Stroh's - Pabst Brewing Company

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

2.93/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Welcome to Macro Smackdown X, the tenth in my series of grudge matches between the 'less appreciated' members of the beer world. I've been looking forward to this particular matchup since the beers involved (Pabst Blue Ribbon is the challenger) are true classics of the style. It took a little effort to bring these bad boys together. I had to trade for the Stroh's and I had to go to Madison, WI for the PBR.

Lightly flecked rich golden amber topped by a soft, fluffy head of unpure white. The cap isn't as creamy or as sticky as it could be, and more importantly, isn't as creamy or as sticky as the cap on its competitor. It also falls more quickly and leaves less lace.

There's almost no difference in the noses. Stroh's smells of lightly sweet grain with a moderate amount of musky hops. There's no trace of the nastiness that is present in A-B's products, but that doesn't mean that the aroma is anything to write home about.

Actually, this is pretty decent beer for the style. I'm amazed at the difference between both of these beers and similar products from BMC. Pabst Brewing/Heileman Brewing blows the big boys away. The flavor is simple, grain-like, lightly sweet, modestly bitter and clean. Again, no hint of offensiveness. I'd never drink this stuff on a regular basis--even if it was available--but I'd pick it in a heartbeat over most other macros.

The body is light-medium and holds up well on the swallow. The word 'watery' doesn't enter into the mouthfeel equation at all. Nothing wrong with the carbonation; it's fine enough and subdued enough to get the job done without calling attention to itself.

I haven't yet entered the scores, but it looks as though Pabst Blue Ribbon will take the blue ribbon in Macro Smackdown X by a slight margin. That's not to say that Stroh's is a dog. If matched against almost any beer in the MacSmack series, it would probably emerge victorious. I'm surprised, and pleased, by both of these Old School brews.

Serving type: can

07-01-2006 12:40:10 | More by BuckeyeNation

BEERchitect

Kentucky

2.85/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Pretty average for a weekend-at-the-lake beer. Typical of American Macro Lagers in that it has a pronounced pilsner malt base that shows moderately high grain flavors, lightened body, straw colors and lacking head retention. A bit special in a lemon-zest, green apple skin, character that adds to the refreshing quality. Quite efforvescent on the toung and dry in the finish. Though not a great beer, I have had worse from some good craft breweries.

Serving type: can

07-31-2006 16:51:09 | More by BEERchitect

TMoney2591

Illinois

2.85/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Served in an Ohio State shaker pint glass.

Oh, you'd better believe this is part of a Spelunky fest! It pours a clear yellow topped by a finger of lightly off-white foam. The nose comprises corn and very light wheat. The taste holds notes of corn, flowers, and a slightly odd and vague sweetness. The body is quite light, with a moderate carbonation and a watery feel. Overall, one of the better adjunct lagers I've had in a while, though still a good distance away from a truly good beer.

Serving type: can

12-27-2012 15:33:25 | More by TMoney2591

WesWes

New York

2.63/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

The beer pours a pale gold color with a thin white head that fades to lacing. The aroma is average. It has a light pilsner malt and adjunct scent along with a dry lager yeast aroma. There is little hop aroma to speak of. The taste is below average. It has a weak and watery mlat flavor that's really telling of the amount of adjuncts present. It's a quick drinker with a dry, musty finish. The mouthfeel is below average as well. It's a low bodied beer with tons of carbonation. This is a forgettable brew and very low on my list of top macro lagers.

Serving type: can

06-21-2009 18:43:19 | More by WesWes

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

3.15/5  rDev +18.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 12oz. can into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a light gold color with a thin white head that fades quickly and leaves a thin on the glass.

S: The aroma is faint but contains light malts, adjuncts and a touch of hops.

T: The taste is bready with flavors of grain and barley along with the typical adjunct & light malt sweetness, but it not as sweet as other adjunct lagers and seems a little more balanced. The hops presence is mild but a bit complementary. The after-taste is slightly bready.

M: Smooth and a little crisp, light body, medium-to-high carbonation, finish is clean.

D: More flavorful than most others in the style, goes down very easily, not too filling, mild kick, very good representative of a lackluster style, if I were forced to drink pick a beer in this style to drink, this one would be at the top of that list.

Serving type: can

10-18-2009 19:11:55 | More by TheManiacalOne

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.15/5  rDev +18.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Picked up a 30-pack from Shangy's for, well, not much, to share with friends that enjoy cheap beer. I was pleasantly surprised to discover I could actually enjoy a can. Sure, it tastes a little like cooked corn and white bread, but it's smooth enough without any off-flavors (I figure DMS/corn adjunct is acceptable for the style). It's simple, it's kinda tasty. It's not... that.. bad. I said.

Serving type: can

03-08-2010 22:55:58 | More by tempest

WVbeergeek

Ohio

2.68/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Stroh's in a can, why not let's do this...appears a golden clear bubbly quote, unquote beer look to it with large heavily carbonated bright white head floating above body dwindling at a moderate pace leaves some nice patches of sporadic lacing around my Duvel chalice...sorry Duvel. Aroma is heavy on the cooked veggie quality often described with these types of brews, mild corn sweetness something gives me the notion that there's just a touch of mild hop herbal quality going on which says alot when compared to most American light lagers. Taste not overly sweet definitely ridden with adjuncts but it's somewhat enjoyable combo of mild sweetness with corn and rice finish and a light herbal undertow of hop flavor not much bitterness of course but balanced and finishes with a touch of offness grainy/metallic combo...while the drinkability of this brew is solid all around "American" or "old timer" beer I'm proud to still be able to drink this over Bud, Miller, Coors just to be different, sometimes you get enjoyment with that as far as the mouthfeel goes it's light bodied heavy with the carbonation prepare to say excuse me honey...and yeah I know this one doesn't smell as good as my usual IPAs but come on our grandfathers drank a version of this beer.

Serving type: can

11-06-2006 22:24:30 | More by WVbeergeek

Wasatch

Utah

2/5  rDev -24.5%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Pours a light yellow color, nice carbonation, small white head, with some sticky lacing left behind. The nose is malty, with some hops, slight caramel. The taste is slightly sweet, malty, slight hop note. Light body. Not drinkable, would not buy again.

Serving type: can

03-16-2010 01:12:05 | More by Wasatch

jdhilt

New Hampshire

2.63/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Pours a three-fingered white head that fades quickly leaving some lace. Clear, light amber color. Light carbonation and light bodied. Slightly sweet and clean, tastes like a light, good lawnmower beer. $1.00 for a 12oz bottle from LiquorBarn, Lexington, KY

Serving type: bottle

08-24-2004 22:56:30 | More by jdhilt

Bighuge

Minnesota

2.65/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Clear sun yellow. Not a lot of carbonation noticeable on viewing. Big airy white head. Lace is definitely there. Moderate in quantity. Aroma is all corn. And a little grainy sweetness too. This tastes to me the way Old Mil used to taste to me when I was a youngin. Very bluntly sweet and grainy. The mouthfeel isn't quite as fizzy as most macros, but rather subdued in its carbonation. Not one I'm gonna hit up again and again...

Serving type: can

04-26-2005 02:02:02 | More by Bighuge

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

2.68/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

New a guy back in the day that swore by this stuff, all he drank. I have a bar light up in my place of this stuff. Yellow beer, sudsy white head, more than your average adjunct, but it goes the way of the dodo right quick. Lager yeast, corn aroma, smelled worse.

Not much going on here, barely a malt and hop presence, balanced in terms of its sweetness. Maybe a little more bitter than most in its style. Seems like the stuff gets sold over brand loyalty moreso than uniqueness of the product, most comparable to Coors banquet beer I'd say.

A decent mass produced beer, dependable for some mass drinking where you don't want to bother wasting your $ and palate on high end brews after you're already trashed.

I wonder how many people referenced '30 pack of Stroh's, 30 pack of ho's' in their review?

Serving type: can

04-28-2011 18:26:44 | More by Beerandraiderfan

plaid75

New York

3.43/5  rDev +29.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Poured a light straw hue with a two finger foamy bone white head. There was decent retention and lacing.

The smell featured a pretty solid soft malt with the obvious cooked corn element.

The taste was light, but fuller than most macros. Mild corn sweetness, but for the most part relatively dry.

The mouthfeel was thin and well carbonated.

Overall a pretty decent beer. Much better than any other macro I have tried. Drinkability is high with this one.

Serving type: can

01-04-2007 17:27:45 | More by plaid75

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

2.1/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

CAN I do it? Yes, I CAN!

Wow, does this ever transport me to my misspent youth. Cans of Stroh's, purchased on the sly out front of the R&R Tavern or the Little Dutch Cafe, and surreptitiously consumed in various places around the city. Those were the days ...

Today, I got a rocky, bone-white head from the pour with good retention throughout. The color was a light yellow with NE-plus quality clarity. The nose was somewhat sweet, nowhere near as bitter as I remember it as being. Mouthfeel was thin-to-medium. There was very little flavor associated with this beer. It was very bland, even more than the Corona that I had consumed a little while previously. To think that this was what used to routinely kick my sixteen year-old ass ... No wonder my Pops used to laugh at all of us Bill Badass wannabes. The finish had a slight metallic aspect. I'm done with Stroh's after this. Short's on the other hand, now there's some good beer.

Serving type: can

04-05-2008 23:54:21 | More by woodychandler

mothman

Saskatchewan (Canada)

2.35/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

Poured into a mini weizen/pint like glass.

Pours 1 finger of light off white head. Color is a clear straw yellow. Head fades down, but manages to leave some light lacing. Active carbonation in the glass.

Aroma: Grains, corn, and blandness. Some light grassy hops but not much here.

Taste: Pretty much identical to the nose. I really can't tell much of a difference other than it being slightly creamy.

Mouthfeel: Crisp, creamy, and blank. Lighter bodied with a larger amount of carbonation. Ends with some grain flavors. It also ends very dry.

Overall, there just isn't too much to write on a beer like this. Not a lot of flavors here, no surprise. Not something I plan on drinking again, but I could if I had to.

Serving type: can

09-01-2010 01:52:55 | More by mothman

ZAP

Minnesota

1.85/5  rDev -30.2%
look: 3 | smell: 1 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Legend has it one of my uncles used to kick back a 30-pack of this every night...one of the freshest and most flavorfull beers I ever had was one in the brewery bar in St. Paul in the mid-to-late 80's...picked up a 15-pack for kicks the other day and thought I'd drop in a review..This has a bit more taste than most macro's but it has a bite to it as well that most macro beer drinkers don't care for...If you try real hard you can get a tich of a caramel flavor....not sure what the fire-brewing does or even if they do it anymore now that Pabst brews it..Overall, its a nice changeup for the every day American lagers available but not one of my favorites.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2001 00:50:24 | More by ZAP

Bitterbill

Wyoming

3.33/5  rDev +25.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

I haven't had a Strohs in years..

Bright yellow gold in the glass with a small head of foam, it has a lightly malted flavour with a pretty nice hop bite. Easy to drink and cheap(for here) at $4 a six pack. A pretty good value for what you get, imo, and would certainly pass as a good summer time thirst quencher.

Serving type: can

01-25-2009 14:17:46 | More by Bitterbill

cokes

Wisconsin

3.38/5  rDev +27.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pale, shimmering gold with manic streams of CO2. The white cap shows good rise, solid retention, and some spotting lacing. Pretty good show from a macro.
The nose is formed mostly of a mushy huskiness and corn sweetness, a vague vegetal note, and a dab of grassy hops.
Husky, pale malt provide most of the structure, flavor-wise. Corn pops up, of course, and lingers a bit. The vegetal notes stay a ways off in the background. The uppity CO2 and faint-but-genuine hop flavor (dried grass) keep it dry and slaking.
Very light bodied and airy in feel. Yet there is still a crisp structure here. It's totally and brainlessly poundable, and more or less everything a lower/middle rung macro needs to be. Inoffensive and thirst-busting and inexpensive.

Serving type: bottle

06-30-2009 06:06:22 | More by cokes

Tone

Missouri

3.45/5  rDev +30.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear, straw color. 1/4 inch head of a white color. Slight retention and slight lacing. Smells of slight sweet malt, pale malt, grain, and slight citrus hops. Fits the style of an American Adjunct Lager. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of grain, pale malt, hint of sweet malt, and a hint of citrus hops. Overall, decent aroma, blend, and body for an American Adjunct Lager.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2011 22:54:57 | More by Tone

Brent

Kentucky

3/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This is the lake beer of choice. Moderate body with a bit of hops (a surprise in a macro). Finish is clean without astringency. No overwhelming corn or rice notes, again a surpise in a macro. One of the better mega beers - best ice cold from the cooler.

Serving type: bottle

08-24-2001 23:16:15 | More by Brent

tdm168

North Carolina

3.23/5  rDev +21.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Drank this from the can at a Christmas Eve get together. Usually I wouldn't review under these circumstances, but when else am I going to have a Stroh's handed to me.

The nose was grainy and a bit metallic, but there's a noticeable hop aroma. The taste is mildly grainy with a really nice grassy, earthy, bitter hop characteristic. There are also some fruity notes, but not necessarily off flavors. This is a very crisp, light beer that's a little heavily carbonated.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed this. For the style the hops were impeccable. The grainy qualities were kept to a minimum and it was easy to drink.

Serving type: can

12-27-2011 01:59:55 | More by tdm168

Vancer

Illinois

3.05/5  rDev +15.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

The final beer during Farewell to Falstaff. For a cheap, ol’ macro, not terribly bad. Sure, fizzy yellow, fast disappearing head, no aroma – but the taste was somewhat malty behind the corn. If some guy gave me one I would finish it off, but I wouldn’t buy any (except for the one $1.50 can at the fallback bar, Tin Can.

Serving type: can

06-10-2005 18:46:33 | More by Vancer

tgbljb

Pennsylvania

3.38/5  rDev +27.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Back in the late 70's this was my favorite beer (How could you pass up a beer that was Fire brewed, whatever that means). Lets give it another try, almost 30 years later. Poured a non-impressive pale yellow color, with modet white head that fell to a thin ring but left nice lacing on the glass. Smell is virtually non-existent. Taste is also very minimal, but at least not disgusting. Finishes easy and refreshing. Good as a spacer, lawnmower beer, or on a hot summer afternoon. Would be a nice beer to pair with spicy wings.

Serving type: bottle

10-16-2005 22:29:12 | More by tgbljb

mynie

Indiana

3.68/5  rDev +38.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

On the box this beer is a deep orange gold. In reality it pours out light yellow with almost no head. Unimpressive.

Smells of nice malt and grain. A bit of corn, a bit of spiced hops. Not very complex, but nice.

What a nice and spicy malt flavor! It's kind of a burst with no distinct stages but for a macro this is wonderful.

The body is crisp and smooth, quite refreshing, and it goes down easy.

Serving type: can

08-12-2005 18:59:54 | More by mynie

tone77

Pennsylvania

2.9/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a can into a weizen glass. Very pale yellow color with virtually no head. Not much aroma to speak of either. The taste was very light and watery in the mouth. This is a good beer for chugging on a hot day but not a good tasting beer. At $3.39 for a six-pack, I can't complain to much.

Serving type: can

06-04-2009 23:48:20 | More by tone77

ADR

Pennsylvania

2.38/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Ah, the "fire brewed" beer of champions...

Light clear gold, slightly darker than straw. Refuge adjunct head of big, thin bubbles and no lace generation. Malty aroma, a little corn husk in character. Flavor profile is based on maltiness, a little Karo syrup non-descript, but fairly smooth and inoffensive. The finish falls down to me, not really hoppy, but a metallic bitterness that might actually indicate that but that's also emphasized by too much CO2 that tends to shove it back up your nasal passages. OK beer, not a favorite. Sorry, proc... ;>)

Serving type: can

07-15-2003 07:38:09 | More by ADR