Worst Beer Ever Tasted

[jeffc666]

While I hav had the 1/2 gallon jugs of Private Stock before my worst beer was a 6 year old barley wine that was horribly infected. In my notes I used burning band-aids a number of times as well as 3rd degree burns. You get the picture. The beer was Big Ale brewed by the now defunct Brimstone Brewery in Frederick, MD.

Apparently they nailed the recipe and avoided infection with the next year's vintage, 1999, but I have never had it. If you see a bottle that is labeled as being bottled in 1998 avoid it at all costs!

[TedE]

TedE, were you in philadelphia at the time?  we were one of the test markets too.  agreed: the nastiest thing ever.  nothing else in this thread comes close.

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I was in Chicago at the time. And to think we spent about 2 hours driving around actually seeking out what were probably the last remaining bottles of Cool Colt in the city. Curiosity definitely got the better of us.

[Rich Pawlak]

River Horse Lager, brewed in New Hope, Pa. I had this yesterday for the first time and it was AWFUL! It tasted like vomit.

Anyone familiar with this brewery? Did I just get a bad batch?

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You got a bad batch. It is brewed in Lambertville, NJ, actually; I expect that you had this beer at a steak house/ brewpub in Buckingham, Pa, which contracts River Horse to provide its beer. I'd blame it on the taps, not the beer itself.

[wkl]

For what it's worth, I bought the River Horse at a local retailer in Wilmington, De.

Maybe their lager doesn't bottle well. I've heard this comment from some retailers in regards to Victory's Lager. Which I find undrinkable from bottle. Like the River Horse, I've never had it on tap.

[Okbrewer]

I'll have to agree with Rich and others about River Horse. You musta had a bad batch. I have enjoyed their beers at the brewery and was impressed with the IPA and their Oktoberfest. Can't recall drinking the lager, but I would be surprised if it was bad, especially if it tasted like vomit!

With that said, I'd be interested to know where you had the beer, and, if it was so awful, what you did about it. Did you tell the server/bartender that the beer was bad? If not, why? We, as beer lovers, don't do ourselves any favors by allowing nasty tasting beers to be served. If where you had this beer was not at the brewery, then the brewery should be told. If the establishment doesn't do anything to correct the problem, in other words, refuses to sell fresh beer, take your thirst and your money elsewhere. And tell your friends to do likewise.

[Chef Shogun]

Does 'malt liquor' count as beer, taxonomically speaking?

("Are you on your third beer of the evening?" --TV"

"Does whiskey count as beer?" --Homer Simpson)

[Okbrewer]

Taxonomically speaking, malt liquor IS beer. It is a fermented beverage made from water, malt, hops and yeast.

However, the term "malt liquor", in the United States, is more a legal appellation than a style of beer. Most states have alcohol limits for beer, and beers in excess of the limit are often referred to as "Malt Liquor".

Therefore, Malt Liquor is an alcoholic beverage made in the USA, in the same manner as beer, but with a much higher alcoholic content. Each state sets the maximum permitted alcohol level, 8 degree usually being the max.

Malt liquor is typically high alcohol, often malty sweet, and usually cheaper than most commercial beers. Cheap + high alcohol = cheap drunk, which is why malt liquor generally gets a bum rap.

The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP.org) style guidelines list Malt Liquor under the category of "Specialty Beer."

[TedE]

Does 'malt liquor' count as beer, taxonomically speaking?

("Are you on your third beer of the evening?" --TV"

"Does whiskey count as beer?" --Homer Simpson)

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Yup, it even has it's own award category at the Great American Beer Festival every year, although I think they call it "American Specialty Lager" or something. So next time someone looks down at you for drinking St. Ides you can inform them that it is the winner of multiple medals at the GABF.

[Susan in FL]

Nice overview. I didn't know the definitions. Thanks, Bob!

[Worldly]

Well, you're unlikely to ever suffer from it, but the worst is Long Dong beer from China. (yes, you heard me

Now, I have to admit, it was worth a try...

But blech.

[ChefCrash]

No such thing as bad beer right after last call.

[chappie]

Some big beer-tasting database ranked Corona Light as the world's worst beer among the thousands of entries. I loathe Bud Light as well. Ranier, bottled in Washington, is also pretty god-awful stuff, but I have fond memories of drinking it by the pitcher in Anacortes, Wash., as an 18-year-old working pre-trip duty on an Alaska-bound fishing boat.

[MGLloyd]

At a recent arts event in Seattle, an 'artist' was selling some of her homebrew as an artistic statement. She called it 'OPB' for original pussy beer. The chief claim to fame was that at least some of the yeast used for fermentation was taken from her vagina. And no, I am not making this up. If you Google the phrase 'original pussy beer', you will see some hits about this.

I was not brave enough to try it, and I am unsure as to exactly what sort of artistic statement the beer represented.....

[ChefCrash]

No such thing as bad beer right after last call.

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Really! Up to now.. I really didn't think there is such a thing as bad beer.

At a recent arts event in Seattle, an 'artist' was selling some of her homebrew as an artistic statement. She called it 'OPB' for original pussy beer. The chief claim to fame was that at least some of the yeast used for fermentation was taken from her vagina. blink.gif And no, I am not making this up.

I guess there is.

yeast used for fermentation was taken from her vagina.

Would that be Saccharomyces cervicisiae, or Leuconostoc menstrualisiae)?

Edited November 16, 2005 by ChefCrash (log)

[divalasvegas]

At a recent arts event in Seattle, an 'artist' was selling some of her homebrew as an artistic statement.  She called it 'OPB' for original pussy beer.  The chief claim to fame was that at least some of the yeast used for fermentation was taken from her vagina.    And no, I am not making this up.  If you Google the phrase 'original pussy beer', you will see some hits about this.

I was not brave enough to try it, and I am unsure as to exactly what sort of artistic statement the beer represented.....

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(Me hysterically laughing, wiping tears from my eyes.) While you weren't brave or insane enough to try it MGLloyd I can think of but one man who would be undaunted at giving this a taste or two: none other than Tony Bourdain. After beating cobra hearts, "squeazle" and iguana, I'm sure he would find this to be a piece of cake. And I'm sure he would find that drinking it makes you very strong...............

[LunaSea]

If I'd been crawling across a desert for weeks and came across an ice cold Coors beer, I'd keep on crawling!

But the positively worst beer that has ever crossed my lips was Tudor beer with the A&P label! (for those not familiar with A&P, it stands for Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company and is a supermarket in the eastern U.S.)

[mtigges]

At a recent arts event in Seattle, an 'artist' was selling some of her homebrew as an artistic statement.  She called it 'OPB' for original pussy beer.  The chief claim to fame was that at least some of the yeast used for fermentation was taken from her vagina.    And no, I am not making this up.  If you Google the phrase 'original pussy beer', you will see some hits about this.

I was not brave enough to try it, and I am unsure as to exactly what sort of artistic statement the beer represented.....

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(Me hysterically laughing, wiping tears from my eyes.) While you weren't brave or insane enough to try it MGLloyd I can think of but one man who would be undaunted at giving this a taste or two: none other than Tony Bourdain. After beating cobra hearts, "squeazle" and iguana, I'm sure he would find this to be a piece of cake. And I'm sure he would find that drinking it makes you very strong...............

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You know two. I'd drink it quite willfully. I'm willing to try anything beery. Of course yeast cultured from ... well you know, is an oft repeated joke in homebrew circles. She wasn't the first to think of it, though she may have been the first to actually do it.

[eje]

You know two. I'd drink it quite willfully.  I'm willing to try  anything beery.  Of course yeast cultured from ... well you know, is an oft repeated joke in homebrew circles.  She wasn't the first to think of it, though she may have been the first to actually do it.

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While she may have been the first to use yeast from that particular source, she certainly wasn't the first to use body cultured organisms to kick start fermentation. I've read both Native Americans and Asians used chewed grain to inoculate porridges and get fermentation started for their grain beverages. Aztecs allegedly used a "sock" full of human feces to encourage the fermentation of their agave nectar based fermented beverage, Pulque. Yum.

Edited November 17, 2005 by eje (log)

[LunaSea]

How about the Siberian Chukchee Indians? One tribal member eats the hallucinogenic mushroom, Amanita muscaria, then pees in a wooden urine vessel. This is passed around so other tribal members can drink it and become delirious too! I'm glad someone decided to make BEER!

[alphaiii]

OK, I tried Dogfish Head Midas Touch Golden Elixir tonight. I am a big fan of some of Dogfish brews, especially the 60 Min IPA. So I figured this would probably be a good brew as well, and for $10 for 4 of them, I really hoped it would be.

DAMN WAS I WRONG. This stuff is just awful. I don't even know how it can be considered an ale. I don't even know how to describe it other than plain terrible.

So much for this pleasing an IPA drinker as the Dogfish website claims.

What a waste of $10. I could've gotten a 6 pack of so many good brews for less than that price. I basically paid $10 to take 2 sips of one of the worst tasting liquids I've ever tried.

OK, rant over. I'm just so irritated I wasted my money.

So supposedly, according to the Dogfish site, this stuff ages well for up to a year. I guess I will leave it sit in the cabinet for a few months and then re-try it. If it's still this awful, I will have another swearing fit for good measure.

Edited November 20, 2005 by alphaiii (log)

[M. Lucia]

I'm not a beer drinker at all but let me add my own worst beer experience.

Local beer in Homs, Syria.

I swear it was aged with rusty nails in it, because that's how it tasted.

The worst part was that it did still taste like beer, just everything about beer gone terribly wrong.

However, lest the region get a bad rap, the Lebanese beer Al Maza is quite decent.

[elixirofthetropics]

For a start, My worst beers:

1. Budweiser

2. Milwaulkee's Best (the cheap beer of choice at my alma mater....vowed never to drink it again after my freshman year)

3. Labatt's Blue

4. Ice House

5. Rolling Rock (ironically, used to be my favorite)

6. Banks Lager

7. Heineken

8. St. Pauli's Girl

9. Moretti

10. Peroni

11. Tsing Tao

Edited December 5, 2005 by elixirofthetropics (log)

[BonVivant]

i've had a few terrible ones out of hundreds upon hundreds of beers ever tasted. now the question is, will i find traditional Tibetian brew repulsive when i go there in march....

[Heinie is for alkies]