# What is the worst beer you've ever had? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [August 2, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678 "2014-08-02T21:48:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/61 "2014-08-03T23:42:22Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Both taste a lot better out of can or keg, since they’ve been shipped in a much more protective container. Speaking of which… SA Boston Lager in the can tastes much better than in the bottle, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/62 "2014-08-04T00:07:57Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Cave Creek Chili Beer. I just Googled it and was astonished to find that it still exists for sale. We have a winner. I had one of those many years ago and the painful memory is forever burned into my brain. That stuff isn’t just bad, it is damned near completely undrinkable. I love really hot things but the flavor combinations (if you can call it that) in Cave Creek Chili Beer just do not work. The best use I can think of for it is treating hard-core alcoholics. You just lock them in a room with nothing but a fridge full of Cave Creek Chili Beer and some food. I have never seen anyone that was able to drink more than one in a sitting no matter how hard they tried so getting drunk from it is never an issue. You can develop a true taste aversion to it very quickly as well because it makes you feel like you have a terrible case of heartburn as well as a nasty taste in your mouth. If you want to go to a bar without actually drinking, order one of those because you can have one in your hand for hours without being tempted to take a second swig. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/63 "2014-08-04T02:39:36Z")
In Japan I made the mistake of ordering an Asahi Super Dry. Just awful. Beer Advocate gives it a 64% approval and that’s generous. ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/64 "2014-08-04T05:05:26Z")
I find any hefeweizen utterly undrinkable. Something about the mouth-feel and taste makes me gag like it was a mouthful of slime. Excepting those, the worst ever was a micro-brew from a brew pub in Troy, NY. Some god-awful hickory smoke beer that tasted like I was walking thru a burned out building filled with melted plastics. The worst “mass market” brew? Carling’s Black Label. Horrid stuff. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/65 "2014-08-04T18:49:42Z")
Moosehead. With Hoegarden (or however you spell it) a close second. Moosehead tastes like skunk sweat. Awful awful stuff. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/66 "2014-08-04T18:58:54Z")
Tennant’s Lager for me - I’m not a lager man anyway (CAMRA member) but folk bring it when we have a BBQ and if there is nothing else left in the house I have been known to open a can. Horrible chemical muck. There are many other nasty lagers out there but this is the worse for me. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/67 "2014-08-04T19:06:57Z")
In Los Angeles, in the 70s, we had “ **Brew 102** ”. Unimaginably bad, cheaper than the rest by far, “beer”. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/68 "2014-08-05T19:35:38Z")
Piels (“Genuine Draft” I think). A case of 16 oz returnables was something like $8. Late 70s. We were under age, couldn’t finish it and poured it out so we could take back the empties to trade in on Genesee Cream Ale. What a waste of eight bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/69 "2014-08-05T21:40:42Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Heineken. For years I kept thinking I was continually getting old, skunked Heinekens, then one day I realized that’s just what it tastes like. > ! Ha! I was wondering that too. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/70 "2014-08-05T22:09:02Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > Ha! I was wondering that too. Me three! ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/71 "2014-08-05T23:48:23Z")
In Weisbaden, Germany, in about 1986, I was taken by several German colleagues to an “Irish Pub” to sample various beers. They insisted I try this beer that was heavily perfumed, and was absolutely disgusting (not to say stinking.) Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/72 "2014-08-06T00:06:53Z")
In the 60s, we had Olde Frothingslosh - marketed as The Pale Stale Ale with the foam on the bottom. (It was usually Iron City with an upside down label) ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/73 "2014-08-06T00:40:16Z")
The barleywine from that one microbrew that uses Ralph Steadman art and dog puns. It was the first barleywine I ever had, and I found it undrinkable. Wound up drinking one or two bottles from a six back, trying to cook with one or two more, and giving the rest away. I’ve since had a couple barleywines I found drinkable if not particularly to my taste; if I ever see that stuff on a mix-and-match rack I might give it another shot. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/74 "2014-08-06T01:14:33Z")
> [@Yossarian](#): > > Lexington, Kentucky, has a really great burgeoning craft brew scene: West 6th, Blue Stallion, and especially Country Boy all make great beers. However… once a year for the past two years West 6th and Country Boy team up to brew a collaborative beer–“Country Western.” This year’s Country/Western was simply horrible. It was allegedly a Brown Ale, but it poured like a stout and tasted like shit. To keep it as “Kentucky” as possible, they included quite a bit of sorghum in the mash bill and aged it in bourbon barrels. The result was cloying and treacly and just nasty–as though it was brewed by a homebrewer with no restraint who was trying to make the biggest beer possible on his second attempt out of every malt [morebeer.com](http://morebeer.com) sells. Nah, you just ain’t got no taste buds. This year’s CW was magnificent. We still have a couple of 4 packs in the pantry that I’m saving for a special occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Vashbul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Vashbul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vashbul)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/75 "2014-08-06T01:38:22Z")
There was this beer from France in the 90s. It came in a wedge-shaped bottle, and its slogan was “the beer for lovers” (la biere des amants, something like that). Forget the name. It tasted like licorice, probably not the worst beer I ever had, but certainly the strangest. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/76 "2014-08-06T01:58:08Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > The barleywine from that one microbrew that uses Ralph Steadman art and dog puns. It was the first barleywine I ever had, and I found it undrinkable. Wound up drinking one or two bottles from a six back, trying to cook with one or two more, and giving the rest away… De gustibus, but I’ve liked Flying Dog’s barleywine in the past. I love reading the truly exotic choices, like Chefguy’s, but I’m going to have to +5 the Cave Creek Chili beer. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/77 "2014-08-06T03:01:27Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Heineken. For years I kept thinking I was continually getting old, skunked Heinekens, then one day I realized that’s just what it tastes like. Actually it doesn’t. Neither does Corona. The biggest problem is that both are packaged in green/clear bottles and then since they’re imported, they don’t move as fast as other beers packaged similarly, so they get skunked by the fluorescent lights in the cooler. Heineken in the Netherlands and Corona in Mexico are actually decent, if not spectacular beers. We were totally shocked to find that Corona was actually not bad at all, if you like light lagers when you get it on tap and in a city where there’s a Grupo Modelo brewery (we were in Puerto Vallarta). A lot of the examples in this thread are really due to age and poor handling, not necessarily examples of beers that went into the bottle bad. As a side note, I did a bit of a test on my honeymoon. I had Pilsner Urquell and Staropramen in Prague, which in PU’s case, is about 20 miles from home, and in Staropramen’s case, my hotel was about 1/2 mile from the brewery. Then I proceeded to try them on tap in Vienna, Budapest and London, as well as back here in the States. At each remove, the beer was more sharply bitter and lost more of the rounded maltiness that really makes them both delights to drink in the Czech Republic. A less rigorous study was to have some Belgian beers in Belgium and then compare them to their counterparts in the US; they do suffer a little after being shipped and stored. Same thing for British ales and even Italian Peroni and Moretti. I can’t help but imagine that something similar happens to other beers, especially when bottled in inadequate bottles and kept in indifferent conditions. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/78 "2014-08-06T04:08:10Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I had Pilsner Urquell and Staropramen in Prague, which in PU’s case, is about 20 miles from home, and in Staropramen’s case, my hotel was about 1/2 mile from the brewery. Then I proceeded to try them on tap in Vienna, Budapest and London, as well as back here in the States. At each remove, the beer was more sharply bitter and lost more of the rounded maltiness that really makes them both delights to drink in the Czech Republic. That’s exactly how I would describe the flavor change of PU as you get away from the Czech Republic. I lived in Budapest for a number of years, and PU was still pretty palatable there. Not as good as in the Czech Republic, but still a solid beer, with a nice, “chewy” maltiness to it, topped off with some bitter hops. Here in the US, I’ll buy it from time to time, and, even in cans, it has _none_ of the maltiness I remember the Eastern/Central European versions of it had. The bottles are even worse, being prone to skunking. It’s just such a different beer here. While I knew that beer is affected by travel, I never really realized just how different the product can be when imported. I used to think that people talking about having Guinness in Ireland or PU in Czech Republic and how different it was were exaggerating and/or having their taste memories clouded by their fond memories of travel, but, at least for some beers, it really isn’t the case. They’re just _that_ different. I’d say Heineken is the same. I was getting some fish and chips in the Netherlands, and wanted a beer to go with it, and all they had was bottles of Heineken. I half-heartedly ordered it (it came [in a brown bottle](http://pikchur.com/Dez), at least it did in 2000), took a sip, and had to do a double take at the label to make sure it really was a regular Heineken I was drinking. It was. While it didn’t blow my socks off, it was a solid, drinkable beer, unlike the Heineken I have in the US. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/79 "2014-08-06T04:11:40Z")
First time I drank XXXX was because there was a brewery strike in Victoria and I was convinced that the joke was true - the beer is called XXXX because Queenslanders can’t spell SHIT. But after trying it in Qld I’m prepared to concede the batch I got was travel sick. So such luck though for Sth Australian beers. West End is utterly vile stuff. Horrible. Southwark is worse. Southwark is made, according to legend, by carbonating the urine of a horse forced to drink west end. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678/80 "2014-08-06T05:12:54Z")
“Olympia” is still around, but many of these regional brands are made by national companies, and aren’t necessarily the same. It was fine, for a cheap beer. I think I had it New Year’s Eve, maybe 2011. Hopefully the “water” is the same. In the “not horrible, but horribly overrated and I’ll take one only if free” category: Heineken and Corona. I would buy the skunk claim if other clear/green bottles tasted bad, or if other beers from the same country/distance were equally bad. They taste the same in a keg. Stella Artois is similarly overrated and overpriced. I don’t have much malt liquor experience, but Mickey’s is palatable. Olde English is not. I am willing to give this a pass, as I judged before learning more about IPAs: Lost Coast Indica left a bad taste. In the spoiled category: I also discovered a Unibroue flavor completely unknown to me… that was because they retired it years previous and it was an old, old bottle. Muddy tasting. And that’s a beer meant for aging. A lot of people hate Samuel Adams’ Cranberry Lambic. Haven’t tried it. I know I would hate Bud’s Chelada and similar. I don’t like tomato juice by itself, let alone with beer! And clam is right out. But I understand I’m not the target audience. also, jalapeno beer is fine to try, but I wouldn’t drink more than a sip. > [@SykoSkotty](#): > > Moosehead. Sorry, Canada. Your beer isn’t better than the US, and Molson is pretty much Bud. But Moosehead is pretty good (unique) for a cheap beer. > [@SykoSkotty](#): > > With Hoegarden (or however you spell it) a close second. Pistols at dawn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-beer-youve-ever-had/694678.md?page=5)