Budweiser American Ale

I broke down and bought a case of Budweiser American Ale, on a co-worker's recommendation. As you can see from the picture, it pours a nice amber color, with a nice, thick, white head, and decent lacing. It smells of... of... well, no, I can't really pick anything up to distinguish it. It just smells like beer. First taste, hmm... not too bad. I can taste some hops, though it's more of a second billing hops rather than a star of the show hops. Something of a slight frutiness, I do believe. Sometimes I like to swallow some beer, keep my mouth closed for a bit, and just breathe through my nose and see if I pick up some subtlety in the finish -- yes, there's something there. Something a little bit nutty, maybe? I had to have a second one just to make sure. Yes, I do believe I like it. One negative is that this beer made me remember some past heartache, or was that the music I was listening to? Well, I'm going to blame it on the beer. Overall, I give it a Not Too Shabby. Budweiser American Ale reminds me of Killian's Irish Red (by Coors), and I'd be interested in a side by side taste test at some point.

By no means does Samuel Adams have anything to worry about, as this will not dethrone the real king of American beers. But this is a welcomed attempt at crafting something better than the average American beer, and I'm glad to say that I will actually drink it and not just use it to rinse my beer glass.

(this is cross-posted @ the Puritan Pub)