Beer: best of the light brews.(Buyers guide)

Publication: Consumer Reports

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COPYRIGHT 2007 Consumers Union of the United States, Inc.

If you have been drinking Bud Light or Miller Lite, the best-selling light beers in the country, it might be time to consider a new brew, our taste tests show. Although those two beers were judged very good, several others scored higher. The top light beer: Michelob Ultra Amber, which hit the market just last year.

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Americans now drink more light beer than any other kind, and more varieties have frothed up recently to quench that thirst. But shoppers beware: There is no standard for light beer, so you will find calories, and taste, all over the lot.

More expensive brands such as Sam Adams and Heineken have entered the fray in recent years. Market leader Anheuser-Busch, meanwhile, has expanded its premium Michelob light line and introduced Budweiser Select, a "new beer offering a bold taste" and with just 99 calories a serving. We gathered those pricier newcomers together with top-selling light brews and beers that have done well in our past tests. Then we sat down two experts with more than 25 years of experience tasting beer and put their trained palates to work.

The experts saw no bottles, no cans, no labels. All they got was sample after sample of beer, straight from the fridge, poured carefully into wine glasses to allow for some foam formation.

MATTER OF TASTE

As they sipped they focused on whether a beer tasted fresh and had a balanced mix of floral, fruity, malted grain, hops, and other...

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