Beer Review: Coors Banquet Beer

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: Five percent

Appearance: A very light gold color in the body with a decent amount of carbonation bubbles floating around in many directions. There was a slight haze that made me think there was actually some body to this, but it was just a tease. It faded away quickly leaving a weak golden color. The head was white and fizzy like pop/soda for a few seconds and fades back into almost nothing.

Smell: Sweet corn and a bit of grain. Slightly fry sent to it. Not much else to write home....or on here about.

Taste: The grain and corn flavors were very prevalent up front. I really couldn't pick out much else. The dryness of the beer helped a bit, though. The fizziness of the bubbles helped as well, but the fact is that it's kind of a watered down beer. Still, there's something about that corn flavor that is a little intriguing about beers like this sometimes.

Overall Rating: 

This is as light as I can go when it comes to beer. I always try to keep some on hand for when a non-fancy beer drinker visits. It has an obvious watery taste and feel to it. There aren't many layers of flavor even though I'm fond of the corn taste. The beer isn't very active in terms of foam or lacing either. A little crispness to it, but not much else.

Swiggin' Swill

"They partook in the merriness of the flowing ales. Thus it was spoken - Let us partake in the beers of old."

I know. I know. I just made that up. Sounds biblical in a certain way, though. I think it's cool to speak like that. Maybe it just sounds better when I write it? Who the hell knows. What matters is why I wrote it. My uncle has rarely visited over the years. As one of the few people in existence that I permit to indulge in my massive collection of beer, I obviously enjoy his presence. When he and my father get together, the hilarity of their adventures from the younger years always ensue.

While sampling he blurted out something that sounded dumb at first given our interest in craft, but upon thinking about it a second time. He proposed that we take a night at some point in the future and try some of the cheap beer that's still around from their college years.

He rattled off some names - National Bohemian, Lionshead and Old German were all mentioned. I had heard of Lionshead before as I've had it some number of years ago. I wasn't sure as to the existence of the other two, but was shocked to come across the actual websites. I've never seen either in any distributor. Anyways, you get the picture. None of these are something that most of us would actually enjoy drinking. I think that's just enough incentive to actually give this idea a whirl. Maybe do some cross comparisons to some actually decent pilsners?

I don't think I need cases of each of those, though which could make this project a much harder one to achieve.

At least I have tons of pretty glassware to put them in.

Monday Rant: Watered Down

I remember a couple years ago getting out of a parked car with a buddy somewhere near the Birmingham Bridge on the South Side. We rose to see an ad on a billboard and pretty much laughed like hell at what it was - an ad for IC Light Mango.

I had to process the thought of mango flavor in beer as I hadn't tried it prior to that. I'm having one as I write this (remember I usually write each post the day prior to when they actually post) and I must admit that it's a bit of a struggle. Maybe since I've disclosed this information I can switch to writing in the present tense  Still, as I've always said free beer is better than no beer at all. I'd rather stomach some swill rather than be rude to my hosts.

Not only have I had that thus far. I've been lucky enough to have a can of America's favorite rust-flavored beer - Miller Lite. Don't worry. I'm planning on washing the taste of water and metal out of my mouth with a few brews out of my own stash once I return home.

I've done many a rant on Miller Lite, but let me say a few words about the IC Light Mango. Given the choice of the two in a world-ending zombie apocalypse situation I'd go with the Mango. I've had many beers with fruit flavoring and I've enjoyed the majority of them. Strawberry, blueberry, lemon and even blackberry. After having the Mango I can safely deduct that mango, in most cases, should be left as just the ordinary edible fruit. 

Bridge to the Land of Malt and Hops

Once again, I'm not writing this today in order to indoctrinate many of my craft beer brethren into thinking that Blue Moon is the greatest thing in existence even though at an earlier age it was for me. That being said, It's still a rarity to see me go on rants about the big American brewers as some are prone to doing. I've always said that if a brewer makes a good product, I'll give them credit regardless of who they are.

So, when I came across this article mentioning that Blue Moon might have acted as a bridge for some of us as we ventured to other areas of beer I agreed completely. I certainly remember being at the crappy college bar and it being one of the only decent beers on tap. Then upon looking at everyone else's crappy beer I felt a step higher than them. That's because I didn't know that there was even anything other than Blue Moon.

Granted I can't stand the taste of Blue Moon anymore, but what it did was open my eyes to the possibility of getting better beer than the American ultra-light lagers. I'm not saying let's all compile Blue Moon shrines in our bedrooms. For those of us that fall into this category of "crossing that bridge," we need to just mentally acknowledge what Blue Moon did for us.

It doesn't even have to be Blue Moon. Hell, it could have been a different beer for many. Still, the same point can be made. And since we're talking about bridges...

Monday Rant: Lager than Life

Sometimes you just don't have that light bulb switch on in your head until you read something about a particular subject somewhere and realize how right it could be. I've even had such an experience where I read something and realized that it's so true, but I've never really figured it out enough in my own head. What I read ended up tying all of the loose ends.

You probably have no idea where I'm going with this, but I'll just make it much less complicated than I already have. If I said to you that lagers were pretty underrated in the beer world, would you agree with me?

The article I linked makes a good point about half way through. The word pilsner has been bastardized. From my point of view, that could possibly be from the numerous American lager commercials (i.e. Miller Coors etc.) claiming that they fall under this style. I know Miller Lite is assumed to be a pilsner. In my opinion, it tastes nothing like a pilsner. Maybe it tastes like the watered down American lager we've become ascertained to since the Great Depression.

A pretty damn good lager.

I also get an irking that many out there frown upon lagers because they're more traditional styles than some of the over-the-top and extremely creative brews we see in craft beer today. People flock to releases of double IPA's and barrel-aged stouts. Some breweries are forced to do away with some lagers because of time it spends taking up space in tanks. That's understandable as well as unfortunate.

I'm more of a traditional guy. I hated to see instant replay in baseball. I'm a staunch traditionalist. Maybe that's why I have a deep affinity for lagers? There's nothing wrong with enjoying some of the very exotic beers out there. Be my guest and partake. That's not hurting anything. Let's just not forget about some of the older and more traditional beer styles.

There are plenty of great and tasty styles in the lager category. A lot of good pilsners and helles lagers are popping out since we are close to summer. Before long we'll be enjoying Oktoberfests. How can I forget about Dunkels? There are a lot of good styles listed in the lager category in the previously mentioned article. Just check it out.