Beer Review: MillerCoors Batch 19

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Batch 19 is billed as a pre-Prohibition era lager. The story, intriguing as it is, does not pass my B.S. Test. Still, I was eager to try the new MillerCoors hops-hopped brew.

The backstory:   Supposedly, a basement archive in an old brewing facility contained a recently found recipe dating back to before 1919, when Prohibition Era forced the closure of most breweries. This recipe was “lost” (oopsy-daisy!) until just a few years ago, and brewmasters refined the recipe, calling the finished product “Batch 19.”

The Marketing:   Oh, I wish I could help market this product. Whether or not the story is bullshit, it provides many creative platforms to market the brew. In big cities back east, MillerCoors is staging pre-Prohibition parties with Roaring ’20s style flair. The telling of this tale is attention getting. The slogan is “Defiantly Bold Beer.”

The Batch 19 review:   Batch 19 is designed to have a stronger hops flavor, and uses strisselspalt and hersbrucker hops. The result is a hybrid lager with elements of an IPA. It contains 5.5% alcohol and bears a modestly premium price, maybe a dollar or so more than your ordinary Coors products.
I like it. It tastes like beer, unlike most commercially viable American lagers, especially those from Millers or Coors. Batch 19 is what I would call a commercial microbrew. While the packaging suggests it bears undertones of black currants, I did not sense that. It’s a hearty, hopped-up flavor, but my major criticism is that it lacks follow-through. The aftertaste is weak and malty, like its forebearers.

I’ll likely buy it again, and please… invite me to one of those pre-Prohibition parties!