Whether you love grabbing a cold can on the couch at the end of a long day or sipping on a bottle at a summer baseball game, drinking beer is one of life’s great pleasures for many Americans. However, as many a suds savant will attest, there’s a major distinction between a beer and a good beer. In some cases, that’s even more true when it comes to budget-friendly brews. To find out which cheap beer is the least popular across the U.S., Mashed conducted its own survey in July, asking 637 beer drinkers which inexpensive beer they’d say no to if offered. Read on to discover which one was voted the worst cheap beer in America by respondents.
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6 | Budweiser
Patcharaporn Puttipon 636 / ShutterstockRespondents who wouldn’t drink it if offered: 11.5 percent
Budweiser may be the "King of Beers"—both in its nickname and in the fact that it's valued at over $14 billion, according to Statista—but as far as beer drinkers go, it's hardly the top choice. On the review site Beer Advocate, Budweiser has earned an "awful" rating of 56 out of 100 among critics. "This is mainly just a palate cleanser to wash down food," one wrote. "Body is very thin and the aftertaste is gross. I really can't believe I used to like this stuff."
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5 | Icehouse
Courtesy of IcehouseRespondents who wouldn’t drink it if offered: 11.30 percent
Icehouse may be America's first domestic ice beer, but it seems many consumers would argue that "first" does not mean the "best." Coming in just below Budweiser, Icehouse earned a 51 on Beer Advocate. "This beer is barely drinkable," one beer lover said. "When its ice cold it's drinkable, but get it warm at all [and] it gets this terrible taste that makes me sick. It's a cheap high alcohol beer so I'm not sure what I was expecting."
4 | Busch
JL IMAGES / ShutterstockRespondents who wouldn’t drink it if offered: 11.93 percent
The namesake of Anheuser-Busch is definitely not the best beer the brewing company makes, according to fans. Beer Advocate reviewers have given Busch a 50 out of 100, just one notch below Icehouse. "I can drink pretty much anything but I honestly couldn't manage to choke down a half can of this before pouring it out," one critic said of Busch. "It smells like wet cardboard. The kind that gets stuck at the bottom of your trash can for months."
3 | Keystone
Molson CoorsRespondents who wouldn’t drink it if offered: 17.27 percent
Lager lovers on Beer Advocate seem to like Keystone a bit more than those on the Mashed survey. They gave it a 55 out of 100, so slightly better than the other cheap beers on this list. But that's not to say it has many fans. "This beer looks okay, which is a horrible, horrible trick," one Keystone reviewer wrote. "Most beers are skunky as a result of being left too warm for too long, this one is skunky from being brewed with fresh skunk."
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2 | Natural Ice
Tim Boyle/Getty ImagesRespondents who wouldn’t drink it if offered: 23.39 percent
Known better to college kids as Natty Ice, this frat favorite earned a dismal 45 among Beer Advocate reviewers. "This is a poor adjunct lager, smells bad, tastes even worse," one wrote of Natural Ice. "Tasteless, dry, highly carbonated, bitter—and you’re drinking it with the sole purpose of getting drunk. Now hands down its only positive aspect [is] that it has 5.9 percent ABV —helps you to get drunk easier."
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1 | Milwaukee’s Best
Molson CoorsRespondents who wouldn’t drink it if offered: 24.96 percent
Earlier this month, Molson Coors announced it was discontinuing 11 "economy" beers, and Milwaukee's Best Premium was among them. Based on its ranking on this survey and its abysmal 48 score on Beer Advocate, it's understandable why. But we'll let one reviewer tell you for themselves. "If this is Milwaukee's best, they should probably stop making beer," they wrote. "I feel ripped off paying less than a dollar for it. I won't buy this again, and I highly recommend avoiding it." Looks like their prayers were answered!
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