I had to laugh when I saw this ad campaign, and I had the same thought, "Who do they think they are fooling?"

While I think it's great they are selling the craft brew taste to people who might not otherwise go looking for it, I'm more inclined to say this is a mass-market trick than new ground. All these beers are fairly well known beer styles, with little deviation on what makes craft beer great.

I'll change my tone if they release something more obscure that isn't tried and true amongst craft brewers already, like a dragonfruit amber ale, or a dulce de leche porter, or even a sour beer. Trying new recipes is what craft brewing is about.

And if anyone makes those, I want to know! If not, I call dibs!

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Michelob is known for being a fairly decent beer for the price. The main things going for it are that it isn't crap and it isn't over $9 for a 6-pack. As much as I love and value unique micro-brews, lately they are becoming less of a regular thing and more of a wallet-hitting indulgence. If the new Michelob craft beers manage to stay cheap and taste good, they will definitely get at least a small share of my dwindling beer budget.

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If you want some a bit more unique from them, they do sell Redbridge which is a sorghum based beer (esp. great for anyone with wheat allergies). It's actually pretty good and I like to mix it up with my purchases from time to time.

Samme is right though, they are a decent (quite good if you are used to only getting Bud, Coors, or Miller all the time) beer that is always consistent and one that you can count on to generally be half the cost of a microbrewed beer. A six pack of Amberbock tends to run around 5 or 6 dollars at our local store where as a locally made amber runs 9 to 10 dollars. Granted, the local brew is better, but if you are planning on having friends over (if your friends are like mine, a six pack each is generally what we need) and you are buying beer, it can get really costly. Michelob can solve that and still be pretty tasty at the same time.

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I completely agree that this is a mass-marketing ploy on A-B's part. However, it can only serve the craft brew industry, rather than detract from it. I highly doubt that they are going to lure any true craft brew fans from their local favorites, rather they will turn on current mass market drinkers to new flavors. Then, as the new drinkers realize that beer can actually taste *good* they will turn to other brewers and brands to expand their horizons.

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I recently picked up a Michelob brewing company sampler pack. Mostly, I was curious to see if there was anything worth drinking from the world of macros (I am a promiscuous beer drinker). I was surprised by how decent some of the beers were. Not mind-blowing, but not shabby. The Marzen was particularly good, imo. I have also tried the Shock Top on draft in the past and found it to be pretty tasty (at the time, I did not know it was a Michelob product... or should I say, AB... or Inbev?). Who cares, if it tastes good.

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