Old Milwaukee Ice - Pabst Brewing Company

RonaldTheriot

Louisiana

4.43/5  rDev +99.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Old Milwaukee Ice has a very thick, stark-white head, some decent lacing, and a clear, golden appearance, with streaming bubbles. The aroma is of mild, sweet grain (barley & corn) and some candy corn. Taste is of lightly-toasted malt, some corn husk, and bit of hop, sweetness, and a touch of alcohol. Mouthfeel is light and watery, and Old Milwaukee Ice finishes crisp, clean, refreshing, dry, and highly drinkable. This might be the smoothest and most enjoyable ice beer I’ve tasted. I recommend it!

RJT

Serving type: can

04-23-2012 21:05:08 | More by RonaldTheriot

steeler

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +68.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 5

ah the Old Milwaukee ICE, this is one of the best "ice" beers I've ever drank. Onto the review!

A - Looks like your average macro

S - Metallic, adjuncty, boozy, not good.

T - For an "ice" beer, it is actually decent tasting. Really nothing to it, stock beer taste, a bit watered down.

M - Smooth, Smooth Smooooth, but watery.

D - I give this a perfect score, because when this beer is ice cold it really is easy to drink. Since i drink them in tallboy cans, after one or two, they just start going down like water. Great for parties, and getting loaded :P

Overall for 10.50$ for a 6 pack of tallboys this is a great deal, when going for a cheap buzz, but you hate malts, this is the way. The most bang for your bang. I HIGHLY recommend this! Just done expect a ground breaking experince, for an ICE beer its the BEST!

Serving type: can

11-12-2008 22:29:48 | More by steeler

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

3.35/5  rDev +50.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

I CAN hardly wait to taste yet another American Adjunct Lager in a CAN!

A finger of bone-white head with decent retention, especially on a humid late-August night. Nose had a cereal, lager sweetness. Color was a deep golden-yellow with NE-quality clarity. Mouthfeel was medium with a decent lager sweetness. This was better than its regular counterpart. Perhaps there is something to ice-brewed beer. Still, I hope that they are wrong that "It doesn't get any better than this!" Finish was decent with a mild sweetness and none of the harshness that I have been experiencing lately.

Serving type: can

08-19-2009 01:39:20 | More by woodychandler

tone77

Pennsylvania

3.1/5  rDev +39.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured from a 16 oz. can. Has a golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is slightly sweet, corn and malts. Taste is crisp, basically malts and corn. Feels light in the mouth and has average drinkability. Overall I would consider this to be a fairly mediocre beer.

Serving type: can

12-24-2009 01:06:37 | More by tone77

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

3.08/5  rDev +38.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Its deep-golden colored body teems with life as tiny effervescent bubbles race to take their place beneath its good-sized head of rocky bright-white foam. The head retention is surprisingly good, and it maintains a solid cap throughout the glass and leaves some very nice, but transient, spotty lace as it goes. The nose expresses some very basic grainy maltiness and a bit of floral, leafy, and very slightly cheesy, hops. The body is surprisingly full, and its very fine and gently effervescent carbonation caresses the tongue before fading smoothly away. The flavor is rich but one dimensional. It's borderline sweet, but it never really gets beyond that; and it hints at maltiness but just can't get past it's adjunct content. The hop bitterness is at a decent, firm level and it's well-balanced; leaving it to finish dry with a subtle residual note of alcohol and some very minor floral, grassy, and leafy hop notes. Well-brewed but not worthy of any real notoriety. It doesn't offer the rich and bright character of some other fine examples, and it tends to build on the palate more quickly than warranted.

Serving type: can

03-02-2004 04:11:49 | More by NeroFiddled

bushbeer75

Michigan

3.08/5  rDev +38.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Old Mill Ice is pale ‘golden’ yellow in color that is effervescent and has a bright head of foam. Drinks crisp, clean and easy to consume. Low hop character, and thin in flavor. It is average for the style and its price is very economical. It does give a hint of alcohol upon finish. It should be a good brew to drink on a hot day. There are better Ice beers and worse ones too.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2007 01:37:21 | More by bushbeer75

scarletfire79

New Hampshire

2.95/5  rDev +32.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

this beer serves one purpose only. it gives a cheap buzz. at $3.50 a sixer and at 5.8% it's not a bad choice if you're looking to get crunk on a budget. that being said, this beer looked average, smelled horrible, tasted way sweet, but kind of enjoyable, and covered my mouth with a nasty kind of aftertaste. i gave it a slightly higher drinkability score simply because if served ice cold it might be possible to attain a good buzz very quickly. probably won't ever subject myself to this again...but who knows.

Serving type: can

03-18-2007 17:37:27 | More by scarletfire79

kbnooshay

New York

2.93/5  rDev +32%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Well i had low expectations for this. Regular old milwaukee is a distaster. Disgusting flavors of death. This on teh other hand is just another ice beer. It is not that bad or different from the others. But still, it is an ice beer. You drink it to get drunk not to taste it. This pours a light yellow and has a corny smell. The taste is the regular ice beer taste what can i say. Not as sweet though, and this one is a little harsher. Mouthfeel is of ass. Sorta drinkable.

Serving type: can

10-09-2005 05:42:22 | More by kbnooshay

cpolking

Iowa

2.78/5  rDev +25.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

The beer pours a pale yellow golden in color with a half inch of white head that dissipates fairly quickly.

The aroma is damp grain, and a light tart note.

The taste is slightly sweet grain, corn, light apples, and just the whisper of a hint of a lager funkiness.

It is well-carbonated, very crisp in the mouth. Like most beers of this type, it tastes better straight out of the can. Not great, not as good as regular Old Milwaukee, but inoffensive for a macro ice beer.

Serving type: can

07-14-2012 02:09:57 | More by cpolking

bundy462

Pennsylvania

2.6/5  rDev +17.1%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

A: Pale yellow as expected with no much head retention.

S: Grainy and boozy. Processed corn hints.

T: Pretty smooth considering the alcohol content. Grainy backbone with some slight bitterness in the finish. Pretty unoffensive.

M: Water like.

O: It's not that bad tasting, the alcohol is hidden nicely. Guaranteed to bang you up.

Serving type: bottle

06-22-2010 04:40:39 | More by bundy462

ChrisCage

Alberta (Canada)

2.5/5  rDev +12.6%
look: 1.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

A- Poured from the can into my glass and was greeted with a chill hazed piss yellowy color with a tinge of lime juice coloration in the hue. There isn't much of a head even after a fairly hard pour and what there is vanishes quickly into a patch here and there. The carbonation is fizzy and big bubbled, which is to be expected and don't even talk about lacing....there is none.

S- Surprisingly, there is some moderate character here for an AAL....modest sweet malt, but it is quick lived, being overshadowed by corn and raw barley kernels. Something different here though....there is some apple fruitiness on the finish and of course there isn't really any hop profile.

T- Ah, this is what I was more expecting from this brew. Cheap grainy adjuncts, boiled corn water, and a metallic alcohol character that adds a bit of sourness/tang on the palate. Not very good tasting overall but then again I wasn't expecting fine champagne either!

M- Thin, watery and unassuming. I find the carbonation is palate scrubbing but not to the same degree as other macro lagers that I've had. It simply reminds me of slightly smoother swill for lack of a better term.

O- I'll pass...I only had this in my fridge due to some leftovers from my wifes' camping trip. I suppose this is ok for that type of thing, as it's cheap to buy and it's cheaply made too. I prefer Icehouse by a lot....this one doesn't do it for me!

Serving type: can

07-30-2011 02:49:42 | More by ChrisCage

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

2.48/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Macro Smackdown XV will be a face-off (pun intended) between two macro lagers with similar names. This can of Old Milwaukee Ice will be going up against a can of Milwaukee's Best Ice. This beer is brewed by Pabst and its competitor is brewed by Miller. According to my cans, they're both brewed in Milwaukee, which is only fitting.

Lucent goldenrod with a lively, well-bubbled look (at least right after the pour). There's very little difference in color between the two glasses. The color, quality and persistence of the heads, as well as the amount and quality of the lace, is usually what determines the winner in the appearance category. Strangely enough, the caps are virtually identical as well.

The noses are very close to one and the same. This one is mildly sweet with a somewhat pleasant, musky hoppiness. Although it isn't something that I'd use as air freshener, it isn't bad at all. I'll be pretty happy if the beer tastes like it smells.

I'm finally starting to see a little separation. Old Milwaukee Ice is the sweeter of the two and is a fraction more flavorful overall. In fact, it reminds me of a lower alcohol malt liquor due to its corny sweetness. More hops would have been nice, but I've given up hope that any macro lager will be more than minimally hopped.

If blinded, and if flavor is left out of the equation, I would be unable to determine that I'm drinking two different beers. The mouthfeels are both a notch or two greater than feather light, with a minimal finishing slickness and a lower than usual bubble load. I guess that less carbonation is conducive to sessioning, but then I'm not about to buy even one more can of either one of these beers.

I don't believe there has ever been a Macro Smackdown as closely contested as this one. These two lagers are so similar that only by drinking them side-by-side am I able to discern any differences whatsoever. Even then, the differences are slight. I'll have to give the nod to Old Milwaukee Ice, though, since its flavor is fractionally more appealing. Congratulations to Pabst on yet another MacSmack crown.

Serving type: can

04-21-2007 12:16:28 | More by BuckeyeNation

emerge077

Illinois

2.38/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 1 | overall: 2

$1 22 oz. can at the random corner store. "OM ICE" and "It doesn't get any better than this!" emblazoned in white/silver on the blue can.

Into a large mug it pours a pale straw yellow, with a few lazy trails of rising carbonation visible. Thin layer of white foam, about a fingers width, rises and settles to an unbroken skim. It remains unbroken after the first cautious sips, and there's "icy" lace around the edges like snow flurries.

Smell is lightly swilly, some sweet apple and soft graininess, pretty bland and insipid. Flavors are similarly dull, but take an unpleasant turn into wet paper and envelope glue territory. Flaccid astringent feel, watery finish, sharp note of alcohol. Pretty gaseous, and you're left with a mealy texture coating the tongue. Yuck. Started out average, and left few redeeming qualities afterwards. Dumper.

Serving type: can

03-04-2012 21:14:01 | More by emerge077

jtw5877

Ohio

2.2/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Pours yellow with a chemical smell and a white head. Cheap as hell, and no real redeeming qualities except a decent ABV. Once again, if I am short on cash I want as much bang for my buck as possible. A good beer if it is near freezing, and it is 90+ outside.

Serving type: can

08-28-2003 23:58:58 | More by jtw5877

Shiloh

Ontario (Canada)

2.13/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Old Milwaukee Ice as brewed bt Stroh Canada for Sleemans Brewing and Malting Company....not to be confused with the Old Milwaukee as brewed by Pabst in the U.S....I'm sure their is a family history here, but I'm not the one to look for it....Truth is this Ice lager just is not worth the effort.
The numbers speak for themselves, nothing noteworthy here, best grade is for mouthfeel...that has got to be sad!

Serving type: can

12-09-2002 06:20:19 | More by Shiloh

spinrsx

Ontario (Canada)

2.08/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

473ml Can

Appearance - The beer pours a clear yellow colour with an average size fizzy white head. There is a low amount of carbonation showing. There is some faint lacing on the sides of the glass. The head lasted for only a few minutes before it was gone.

Smell - Bread/grains, Metallic, corn syrup

Taste & Mouth - The beer has an above average amount of carbonation and I can taste corn syrup, breads/grains and just a hint of malt. It really doesn't have a whole lot of taste, and comes across as sort of watery. It finishes with a grainy/adjunct an corn syrup sweet aftertaste.

Overall - In my effort to try every beer under the sun, I gave this one a shot. Not something I'd buy again, there are wayyy more beers I'd rather drink

Serving type: can

10-14-2011 16:42:53 | More by spinrsx

clayrock81

Virginia

2.05/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Another horrible American macro "Ice" beer, but not as bas as others. While in the realm of the Beast and Natty Ice (if you don't know what I'm talking about that is good), this beer is actually a little restrained and better than those beers (this is still a cut above malt liquor). I didn't pour it out the can to be honest, so I really didn't notice anything but a pale, seethru yellowish body and smelled some metallic adjuncts. There isn't much malt at all, but the hops are subdued and therefore this beer passes over the tongue without a drying out/taste bud killing from barley or any grassy/earthy/dirty hop presence. Goes down watery and slippery since there's not much beer in this beer, so to speak, but this isn't a completely horrible drink.

Serving type: can

09-03-2008 17:43:52 | More by clayrock81

Frozensoul327

Michigan

2/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

This stuff nearly killed me. Seriously. 40 oz bottle with no freshness date. Poured out to a light yellow color with higher than average carbonation, but no head to speak of. First smell was laden with alcohol. So was the second. All I could smell was booze, and maybe a bit of corn. Taste was nothing special, very heavy tones of alcohol and a metallic bitterness. Finished on the harsh side, with an aftertaste of alcohol. This beer nearly made me vomit after finishing the bottle. Due to my tolerance, I held my self together, and found that this beer will violently exit one of two ways; either via projectile vomiting for the rookies, or like a tsunami of brown anger out the back. I need not explain how this story ends. Go for regular or light, but avoid Old Milwaukee Ice.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2005 01:19:33 | More by Frozensoul327

thehyperduck

Ontario (Canada)

1.98/5  rDev -10.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

Tallboy can from TBS; packaged Sept. 18 2012. #10 in a series of reviews detailing value-brand pale lagers that I will probably never consume again, and probably the last entry. This is the Canadian version, contract brewed by Sleeman in Guelph, Ontario.

Pours a familiar pale golden-yellow colour, with one finger of frothy, sparkling-white head seated atop the liquid. Retention isn't great, but at least the foam hangs around for a few minutes before giving up the ghost, and it manages to leave behind not only a thin cap/collar but also some smears of lacing. Looks fine for what it is - unfortunately I can't say the same of the aroma (perhaps 'odour' would be a better phrase to use here). You can just smell the cheapness, with almost nothing to be detected besides corny adjunct and ethanol. This smells absurdly boozy for something that's only 5.5%. Absolutely unappealing.

And it doesn't get much better from here, folks. The flavour is borderline putrid, with no semblance of barley malt to counteract the overpowering flavours of corny adjunct, apple skin, damp cardboard and (mild) ethanol. The fact that this is both watery AND kind of boozy amazes (and sort of impresses) me, as I really didn't think such a thing was possible. Thin-bodied and watery, with carbonation that could probably stand to be kicked up a notch - frankly I'd rather taste the bubbles than the beer itself, bloat be damned. Not very easy to drink if you actually try to taste it - but for the bros out there, it would probably be a decent option for those seeking to reach irresponsible levels of inebriation rapidly.

I actually intended to review this about a month ago, going so far as to pick up a can and pour it. After a few sips, I basically said to myself "the hell with this", left the glass on my desk and called it a night. Yes, it's true folks - this is possibly the ONLY beer I've ever tried to review and wound up drainpouring, a very dubious distinction indeed, given my leniency toward adjunct lagers. Frankly I regret getting a second can just for the tick, it really wasn't worth it.

Final Grade: 1.98, an awful D-. It's never a good sign when the appearance is the high point of a beer review. Old Milwaukee Ice starts off looking like an industrial style lager of at least marginal quality, but everything else about it screams of cheap ingredients and cut corners. Don't get me wrong - it's not like I expected something different from an 'ice' beer - but I am fairly tolerant of cheap pale lagers, and this is seriously one of the worst I've ever had in my 6-7 years of rampant alcoholism. For your liver's sake, drink something else.

Serving type: can

11-18-2012 22:00:10 | More by thehyperduck

nicksta

Michigan

1.95/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2.5

The ice brewed version of Old Mud that doesn't taste a whole lot like Old Mud. The smell gives hints at cereal malts and big surprise that is what the taste is, corn flakey. Just like the forerunner of the family, Old Mud (one of the worst beers ever), a terrible aftertaste finishes every sip to make a bad beer worse. However, instead of the Old Mud bitter aftertaste you get a gross adjunct sweet taste reminiscent of Stroh's and Camo, also some of the worst beers ever, which is the worst taste in beer. It is a very water down beer which saves the drinkability that is marred by the aftertaste. It is ice brewed and will hit you harder than you think, and not the way you think either. In the end it is a lot better than Old Milwaukee, but not much else.

Serving type: can

10-29-2005 05:31:14 | More by nicksta

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

1.9/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Unremarkable pour, yellow, no head despite plenty of bubbles. Aroma would make you think this beer was 11% abv at minimum, no hop smell, no malt, cooked/steam vegetables like they had in the lunch line at school.

Taste, not as bad, a little sweetness tempers the alcohol heat, which isn't all that much for an ice beer I guess, but damn if the aroma had me scared. Colder the better with this one. High carbonation allows the beer to not get stuck on your palate. Bitterness grows exponentially for every degree warmer it gets. Keep 'er cold, and they stay slick.

Serving type: can

05-11-2011 16:52:44 | More by Beerandraiderfan

DrJay

Massachusetts

1.8/5  rDev -18.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5

Brewed in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Clear straw yellow with a fast disappearing cap of white foam. A bit of streaky lace. Aromas of corn and grain, slight fruitiness. Bitterness was light, more corn and grain sweetness, plus a sharp mineral finish and light sourness that didn't sit well with me. Light bodied, carbonation a bit on the higher side of average, dry and slightly coarse in texture. This is not a beer that I enjoyed and I doubt I'll ever go back to it. It's not even "fun" in a slumming sense, like Molson XXX or OE800 are.

Serving type: can

08-29-2010 01:18:54 | More by DrJay

tdm168

North Carolina

1.78/5  rDev -19.8%
look: 4 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

A small amount poured from the 22 oz. can into a pint glass for appearance and aroma, the rest consumed from the classy can.

A - very pale, translucent gold with a mountain of bubbly, white, dense head that has decent retention

S - warm, metallic, grainy, sweet

T - warm, apple, metallic, sweet, grainy

M - smooth, crisp, light to medium bodied, warm alcohol

This is really not good. The metallic and apple notes dominate and the alcohol is far too warming and offensive. I'll never pick this up again.

Serving type: can

08-31-2012 23:03:25 | More by tdm168

slitherySOB

Ontario (Canada)

1.73/5  rDev -22.1%
look: 1.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5

Pours your usual piss yellow colour, common with most adjunct lagers. Smells of corn, corn syrup, and metal. Tastes of breads, grains, and metal. Mouthfeel is thin and watery. Overall, your typical iced beer. Meant to get drunk off of. A shame this was one of the few offerings at a wedding I attended.

Serving type: can

03-02-2012 18:34:40 | More by slitherySOB

daliandragon

North Carolina

1.65/5  rDev -25.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5

It was on sale for 99 copper Lincolns for a 24 oz. can at Lowes Food. That's why.

Decent head and color. Golden straw and thin but present lace. Nose is noxious corn and rice or something else unpalatable. Flavor is a dull sawdust and sweet maltv sludge. Plenty of carbonation is actually a benefit, which is rarely a good sign.

I expected little when i bought this and it met my expectations perfectly. It was cheap, however.

Serving type: can

07-19-2012 01:56:28 | More by daliandragon