That Old Michi is Back

[Gillman]

Anheuser-Busch has reformulated and relaunched Michelob.

Since the late 1950's, even regular Michelob has been an adjunct beer, 80% malt 20% rice (per Michael Jackson writing about 20 years ago). It was introduced as a premium, draught-only beer in 1896. From then until about 1958 it was all-malt. Then came the change (about the time it was put into bottles).

A/B has returned to an all-malt formulation for the regular Michelob, and even Michelob Light. (I am not sure about the others in the line like Ultra).

Also, A/B is bringing back the shaped "space age" bottle although it is an updated, slimmer-looking design.

About 10 years ago I wrote A/B and suggested they return to all-malt. I received a nice reply, telling me the rice they used was expensive (not a cheap adjunct) and contribubted to the crisp taste of the beer and no change was planned.

10 years later, with stagnant or falling sales of the traditional mass-market U.S. brands, A/B is doing something to upgrade the beer and return it to tradition.

I'd be interested in taste notes from people especially the homebrewers.

I always found Michelob had a characteristic taste that was rich and "eggy-like" and all-malt it is probably very good: Lew Bryson says so and I respect Lew's opinion (see www.lewbryson.com).

Sure, it won't be (as Lew said) a substitute for a highly individualistic craft beer but it sounds like it is very good on its own terms. I like fine craft beer with the rest of them but there is a place for a quality mass-produced product and it sounds like Old Michi, restored, may fit the bill.

Now, if A/B can just stay independent (recent news stories has it talking possible merger with InBev)!

Gary

[Joeluka]

Gary go to BeerAdvocate.com and you will find out everything you need about AB and what "Beer Geeks" think of all their brews. That site has thousands of members and hundred's of reviews on most every beer. Their forum also has a wealth of info on all these AB topics.

Just know that AB products are to them, what JBW and JD is to us.

[Gillman]

Hi Joe, thanks. I count myself as one of the geeks, having studied beer for some 30 years and avidly followed and encouraged the microbrew and import revolutions. I will take a look and factor in their views, but I'd be interested too in the views of people here who know beer, like Jeff Yeast and Jeff Renner. I have always had an admiration for the best commercial beers. I've had too many bad micro beers to doubt the validity of mass-market brewing at its best! Sure, there are lots of lousy mass-market beers: most of them are, in fact. But they don't have to be. In your own market, I like e.g. Ballantine XXX. It is better than 90% of the craft beers I sample from month to month.

Gary

[ratcheer]

So, is the all-malt new (old) formula Michelob generally available, now? If I know what I am getting, I will definitely try it.

Tim

[Gillman]

Tim, it is shipped from February 26. You will know it by the new tear-shape bottle. (It seems taller and slimmer than the original tear-shape design, but I'll take it. ).

It would be interesting to have a side-by-side with the current one in the stores.

Gary

[Grain Brain]

I'll give this a fair shake, even though I rarely revisit the macros.

[OscarV]

I remember Michelob back in the early 1970's. I always thought it tasted great, the aroma was a bit over-whelming, (in a good way) as I remember, but back then I was very price concious, so I stayed in the Budweiser price range. Back then they called them "super-premiums", and Michelob on drought was considered very special, with the taste to back it up.

Yeah, we are breaking next week with the new stuff.

[smokinjoe]

I remember the day when I wanted that "special" beer, I sprung for the Michelob. But, I haven't had it in years. I always liked the funky bottle back then. Being a big A/B fan, I look forward to trying the new Michelob again. Thanks for the update Gary.

Cheers,

JOE

[RoyalWater]

I like a dash of rice in my beer. I will be interested to see how discernible the new recipe is. I noticed a couple of days ago that the new advertising features the shaped bottles. Hopefully the Michelob comes out better than A/B Rolling Rock, which though supposedly Latrobe recipe is not good.

[Gillman]

Well, even the current Michelob is very good when very fresh. I brought some to the whiskey tasting at Bettye Jo's last year, packaged not more than 3 weeks before. They were gobbled up in short order.

Gary

[cowdery]

The term "adjunct beer" is one of those terms that seems innocent enough but is really value-loaded. When a Scot calls bourbon "adjunct whiskey," his attitude is not neutral. I suppose both are legitimate points-of-view, based on the traditional preeminence of malted barley, and sometimes said for a direct, protectionist purpose, but otherwise it is plainly retrograde, ultimately pointless, and often said for no reason other than sneering snobbery.

[Gillman]

Some classic Belgian beers use sugars (a form of adjunct) and other substitutes for malt; Guinness uses unmalted barley, and so forth. A beer can be made to a high standard and use adjunct, but in general, the finest results (and I can only speak for me) avoid its use or keep it to a minimal level. What A/B is doing for Michelob is similar to a decision Heineken made 10-15 years ago for its beer, and most people felt at the time (that I knew in beer circles) that all-malt Heineken was better than the adjunct version that came before. In fact, I believe Heineken's amazing endurance as one of the leading beers in the world is due to that decision; A/B should have done similar year ago but it didn't, in my view because it did not understand the implications of the craft beer movement. This is ironic since Michelob was originally an all-malt beer and probably was very good in 1896. I am not sure about Budweiser. America brewers turned to adjunct early because it helped avoid turbidity problems (due to high protein levels in American malting barleys), but I think its effect on palate, when used in more than minimal quantities, is undoubted.

I think the new Michelob will do well, but unfortunately A/B de-emphasised regular Michelob for years in favour of Michelob Light, so it may take some time for Michelob to grow in sales, but I think it will. Even a Light all-malt beer has tremendous potential, and the mass-market palate for Light Beer is probably here to stay.

Gary

[Gillman]

Lew Bryson's review of the new Michelob and Michelo Light is actually at www.lewbryson.blogspot.com. See his entries for February 8 and 10.

Gary

[Jazzhead]

I love American-style beer. I appreciate all the various styles that have been revived by the microbrewing revolution, but in the end I drink American-style "adjunct beer" most of the time. It's crisp and has that thirst-quenching "drinkability" just like AB says. My go-to brands are Yuenglings and Straubs.

Now, I haven't had AB products much in recent years, and like many I remember "Mick" as the beer of choice back in the day when the goal was to throw a "classy" party. So, yeah, I'll give it a try again. All-malt Mick? Cool.

[TBoner]

To me the problem with most adjunct beers isn't the adjuncts themselves. It's the fact that most brewers use adjuncts in ever-increasing quantities, thus depleting the level of actual malt flavor in their beers. It doesn't have to happen, but it does. Additionally, to balance the lack of malt flavor, these adjunct brewers generally reduce hop levels to the point where there is really a complete elimination of any flavor profile beyond a neutral lager yeast and a vaguely grainy, quenching wateriness.

Try a PBR next to a Bud or a MGD and you'll taste the difference. The MGD is a better comparison, as Bud uses rice and the other two use corn. Regardless, both Bud and MGD have less hop character and less maltiness than PBR. I rarely drink macros, but when I do, I always go w/PBR at $6.49/12pk.

Yes, there are world-class beers, including several Belgians and many British ales, that use adjuncts. But most of them aren't American. If you want to taste a very quenching, yet eminently flavorful, beer that uses adjuncts, check out a Belgian saison such as Saison Dupont or Foret. This style was created to be a quenching beverage for seasonal laborers, yet it is one of the most unique, delicious, and flavorful beer styles in the world.

All that said, I'll try the new Michelob. But if the hop profile isn't a bit improved over the current product, I may not buy a second sixer.

[craigthom]

It's interesting that you mention PBR. I haven't had any lately, but I hope it's the same old recipe.

I toured the brewery before it closed, back in 1990, and I was surprised at how much of a hop nose the beer had in the tasting room.

[CrispyCritter]

I think the new Michelob will do well, but unfortunately A/B de-emphasised regular Michelob for years in favour of Michelob Light, so it may take some time for Michelob to grow in sales, but I think it will.

I've always preferred Michelob to Budweiser [1], but Michelob Light seems to be a regional thing - I remember drinking it in Michigan, for instance, but when I wanted one in a hometown bar, the bartender looked at me like I was from Mars, even though standard Michelob was readily available.

[1] Budweiser always struck me as being too bitter - ironic, given my liking of bitters in cocktails.

[ratcheer]

Dang, most people in the US claim that beer is not bitter enough, which is what they are saying when they say they want more hops.

Tim

[SBOmarc]

Good friends of mine attended the Nissan LA open golf tourney this weekend and heavily sampled the new Mich on tap. AB took this opportunity to promo it to a large group and had all kinds of SWAG to give away.

Reports on the beer were mostly favorable, but these were loyal AB folks. I will taste it when I see it.

[gr8erdane]

I look forward to trying the new Michelob with fond memories. When all there was in it's category was the original Michelob, it was head and shoulders above anything else AB put out. Then in the late 70s came the Light version which was still better than most but didn't have the rich taste of the original. The problem I had was when they came out with Michelob Ultra which was pretty much the worst beer I've ever tasted from AB and that is saying something. When the Ultra took over as the big seller because of its caloric count, the original Michelob really lost its appeal to me. The taste wasn't there and I thought it was my changing physiology more than a change in the beer itself and I really longed to rekindle that old taste I remembered from back in the 70s. Now this, to me, is wonderful news. I live in an area with wonderful microbreweries, but there are times when I don't want a hopped up beer. Michelob as I nostalgize about it would be a welcome fit into that time.

[cowdery]

Okay, taste memory, what did Michelob taste like 35 years ago? ---- processing ---- I remember it being fuller and richer than Bud and other beers, and not as sharp. Malty. That's it. I remember it was malty.

[gr8erdane]

Actually my most lasting memory of Michelob would make me agree with malty. It was 1978 or 1979 and my Mizzou Tigers were playing LSU in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. After the game (which we won) my Dad, sister and I went downtown to my favorite Memphis restaurant, The Rendezvous, for ribs. Dry rubbed ribs, crocks of baked beans and short pitchers of Michelob on draught. Life was so much simpler back then. Of course the pitchers kept coming and Dad and I slept it off while my sister drove us home that night. Anyway, the Michelob of those days was a perfect companion to the best ribs I've ever had due to it's creamy malt flavor.

[TnSquire]

The Rendezvous, for ribs. Dry rubbed ribs, crocks of baked beans and short pitchers of Michelob on draught. .

Dane,

I could not think of a better way to try the new Michelob. I will be in Memphis in the next couple of weeks and hopefully they will have it!

[ratcheer]

I just picked up a six-pack and am on my second one, now. It is quite tasty, certainly much better than the last Michelob I remember having. It has a beautiful hop aroma and is fairly bitter, but the taste is still very clean and crisp. I like it!

The "born on" date on my samples is Jan 4, so it is still pretty fresh, but maybe a little less so than I would prefer. I was hoping for something closer to Feb 4. But it is definitely the new stuff, with the neck ring proclaiming, "A Classic All-Malt Lager".

Tim

[Gillman]

Good report Tim, thanks!

Gary