Inexpensive Beer Week In Review

What a week in drinking beers that were all under $4 for a six pack. Most beers now are effectively $1.25-$1.50 each, as the average price for a sixer is about $7-$9 at your average grocery store. Factor in the recycling fees and the tax, you can add another $1 to that. If you're a heavy drinker, it could get expensive really quick.

If you're on a budget, you don't always have to sacrifice quantity for quality. Most of these beers are easily drinkable and likable, especially drinking these in the summer where you don't really need a full bodied and full flavored beer. Although I don't recommend drinking too much beer on a hot day, as all you'll do is dehydrate yourself even faster and get a headache, but when it's hot outside, nothing feels better than to sit there and grab a few to pound away.

Some of these really surprised me, while others I knew all along is something I should've just passed on. The one beer I really enjoyed and was a big surprise was the Trader Joe's Trader Jose Dark Lager. I don't think that would be more than $5 on average, however it sucks for people who don't live near a Trader Joe's market.

If given the choice to pick my best beer out of the ones I went over that could be found everywhere, it would have to be the Pabst Blue Ribbon in a bottle. It's inexpensive and easily drinkable. It goes well with BBQ foods and cleanses the palate after biting into that greasy rib. The Schlitz classic beer is a very close runner up, but my understanding is the Schlitz that is available at most stores is currently the Schlitz malt liquors, and not the classic lagers. They are still rolling them out to different markets. So until that is widely available, it's going to have to sit second to PBR bottles.

For $0.50 a can, two quarter coins here, you really can't beat Simpler Times for both taste and affordability. I can enjoy those whenever I want as I have a few Trader Joe's around me. That my inexpensive beer for summer drinking!

Next week, I'm going to cover the various types of uncommon meat you can buy like wild game and farm raised exotics. No chicken, beef or pork!

If you need a recap:

Red Oval Classic

Simpler Times Pilsner

Pabst Blue Ribbon bottles

Schlitz Classic Beer

Keystone Light

Trader Jose Dark Lager

Inexpensive Beer Week - Schlitz Beer

I've never really ever paid attention to this beer and never thought much about it. I don't really ever remember seeing this in the grocery store, although I think I've seen this in the corner liquor stores a few times. Unfortunately I don't have a bottle or can in hand right now to drink and write about it, so I'm going to have to go on memory on this. Luckily I don't have to remember too far as it was only 2 weeks ago I got a pint during happy hour.

I go up to the guy at the bar and was about to order my go to beer, Fat Tire amber ale. John who was with me points out excitedly that they had Schlitz on tap! "Dude, try the Schlitz with me!"

What? What shit you want me to try?

"No you dumbass, I said Schlitz! They have Schlitz beer on tap. Here, I'll buy the first round."

How can I say "no" right? The bartender puts the overflowing beer in front of us and silly me, I drink it right away with lots of foam. Uggh! The initial taste wasn't anything strong that stood out immediately. It was like a clean, "old" style beer. I noticed what I thought was a corn flavor with some nice detectable hops. The corn wasn't strong like how a Corona beer is. I wasn't really trying to taste the beer, but rather just drink it since we were at happy hour. The foam went down relatively quickly in my glass and I drank it again. It's an easy drinking beer that goes down smoothly with a slightly refreshing taste. I drank the rest of it slowly and with the warm room, when I got to the bottom of the glass most of the carbonation fizzled already and lost the crispness. My fault really for letting it sit so long.

John started mentioning when he use to pick up a few cases of these, they were really inexpensive to get. He and his brothers would grab these on the way to hang out at the lake, throw them out to people and make new friends. Since the beers were so affordable, he never really thought much about handing them out to strangers.

I didn't realize Schlitz was that inexpensive. For the refreshingly simple American beer taste, I can see myself buying this again when I see it in the stores. Like their logo states: The beer that make Milwaukee famous.

Schlitz Beer

Inexpensive Beer Week - Simpler Times Pilsner

image from flickr.com/photos/bitchcakes

Here's another Trader Joe's beer that is brewed by the Minhas Craft Brewery, called Simpler Times. The same company that makes Red Oval Beer that I covered yesterday. The beer comes in both a pilsner and lager. The one I'm drinking today is the pilsner variety, because if the same label has a pils or lager, I'm going to lean on the pilsner simply because the chances of getting a skunky beer is higher in my experience with lagers.

Just like Red Oval, the price is right at $2.99 for a 6-pack can. The can opens with a fresh "psshht" sound when you pop the tab. You can see a quick foamy head before it settles down inside the can. Now, I'm not going to pour this into a glass, because really, it's not a high craft beer to enjoy the colors, smell and sights. It's not a Guinness! It's a beer meant to drink straight out of the can.

The initial taste is like a super dry Japanese beer without the full taste. It cleanses and tingles as it goes over the tongue, and goes down the throat pretty easy without giving a foamy sensation. It's not bad at all. It does leave you with a lingering malt taste, almost like you ate a piece of bread and it's coated on your tongue. It's not too strong of a linger and it's not bothersome either.

I've had a few 6-pack of Simpler Times before and I have yet to find a skunky one. It's kind of a refreshing beer, but it doesn't give the satisfaction of a full tasting pilsner at the end. Because of that lack of satisfaction, I find myself grabbing for another one. Remember, I don't usually drink more than 2 or 3 beers in a day when I do drink, so I can see myself finishing the 6-pack pretty easy on any given afternoon or evening.

The alcohol content is 5.5%, so it's typical for American beers. You can get a typical buzz going if that is what you are after. I can't speak of how a hangover feels because I've never drank enough Simpler Times to get one. Before you yell at me a hangover is a hangover, I can tell a difference when I've had a hangover that feels like a crap beer headache and one that I'm just dehydrated from the alcohol.

I just finished the first can, and will go get another one now. Hold on a second. Okay, this second one I'm going to pound about 2/3 of the can with one swig. Ahhhh, feels nice and easily drinkable. Oh, the gassy burp! Better to burp now, than fart in the middle of the night!

When I was walking away from the beer aisle, I put the 6-pack on top of my basket. A lady comes running over, and excitedly ask where did I get that and is there more? Umm, it's right there on the top shelf.

"Oh good! They're not out!" she says.

Minhas Craft Brewery - Simpler Times Beer

Inexpensive Beer Week - Red Oval Beer

photo from www.flickr.com/photos/buffaloted/

This week, I'm going to cover beers I picked up that hopefully is decent and drinkable. After every bottle and can I drink of my favorite beers, I look at it and think there goes a dollar. It's one thing to slowly drink and enjoy the taste, and it's another when it's hot in the summer and you just want to quench your thirst with some beer. Since you're hot and thirsty, you're mostly going to pound the drink and drink a few in a short time span. Your beer drinking can get really expensive quickly!

I'm a slow beer drinker and drink it for the taste and relaxation. I'm not looking to get drunk or get a heavy buzz going. Most times, I'll only drink 2 to 3 beers in a day when I do drink. I see some of my other friends will finish a 12 pack by himself in one long afternoon. I figure by the 3rd or 4th beer, it's probably not going to matter what you're drinking, and instead of pissing $12-$15 dollars out for that 12-pack, how about if we can cut the costs in half?

I actually want to title it Cheap Beer Week, but with the word cheap, most people don't think of decent drinkable beers and brush it off due to price points. I went to my local Trader Joe's market and saw a can with what I thought was Red Stripe beer. I looked closer and thought maybe Red Stripe is marketing some new beer. Then I saw the price for $2.99! That's right folks, $2.99, that's 50 cents a beer! Sure, why not, if it's horrible, I'll just give it away to my friends.

Since Trader Joe's don't refrigerate the beers, I had to wait a while as I put these in my fridge before I could try this out. There's nothing fancy about the packaging. It kind of reminds me of something Laverne & Shirley would drink, as a no frills beer. The can says it's brewed in Monroe, Wisconsin. There isn't anything that say it's crafted beer, handed down from immigrant great great grandparents that were brewmasters or anything to romanticize it. It's just simple beer, Red Oval Classic Lager.

I crack open a can, take a quick whiff of the smell and don't notice anything skunky. I can see a little foam inside the can, but nothing too foamy like cracking a Bud or Miller. Take the can to the head and sip it to have it wash over my tongue. Hmmm, is that grape juice without the sugary taste I'm detecting in the early stages of the sip? It's like a very light pilsner beer with hints of purple grape and then finishes with a lingering taste. The lingering taste isn't bad, like how malt liquor beers lingers, or even like how a MGD lingers. No bittery hoppy taste, or sweet malty aftertaste either.

I'm going to chug it now. It's surprisingly easy to drink. I'm down to about 1/4 of the can now and no ugly facial expression after. It's almost too easy to drink! This is definitely a summer beer to drink on a hot day when you're outside doing something. You can go buy a 6-pack for $2.99 and then go do some yardwork, and most likely you'll finish the entire pack without realizing it. It's just that easy to drink.

I can't see myself drinking this with my food like I would with other craft beers. But this is a very easy to drink and simple beer that you can like. Very little info is available on this brand, and all I could find is it's made by the Minhas Craft Brewery. The 2nd oldest beer company in the United States with the company being founded in 1845. This might be just a special one off brand exclusive to Trader Joe's as seems to have been released sometime last year.

My verdict is: Buy!

Minhas Brewery