Premium beers are in retreat, and sub-premiums are conquering their old turf. Once prosperity returns to the land, will these sub-premium interlopers be unseated and driven back to the depths of the cold box? Hard to say, but we decided to blind taste a selection of premiums and sub-premiums, full calorie and light, to get a sense of the qualitative differences between the segments.
Thirty years ago, sub-premium was really sub premium. These brands tended to come from declining regionals, and the product could be spotty. Most of today’s sub-premium brands are coming from the Big Two, and though the ingredients may be cheaper, these are still technically perfect beers. The premium/subpremiums are all within the same style, American Light Lager, so taste distinctions can be pretty fine. Though taste is likely a secondary consideration in the subpremium purchase decision, once consumers find out the liquid is satisfactory it may lead to a more permanent shift in buying habits.
Budweiser
Budweiser has been in slow decline since long before the current recession. Nonetheless, when the Busch family ran A-B, Bud was the crown jewel. The company spared no expense on the ingredients, and it was the benchmark brand in A-B brewhouses, where every trainee A-B brewmaster learned to brew Bud first. There has been concern among A-B watchers that InBev will be tempted to fiddle with the recipe. If you were a cheapskate Brazilian accountant, it might not make sense to buy the best hops and malt for a declining brand, albeit a huge volume declining brand. But in talking to A-B brewmasters (all of them trained under the old regime) there is a sense that they will protect the beer they still view as the crown jewel.
Beer snobs tend to derogate Budweiser as just another industrial lager, but they might be surprised if they tasted it blind. When we tasted Bud among a flight of American light lagers, Budweiser stood out from the crowd with greater aroma, body and flavor.
If A-B brewers deserve credit for the beer, the wholesalers, (Dichello of CT in this case) deserve credit for keeping it fresh in the market. We bought our Bud samples as single cans in the trade. We weren’t sure we’d get the freshest beer this way, but we did. All the samples were within three weeks of the born-on date. Our tasters liked the appearance and delicate aroma of Budweiser, but were divided on the flavor. “Nice sweet aroma,” said Gregg Glaser. “More going on than many of its competitors.”
“Slight fruit, apples in the nose,” said Frank Fermino.
“Light malt aroma,” said Peter Reid.
“Very fresh and clean, with some traces of hops.”
“Creamy texture on the tongue,” said Greg Zannella. “This is the palest
lager in the group, and yet it has the most flavor.”
“It has these tiny, very fine bubbles,” said Rob Lachman. “It’s OK, I guess, but flavor lingers too long.”
“Very smooth beer,” said Tom Conti. “Mouthfeel is light, carbonation is high. Lingering fruity sweetness on the palate.”
Pabst Blue Ribbon
PBR was a natural match-up against Bud, since they are both members of the dwindling full calorie fraternity. Like Bud, PBR has more flavor than the lights (Though the phrase “more flavor” is a relative one when we’re discussing American light lagers) and our tasters were favorably impressed by PBR. It’s a nice beer, so perhaps its meteoric sales increase is based at least partly on merit.
“Slight aroma, a corny sweetness,” said Gregg Glaser. “Good body and flavor, a pretty good beer, and the flavor doesn’t fall off a cliff at the end.”
“Not watery,” said Tom Conti. “There is body and mouthfeel, flavor is smooth and sweet.”
“Some slight malt stickiness, it sticks to your ribs, this is a man’s beer,” said Robert Lachman.
“Not bad,” said Greg Zannella. “This would make a great tailgating beer, paired with a dirty dog,” .
The verdict: Tasters admired Bud for its delicate aroma and more sophisticated flavor palate, but when it came down to it, they preferred PBR’s rather uncomplicated malty charms— namely a slightly beefier malt body and clean finish. Edge to PBR.