Macro lagers are certainly comical. The big boys limit the flavour in order to appeal to a larger audience. But when the macro drinker is asked what they like most about Brand-X, they say it's the flavour! Yet when they do such tastings, few people identify their favourite brand/flavour?
There was a similar tasting write-up in The Michigan Beer Guide:
http://www.michiganbeerguide.com/news.a ... icleid=191
Korean War Veterans Sample American Beers at Sullivan’s Black Forest
Written By: Rex Halfpenny
Korean War Veterans Sample American Beers
at Sullivan’s Black Forest
The Korean War is sometime referred to as the “forgotten war” because it was sandwiched in between World War II and the Vietnam War. Few people realize that more American men died during the three years of the Korean War than in the ten years of America's Vietnam involvement. The numbers for Korea are stunning; Died 54,246, Wounded 103,284, M.I.A. 8,177.
I had the pleasure of addressing the Frankenmuth Rotary last February where I got to meet many of Frankenmuth's business leaders and community supporters. One individual was Harry Boesnecker who introduced himself and asked if I might be interested in speaking to the local Korean War Veterans. I told him I'd be delighted and suggested they all come to one of my talks at the Black Forest.
That meeting took place May 3rd. Harry suggested that I not do anything too exotic. I took it a step further and told him we would do a blind sampling of the top selling American Lager beers.
That evening about 60 members of the Frankenmuth-Saginaw Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 251 showed up as well as about 40 of our regular enthusiasts. We had amassed a collection of 12 beers for this audience. I wanted to make sure we had a lot of these beers to select from. In hindsight, it was too many.
We poured the beers blind, in a random order, identified only as a number. To make it a tiny bit easier we also supplied the names of all the beers we were serving listed in alphabetical order. Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors Golden, Coors Light, Michelob, Miller High Life, Miller Lite, Milwaukee’s Best, Old Style, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Stroh’s, and Sam Adams Boston Lager. I asked that they match the samples to the list of beers and make any comments they choose.
The meeting began with The Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moment of silence for those fallen, M.I.A., and subsequently deceased. They conducted their short business session, everyone ate, and then we poured. Let me remind you, that's 13 beers to over 100 people.
The results were so mixed that I could not put together any meaningful data beyond some general observations.
The number one observation was that all the beers were the same. Whether they were oldtimer vets or younger enthusiasts, most folks could not determine what was what. One enthusiast told me he knew all the beers and he would easily identify them all. After the tasting he admitted he got none of them.
Many vets and some enthusiasts admitted that they were dedicated Bud or Miller Drinkers. I enjoyed reading these the most. One guy said his first beer was Budweiser and now all he drinks is Bud Light. He failed to ID a single beer correctly. A seasoned Bud drinker thought the PBR was Bud while a dedicated Miller Lite drinker named Bud as Miller Lite. One Bud Light drinker got one of the 12 correct because he named all 12 Bud Light. A Miller Lite drinker got Bud Light correct but identified Old Style as Miller Lite. The most dedicated Budweiser drinker was apparently the guy who wrote that his first beer was Budweiser in 1952 and to this day all he drinks is Budweiser. That was all he wrote, he did not even try to identify any of the beers, leaving them all blank. The best one was a Bud Light drinker who noted comments next to each sample. He identified the Miller High Life sample as the best, writing “Excellent/Good Body.” Next to the Bud Light sample his comment was simply “Ugh.” Interestingly, a one time Strohs drinker who now drinks only Labatt and Molson got only one right and it was Strohs!
We also had one ringer identified only as Brand X. It was Sam Adams Boston Lager, an all malt beer. The SA was considerably darker then the rest which would have been a give away. Several of the enthusiasts liked the SA pour the best, even if they did not correctly identify it. Interestingly, many identified the SA as any number of other mass-market products.
An extreme example was one where the taster correctly identified Bud Light and Miller High Life and missed everything else, including the Sam Adams which he identified as Miller Lite with the Miller Lite identified as Sam Adams.
My favorite comment was from a sheet that failed to get a single one correct. At the very end was written, “Amazing, thanks so much for the lesson and the info.”
By far most got none correct, some got one, two or three correct, and a few got 4-6 correct.
The most surprising quote from a veteran: “I like a good, dark beer-or stout. Bells Expedition Stout, McEwen’s Scotch Ale, Old Rasputen Russian Imperial Stout.” MBG
