The Wily Filipino

Beer Tasting Notes: Bud Light.

My first encounter with American beer was in April of 1982, in my first year of high school. I and a bunch of guy classmates at the University of the Philippines Rural High School had somehow ended up in a dirt clearing on Mt. Makiling overlooking the UP Los Banos campus. (Our Agriculture 1 teacher -- and future high school principal -- was there as well, pontificating about how there was nothing wrong with 12 and 13-year olds drinking alcohol. On campus grounds. Outdoors. In the presence of the future principal.)

Someone -- I can't remember who -- pulled out from a beat-up Jansport backpack the Illicit Holy Grail, one I'd only seen on the top shelves of PX stores in Dau, Pampanga: one warm can of Bud.

I wish I could turn this story into some object lesson about American neo-imperialism, or the lure of Western commodities, but no. We all took turns passing the venerated can in a circle, rationing the sips of Bud. (I was one of the last people in the circle, so all I got to drink was probably mostly backwash at that point.)

Obviously no one got drunk. All I remember, though, is that the unfortunately-named Thompson Tongacan (there you go, you get your first Google entry!) turned completely red, and I thought this was natural.

Oh, and I remember thinking that it tasted like crap. It sure tastes pretty crappy still.

Beer: Bud Light.
Brewery: Anheuser-Busch.
Appearance: Very pale yellow.
Aroma: Barely there.
Flavor: A hint of a nutty aftertaste, then it's gone.
Summary: Anemic head, typical of cheap American lagers. Quite light indeed, with hardly any body or sting in the mouth. Refreshing in that sense, but you might as well drink beer-flavored water. Drink only when very thirsty.
Rating: 1/2 star.

Posted by the wily filipino at January 9, 2004 07:07 AM