Beer Review - Budweiser Freedom Reserve Red Lager

There have been a number of TV commercials advertising Budweiser’s new Freedom Reserve Red Lager on the sports channels I occasionally get to watch, so I wanted to see if it was any good – I tried it out last weekend!

Of course, the commercials make the beer look fantastic (which is exactly what they are trying to accomplish) so I was looking forward to checking it out. I kept my eye out for a little while, but was unable to find it at the grocery store. I stopped by a specialty beer/wine/spirits store called Total Wine & More on my way home from work one evening, and was able to find it in order to give it a try!

This beer came in stout little bottles (at least the 6 pack I grabbed did), and the labels give it a sort of small-batch feel. The label also says they donate $1 to Folds of Honor (charity benefiting families of soldiers who have lost their lives) for every case sold, so there is an element of social responsibility with this particular brew.

On to the taste: I really enjoyed the flavor. It was fairly malty (like most reds), but was smooth and easy to drink. Many amber ales have unique tastes (think Fat Tire), but this was a good blend of straightforward with the malt, to unique with a sweeter start and lack of a bitter finish. I think many beer connoisseurs would be left wanting more, but the common person would enjoy it and it would be easy to have multiple beers. Some of the harsher amber ales (similar to IPAs) are good tasting, but after you feel like you are done. This was a nice summer beer for sure. I did feel the color was less “red” than I thought it would be based on the commercials I had seen. It was slightly redder than most, but I was expecting more of a vibrant red based on the advertising.

Overall, I give it 4 out of 5 Steem, and would say I recommend it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Brian