the household as I am.
      I've come out with some very serviceable ales from Mr. Beer ingredients, including a tasty Honey Maibock that included some orange zest for flavor, and my personal favorite, a hoppy Barleywine-style ale (pictured here). My main caveat is to avoid the "Booster" packs they sell to add fermentable sugars to their beer mixes. It makes for a very cidery flavor. The unhopped malt extracts they sell, or just plain honey or brown sugar, make for a better beer.

RECIPE
      To make the Barleywine, I used two cans of Mr. Beer's "Cowboy Lager" beer mix (which already has some hops in it), one can of their "West Coast Pale Ale" unhopped malt extract, then added 1 ounce of Cascade hops pellets and 1/4 ounce of Hallertau. I pitched it with a liquid ale yeast (also from Mr. Beer), and fermented it for not quite 3 weeks. My very lazy hydrometer measurements indicate that it turned out to be around 8% ABV. I have no idea about the IBU's, but it's definitely hoppy. I batch primed it and bottled it in some old Grolsch swingtop bottles (I hate capping), and left those at room temp for another 2 weeks. The longer they lager in the fridge, the better they'll be, but they're already pretty good.
      So if you're ever in a big hurry and want to go from start to fermenter in about half an hour, keep some Mr. Beer ingredients on hand and use your imagination...and your honey, and orange zest, and pureed raspberries...