The OP contrasted “for the flavor” with “for getting drunk.” S/he didn’t insist on “strong flavor.” Light flavor is a valid kind of flavor.
-FrL-
Check
Check
Preach it. More hops /= better beer. Some of those massively hoppy beers are just vile and it seems to me they use the extra hops to mask the flavor of spoiled beer.
You’re hearing what you want to hear there buddy.
The OP precisely said:
Nowhere within any of his/her statements was a goal of seeking out “strong flavors” mentioned. The OP merely asked how heat and light would effect the flavor of their beer. Being that American-style lagers (of which Corona is one) are so subtly flavored, this is of special concern.
You simply took the request for knowledge as an invitation to bash macro-brewed beer.
You seem to mistake “flavor” and “strong flavor” as synonyms. Much like the laughable Miller Lite campaign of it having “more flavor”, which the overt avoidance of the question of better flavor.
No one is going to make the case that American-style lagers, or Czech and German pilsners for that matter, are boldly flavored. That however doesn’t mean they are bad.
To be fair, my point was that it’s considered locally to be a pedestrian beer. In contrast with US and English markets where it is considered to be a ultra-premium beer.
Personally I find it repulsive, though I have an aversion to those styles. European-style pilsners do not import particularly well, and the ones which are popular here are in my opinion the weaker examples of the styles.
I imagine that it’s probably fine from a quality standpoint, InBev is one of the largest and most advanced brewers in the world and there’s no reason to suspect that their products are inferior. I’m not that familiar with their processes.
If you like it, have at it. My advice would be to just be aware that you are paying a premium for an imported brand with a lot of marketing. The most frustrating thing is that people herald Stella as a elite beer simply because it comes from the beer crazy Belguim, neglecting the fact that it’s the economy brand there. It’s almost as if a Belgian were to get sold a Big Mac as if it were haute-cuisine.
Name one macro-brew designed to be “subtly-flavored.” Marco-brews taste the way they do as a result of years of devolution to the lowest, cheapest common denominator. Not one of them was designed to “highlight the subtle flavors of the malt.” Compare Budweiser to Pilsner Urquell sometime. Hell, compare it to Bitberger or some other mass-produced European lager. They have subtle flavors, intentionally. BudMillerCoors has them only by default.
There is nothing wrong with Stella, its just not got much taste. That, and the high-ish alcohol content, makes it a popular mass market pint in the UK. I like it, but tend to avoid it unless I don’t mind getting bolloxed.
Excellent post on the, er, ‘subtle’ flavours of mass-produced American beer by Omniscient. It should not be ignored. Nonetheless, Silenus is giving sage advice, the OP should establish some dynamic range of beer flavour on the palate if he is looking to see what bevvying is all about. The megabrew flavours are so light and clustered together on the beer spectrum that some branching out is in order.
Strawman much?
Budweiser intentionally created a lightly flavored beer to appeal to the post-prohibition audience. It worked. The ingredients for Budweiser are no cheaper than any other. Rice prices are currently higher than barley prices in the US, so one could argue that Budweiser is more expensive than some of the brands you mention.
I see no distinction between Budweiser’s decision to brew a light pale lager from Bittberger choice to do so. Each was a conscious choice made to appeal to consumers and be profitable.
Your insistence to lump the three major American brewers into one group only points to your arrogance. Each beer, while similar in style, are very different products. More different than 2 competing German and Czech beers in fact in that they use completely different ingredient lists.
Although temperature changes aren’t good for flavor, exposure to light is the real culprit behind skunky beer. Clear and green glass don’t block the light as well as brown glass, so keep your Coronas and Heinekens out fo the sun.
Learn a little about brewing, Omni. The ingredients for Bud may cost the same, but they use way less of them per barrel than European breweries. That’s the point. Budweiser got lighter and lighter over the years because women were doing the shopping and prefered a lighter tasting brew, and because they discovered that people had gotten used to the watered down versions of the beer during WW2. The natural trend of any business is to maximise profit, so the beer got lighter and lighter until it reached the level it has today, which prompted the backlash and rise of craft brewing. Which, btw, the megabrewers immediately tried to imitate, with little success. The overwhelming majority of the beer produced by the megas to cash in on what the micros were brewing was swill, and vanished rather quickly.
BudMillerCoors is just a shorthand way of refering to the megas. I may be arrogant (I’m not likely to deny that charge!) but the use of that term isn’t your best example.
Agreed. Diversity in tastes and palate is a noble goal. One should avoid gross generalizations always.
It depends on who’s keeping it on draft; I’ve definitely had some bad pulls of Guinness, and the professionals say that keeping the lines nice and clean is paramount for serving Guinness. Out of the can the draught is consistantly good (though not sublime), but I actually prefer Murphy’s Irish Stout.
Frylock, Stella always tastes skunked to me, though I’m assured that this is just it’s natural taste. Does this mean it’s a bad beer and you should turn your nose up at it? Not if you like and enjoy it. Just order me a Sierra Nevada Pale, and I’ll return the complement on the next round.
I’m not going to delve into the beer snob/anti-snob discussion except to note that the American “megabrews” are specifically designed for consistancy the same way McDonald’s makes all of their hambugers taste the same by injecting artificial flavoring into them, the result being that they’re neither bad, nor especially memorable; your basic indifferent golden lager with an overabundance of carbonation, produced inexpensively from a mash with a high proportion of corn or rice, designed to be served cold and drank fast. This doesn’t make microbrews and imports inherently superior–indeed, there are many lousy examples of both–but there’s a much wider and more complex variety of flavors in imports and micros than you could ever imagine from drinking the big brand American lagers. I guess I’d rather sit and drink with silenus than Omniscient, as I can’t think of much I’d have to discuss with the latter.
Oh, and Coors sucks, regardless of general opinion of American-style lagers; that’s my official and single beer snob opinion. If you drink Coors, or worse yet, Coors light, I’ll point and laugh at you. Otherwise, grab your favorite brew and let’s play a few rounds of Hearts.
Stranger
:rolleyes:
Cite please? They are lightly hopped beers and therefore use less hops than a highly hopped IPA and a Czech-style pilsner. Every beer varies in it’s proportions of ingredients but your implication is that they are somehow less beer than others. Their alcohol content is on par with European lagers which necessarily implies a similar proportion of malt unless you are claiming they are somehow augmented with post-process alcohol. It sounds like you are trying to argue that using less hops makes it less of a beer. I suppose using less habanero makes for less of a chili too.
Another spurious claim. While every brewer’s recipe changes over time the claim that “women were buying it” is more than a little trite.
I find it comical that you seem to absolve European macro-brewers from the sins of the mass-market. Last I checked they were trying to make a profit and grow business too. Every beer’s recipe gets tweaked over time. I can’t fathom why you think only American beers have changed over the last century, and why you think those changes are necessarily for the worse. It’s certain that Stella, Bittberger, Heineken, Pislner Urquell, Warsteiner, Molson and Duvel have all tweaked their formulations over the years. Perhaps even lightened them (the horror!) as audiences changed. Craft beers are wonderful and they are indeed a response to the derth of variety in the American beer landscape. Micros have filled the market with a amazing range of styles and flavors, yet none have created a successful pale lager. They are just making different beers than what was previously available. I don’t see why you’d necessarily translate that as better beers. You don’t have to like them, but there’s no reason to turn your nose up at people who don’t have your obsession with aggressively flavored beers.
AFAIK, Miller is the only brewer that has been shown to use anything besides natural brewing ingredients in their process.
Nah, we’d get along just fine. I never said I wasn’t a big fan of complex beers. I happen to have a well placed connection to some of the best. 
The only thing more meaningless than arguing over beer is arguing over Art.
As opposed to arguing over a beer, whish is always fun and usually more meaningful.
A few of years ago, after many years of avoiding alcohol all together, I was at a party where the host offered me a glass of wine. I accepted, and sipped that one glass most of the evening. I really enjoyed it so few days later I picked up a bottle of that wine and had a glass or two of an evening. While I looking for the same wine at the store, the liquor dept. guy asked if he could help. They were out of the wine I was looking for and he suggested a different wine for me to try. Now, a few years later I have a few racks full of wines that I like, and will try in the future.
My new adventure with beer starts at Corona, but who knows where it will proceed.
Thanks all, for the suggestions.
I wasn’t aware that there was a distinction.
Best advice is to have one of each and go from there.
One? One? What are you, some kinda teetotaller? 
It’s advice for a beginner.
OK then…just one.
