I'm fascinated by this rebranding of Hamm's Beer to the old 1960-70s Design!
- AZ Brews
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
My brother can acknowledge my claim that this beer can design (or possibly Miller Genuine Draft) were likely the first beer cans we saw in Dad's downstairs beer fridge. This was Dad's beverage fridge and meat freezer mostly and thankfully for my brother and I there was often so much beer in there, no one would notice if a can or two disappeared every once in awhile. ;)
I recall liking most of the American Macro beers that I tried from the magical beer fridge. There was Old Style, Falstaff, Schlitz, Hamm's, MGD, Miller High Life (Dad's Favorite) and Blatz or Old Milwaukee occasionally. I am happy to report that Dad really didn't like Budweiser all that much. However, back in the days when we went to Busch Gardens Tampa, he pretty much would spend the entire day in their well appointed Beerhall and Gardens, disregarding the questionable quality of the AB-InBev beer since there were free samples...
Since then I guess you could say I have become a beer snob (understatement of the year?). Homebrewing and travelling to Germany a few times put the final nail in the American Macro beer coffin. I really don't ever buy these beers anymore. I often dream about a Macro brewery that could actually release a high quality non-adjunct Helles Lager. One.... Just One Beer from all of the Macro guys. I would even be happy if it's a seasonal release and I would be willing to spend $500 for a case once per year if the beer rivalled Augustiner or HB. Then I awoke from my dream and reality set in again. However, I saw a few videos from Nate at Tree House Brewing and so far it looks like Hamm's is 2-0 so far against other crappy beers like Bud and Miller High Life. See the videos below, worth a watch.
So I stupidly(?) decided to go get some Hamm's and see if I can tolerate drinking their swill. I am honestly on the hunt for a weekday beer that hits these notes:
Affordable - Craft Beer is honestly too expensive these days
Low(er) Calorie - Yes I understand I should lose a few pounds
At least good if not great - I would take dry and crisp with no off flavors
Can Hamm's meet these requirements?
Affordable: I went out to Total Wine and the only format they carry is one pictured here in the article. It is a 24 pack of cans, with the retro logo and a suitcase type format. Freaking very cool and only $19.99 for 24 cans! That's less than $1 per can
Lowe(er) Calorie: The Hamm's website lists the beer at 142 Calories, which I think is just fine for a 12oz can. Any lower than that and it would be watery.
Flavorful: Tastes OK or Good: TBD - I haven't tried one yet but coming soon
I Will update this post later today hopefully
430PM same day:
"Oh my goodness that is aweful"
Well, I have to report what I think and observed. Firstly, my son Jacob tried a little taste of the Hamm's and made a face like "Oh my goodness that is aweful" and immediately went for a gulp of water to cleanse his palate. I ran to the garage fridge to open an HB Original Helles for him and he was so relieved and said "ahhhh... that's better"
As for me I would say all these beers that use corn syrup (maltose) have a similar sickly, fake malt character that reminds me of LME homebrew. This example was quite fresh so there wasn't any detectable oxidation or off flavors.
There is no bread crust, There is no dough or honey flavors, There are no nutrients, It was a Lie Steven!
Does it have a slight hop bitterness? Yes, barely but yes. Is it dry and crisp? Dry, yes and well attenuated but crisp? I would say nein. My final assessment for this beer is I can barely almost finish one 12oz can. Take that for what you will. Is this the answer I was looking for? Sadly NO but it's no worse than the other American Macro lagers so I will likely finish the case hopefully someday......
From Tree House Brewing:
Round 1 - Hamm's Vs Budweiser
Round 2 - Hamm's Vs Miller High Life
Fascinating History Of Hamm's Beer - Includes one of the most successful advertising campaigns in American history and a kidnapping of the grandson of Mr Hamm!
Wow this brings back memories for me! I definitely remember that iconic label. I recall it was our friend's dad's garage beer - he could always be seen with one of these in his hand and for some reason seemed to spend alot of time in the garage ; ) Can't wait to hear what you think (...but sadly I expect that you will be disappointed at least if you are comparing it to german macro-brews).