Beer Review Of Anheuser-Busch’s New High-Alcohol Brew
You know the kind of athlete that quietly goes about his business, who is so smooth while he’s performing it’s easy to overlook his accomplishments? The kind who is overshadowed by his more famous teammates?
Then you check the the box score and see that he’s rushed for 125 yards, scored 25 points or driven in four runs. Including the game-winner.
That’s what the new Bud Light Platinum beer is like. It’s as smooth as a singles hitter, yet it packs the power of Albert Pujols. It’s the Wes Welker of beers, subtle in appearance but prodigious in production.
I tried it for the first time at the Northern Trust Open, the PGA Tour stop in L.A. At first, I approached it with caution. Lagers are my beer love, but I prefer ones with a little more, well, drive to it than normal light beers. Give me the heavy hitters. I like to reach the green in one, if possible, to put it in golf terms. Stella, Longboard Lager, even Leffe on occasion.
And let me just say that Bud Light Platinum could fly the greens.
It goes down so easy you’re likely to have a few of them before stopping to count the dead soldiers. While engaged in some diversionary activity – watching sports, listening to bands at a music festival, hitting on girls in a bar – it’s the perfect sidekick.
But then comes the kick. One minute your fine and the next you’re speaking a bit faster, louder and are suddenly the life of the party.
Bud Light Platinum packs a powerful 6% alcohol by volume content. Compare that to 4.2% of Bud Light. It’s even more than Budweiser and Stella (5.0), Bud Ice (5.5), though well short of Leffe Blonde’s whopping 6.6%. Platinum’s alcohol content is on par with many of the microbrews.
Some say it has a bit of a sweet taste, but I didn’t really detect it. What I got was an unexpected “whoa” when that 6% hit the system! It just catches you by surprise in such a smooth-tasting beer.
Perhaps I should have used the dayglow blue bottle as a clue.

