Taste Test: Light Beer

By Carolyn Malcoun, September/October 2009

These 5 brews sacrifice calories, not flavor.

READER'S COMMENT:

"Is it my imagination but does beer take on worse taste as it goes from ice cold to warmer temperatures? If a beer is less than ice cold I would't drink it for any reason. The smell of spilled beer lingering in a room is worse than a cat...

The last time I drank light beer on purpose was at a college frat party a dozen or so years ago. Since then, I’ve become somewhat of a beer snob. So when I heard that there was a light beer that won a gold medal in a prestigious German beer competition—in a non-light-beer category, I was intrigued. But even more than that, I was skeptical.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand why typical light beers are popular. They’re crisp, refreshing, and low in alcohol and calories. You can throw a few back while spending the day outside in the sun without getting too much of a buzz or consuming too many calories. But to me, the average light beer doesn’t taste like much more than water. I drink beer because I like its flavor. So I went on a mission to find light beers that a beer lover like me would actually want to drink.