Tarkak9

at some places thats the 2 weeks' notice.

Duncan Roberts

Have to give you a yellow card there. Bud is a proper pilsner, just a different type. "tasty" would have been a better term.

I would also like to point out to everyone that the brewers at Anheuser-Busch, Coors and Miller are extremely talented, more so than a number of brewers at microbreweries. You try making close to 9 billion gallons of beer that fits into 40 or so strict taste profiles. If you're like me, chances are that you can't make 2 cups of tea that taste the same let alone millions. They just have to follow some not so hot recipes for the most part.

ugacrew

Exactly! You have to give them credit for having a consistent product that's quite hard to brew. Clarity for a pale blond beer is hard to manufacture in the massive amount they do. My goodness, just walk into the fermentation building and you'll see huge tanks stored 8 high in a large building. It's quite a task. If any kudos are to be handed over to AB from foreign brewers is the consistency in product.

Hiro11

I disagree. Pilsners don't have any rice in them and they sure as hell aren't "Beechwood aged".

You have a point, consitency (even consistently bad) is extremely difficult to do.

The macro brewers can easily make decent brews when they want to. Ever had a Demon's Hop Yard IPA? How about a Stone Face Ale? Even a Michelob Bock is definitely drinkable.

Also, on a hot day, I'll freely admit that Bud goes extremely well with a nice backyard-grilled burger.

ugacrew

It's classified as a Pale Lager.

tonrob

Oh my god - don't you join in!

tonrob

I've peed that colour for 37 years. Do I win a prize?

RoadWarriorFromLP

As I understand it, a Pilsner is defined by its fermentation process and the softness of the water, not so much by its other ingredients. So Budweiser could be a pilsner-style lager, even if it isn't a very good one.

Budweiser was crafted in the 19th century based upon Busch's travels through Bohemia. (Budweis was the German name for the town of Ceske Budejovice.) When he started using rice to brew it, I don't know, but I would imagine that it tasted a lot better when he first began to make it that it does today.

lisag8070

IMHO German's make the best beer...fresh ingredients delivered right to the basement door of the pub...x amount of time later....beautiful, smooth, clean and crisp weiss bier in your hand..sweet...

ugacrew

No. You win the record for the longest piss ever. Thirty seven years of pissing, WOW!

RoadWarriorFromLP

Neat trick, for him to type all of this while standing upright.

Duncan Roberts

Actually, thinking about it you're right. However, the "beechwood aged" thing is one of the biggest marketing coups in the history of advertising. Yes, Budweiser is aged on beechwood chips but the chips are boiled for hours to remove all flavor before they are used and the only reason they use them is to flocculate the yeast out quicker to save time on the fermenting process and the time between fermentations. It adds nothing to the taste.

ugacrew

Where did you get the information about them boiling the chips. I've never seen facilities in the factory to do just that. Site your source DR!

RoadWarriorFromLP

Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe I was talked into believing it (although I was actually quite skeptical about it being true.) FWIW, it seemed to me to have a mellower, smoother flavor in Ireland than I had found elsewhere.

This blogger claims that a Guinness rep says its true, and attributes it to freshness and better upkeep of the lines. But whether that's accurate, I don't know: http://blog.jonudell.net/2007/11/22/...er-in-ireland/

Duncan Roberts

Eh, styles are weird things. People like to give labels things and that doesn't work too well with beer. Really, a pilsner by definition should be a beer from Pilsn just like Dortmunder should be a beer from Dortmund. Pilsner Urquell was the first pilsner so that became the standard, and to be really picky the ingredients do matter as does the water. German Pilseners were originally knock offs and have stayed that way and when Americans started brewing them things got weird. There are 3 reasonable widely used Pilsener sub categories and each define what the style should be. Bohemian Pilsner, German Pilsener and Classic American Pilsener.

If you really want to get into the nitty gritty then check out the BJCP style guidelines. Not a world standard but they are widely used, especially in the US.