Ok, people, you may be wondering why in the heck I’m drinking a Bud Light. Isn’t regular old Bud light enough as it is for somebody who usually drinks beers that are rated 10W40? Well, that may be true. But not too long ago a guest left a few cans of Bud Light at the house, and I thought I would weigh in with my opinion on it just for fun.

Now, as a warning, this may not be pretty, so those of you with weaker constitutions may want to leave the room. Actually, I had been thinking about Bud Light recently anyway. There’s a huge billboard on Interstate 75 that I drive by now and then admonishing Miller Lite drinkers for their choice in beers, and suggesting that since all light beers are low in carbs, one should “Choose on taste”.

I am not convinced of the wisdom of suggesting your customers choose their beer on taste when you’re trying to hawk light beer. If you are choosing solely on taste, there are much better beers in my opinion than Bud Light. If you are choosing a light beer on taste, then I suggest Sam Adams Light. It’s always a good decision, or at least that’s what they tell me. It does have a lot more flavor than your average light brew.

Bud and Miller have a war going on, if you haven’t already figured that out. Miller Lite is really that brewery’s flagship brew, and Bud Light is its biggest competitor. I seem to recall Bud Light surpassing Miller’s version in sales at some point in the past. But for the average consumer, what’s the difference?

At this point I must offer my obligatory light beer rant. I really don’t see the point of drinking the stuff, since almost invariably you’ll end up drinking more of them and defeating the whole point of the exercise anyway. These beers have a lower alcohol content, too, another reason you may end up drinking more of them.

Bud Light has 107 calories per 12 ounce serving, while Miller Lite has 97. But the average beer only has about 150, so the savings aren’t huge if you’re only drinking a couple. Still, Miller wins out in the calories department. It has less carbs, too; 3.2g to Bud Light’s 6.6g.

But how does Bud Light taste? Well, the beer pours to a pale golden yellow color and forms a thick spritzy head on a gentle pour. There are faint notes of light crisp malt in the nose. In the palate, there’s a bit more of the crisp malt the nose promised along with a faint hint of rice. Seems they toned the adjuncts down, understandably, to keep them from predominating.

The rice does become more apparent in the finish, however. The beer has a somewhat watery character to it, but that of course is less apparent when you drink ice cold. I did not. The wateriness extends into the finish, where you will not find hops, no matter how hard you look. Thus the slightly sweet finish.

I find this Bud Light about average as light beers go. I think I prefer Miller Lite, though. It has more flavor in my opinion. Relatively speaking, of course. And less carbs and calories, too. But then, given a choice, I’d take a Victory Prima Pils over either one of them, so you know where I stand. My advice: drink better beer, and fewer of them.


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