12 Worst Beers According to Beer Drinkers

One’s opinion of beer can be subjective. Personally, I’m a fan of sours and stouts, preferring the flavor those beers drink over something like a lager. While my taste buds have adapted to enjoy some IPAs, most of them are still far too bitter for me. My wife, on the other hand, enjoys IPAs and a nice, crisp lager. Those heavily fruited sours I love? They’re too much for her. The point here is that everyone has their own preferences when it comes to drinking beer.

Some beers, however, are so universally disliked that everyone agrees that they’re better served by pouring them out down the drain than enjoying one.

Sharp’s Miller

Wisconsin is known for its incredible beers. New Glarus Spotted Cow is an institution with a cult-like following. Miller Brewing Company is one of the biggest distributors in the world. One of their beers, however, is also one of the worst. Sharp’s was sold as a non-alcoholic alternative to beers. However, they also removed any flavor from the beer along with the alcohol.

At that point, why not just drink water? If you’re looking for non-alcoholic options today, there are plenty to try. I’d recommend anything from Athletic Brewing Company or the non-alcoholic options from Untitled Art, which also happens to be located in Wisconsin.

Natural Light

More commonly referred to as “Natty Light,” the light American lager has one thing going for it: its price point. Natty Light is notoriously cheap. As a result, it’s incredibly popular with college students for parties.

While I lived with roommates who had questionable choices in their taste of beer (one of them absolutely loved the taste of PBR), let’s be honest: we had kegs of Natty Light because it was affordable, not because it was good.

Keystone Light

Speaking of beers popular with college students, you can’t talk about Natty Light without mentioning Keystone Light. Honestly, there’s little to no difference between the beers. They’re both light American lagers made by major American breweries (Natty Light is made by Anheuser-Busch, and Keystone is by Molson Coors).

They’re both incredibly cheap. Most importantly, though, they both taste incredibly bad. But hey, when you’re a broke college student, taste doesn’t always matter; affordability does!

Beer 30 Light

Thankfully, there are plenty of cheap light beer options that cater to the college crowd. Unfortunately, Beer 30 Light may be the worst of them. Every now and then, someone would bring these around to a party, but no one ever drank them — they would just sit in the fridge until someone threw them out. If drunken college kids don’t drink a beer, I don’t know what else can be said.

Hurricane Ice

I have to be honest: I’d never heard of Hurricane Ice before doing research for the article. After reading into it, I can understand why. It feels like a combination of a Bud Ice (which makes sense, since Hurricane Ice is made by Anheuser-Busch), which is brewed at a lower temperature, and a Colt 40.

Like the two previously mentioned beers, though, it’s regarded as a more affordable option compared to other beers with a higher alcohol content. Plus, it won’t be as bitter an IPA, so it has that going for it, I suppose.

Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale

Is there such a thing as going too far? Rogue Ales, located in Oregon, doesn’t seem to think so. Maybe someone should have told them that. Inspired by the famous Portland, Oregon bakery Voodo Doughnut, this combination of two locally owned businesses seems like a home run.

The problem, though, is that the heavy and sweet flavors of the doughnut don’t cooperate with the flavor profile of an ale. If it were a stout, it would probably taste much better. However, this ale feels more confused than anything, resulting in an offensive taste.

Cave Creek Chili Beer

Another example of a beer’s flavor profile most likely better matching with a stout rather than a Mexican lager. Over a decade ago, the popular beer site Beer Advocate proclaimed that this beer is “so bad that it’s good,” but you can argue that its emergence in the 2010s was due to how new the American craft beer scene was.

Today, we don’t have to settle for beers that are so bad they’re good. We can have a chili stout that perfectly balances heat with sweetness.

Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer

Brewers, we need to talk. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. If the last two entries on our list of worst beers didn’t convince you of that, then may I introduce you to a beer that tastes like pizza?

According to the beer rating site Untappd, Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer is an “ale flavored with fresh tomatoes, oregano, basil and garlic.” I’ve said multiple times now that mixing together food flavors with non-stouts is not a good idea, but I can’t think of any variety of beer that would save this disaster.

Siamsato

Speaking of beer inspired by food, here’s one that’s local to Thailand and is made from sticky rice. Having been around for centuries, it seems like a home run.

Unfortunately, no matter how freshly brewed this beer is, it always tastes flat and a little sour. This could be an example of the differences between American palettes compared to palettes abroad. Whatever the case, we’re staying away from this one.

Jalapeno IPAs

There are some beer drinkers out there that enjoy the combination of a bitter IPA alongside the fresh eat of a jalapeno. My wife is one of them! I, however, alongside with many beer drinkers, and not one of them.

There’s nothing wrong with spicy food, but I’d prefer it on my plate, not in my beer glass.

Marvel At This

I’m going to preface this by saying that Spanish Marie is one of my favorite breweries in the country. They make some incredibly delicious fruited sours.

Marvel At This, unfortunately, is not one of them, and it comes down to the flavor combination: cold brew and lemonade. Combined with the slushy sour base, and it’s just three strong flavors all competing to take over your taste buds.

Budweiser Select 55

What if you could enjoy the taste of Budweiser, but it only had 55 calories? Then you’d…be drinking the worst-rated beer on Beer Advocate. Budweiser is already a controversial topic among beer drinkers. Yes, it’s insanely popular, but many craft beer snobs look down upon it.

Everyone, however, looks down upon Budweiser Select 55 because watering down Budweiser is surely what will help make it more drinkable. If you want to drink a lighter version of Bud, just drink Bud Light.