We tried the Black Crown before it was released. I'm not saying that to brag -- anyone who visited Total Wine & More over the last week or so had the same chance -- but rather to point out that Anheuser-Busch is putting a lot of marketing muscle behind this beer. I mean, letting people try it before it goes on sale? They must think it's pretty good.
The representative pimping it sure was enthusiastic at least. He explained with a great deal of passion how the brewmasters at the seventeen Anheuser-Busch breweries competed to come up with the best beer. The winner -- the Black Crown -- got to hit the market.
This brought forth some questions.
First: Each of Anheuser-Busch's breweries has a brewmaster? I suppose we kind of just thought the janitor pushed a button in the morning and everything kind of ran by itself. Further more, if Black Crown was the winner, what did the other sixteen beers taste like?
Either way, the Black Crown is here, and we assume it's here to stay.
Snarkiness aside, the beer could have been worse. Were we to rate it with Untappd's dumb-ass new half-star system, we'd probably venture into the 1.5 area. We might even dig out a two, although that'd probably require us to enjoy at least a couple of these 6% ABV monsters.
The Black Crown is an amber lager with an odd flavor. Think a traditional Bud mixed with a Mack & Jack's African Amber. A really weak amber ale comes to mind, more so than a strong amber lager.
The mouthfeel... This happens to all the fancy Buds: The carbonation is just insane, to the point where you might as well chug Alka-Seltzer.
But, with all of that said... This is probably the best Bud we've ever tried. It's not good, don't get me wrong, but it's not that awful either. Had we attended a social function where Anheuser-Busch provided all the libations, we'd definitely go with the Black Crown.
That kind of social function is not in the cards, mind you, and I am unsure if we'll try Black Crown again anytime soon. Feel free to do so yourself though.