Purchased this 12oz single as part of Mac’s Midtown $8.99 mixed sixer, Atlanta, GA, USA. Glad to be able to stay non-committed to a brewer that hasn’t earned my respect.
I like the presentation. There does seem to be a slightly different shape to the bottle (compared to the “normal” American 12oz bottle), and the old school classic red color is nice. Rightly or wrongly, I went ahead and included an element of my appearance score to reflect the good packaging.
Apparently AB has just defined a new style – the “American Ale”! I doubt that BA or the BJCP will agree, and this seems well suited to the American Red/Amber category. It doesn’t matter to me (because I am not American), but I would think that idea that AB is constantly attempting to monopolize the “patriotic” or “American” angle in its marketing might piss off the Americans amongst you – any thoughts out there on that?
Anyway, on to the beer. Decent copper color and good clarity. Head is decent at first but does fade. Some spotty froth but no lace. Carbonation seems lacking to me.
Malty nose with a touch of hop presence but very little.
Taste has some dry character and bitterness, but it seems thin and somewhat artificial. Almost has a plastic taste mixed in there too. The finish is quite harsh with a coinage metallic nature.
I dunno, MUCH better than many things that AB puts out, but I am confused as to why they cannot grab the bull by the horns and produce a really great beer. I guess that serious beers are just not part of the buying profile of their customer demographic. Like so many American icons it’s all about marketing, the market share and the $ for these guys.
**EDIT**
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Following this thread; http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/1567156#1568258
I wanted to say this;
Just to clarify, what I was saying in the review was NOT that Americans might get upset about the use of *word* “American” (as Todd pointed out, loads of American brewers do that, AND it seems reasonable), rather that Americans might be upset about the fact that AB/Bud seem to be hanging an increasing amount of their identity on being *THE* American beer; almost as if they are hijacking patriotism/the USA and associating those things with their product and their product ALONE. It seems to me that is what they are doing (by implying that other BMC products are somehow less American).
My point was, does that piss you (Americans) off? If the shoe were on the other foot it would piss me off.
I guess if you disagree with my analysis of the situation as a whole, then the question is a moot one.