Last weekend when I landed in Vegas for Super Bowl Sunday I noticed Bud Light Platinum had found great point of sale positioning not only in the airport but also all over Las Vegas. I was excited to try this beer, when Anheuser-Busch hits a homerun as they occasionally do I am the first to give them kudos. This was not the case.
The good news for you Bud Light/Budweiser drinkers is Bud Light Platinum tastes just like your typical Anheuser-Busch beer. The bad news is Bud Light Platinum tastes just like your typical Anheuser-Busch beer. It is so easy for a beer blogger to simply slam an Anheuser-Busch product and move on. Most beer snobs and geeks will applaud this move. I wanted to give Bud Light Platinum a fighting chance so I looked around the internet to find any positive words about this new product. This is what I found:
“If crappy beer that will get you blacked out is your aim, look no further.” – Buzzfeed
“To be perfectly honest, without a regular Bud Light to try side by side it’s hard to discern the flavor variation” – Beer Street Journal
“It’s (AB’s Super Bowl Ad for Bud Light Platinum) indicative of how clueless Anheuser truly is when it comes to unrolling new products these days.” – Decatur Brews News
The nicest words I could find about Bud Light Platinum were from a non-beer website called ClotureClub.com “This isn’t a bad beer. It is not an amazing beer. It’s a Bud Light-like product that has a sweeter taste and more kick.”
As you would imagine the serious beer rating websites absolutely destroyed this beer with BeerAvocate.com, giving Bud Light Platinum a “poor” rating and RateBeer.com giving Bud Light Platinum a 2 out of 100 points.
I would have to agree with my colleagues in the beer writing community. Bud Light Platinum pours a familiar clear straw color with champagne bubbles and a soft white head. The aroma is of grain and cereal with a malt liquor like ester. The mouth feel is watery and the finish has a touch of rice and adjuncts. The beer finishes very crisp and clean leaving the drinker no better or worse than they were at the start of the bottle. The beer is truly unforgettable.
If you are a loyal Anheuser-Busch enthusiast, you now have yet another Bud Light option. For all others Bud Light Platinum brings nothing new to the beer drinking community.
