Natural Light Naturdays

I’m listening to a really interesting podcast series called “The Dream.” This season, they’re looking at the wellness industry and the episode that I’m listening to is focusing on vitamins and how big of an industry it is. The host bought over $200 worth of “powders” that had no real directions on how to use them and no data supporting their health benefits. I’m sure she’s not the only one. I highly recommend giving the series a listen. Now, let’s get to the beer.

ABV: 4.2%

Style: Fruit/Vegetable Beer

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “A sessionable, light lager brewed with a phenomenal combination of ripe strawberry and fresh lemonade flavors that are perfect for increasing the fun of every occasion. For those who like strawberry lemonade…and drinking beer. Sit back and relax, it’s Naturday!”

Random: As a child, I had a lemonade stand over the Summer to make extra money before I could work.

The beer poured with a one finger head that was pure white. Its life was short-lived and it didn’t leave any lacing on the glass. The body was a clear, straw yellow with lots of carbonation visible. The nose was really sweet with notes of lemonade and strawberry. The lemonade note was like Country Time lemonade. The taste was shockingly good. The strawberry and lemonade notes worked well together and the beer was not overly sweet. There was a touch of corn syrup as well. The body was very light with lots of carbonation. It had a quick finish with strawberry and lemonade. This beer went down very easily. As much as I didn’t want to believe that this was a decent drinker, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

Untappd Rating: 3.0/5.0

Oculto

Tonight’s selection was also a special at the gas station. I hadn’t tried terrible macro beers for awhile, so what better time than when I was stuck in Ohio in a hotel room? I thought that I would have some free time when I was in Ohio, but I basically left the site and then worked again from my hotel room. Anyways, let’s get to this.

ABV: 6%

Style: Fruit/Vegetable Beer

Trivia: There isn’t any information for the beer on the brewery website. That’s my favorite.

Random: When I was in high school, everyone went crazy over Tequiza. I never tried it, but in my head, this would be what it tasted like.

The beer poured with a half a finger of white head that dissipated quickly and left some lacing on the plastic cup. The body was clear and golden-yellow in color. There was a lot of carbonation visible too. On the nose, it had honey sweetness and tequila staves. There was a lot of grain as well. The taste wasn’t as bad as I thought. It had significant grain sweetness with a slight tequila bite that was artificial. It had a thin body with high carbonation. The finish was lengthy and sticky with tequila. A can of this was $3.75, which came to $.15 per ounce. I’m not going to be having this beer again, but it wasn’t as terrible as I thought it would be. It was still pretty bad and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, but I guess there is a silver lining on this one.

Untappd Rating: 2.5/5.0

Bud Light Lime-A-Rita

Since I was in Ohio for so long, I tried a different hotel my second week. This was a mistake. I stayed in the Holiday Inn, which apparently had a lot of truckers who liked to play cornhole outside of my window until 2 AM, while drinking and smoking cigars. If I didn’t have to be at work at 4:45 AM, I may have been into this. I bought one of these hoping that it would help me sleep. Needless to say, it didn’t.

ABV: 8%

Style: American Malt Liquor

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Exciting margarita flavors mixed with a twist of
Bud Light Lime for a refreshing finish. Best served over ice.”

Random: Tomorrow’s beer is no better. Spoiler alert.

The beer poured with a quarter of a finger of white head that dissipated instantly and left no lacing on the plastic cup. The body was a cloudy, greenish-yellow and had light visible carbonation. The nose was filled with artificial lime juice and sour mix. To say that the scent was off-putting would be an understatement. The taste wasn’t any better. It was the same artificial lime note and syrupy with white sugar. It had a cheap tequila note with salt. Alcohol was very apparent on this one. The body was thin with light carbonation, which didn’t add to the drinkability. It had a lengthy and sticky lime finish. A can of this was $2.49, which came to $.10 per ounce. Despite the low price on this, it was terrible and I couldn’t finish this. Avoid this one.

Untappd Rating: 1.5/5.0

Best Damn Cherry Cola

I saw this in the single cooler at Hopewell Buy Rite and picked it up for Val. She wanted to crack it open, so I obliged and gave it a shot. I didn’t have high hopes for this beverage and…well, you can see what I thought of it.

ABV: 5.5%

Style: Herbed/Spiced Beer

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Our Cherry Cola mission is ‘Put a Cherry on Top Tap.’ Refreshing BEST DAMN Cherry Cola combines caramel and cola notes with a delicious cherry taste. Aged on whole cherries after brewing, the result is a flavorful take on the timeless taste of Cherry Cola. Cheers!”

Random: One of my favorite sodas is cherry cola. I highly doubt that I will find a mass-produced alcoholic version that I enjoy.

This “soda” poured with no head on top of a dark brown body. Although it was dark, I could still pick up a lot of carbonation in it. The nose had artificial cherry syrup and cola notes. But, it reminded me of cheap cola and not a typical name brand. There wasn’t anything else to it. The taste was what you would have expected from this product. It had a lot of artificial cherry that overwhelmed the cola notes. There was a cola note, but again, it had an artificial sweetener to it that was completely off-putting. The body was on the thick and syrupy side with significant carbonation. The finish was quick, which I appreciated. The bottle was $1.83 ($.15 per ounce). Despite the affordable price, I won’t be having this again.

Untappd Rating: 2.5/5.0

Best Damn Root Beer

Tonight’s beer is the latest selection from the hard root beer family. This one is made by AB, so I don’t have high hopes for it.

ABV: 5.5%

Style: Herbed/Spiced Beer

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “We called our Root Beer mission ‘Throw back a throwback.’ Our delicious, easy-drinking BEST DAMN Root Beer is aged on real vanilla beans during the brewing process for a full-flavored, well-balanced take on one of our favorite classic tastes.”

Random: I loved Stewart’s Root Beer as a kid. It was my favorite soda.

The beer poured with a half a finger of tan head that dissipated instantly. It left no lacing on the glass. The body was a clear, dark brown with lots of carbonation visible. The nose smelled just like root beer. It had the molasses sweetness along with vanilla. Unlike some of the other hard root beers that I’ve tried, it didn’t have a booze note to it. The taste reminded me of root beer barrel candies that I used to get at Halloween. It had candy sweetness as well. My biggest issue with the beer was that it tasted artificial. There was also vanilla present. The body was on the thicker side with high carbonation. It had a quick finish with root beer candy. A can of this was $2.25, which came to $.14 per ounce. I wasn’t a big fan of this one. The artificial taste was overwhelming for me.

Untappd Rating: 3.0/5.0

Johnny Appleseed Hard Apple Cider

It seems like everyone is jumping on the cider bandwagon. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that one of the “Big Three” threw their hat into the ring. I don’t think this one has been out very long, especially since there have only been a few commercials about it so far. Also, not surprising is that you have to do a (very) little bit of digging to find out this is an Anheuser Busch product. So, let’s see if this one is worth drinking.

ABV: 5.5%

Style: Cider

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “We’re proud of the refreshingly sweet and intense taste of Johnny Appleseed Hard Apple Cider, a new gluten free hard cider.”

Random: On the website for this cider, it shows it being served with ice.

This cider poured with absolutely no head on top of a clear, light yellow body. Shockingly, there was no carbonation visible in the cider. The nose was really simple. I got light apple juice without any other notes. So far, I wasn’t impressed. The first thing that hit me on the sip was that it was really, really sweet, cloyingly so. There was a weird, off-putting bubble gum note and then sweet apple wine. The body was medium thickness and it was very undercarbonated. It had a quick finish with apples. I don’t know what I was expecting from this, especially since it is one of the newer products from Anheuser Busch, but I was disappointed. I wouldn’t recommend this at all.

Untappd Rating: 3.0/5.0

Michelob Shock Top Twisted Pretzel Wheat

The other half and I had a busy Sunday. We spent all day looking at houses. As much as I love living in an 800-something square foot apartment, we definitely need more space. We saw a few houses that we liked, but I will say, going to open house after open house is tiring. After we saw all the houses, we ended up at a local bar and grill for a few snacks and the other half got this beer so that I could review it.

ABV: 5.2%

Style: American Pale Wheat Ale

Trivia: According to greatbeernow.com, “Shock Top, the Anheuser- Busch InBev division known for its Belgian style brew, has a new beer available on limited release and just in time for National Pretzel Day on April 26. The beer is Shock Top Twisted Pretzel Wheat, a Belgian-style unfiltered wheat ale that delivers the delicious taste and aroma of bakery-fresh pretzels. Pretzels are commonly consumed with beer and Shock Top brewmaster Jill Vaughn feels this new beer represents an ideal marriage between a beverage and food that are natural accompaniments. ‘As a brewmaster, having the freedom to experiment with quality ingredients means that I can create beers that are as unique as the fans that enjoy them,’ said Vaughn. ‘Pretzels are everyone’s favorite beer snack, so we thought Shock Top Twisted Pretzel Wheat would be a fun and approachable twist on unfiltered wheat beer for festival goers to enjoy … and just in time for National Pretzel Day.’ Shock Top Twisted Pretzel Wheat is brewed with wheat, caramel malt, orange peels and a rich pretzel flavor. The beer features a dark caramel color and contains 5.2 percent alcohol by volume. This limited release beer can be found on draught at more than 150 beer festivals nationwide, at Shock Top special events, and select retail locations for a limited time. At some events, Shock Top Twisted Pretzel Wheat will be served in limited-edition pretzel cups, for added authenticity and fun.’

Random: I’m really happy this is a short week. I think the other half and I are going to go to the beach for the 4th.

This brew poured with a two finger, off white head that dissipated quickly with a little bit of lacing left on the glass. The body was a hazy, deep mahogany with light carbonation visible, which was surprising for the style. The nose had definite notes of pretzel, which was an odd smell for a beer, but had light toasted malts and salt as well. The taste had notes of dark wheat with pretzel and bread and a touch of salt. It had a medium thick body and was definitely under carbonated. It had a quick finish with pretzel. Although this beer was definitely interesting, I found it a bit gimmicky and I would find it hard to have more than one.

Untappd Rating: 3.0/5.0

Budweiser Select

Oh Bud Select. Where do I start with my relationship with you? In my early twenties, this was a go-to beer for me. I haven’t had one of these in at least eight years and can honestly say that I don’t remember how it was. I remember that when my friends and I would get this, we thought it was more flavorful than other Bud offerings, but that wasn’t saying much. Let’s see if my opinion of this one has changed.

ABV: 4.3%

Style: Light Lager

Trivia: According to wikipedia.com, “Budweiser Select, or Bud Select is a light pale lager that contains 4.3% ABV and 99 calories per 12 US fl oz serving. Anheuser-Busch has aggressively promoted Budweiser Select. Its slogan was ‘The Real Deal.’ The company hired Jay-Z as a spokesman for the brand.”

Random: I’m almost embarrassed about how much I’m enjoying “The Voice.” It’s really starting to get good.

This brew poured with a half a finger of white head. It dissipated almost instantly and left no lacing on the glass. The body was a clear, straw yellow with heavy carbonation visible. The nose had some sweet corn mostly with grain. The nose wasn’t as offensive or pungent as some other macros. The taste was not great (shocking, I know). There was a lot of sweet corn and then grain and nothing else. It had heavy carbonation and a medium thick body.The finish was really quick with corn sweetness. This was a really boring brew, but not as offensive as I thought it would be. I won’t be having this one again, for sure.

Untappd Rating: 2.5/5.0

Natural Ice

Funny story, I’ve never, every had this beer, nor any other beers in its family. I know that most people have had one of these at some sort of kegger or party, but I have never had the pleasure of tasting this one. I saw a single can in the cooler at the beer store and decided that it was time to review it and see how bad it truly is.

ABV: 5.9%

Style: American Adjunct Lager

Trivia: According to the brewery website (and yes, I’m leaving it in all caps), “NATTY ICE IS MADE USING OUR EXCLUSIVE ICE-BREWING PROCESS, MAKING IT QUITE POSSIBLY THE COOLEST BEER EVER.”

Random: I felt like I should shotgun this beer or something to that effect. I’ve only tried doing that once and it pathetically failed, by the way.

This brew poured with a half a finger of pure white head. I was surprised that it took awhile to dissipated, although it really didn’t leave any lacing on the glass. The body was a clear, straw yellow color with insanely high carbonation. The nose was simple with corn and some sweetness grainy malts. There was not much complexity to the taste, to say the least. All I got was really fizzy and slightly sweet corn water. As quick as the flavor came, it went. I kept sipping this trying to find some other flavor to it, but there was none. The body was very watery and the carbonation was very intense. The finish was non-existent with some fizz and corn. I can’t see any reason to drink this other than to get buzzed, because this is as close to flavorless as I think I’ve ever found in a beer. I definitely will not be having this one again.

Untappd Rating: 0.5/5.0

Michelob Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat

Once we got back to Tampa, we headed to Smoky Bones for lunch. Apparently it’s some sort of barbecue chain down here. Let me tell you, the ribs were fall off the bone good. I got it with this brisket which was only alright. But, the ribs were just amazing. Anyways, this was the only beer that I hadn’t reviewed that was on tap. Let’s see how this one goes…

ABV: 5.2%

Style: Pumpkin Ale

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Our Pumpkin Wheat seasonal offering combines the smooth taste of Shock Top with the flavors of Fall. We start with a traditional Belgian-style wheat ale and then brew with ripe pumpkins and a variety of autumnal spices, including nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves, for a refreshingly smooth beer that fully captures all the flavors of fall.”

Random: I think I could’ve licked my plate, that’s how good those ribs were.

This brew poured with less than a half a finger of white head that dissipated quickly and left some lacing on the pint glass. The body was a slightly hazy orange color with incredibly intense carbonation. The nose was very heavy, too heavy for the beer actually. My nose was assaulted by fall spices: cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg. The taste was very water and overspiced. I got the same notes in the taste as the nose. To add insult to injury, there was way too much carbonation and the body was too light. Oh, another complaint? Throw in some pumpkin. Also, I got no wheat whatsoever. The finish was quick (thankfully) and overspiced. This is probably the worst pumpkin beer that I’ve ever had. They offered a shot of vodka to go with this one and you might need it, to wash the nasty taste out of your mouth.

Untappd Rating: 2.0/5.0