While you were out having a good time Friday night, we blindly sampled a list of light beer so you wouldn’t have to. Two dozen beers later, we are weary but wiser. What should you drink? What shouldn’t you drink? What helps you stay slim? What if you don’t like beer at all? We have everything you need to know to get started.
Best In Show: Drink Sam Adams Light, especially if someone else is paying. It was the most expensive beer we tried but was the hands down favorite, as well. It’s rich, malty and complex but drinks a lot heavier that the prototypical “light beer.”
Best Light Beer: For a true light taste, drink Amstel Light. More reasonably priced than Sam Adams, Amstel Light delivers crisp, easy flavor that a few tasters described as “exactly what a light beer should be.” At only 95 calories, it shouldn’t fill you up or add to your Freshman 15.
Lightest Beer : For those sophomores and juniors trying to drop the Freshman 15, your best option is to stop drinking beer! But, we know you must drink, so go with Budweiser Select 55 and MGD 64. With 55 and 64 calories respectively, these beers sacrifice a lot of taste and alcohol to make themselves more healthy. But it’s still fizzy, yellow and beer-flavored. Plus, it only has half the calories of other light beers.
Pseudo-Beer: Although hardly beer, you should try Bud Light Lime and Miller Chill. In one sip you will know whether you love it or hate it, and maybe you’ll find yourself a new summertime favorite. If you aren’t a big beer drinker, try Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus. It has a soft, flowery lime taste with hardly any trace of beer flavor. As well as being cheaper, compare its 107 calories to the 228 in Smirnoff Ice. They make a pomegranate-raspberry and an orange-grapefruit flavor, as well.
Best Value: In charge of drinks this weekend? Buy Keystone Light. It has a nice beer taste with no off-flavors. Keystone Light isn’t quite as good as bestsellers Miller Lite and Bud Light, but the price tag is nearly cut in half. Natural Light and Busch Light were almost as good, but Keystone was our unanimous favorite among the cheapest beers.
Avoid at All Costs: Unless there is a gun pressed against your temple, do not drink Heineken Light or Corona Light. Heineken Light smelled bad enough to make some of us gag, and the taste was sour and tinny. Corona Light was not only skunky but also had an aftertaste quite reminiscent of cigarette butts.
