Bud Light Golden Wheat Beer Review
October 26, 2009
There’s been a decent amount of buzz surrounding the newly released Bud Light Golden Wheat from Anheuser-Busch, and so we decided that The Brew Club should check it out – so you don’t have to! Make sure you get to the bottom of this review where you can take our poll. Will you buy this beer?
Now, I know that many of you are asking “WHY?” Well, I’ll tell you. People I know are asking me if I tried the ‘new Bud Light Wheat beer’, and I’ve told them no, I had not.
Also, according to The Brew Club charter, we don’t necessarily shun beers from macro-brewers unless they deserved to be shunned as a result of a sucky review. (We do like shunning in general though.) So, we try to give all beers, even Bud Light Golden Wheat, a fair shake. Besides, its been more than a year since we reviewed Bud Lite Lime!
Dig?
Where to begin? Lets start with the facts. BL Golden Wheat weighs in at 4.1%ABV, and for those counting their calories, a bottle of BL Golden Wheat has 118 calories. Now for the opinions!
As you can see in the picture, the beer created a decently sized fizzy head. The head quickly left the scene, and not long after the picture was taken it was completely gone. Gone without a trace, and leaving me with a rather flat looking beer.
The beer, as is typical for the style, is unfiltered, so there was a bit of sediment at the bottom of the bottle and the beer itself was cloudy. The color was on the orange side – I think they’re trying to get people to think ‘orange’ and perhaps stick an orange slice on the glass like a lot of Blue Moon drinkers might. The packaging is going for that orange look too if you ever see the box you’ll know what I mean.
Looking at the BL Golden Wheat, it actually reminded me of what I think is my favorite beer of 2009, the Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfen Weisse. Very orange looking.
However, that’s where the similarities between those two wheat beers end!
BL Golden Wheat has the coriander and citrus peels and yes you can smell it in the beer, although it is on the very mild side. I suppose they don’t want to freak out regular Bud Light drinkers by making it too spicy and citrusy.
Getting on to the taste is where this beer lost all hope. Sorry.
The flavor, much like in the smell, you can get some of the citrus and coriander, but not that much. The flavor actually isn’t horrible, but I think what makes this beer very hard for me to enjoy personally is the body. It is really thin – like water thin. This should not come as a shock actually, it is a lite beer! I’m just saying that for my taste, Bud Light Golden Wheat is way too thin, un-robust and watery. (It might make for tasty water though!)
Here’s my conclusion. If you are counting calories, and a 118 calorie beer appeals to you, you might want to try the BL Golden Wheat. Its been a loooooong time since I’ve had a regular Bud Lite, but I’m pretty sure this is going to have some more flavor than that does, but they are also different styles. Its hard to compare apples to apples that way.
If you are not interested in a low calorie beer, but are curious about trying some ‘fancy’ wheat beer like this BL Golden Wheat, then I’ll tell you that you can do better. If you want to check out this beer style, go with Blue Moon and if its your thing, stick an orange peel on your glass of that instead. Blue Moon is much better than BL Golden Wheat and it’s made by the Coors people.
If you’re a die-hard Anheuser Busch drinker, then give Shock Top a try. AB makes it, and while I wasn’t crazy about it, its a wheat beer with more flavor and body than the BL Golden Wheat.
If you’re feeling nutty and want to try one of those ‘craft wheat beers’, you might want to look for the above mentioned Hopfen Weisse, the Long Trail Belgian White, or the Ommegang Witte. All very nice. You can also check out all the Belgian White beers we’ve reviewed in the past to see if any of them capture your interest. I like the style, I just don’t think BL Golden Wheat is a good example of it.
The Bud Light Golden Wheat just seemed to me like someone took one of the beers mentioned above, dumped out half the beer and replaced it with water. Like I said, unless you’re counting calories, there are better choices out there.
Rating: 
[poll id="14"]
Have you tried the Bud Light Golden Wheat? What did you think of it? Take the poll and let us know if you’re buying it or not!
Posted in 1 Star Reviews, Ales, All Brews Reviewed, American Beers, Wheat Beers
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October 26th, 2009 at 11:27 am
I’d agree. If a lite beer drinker its a nice change, but otherwise there are better wheat beers out there. Almost any of them actually!
October 26th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
A friend of mine that works at a bar had me try a sample of this last week. It tastes just like Bud Light to me with a little yeast and citrus to it. I would much rather drink the other macro made wheats like Shocktop and Blue Moon over this.
Mike´s last blog ..Sierra Nevada Estate Brewers Harvest Ale
October 26th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
+100 on that Mike. Unless you’re counting calories, Blue Moon or Shock Top would def be better choices. Now I can put it behind me!
Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Beer of the Month Club
October 27th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I thought it was decent compared to other lite beers. You really can’t compare it to a regular beers, I don’t think that’s fair to do. I have a feeling that golden wheat won’t be a permanent part of the Bud Light lineup though.
October 28th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Thanks for taking one for the team here, Scott. If you hadn’t reviewed it, I’d never know anything about this beer because I wouldn’t have ever tried it. Blech! Nice review though. Maybe you can do Michelob Ultra next…
Jim´s last blog ..You Can Always Go Home Again
October 28th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Ha. Jim, its too bad you didn’t buy some, you could have done a comparison with the Bud Lite in your fridge!
If anything, I’ve confirmed that I’m not a fan of lite beers.
Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Ayinger Oktoberfest Marzen Beer Review
November 4th, 2009 at 9:40 am
i totally disagree with you. i’ve had to resort to light beer due to some medical situations, and i tried this one last night. no taste? wrong. strange, but the head on my BL wheat didn’t disappear at all, and the body of the beer was not “light” . maybe the citrus peels they brew it with did something for the texture, but it was better than the other light beers i’ve tried. my last one was the overrated Amstel light (not really that good, not nearly as much of a head). after all i guess it boils down to opinion, cause i tried blue moon and thought it sucked. apparently taste is in the mouth of the drinker.
November 4th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Hey Phil, thanks for checking in. Hey, I can’t argue with you on your points, but I agree 100% that ‘taste is in the mouth of the drinker.” Besides that being a factually true statement (or does taste really happen in the brain???) everybody will have different likes and dislikes, just like with food or art. That’s what makes this all quite fun I think!
Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Shmaltz Brewing Company – Freaktoberfest
November 4th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
absolutely. last winter i was drinking only yuengling black and tan and swore i’d never drink any light beer. lately i’ve tried several and haven’t enjoyed most of them very much, so perhaps the cirtus peels and coriander gave BLW a bit more body for my taste. nice website you havr. thanks for letting me participate.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Hey Phil, anytime! Its all about exchanging ideas and opinions!
Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Jersey Beer Blogs – Ferment Nation
November 6th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
I get your point, but you could just have easily have said – “all light beers taste like crap compared to real beers.” For a light beer, I think it’s a nice change of pace. Sure, I’d rather drink a more full bodied beer, but my mid-section is getting a bit stout these days. Uhhh, I think I made a beer funny there.
November 6th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Jeff, that’s a good one! 5 stars for the beer pun!
Yeah, I could have said that, but I tend to be long-winded. Still, I’ve not tried every lite beer, and on the other hand I’ve also had some watery and crappy-tasting regular beers. I don’t think its so black and white.
Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
November 7th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Hi Scott,
Understood. I think that beer deserves a little more credit though tastewise given that it is clearly in the light beer category. I’m sure I won’t buy much of it, but it was pretty good “for a light beer” change of pace.
Jeff – Da Belly Club.
November 7th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I go back and forth between light and full bodied beers for reasons you could care less about. I was drinking light beers for a week or two and tired the BL Golden Wheat. Nice Change from the ordinary light beers. It might be the only interesting light beer on the market.
Don’t get me wrong – comparing this to a full bodied micro brew is like comparing a moped to a Hummer. No point in that exercise.
If you find yourself (or a girlfriend etc.) drinking light beer – try this one. I’m going to pick up my 2nd 6-pack now. And it did remind me of Blue Moon at first.
November 18th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
This beer sucks!
Nuff said!