Cheap Beer Corner: Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor

It'll sting ya!!

Now, there are a lot of beer sites out there. A lot of these "beer guys" are writing about fancy pants $10 beers, and obviously I love those beers as well. But some days, you don't want a $5 bottle of IPA. Or perhaps you want to have more than a couple of beers in a night and not be dropping a Jackson for your 3 beer journey. Sometimes, you've gotta get cheap beer.

"But Jason," you cry. "Cheap beer does not taste nearly as good as fancy beer!" Of course it doesn't. Jack in the Box isn't as good as a steak, but I can't have steak every night! So as a man of the people, I introduce the cheap beer corner. A place to fill in the gaps between your fancy $8 IIPAs.

Our first contestant is Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor. Mickey's seems to hang a bit above your typical 40oz beers...it doesn't have the stigma that Old English or King Cobra have. Also, it likely helps that they've updated their labels in the last 40 years. In fact, I recall when they had Chuck Liddell and other MMA fighters on the cans. I thought that was pretty cool. Later when UFC was sponsored by Bud Light, they added Tito Ortiz to the cans. This was far less cool. This can, as you can see, just has the Mickey's bee guy.

Not This Bee Guy.

The beer came out foamy as hell, but quickly settled into a very clear golden color. In fact, it looked just like the amber sap from Jurassic Park. I'm hoping to find an ancient petrified mosquito in it, but the odds are I'll just find a normal current mosquito in it. I'm still holding out hope for DINO DNA!

The beer does not smell great. Smelling it makes me feel worse about drinking it. Beerhound Protip: Don't smell this beer. The label doesn't state the ABV. I wonder why? Is it because it's too low and they can't compete on the ABV race with Steel Reserve? The world may never know.

Let's drink it, shall we? It tastes...interesting. It's got kind of a sweet, corny flavor....but this cloying sweetness hits you in the middle that is not pleasant. It's not a huge taste...there's not much going on in this beer...but it's not that good. A few sips later, and my body develops a natural defense to that sweetness, and this just has a smooth lager taste. It's definitely crisp and refreshing, and the kind of beer that you could drink, say, 18 of.

All in all, this beer is a perfectly adequate way to get boozy on a budget, but there are better options out there. What options, you ask? You'll have to return for our later reviews. To be honest though, I've had "Craft Beer" that was wayyyy worse than this.

Beer Hound Rating: C