I Try It So You Don’t Have To: Budweiser Chelada

This was a target of opportunity for me this week. Eick mentioned this years back and its mysterious appearance on the shelf of one of my favorite beer stores was a bit of kismet. I decided to go with the regular Budweiser option rather than the lite. I am a recent arrival into the world of cheladas. I had my first one ever a couple months ago as a chaser for some delicious grasshoppers and I have been looking forward to more. I was pretty sure this would not match up with a hand crafted chelada made with Negra Modelo but I was hopeful it would at least still fall into the category of spicy tomato beer.

Straight clamato could be a test all on it’s own but I know I love it already so no need for me to try it. I had a long love affair with Ceasers when I used to travel to Canada regularly so Clamato and I are old chums. Finding cheladas made me lament the fact that here in the US,we are bracketed on both sides by Clamato lovers and we sit here in the middle with plain old tomato juice. Sad really.

So how does this one stack up? The color of it was not particularly encouraging, it looked very thin and watery.

The taste was pretty good actually, quite refreshing with a bit of spice, I would have like more. The tomato flavor was pretty light and it was missing some of the vague brininess that Clamato usually offers. It was very well balanced however, I split the big can with a friend and I was regretting my kindness. It was a great break in an evening filled with heavier beers and fried food and I wanted more. I am now going to have to go on a quest to make the perfect chelada at home, though I may keep a couple of these in the beer fridge for an emergency.

Budweiser cheladas get a big “Try It” from me.