# What is the worst beer you ever tasted? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2000, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930 "2000-10-14T22:02:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/41 "2000-10-16T04:17:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Homer \* > \*\*Worst ever? Guiness stout. Vile, bitter shit. Couldn’t even drink it with pretzels. Urp. > > –Tim \*\* Yeah, Guiness is probably one of the worst. Sam Adams has to be the next worse beer. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/42 "2000-10-16T04:34:24Z")
While I haven’t tried Miller Lite or Coors Lite, I did sample Budweiser Light once. Just one sip. It nearly made me throw up. It was like the beer version of that awful poi, which is a starchy glob of vileness that can be found at Hawaiian luaus. I don’t know what Anhauser-Busch does to that beer to make it taste so bad, but it should be outlawed. What a terrible thing to do to beer. It tastes exactly how I might imagine horse urine to taste. And because of that experience with Bud Light, I have stayed away from the other cheap American beers. Not only on general principle, but out of respect for my taste buds. As for Sam Adams, I rather like it. But lately I have been drinking either Alaskan Amber or Full Sail. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@The\_Stranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stranger)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/43 "2000-10-16T05:28:33Z")
The American consensus is that Guiness stout is “vile, bitter shit”? If you all are referring to a bottled version, you may have a point. Go to an Irish pub, get it on tap, you may change your mind. All lite/light beers have a nasty aftertaste, but Amstel (sp?) was the worst I ever had. ---
**Author:** ![mega\_the\_roo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mega\_the\_roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mega_the_roo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/44 "2000-10-16T06:14:31Z")
Guiness. Pewey. ---
**Author:** ![theuglytruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@theuglytruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theuglytruth)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/45 "2000-10-16T06:15:17Z")
I’ll throw another into the mix: **Laker**. At the beer dist. it was a Canadien beer for only $9.99 a case. It should have sold for 99 CENTS a case. It tasted like carbonated horse piss, or at least what I would imagine carbonated horse piss to be. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/46 "2000-10-16T06:15:49Z")
I’m surprised noone has mentioned Sam Adam’s Cranberry Ale. Yow, that was one of the most bizarrely foul-tasting concoctions I ever tried. For non-novelty beers, I remember buying Lionshead when I was in college and thinking how great it was to find a beer that only cost $8 a case. After drinking about 5 bottles of it, however, I realized it tasted the same as our dorm’s tap water. That was when I learned to spend a little extra for the good stuff, and take the time to enjoy it. Oh, and FTR, I’m an American and I love Guiness Stout. And Sam Adams Ale. –sublight. ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/47 "2000-10-16T06:17:04Z")
What’s with all this apologizing? This is IMHO, isn’t it? This is where you opinionize. Now then. The worst I’ve had is Keystone light. I’ll take bitter beer, or any beer over this crap. I’ve never tasted piss, but I suspect Keystone light would be worse. Actually, I’m opposed to light beers in general, unless one uses them to chase shots, and even then I would avoid doing so unless there was no alternative. As for those slamming Guiness, I agree with the Stranger. You must get it on tap, preferably in a legit Irish establishment (they’re uncommon but not unheardof in the US). And while I enjoy a straight Guinness draught, I vastly prefer Black and Tans. When poured properly, a good black and tan can be a very soul affirming experience. ---
**Author:** ![APB9999](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB9999](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB9999)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/48 "2000-10-16T06:22:22Z")
Well I’m American, and I love Guiness. Anyone who doesn’t is probably criticising the style - dark, malty, highly roasted ales, rather than the brand because Guiness is a quality example of a beer of that type, at least in my experience. Most American breweries make very light, crisp, lagers (like Budweiser) which is at the opposite end of the spectrum and the type of beer that most Americans are consequently used to. I brew my own, and so far have had very good results. So much so that I hardly ever drink commercial brews anymore. I do visit some of the brewpubs around here and drink their stuff, though. Anyhow, there’s a beer and wine supply house in Northampton Massachusetts that carries lots of high quality ingredients, and that makes a very big difference in homebrew. Lots of times it is the novelty of doing it yourself that is being sold, not any hope of a drinkable final product, so you end up with foul crap if you don’t have a good supplier. Which brings me to the worst beer I’ve ever had. I lived in Boston recently, and oddly, I could not find a comparable store out there to the one in Northampton. At least, none near where I lived and worked. But I found a liquor store that claimed on the phone to have “beer making supplies”. What they actually turned out to have was a pre-assembled boxed kit from California (California! WTF? All the grain in the U.S. is grown BETWEEN here and there!). It was a recipe for, what else, a very VERY ordinary IPA. So I brewed it up. Yuck! And I’m not so inexperienced I didn’t know what I was doing, either. The ingredients were just crap that had been in that box probably since 1987. I’ll never work from a kit again. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/49 "2000-10-16T14:18:53Z")
Guiness? Miller Lite? These aren’t truly bad beers. You should try **Maccabe** -made from Dead Sea water. Keystone Light comes in second but I’d easily chug a can of it to get the taste of Maccabe out of my mouth. Blecch. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/50 "2000-10-16T19:26:52Z")
APB9999– I know the beermaking supply shop you’re talking about in Northampton. It’s right on Pleasant Street (good place name for a shop dedicated to a pleasant sort of hobby). I do know that when I was a student up in Vermont (Burlington area), there were at least two shops that sold “real” beermaking supplies, not just the boxed kits you mentioned. You could buy hops, malts, etc. Of course, this was 8-10 years ago, but I’m sure you could look up if it’s still there. At the time, the beer we made was absolutely wonderful–a flavorful stout (good because most of our beer-swilling friends wouldn’t touch it) and a fine amber ale. The best part was that we weren’t yet of legal age, but we could freely buy the supplies since it was just grain and such, until we cooked and fermented it, of course. Speaking of Northampton, there is a nice brewpub there; in fact it was one of the first in the country before the big surge of popularity of such places. Up until last year, they hosted a big Brewers’ Festival, which unfortunatley didn’t happen this year. ---
**Author:** ![Kaps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a87d85/32.png) [@Kaps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaps)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/51 "2000-10-17T03:59:39Z")
Referring to the OP, Colt .45 was the first beer I ever drank [except for the occasional sip on my father’s lap when I was a wee lass]. I remember it tasted like dirty water. I think it was that bottle of Colt .45 that turned me off drinking forever. ---
**Author:** ![APB9999](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB9999](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB9999)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/52 "2000-10-17T04:52:56Z")
Yes, I was in that pub last Saturday. They have some pretty good beer there. BTW, I was talking to the guys in that Pleasant Street supply house and they were telling me that brewing as a hobby has declined enormously in the past few years, and a lot of places that used to sell supplies are out of business. They blame the good economy; apparently brewing is something people like to do themselves when prices are high. Personally, I do it to get better and more interesting beer than is usually available otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/53 "2000-10-17T11:58:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by APB9999 \* > \*\*Yes, I was in that pub last Saturday. They have some pretty good beer there. > > BTW, I was talking to the guys in that Pleasant Street supply house and they were telling me that brewing as a hobby has declined enormously in the past few years, and a lot of places that used to sell supplies are out of business. They blame the good economy; apparently brewing is something people like to do themselves when prices are high. Personally, I do it to get better and more interesting beer than is usually available otherwise. \*\* That’s strange. I don’t think homebrewing is really something people do as an alternative to spending money on beer (after all, it takes what, a month or more to brew up a batch of beer?). More likely homebrewing experienced a brief fad period and now has moved back towards those who are really into it, as opposed to those who just tried it out when it was popular. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/54 "2000-10-17T17:12:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mojo \* > \*\*Guiness? Miller Lite? These aren’t truly bad beers. You should try **Maccabe** -made from Dead Sea water. Keystone Light comes in second but I’d easily chug a can of it to get the taste of Maccabe out of my mouth. Blecch. \*\* Yes yes yes! God, I’d blocked the horrid memory of this vile substance from my mind until I’d read your post. It tasted like perfume. I’m not a huge fan of either Guiness or Sam Adams, but it really surpirses me to find there are people who consider them the WORST beer out there… ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/55 "2000-10-17T18:39:46Z")
Over fifty posts and no one has mentioned Lucky Lager? Am I the only one who’s had the displeasure? I’m not sure if that crap was even carbonated. Couldn’t get enough of the cap puzzles though. And who can forget those big round bottles with no label on them. It looked (and tasted) like you were drinking some bathtub beer from prohibition. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/56 "2000-10-17T22:03:50Z")
IMO, the worst beer ever brewed – it makes Miller Lite taste like nectar – is Buckhorn Beer. I drank it only one time. I would sooner drink fermented horse piss than repeat the experience. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/57 "2000-10-17T22:26:43Z")
I like regular Sam Adams and most of their special seasonal brews (the cherry wheat one rocks), but I recently tried their October Fest brew, and it was horrible. I mentioned it in another thread - it’s actually malt liquor, and doesn’t taste any better than the cheapo brands like Magnum or Country Club. It also gave me a terrible hangover. ---
**Author:** ![conway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@conway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conway)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/58 "2000-10-17T22:39:54Z")
Bitburger…uck… ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/59 "2000-10-17T22:40:36Z")
East India Pale Ale. For some reason, the bottle I tried smelled and tasted like distilled skunk. ---
**Author:** ![Klaatu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Klaatu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaatu)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2000, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930/60 "2000-10-18T07:36:23Z")
Slight hijack, but one morning years ago, a work buddy woke me up wanting to borrow some tools. The first thing he asked was “you got any beer?” I didn’t, so as we were looking through this old box of crap I had, he spied a full can of Lone Star. Now I knew this can of beer had to be 2 or 3 yrs old, the can was corroded and covered with oil and shit. Well, he popped the top and drank it. Worst beer I ever had, even by proxy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-you-ever-tasted/36930.md?page=4)