StAle


Brewery and Country of Origin: Anheuser-Busch, Inc. of 1 Busch Place, St. Louis, MO 63118, USA

Date Reviewed: 4-14-15

Common symptoms of food poisoning include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and in severe cases, kidney failure, infection of the nervous system, damage to circulation, and even death. But perhaps the most curious effect of food poisoning is that sometimes, people who come down with a food borne illness avoid the food completely thereafter, regardless of the actual illness or the food involved. This is a psychological effect similar to how invisible fences work with dogs. If you do something that ends up causing trauma of some sort, you're less likely to perform that action again. And if you go to a diner, eat some overdue corned beef, and subsequently become sick with food poisoning, you're less likely to try corned beef again. That brings us to bad beer. Not beer that just tastes bad, but beer that shouldn't be consumed at all, because there's something wrong with it. While we highly recommend only buying beer that is either going to be enjoyed soon or cellared properly, we do understand that sometimes, you have beer lying around for a while. Most of the time, and especially if this beer has been kept in a cool, dark, and dry place this poses no real problems, unless of course you're talking about fresh beers. Generally speaking, as long as these are consumed within a few months or so, you'll be fine. It does depend on the style of beer, however. Darker, stronger beers tend to have longer shelf lives than lighter, weaker beers. But if you keep a beer in the driveway for let's say, a couple of years for example, then you're probably better off dumping it. There are key indicators for whether beer is spoiled. For instance, the labels on bottled beers may be peeling or discolored as a result of heat/sun damage. With bottled beers, the most damaging aspect of the environment is sunlight (more specifically, UV rays). Prolonged storage of a bottled beer on its side can cause the cap to oxidize and contaminate the beer. Excessive heat and rapid changes in temperature can also do some damage, but all of these can be prevented if the beer is stored properly. Canned beers are not as prone to the same environmental risks of bottled beers, but they can still be dented, stained, or the internal liner could be broken down. If you don't hear the normal release of gas when the container is first opened, then your beer has gone flat, and more importantly, contaminants could have gotten in. As harsh as beer is as an environment for living organisms, certain things like yeast can sustain life (at least temporarily) in beer. The problem is that bacteria can as well, which not only spoils the beer, but can make you sick. And if you drink a heavily spoiled beer, not only could you avoid that particular beer forever, your mind may also cause you to avoid all beers completely. Unfortunately for this particular Anheuser-Busch specimen, it wasn't spoiled, skunked, or tainted in any way. It just tastes, looks, and smells like it was.
Date Sampled: 12-26-14 At: 146 Fiddlers Hollow, Penfield, NY 14526, USA
Beer Style: Fruit/Vegetable Lager
Alcohol by Volume: 4.20%
Serving Type: 25 oz Can, 16 oz Mug Glass
Rating: 1.02

Look

This beer has a somewhat choppy pour with a medium amount of carbonation, producing a thin, eighth inch tall foam head with a medium low retention, a low density, and a pinkish white color. Immediately noticeable is this beer's bright Chernobyl inspired pink color which has no shine and a bright glow in the light. This beer has a cloudy appearance with the inclusion of a good amount of extra fine sediment and a below average amount of effervescent effect. This beer displays no lacing on the glass, but some orange-pinkish residue leftover.

Aroma

This beer has a below average strength aroma overall, but that does not take much away from its general repulsiveness. This beer's aroma features a briny, fish like smell injected with some expired tomatoes. There are no real detectable hops present and there is only a faint hint of a grainy pale malt noticeable. This beer's aroma features no fruit or herbal notes, and contains no alcoholic tinge. Overall, this beer's smell is akin to some old, salty tomato juice that has been fermenting in the sun for quite some time.

Feel

This is a light and weak bodied brew with a low viscosity, a low weight, and, if you can get your mind around the flavor, appearance, and aroma, is pretty easy to drink. This beer has a fairly crisp feel that offers a small amount of refreshment and a dull, slightly dry and lingering finish with no alcohol bite or warming. This beer has an average amount of carbonation and contains no added texture from the fine sediment. This beer's lighter stature makes it best suited for the summertime.

Taste

Our lowest rating to date is most heavily derived from this beer's spoiled "extra sodium variety" tomato juice flavor which features no hops and no real malt notes outside of a bit of grainy aftertaste. This beer's flavor features a fairly potent rotten fishy "subtlety" from which thoughts of disease and infection emanate. This beer's rather unpleasant flavor profile tastes much in the same way that a poorly made bloody mary with a low alcohol content, a salt rim, and tomato juice produced during the Hundred Years War would taste like.

Our Take

We'll simply come right out and say it: this beer sucks. Normally we are not so blunt about beers that we don't particularly enjoy, but this specific example of a light lager can't be recommended in any way, and we will never willingly try this again. This beer's biggest fault (of which, there are plenty) is its flavor, which is unlike any other beer we've had to date. If for some reason, you are a fan of low grade clam juice, rotten tomatoes, fermented bile, and Bud Light all mixed together in a terrible concoction of misery, then perhaps, maybe you'll tolerate this beer to a very limited extent. Outside of that, don't bother (as if you needed us to tell you that). As far as we know, or care about, this beer is primarily distributed in large 25 oz cans which makes consuming just one quite the commitment. Not because of how much alcohol there is (which there isn't), but because of sheer volume. Realistically speaking, this beer doesn't make a good pairing option with anything, but in a sense, anything would hypothetically help this beer. You could wash this beer down with pretty much every other beer out there, and we'd probably recommend eating something with it to give your tastebuds and nose a break, and for that reason, we'd say you can pair this with every edible thing there is, including all varieties of Girl Scout Cookies. However, if you do somehow like this beer, and would like to read a review which is slightly more positive about its rather putrid and repulsive characteristics, follow this link for this beer's April Fool's Day review.