Comments on: Breaking News: Miller Lite Uses Hops

By: Boulevard Single-Wide IPA « I'll Have a Beer

Boulevard Single-Wide IPA « I'll Have a Beer — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:44:17 +0000

[...] Boulevard points out that they use six varieties of hops, which you’ll note is twice the number of hop additions for Miller [...]

By: Kryg Guam

Kryg Guam — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:11:57 +0000

WHICH MACRO BEERS HAVE ENOUGH HOPS TO TASTE? — Most of us know Miller Lite is bland, with little hops taste. Their “triple hops” slogan is pure marketing hype. … … But what macro beer has enough hops to be able to taste it? Mickey’s Fine Malt Liquor? Bud Ice? Miller Genuine Draft? … … I live on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean where only macro beers are usually available in stores. We have cable TV so can see the commercials claiming Sam Adams beer has high hops content. One grocery store chain here (the Payless stores) does have some non-macro beers, but I would appreciate if someone who knows could name which brands have discernible hops taste.

By: Grain Belt Premium « The Captain’s Chair

Grain Belt Premium « The Captain’s Chair — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:23:08 +0000

[...] Draft or Budweiser. Sweet nose of grain and corn. No real hops to speak of, especially compared to triple-hops brewed Miller Lite, but if you really concentrate you get a fleeting sense of them. Taste is pretty smooth, more of [...]

By: Boulevard Single-Wide IPA « I’ll Have a Beer

Boulevard Single-Wide IPA « I’ll Have a Beer — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:05:33 +0000

[...] Boulevard points out that they use six varieties of hops, which you’ll note is twice the number of hop additions for Miller [...]

By: amm002

amm002 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:24:17 +0000

Flip the whole concept on its head…I’d like to see what would happen if several highly regarded craft brewers (DFH, Stone, Three Floyds, Surly) were challenged to make the lightest, most bland-tasting adjunct lager they could produce. The results would be interesting.

By: forbiddendonut

forbiddendonut — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:01:11 +0000

I think it’s totally valid to rip a macro brewer when they make a lame product and try to pass it off as something better than it is. I have no complaints when they market their beer appropriately. There is plenty of market share for cheap macro adjunct lager, just as there is for high abv malt liquor.

Unfortunately, Miller Lite tries to cut into the soft middle of the market with campaigns like this. They’re trying to convince average consumers that they’re drinking and tasting something they’re not. This is like Wonder Bread claiming that they use locally milled small batch wheat for all of their bread. It’s a nebulous claim that somehow legitimizes their product to a public that likes to think their collective taste is improving.

By: amm002

amm002 — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:14:11 +0000

Great point Aaron. And I think further proof that they aren’t giving their target market much credit by using these buzzwords as shorthand for improved taste. “Hmmm…they triple hop the beer. Not sure what it means, but it must be better than Bud.”

And I agree on the taste-neutral point. Somewhere along the line they convinced people that bland was good.

By: nostawetan

nostawetan — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:24:19 +0000

I think the drinkability campaign comes close to talking about how taste-neutral their product really is. These beer do have their place (like in Chili or something not involving drinking them). I personally love the taste of hops, but these macros don’t really taste like anything. I’m a home-brewer and I could never understand why the brewers of these beers aren’t absolutely embarrassed about their product.

By: Aaron Goldfarb

Aaron Goldfarb — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:44:50 +0000

The kind of people that like Miller Light (read: many of my friends) absolutely DETEST the taste of hops. So that’s not a great selling point for them. I don’t know why macro beer companies don’t just advertise that they’re:

Incredibly cheap.
Incredibly drinkable.
Incredibly available.

They’ll still dominate the market–unfortunately–with that.