Budweiser; Bud Light; Bud Ice; Bud Light Platinum

The famous and ubiquitous Budweiser and Bud Light  from Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis, Missouri.  Brewing since 1860, they are now owned by InBev, a Belgian company.

Budweiser - This 5.0% ABV beer pours a very pale golden in color with an inch of white foamy head that leaves light lacing down the glass.  The aroma is very light grain, some fresh cut apple, and just a hint of hops.  The taste is light grain and a touch of hop bitterness.  Mild flavor, but not off-putting in any way.  The mouthfeel is both smooth and carbonated at the same time.

Bud Light - Bud Light is the top selling beer in the United States.  I admit I am biased against Bud Light, it is everything that is wrong with beer and mob mentality.  So many people think beer begins and ends with Bud Light.  I have not tried it in a long time, but will give it a go here with as open a mind as possible.  The beer pours a very light golden with a small head of pure white and fizzy foam.  The aroma is very light grain, a touch of wet cardboard, and a slight apple fruitiness.  The taste is...the taste is...the taste is hard to discern, a tiny touch of grain and a lot of carbonation.  Its taste is like the watered down aftertaste of beer.  It is crisply refreshing with its carbonation, but it is entirely boring, almost entirely lacking in flavor.

 

 

Bud Ice - This 5.5% ABV beer pours a slightly pale golden in color with a small and very fizzy white head.  The aroma is wet cardboard and very light grain, a hint of both sweet and tart.  The taste is very light grain and straw, a hint of sweet and tart apple.  The aftertaste is like wet cardboard that was rubbed with old apples.  Not very good. (Oddly enough the Bud Ice website takes you to a Budweiser website, where if you press on the link for the "Bud Family" of beers, there is no Bud Ice shown.  Strange.) 2016 and trying it again: The beer pours a dark golden color, with a tall head of white foam.  They have improved the beer in appearance and head. The aroma is sour apples and wet cardboard, still bad in this area. The taste follows the aromas, adding in some grain mush, better than the aroma, not entirely unpleasant. The mouthfeel is both soft and smooth, yet intensely carbonated at the same time; an overall good mouthfeel. This is not great, but better than it was when I last tried it.

 

 

Bud Light Platinum - This 6.0% ABV beer (very high for a "light" beer) has 137 calories in a 12 ounce bottle. The beer pours a very pale yellow-golden in color, crystal clear and well carbonated. There is a quarter inch of white foamy head that dissipates quite rapidly. The aroma is sweet and fruity grain, like malt-o-meal with fruit syrup. There is a touch of grassy hops. The taste is sweet, light malty grain, a touch of fruit and grass. There is an almost taffy-like aftertaste. This is not something I would seek out. If I was going for the zone this beer sits in, I would rather split the difference and have Old Milwaukee ("lighter") or Olde English 800 (high alcohol with less sweetness and better flavor).