Kotas Reviews Michelob Ultra Light Cider

So, it turns out that the Michelob company now makes a cider under their Ultra line called, surprisingly enough, Michelob Ultra Light Cider. Why is it Light you ask? Well, it uses Stevia as a sweetenerr and runs about 120 calories a bottle, which is apparently 60 calories less than usual. Who knew, right?

While grocery shopping, we found it at our local Wal-Mart (hey, don't judge) and decided to give it a whirl. Charlotte and I both enjoy a good hard apple cider now and again, and it is almost a perfect summertime beverage. And at $6.29 for a six pack, it was the cheapest cider available.

Most hard apple ciders are a nice golden yellow, and smell strongly of apples. This was decidedly paler, with a much fainter aroma of apples and something else that I took to be the Stevia. Charlotte turns to me and says "Hey, if this sucks, you'll drink the rest of it, right?" I assured her I would make it vanish if it was not to her tastes. We both cracked open a bottle and took a drink. It is almost, but not quite entirely unlike any other cider I've tasted. It is simultaneously too sweet and not sweet enough, and the flavor is what I would describe as "faint". It's not BAD per se, but it is very mild and the aftertaste it leaves is exceedingly chemically, though it is possible I'm just sensitive to Stevia. It tastes like someone once had a cider "a while back" and tried to make a version of it with whatever was on hand, rather than finding an actual recipe. What you get is something that is technically hard cider, but otherwise NOT apple cider.

I will probably be finishing the six pack, but I don't think I can recommend drinking this. It might be worth trying, if you are a cider fan, but if possible just get ONE because you will probably be disappointed. I suppose I'm sort of sad to see that the first foray into hard ciders (as far as I know) by the "big domestic brands" is so very lackluster. It's too sweet for beer lovers, and not sweet enough for alco-pop drinkers and cider drinkers. I give it 1 frowny face on a scale of 5 frowny faces to 5 smiley faces.