Estranged Brew Review: Budweiser & Clamato Chelada

Quaffable in question

It’s better than you may think. Unlike Chickenfoot. Photo by J. St. O.

Fine print:

• Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, MO (from whence some bad things surely have come)
• Style: American Pale Lager: “Budweiser Beer with Natural Flavor [tomato juice, clam juice, lime juice, salt] and Certified Color” [what the hell does “certified color” mean?]
• 24 fl. oz. (a.k.a. “tall boy”)
• 5% ABV
• Tag line: “The Perfect Combination”, “Red One”

With a name like… you get the idea. Bud mixed with tomato and clam juice, with lime and salt for good measure. Plain and simple.

I planned to make a Sammy Hagar joke based on “Red One,” but he’s already exhausted the possibilities. With a name like Chickenfoot… you get the idea.

Well? And?

Can I “drive 55” after a few Red Ones?

First sniff:

• Cheap-ish beer aroma (beerroma)
• Decent tangy, tomato-booze aroma
• Pleasant lime flavor, unlike Lime-A-Rita.

First swaller and subsequent drinking:

• The ratio of beer versus tomato juice flavors is slightly out of balance; not bad, but noticeable.
  
• Salty
• No discernible clam taste (which is probably good for most people)
• 5% won’t destroy your life. Unless you want it to.

Verdict: Bloody Mary’s less potent, more refreshing little hermano

I love tomato juice/V8, Bloody Marys, Clamato, beer, garnishes, and salty stuff, so I enjoy the real Red One.

Bloody Marys are for sipping (although I have a penchant for downing them; I love drinks that play like side orders or even meals, as the Chubby Mary does), as any cocktail. And/or for getting through nasty hangovers and bad break-ups, as Willie Nelson can attest.

Chelada is well-suited for warmer days, both physically and emotionally. Bluntly, you can take a long pull off a Chelada and feel sated, without getting too tipsy and sleeping the afternoon away after a lazy Sunday brunch. Or covering your synagogue’s men’s weekly golf outing with “sinner’s confetti.”

Like Bloody Mary? You’ll like Chelada?

Drink up and don’t let the red-eye keep you from trying the Red One. Avoid the Red Rocker.

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