The American Ale

The newest addition to the Budweiser line touts itself as a beer that "defines a new style of ale--the American Ale." It makes this claim right on the bottle in very old fashioned script. This kind of claim makes the social scientist in me giddy. After reading this, and even before I took my first sip, I knew that I would be drinking this in an attempt to discover just what exactly is so American about it.

I've had a lot of ales in my time. Ale is actually one of my favorite types of beer, just behind its cousins the stout and the porter. I love the sweetness that comes with a good ale. It has this old-world feel to it. I guess this is because its so different than your average domestic beer. The beers that most people start their beer drinking careers off with are Miller, Bud, Coors, Busch, etc. The standard forms of these beers are all basically the same. They are golden lagers, light, a little bitter, and very easy to drink.

So I picked up a 6 pack of Bud's American Ale while on a curious streak. I wanted to see what an Ale made by Bud tasted like. I wondered if maybe it was one of the few domestic gems that are on the market. Amber Bock by Michelob is the leader in this category. Not being a huge fan of the Budweiser brand, I wasn't optimistic, but I still decided to give it a chance.

Upon pouring, you realize that the American Ale is quite a bit darker than Bud Heavy. It has a dark amber color, but is still clear. The head is tan colored and a bit thicker than Bud, but still light enough to dissipate after a minute or two.

The taste is definitely reminiscent of Amber Bock. I have to declare this as Bud's attempt to snatch away a bit of the Amber Bock market. But despite being reactionary, I found American Ale to be enjoyable. It's slightly sweet, without a trace of bitterness, and a clean finish. You also get a hint of malt to match the color of the beer.

The weight of the beer is very similar to Bud Heavy, making it very drinkable without being overly watery.

I'm down to one left in the 6 pack and I have to say that I like the American Ale. It's not outstanding in any way, but its not bad either. I was still having trouble, though, figuring out how this particular beer set out to define itself as distinctly American, and therefore defining what American beer is as a whole.

I found nothing remarkable about American Ale. It was cheap. It was easy to drink. It tasted good. But there was nothing interesting about it. Well all of this was nothing shocking, it was, after all, an American beer. Herein I found my definition.

American beer is not about the beer. American beer is about drinking. We like to drink and we don't want an overly complex beer getting in the way of this. Could we really drink 6 Guinness (aside from St. Patrick's Day)? Could we down 10 pints of Franziskaner Wheat Beer? Well yeah, of course, but how comfortable would we be with that?

Drinking massive amounts of American Ale, though, would not be a problem, just as drinking the same amount of any standard domestic beer is nothing out of the ordinary.

All in all, American Ale is not a bad beer. I scorn not its simplicity. I would probably recommend it to Bud people who are looking to try something a little different, though I still think that Amber Bock is a better beer for the same price. American Ale is definitely worth trying if you are in the mood for something American, but want a beer with a little more taste than your average American fare.