Bud Light Platinum

Name: Bud Light Platinum
Style: American Adjunct Lager (Light)
Owner: AB-InBev
Slogan: "#makeitplatinum"

BeerAdvocate Rating: 54 (Awful)
RateBeer Rating: 1, 18
ABV: 6%

Supposedly a "bolder" version of Bud Light, Platinum doesn't seem to fit anywhere.  It's supposed to be a "Light" beer, but has a hefty 6% ABV and only 8 fewer calories than regular Budweiser.  With this potent alcohol content, I guess you could say that it could best be described as "Bud Light Malt Liquor," for those who wanna get crunk but are too discerning to be seen with a King Cobra in their hand.

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  God I hate electronic music.

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Let me say this right off the bat: the bottle is beautiful.  A deep, translucent cobalt blue bottle with minimalist labeling really makes Platinum stand out on the shelf.  I don't know who the guy was that designed the packaging, but he deserves a medal and a raise because he nailed this one.  Unfortunately, what they put inside the bottle is a little less exciting.

I'm not sure who the target demographic is for this product is, either.  The commercials I've seen so far look to be targeting the 20-somethings in clubs, since most of the ones I've seen feature young, hip folks and DJs.

There's not much interesting history behind this beer to give you because it's so new, so I guess I'd better just get on with the review.


Serving:
Aggressively poured from a 22oz bottle into a Wine Enthusiast Steady-Temp Double Wall Beer Glass.  The glass rolled its eyes and mumbled "not again..."

Appearance:
Pours a pale straw color with a fizzy head that left the tiniest bit of soapy lacing in the glass.

Smell:
No malt or hops that I can detect.  Smells like sugar and alcohol, with a fusel undertone.

Taste:
Tastes like Bud Light with a hair more flavor, almost all of the increase being sugar, with a distinct alcohol undertone.  Just a kiss of pale malt and sugar - like right out of the bag sugar.

Mouthfeel:
Watery with the slightest bit of slickness on the finish.

Overall:
This is another one of those "alcohol delivery mechanism" beers.  There's nothing about it that makes it stand out from a regular American Macro aside from the sweetness and the increased alcohol content.  It's bland and tasteless, which is evidently what a lot of people like when it comes to beer.   I wouldn't really recommend it, but it's not a drain pour which makes it infinitely better than Coors.

My suggestion for a new slogan would be: "Bud Light Platinum: It'll get you drunk and at least it's not Coors."