Miller Genuine Draft (MGD) Review

Brewery: Miller Brewing Co. | Beer: Miller Genuine Draft
Style: American Adjunct Lager | ABV: 4.7% | IBUs: ~12
Serving Method: 12 oz. can poured into Pilsener glass

Originally branded as Miller High Life Genuine Draft, MGD was introduced in 1985 as the home version of draft High Life. It features the same recipe as High Life, but with a different production process designed to emulate draft beer in a can or bottle.

After brewing, the beer is crashed down to 35 degrees, instead of undergoing the usual heat pasteurization. Once cooled, it is then cold-filtered four times, with the last filtration coming courtesy of ceramic filters.

Despite it's relatively young age, Miller Genuine Draft has become the standard-bearer for the company, with the sales-leading Miller Lite as the light offering and Miller High Life as the budget heritage offering.

Who doesn't like draft beer? Let's tap this bad boy and see if we can get the real straight from the tap flavor right here at home.

Appearance: A crystal-clear straw-colored body capped by two fingers of bubbly, white head that feature decent retention and lacing.

Aroma: Sweet and grainy pale malt with mild, lemony hops for balance.

Taste: Surprisingly, there is a relatively substantial malt backbone here. While it’s hardly a lush base of caramel malt, it does feature some biscuity notes along with the usual grainy and husky character. That said, there’s little hop character here, just a splash of lemon. The finish is clean, with just a suggestion of slightly biscuity grain in the finish.

Mouthfeel: A somewhat watery body with sharp carbonation and crisp finish.

Drinkability: As usual with these beers, if you’re into the flavor profile there’s nothing holding you back.

Verdict: While it’s still bland and thin compared to the rest of the beer world, MGD actually has a decent wedge of malty character for this style. Still, given a choice between this and its cousin High Life, I’d choose the latter every time.

Grade: D+

Miller High Life Review

Brewery: Miller Brewing Co. | Beer: Miller High Life
Style: American Adjunct Lager | ABV: 4.7% | IBUs: ~12
Serving Method: 16 oz. can poured into Pilsener glass

Miller High Life is the oldest beer in the Miller Brewing Company lineup by far, having been around since 1903. Known as "the champagne of bottled beer," it was originally sold in tiny champagne bottles and occupied space in the fledgling premium American beer market.

Over time though, the market evolved and High Life became a near-forgotten budget brand, taking a back seat to Miller's flagships MGD and Miller Lite. During the past few years though, High Life has made a bit of a comeback. It's now positioned as an earnest, no-nonsense throw-back low-cost beer, thanks to plenty of clever marketing.

Let's pop the cork on this everyman's champagne and take a taste of the high life, shall we?

Appearance: A crystal-clear straw body capped by two fingers of bubbly white head that feature surprisingly good retention and decent patchy lacing.

Aroma: Husky and grainy pale malt with lemony hops. It’s thin and very clean, but not offensive.

Taste: Just as promised, the flavor profile is composed of grainy and husky malt with a twist of lemony hops. It’s pretty bland in general, but not bad for the style. The aftertaste is clean, with just a hint of husk and grassy hops remaining.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light bodied with crisp medium-high carbonation and a hint of dryness in the finish.

Drinkability: As always with this style, drinkability is the aim, and they’ve hit their mark here. Sure, it’s a little plain, but it gets the job done.

Verdict: Miller High Life is one of the best examples of this perpetually weak style out there (please excuse the backhanded compliment). If I had to pick one American Adjunct Lager out of a cooler at a party, I think this would be it.

Grade: C

Miller Lite Review

Brewery: Miller Brewing Co. | Beer: Miller Lite
Style: American Adjunct Light Lager | ABV: 4.2%
Serving Method: 24 oz. can poured into Pilsener glass

This review is a part of an article on the American Adjunct Light Lager as part of the monthly beer blogging project The Session.

Developed back in 1967, the beer we know as Miller Lite started life as Gablinger's Diet Beer, the first light beer. Meister Brau acquired the recipe a few years later, and the beer was renamed Meister Brau Lite. Once Miller bought out Meister Brau in the mid-seventies, the recipe was tweaked and the beer was re-renamed Miller Lite.

Under Miller's management and with their superior marketing muscle, sales of the beer finally took off. Miller Lite was essentially the first to market in the light beer segment, and held the sales lead until 1994, when Bud Light became the top dog. The light beer category itself tipped in 1992, becoming the biggest selling segment of the American beer landscape.

Miller Lite has enjoyed many hit marketing campaigns, including the legendary "Great Tasting, Less Filling," "Man Laws," and the controversial "Catfight." Miller Lite's latest campaign touts the benefits of the the beer's flavor profile, "Get Hip to the Hops." Check out the Miller Lite website for some unintentionally hilarious video clips about the awesome power of the "triple hops brewing processes."

Marketing campaign's aside, let's peel back the brown paper bag and see what's inside.

Appearance: Pale straw-yellow, crystal-clear body with a fizzy bright-white head that recedes quickly and leaves no lacing.

Aroma: Crisp and cidery with a plain, grainy sweetness. There's definitely something funky going on here.

Taste: Very thin flavor profile. Thin, grainy malt with hardly any bitterness from the hops, just some crispness and a bit of fruitiness. Unfortunately, there's a nasty chemical taste lurking around the edges, waiting to grab you. Thin, grainy aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Watery and fizzy, the standard for this style.

Drinkability: On occasion I've been forced to test the drinkability of this beer, and it keeps going down easy for quite a while. But unless you're looking to get drunk, there's no point.

Verdict: Maybe I'm just not "hip to the hops," but this sucks. It's the normal thin and bland profile you'd expect from this style, but with a nasty chemical taste takes it to a new level of shitiness. Firmly behind both Bud Light and Coors Light.

Grade: F