If you look at the history of brewing in America, the craft beer boom is a fairly new phenomenon. While you can get a craft IPA, stout, or lager at any corner grocery store in America now, that wasn’t always the case. Back in the days before the modern craft beer boom, imported beer was a really big deal because that’s where the real variety in flavors and styles was found.
If you’re anything like me, you still have your favorite imported beers that you enjoy when you take a break from the hazy IPAs and barrel-aged stouts beloved by modern American craft brewers. That’s why today, I’m running a blind test with some of the iconic imported beers that paved the way for the contemporary beer boom. These beers — available at pretty much every grocery store or beer store in America — are the cans and bottles that today’s brewers drank before there were ten craft breweries in every town.
Our lineup today includes:
- Boddington’s Pub Ale (England)
- Asahi Super Dry (Japan)
- Guinness Draught (Ireland)
- Foster’s Lager (Australia)
- Heineken (The Netherlands)
- Corona Extra (Mexico)
- Hoegaarden Wit (Belgium)
- Red Stripe Lager (Jamaica)
- Stella Artois (Belgium)
- Newcastle Brown Ale (England)
Names like Guinness, Foster’s, Heineken, Hoegaarden, Newcastle, and Stella Artois are household names because they’ve been around and available for as long as we can remember (and then some). But which of these iconic, imported beers are actually the best?
Part 1: The Taste
Taste 1
Tasting Notes:
There’s a good deal of fresh-brewed coffee, caramel malts, and dark chocolate on the nose. The palate is lighter than expected. While fairly light, it’s creamy with notes of coffee, bitter chocolate, toffee, and a nice dry, memorable finish.
From my notes: “This is obviously Guinness.”
Taste 2
Tasting Notes:
There’s a real manufactured, almost synthetic smell to this beer. There are also some cereal grains and maybe some corn, but not much else. It smells like the way I imagined beer to smell when I was a kid. The taste is exactly like the smell with an almost oily texture that’s slightly bittersweet.
Overall, this is a beer that I don’t plan on drinking ever again.
Taste 3
Tasting Notes:
Caramel-ish brown in color, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this beer has a bit of a nutty aroma. There are also some toasted malts, but I didn’t really pick up anything else. The flavor is very sweet with some caramel, a nuttier flavor, and a surprise hop flavor that doesn’t really work.
From my notes: “This beer is very thin and unmemorable.”
Taste 4
Tasting Notes:
Poured into a glass, this beer has a slight skunky smell that (surprisingly!) isn’t off-putting. There’s also sweet corn, freshly-baked bread, and a slightly floral, fruity herbal fragrance. The taste has notes of fruit esters, caramel malts, slight citrus, and a crisp, dry, refreshing finish.
Taste 5
Tasting Notes:
This beer’s nose is filled with aromas of sweet yeast, caramel malts, fresh-baked bread, dried hay, and slight toffee sweetness. On the palate, I found clover honey, fruit esters, biscuit-like malts, sticky toffee, and very little bitterness at the finish.
Taste 6
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of citrus, wintry baking spices, and sweet malts met my nose. One taste revealed notes of cloves, candied orange peels, banana bread, and slight lemon zest. The finish was a nice mix of bitterness and sweetness that left me craving more.
Taste 7
Tasting Notes:
Corn is the first smell that entered my nostrils when nosing this beer. Just a big wallop of corn. This was followed by sweet cereal aromas, maybe some freshly-baked bread, and slight floral hops. From my notes: “This isn’t a super exciting nose, by any means.”
The palate was surprisingly skunky with more sweet corn flavor and some floral flavors. There’s no doubt this is a refreshing, unoffensive beer, but that’s about it.
Taste 8
Tasting Notes:
There’s a very sweet, malty smell emanating from this beer. But it was difficult to pick out any other aromas. The palate had a little more action with notes of toasted malts, wet grass, freshly-baked bread, slight toffee, and a little hop bitterness. It’s fairly dry at the finish.
Overall, a decent, fairly light beer.
Taste 9
Tasting Notes:
The nose is fairly bland but inoffensive with wet grass, sweet cereal grains, and slight corn. The palate follows suit with cereal sweetness, slightly floral flavor, some caramel, and maybe some sweet corn. It’s fairly light and refreshing, but not overly exciting to any degree. Definitely a crushable, summery beer.
Taste 10
Tasting Notes:
This beer’s nose is slightly sweet with cereal grains, a floral backbone, and a hint of caramel and vanilla. The palate is filled with more malts, slight citrus zest, fruit esters, subtly bitter, floral hops, and a nice dry, refreshing finish. All in all, it’s a pretty enjoyable, crisp beer.
Part 2: The Ranking
10) Foster’s Lager — Taste 2
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $13 for a 12-pack
The Beer:
How many of us remember the “Foster’s: Australian for beer” commercials that once aired on a constant basis? There’s not much that can be said for Foster’s Lager other than the fact that when you crack open a can it tastes exactly like you assume it will. This five percent ABV lager is known for its golden color and malty, refreshing, no-frills flavor.
Bottom Line:
It’s clear this beer was created to be crushed on a hot day. There’s really nothing to it other than the refreshing nature and the fact that it has alcohol in it.
9) Corona Extra — Taste 7
ABV: 4.6%
Average Price: $8.50 for a six-pack
The Beer:
One of the most famous beers in the world, Corona Extra is light, refreshing, and the kind of beer you want to enjoy with your feet in the sand or on your back patio on a sweltering summer day. Add a lime wedge and you’re elevating this beer to much greater heights than without.
Tasting Notes:
This beer was thirst-quenching and crisp but lacked almost any real flavor characteristics.
8) Newcastle Brown Ale — Taste 3
ABV: 4.7%
Average Price: $9 for a six-pack
The Beer:
In 1927, long before any beer boom, a brewer named Colonel Jim Porter launched Newcastle Brown Ale in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. Why he didn’t brew a porter we’ll never know. Either way, this 4.7 percent ABV malty brew has been popular in the UK and abroad ever since.
Bottom Line:
This is a strange beer. It’s a darker beer, but it seems to want to be hoppier than it should. I just didn’t really like it very much.
7) Red Stripe Lager — Taste 9
ABV: 4.7%
Average Price: $8 for a six-pack
The Beer:
For a while, Jamaican brand Red Stripe was inundating us with funny commercials and then they seemed to just disappear. Well, even though they don’t seem to make commercials that air stateside anymore, you can still find this 4.7 percent ABV stubby bottle at your neighborhood grocery store.
Bottom Line:
This is a refreshing, thirst-quenching, easy to drink, slightly boring beer that I’d definitely drink on a hot day in the sun.
6) Asahi Super Dry — Taste 8
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $9.50 for a six-pack
The Beer:
The only Japanese beer on this list, Asahi Super Dry is a 5.2 percent ABV rice lager. It’s made with rice and malted barley and is well-known for its very light, refreshing, easy-to-drink flavor profile. This brew was created to be crisp and crushable and it definitely does the job.
Bottom Line:
This beer was crisp dry and didn’t have malt flavor which makes me believe it’s supposed to be crushed on a hot day. There’s no real need to taste it, just drink it down.
5) Stella Artois — Taste 10
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $8.50 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Before I knew anything about beer, I heard the name Stella Artois and assumed it was a fancy, expensive beer. While it’s much cheaper than I imagined, this five percent ABV Belgian lager does live up to its fancy name with a well-loved balance of malts and hops that have made it one of the most awarded lagers in the world.
Bottom Line:
This is a well-balanced, crisp, and enjoyably dry beer that I could see myself coming back to again and again.
4) Heineken — Taste 4
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $8.50 for a six-pack
The Beer:
There are few beers more well-known than Heineken. Well before there was a craft beer revolution, you’d find coolers filled with this Dutch beer from coast to coast. This five percent ABV, crushable pale lager is still a massively popular choice throughout the world to this day.
Bottom Line:
While this beer isn’t overly exciting on the palate, it has enough malt, hop, and fruity flavor to make it the kind of beer you’d grab for on a warm day or as a respite from wintry beers.
3) Guinness Draught — Taste 1
ABV: 4.2%
Average Price: $9 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Brewed the same way since 1759, Guinness is the most popular stout in the world. This 4.2 percent “meal in a can” is known for its roasted malt and coffee-rich flavor that’s savored at bars, pubs, and homes all over the world, and not just on St. Patrick’s Day.
Bottom Line:
This is a perfect example of how a stout should taste. It’s not overly heavy but has enough balanced flavors to stand up to the coldest winter day.
2) Hoegaarden Wit — Taste 6
ABV: 4.9%
Average Price: $8.50 for a six-pack
The Beer:
There’s a reason this 4.9 percent ABV Belgian wheat beer is one of the most popular of its style in the world. Brewed with coriander and orange peels, you can thank this flavorful, sweet, yeasty beer for your favorite craft wit beer.
Bottom Line:
This complex, flavorful beer is slightly hazy and filled with fruity, sweet, citrus flavors that all work in unison like a John Williams symphony.
1) Boddington’s Pub Ale — Taste 5
ABV: 4.6%
Average Price: $7 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
With a name like Boddington’s Pub Ale, you can bet you’re getting a classic, flavorful pub-style beer when you crack a can of this beer open. This 4.6 percent ABV pub ale is known for its creamy, malty, and honey-sweet flavor.
Bottom Line:
This is an interesting beer. It’s malty, sweet, fruity, and surprisingly creamy. It’s a hard beer to figure out, but all I know is that I want to drink it again.
