Michelobe's new beers

[Hornius Emeritus]

Okay, so I'm watching the Olympics and I notice that Michelobe has a whole new family of beers out there ... a porter, a pale ale etc....

My guess is that this is Anheuser Bush's attempt to go after the luxury/craft/upscale market by leveraging the (former) upscale AB brand, Michelobe.

Anyway, just wondering if any of you guys have tried any of them and if they are worthwhile or if they are just another stupid AB attempt to grab more market share.

 

[kujotx]

I am wondering how I can even drink one seriously without tasting the macro-micro flavor. I am going to bet it will taste like Ziegenbock -- a nice, well-intended effort that falls short.

 

[Sangre Naranjada]

I've had the Pale Ale. I'd describe it as "safe". There is no real distinctive characteristic like being strongly hopped as an IPA would be, but it's still a decent beer.

It's a middle of the road beer that inspires a middle of the road response. I won't go out of my way to purchase it, but I won't turn one down if offered to me either.

 

[Texanne]

From what Sangre writes, it sounds like the pale ale is going to be a "starter beer" for HH-I-T (hopheads-in-training). Boo. If they ever learn to like real pales and IPAs, that means less for me.

 

[jimmyjazz]

I had one of them at Grant's Farm in St. Louis a month or so ago. It's an A-B park, and the beer is free, with an alleged 2-per-person limit. I didn't notice the bottled varieties until the barkeep had poured my 2nd Amber Bock, and kindly let me go past my limit. Whichever one it was -- no doubt an ale -- it was a helluva lot better than the Amber Bock. I wouldn't buy it over something like Red Hook or Sierra Nevada, but it will do in a pinch.

 

[UTEE]

If it's made with the same cheap filler ingredients like rice that all other AB beers are made with, then it still won't taste that good.

If it is not, then it might actually be good, but I have to wonder if any micro-drinkers out there are actually going to switch to these macros? I don't see that as being likely. So instead, they're really just cannibalizing their existing macro-market.

And possibly, as was suggested up above, they're going to train a part of their macro-swill-loving market that beer CAN taste better, and eventually those folks will move on to the better micros.

Just my speculation of course. I'd drink one if offered for free, but I doubt I'll ever buy any.