At the most basic level, beer is a mix of water, malts, yeast, and hops. The basic recipe is so simple that it should be hard to mess up. Yet, there are some truly bad beers out there. As a homebrewer, I realize there’s more to it than that and wondered what people think are the worst beers in the world.
Tastes are subjective. In my household, nothing is better than a cold IPA. I’m not talking about the high-ABV DIPAs; I want a citrusy, cloudy NEIPA that is refreshing and not overly sweet. As that’s my absolute favorite beer, my list of undrinkable beers is pretty lengthy. I’m not a fan of commercial beers. I tend to tip my hat more toward smaller craft breweries like Industrial Arts Brewing Company (NY), Red Clover Ale (VT), and Trillium Brewing (MA).
If you look at Untappd’s weighted rankings for the five top-rated breweries, I agree with many.
- Tree House Brewing Company (Charlton, MA)
- The Alchemist (Stowe, VT)
- Trillium Brewing Company (Canton, MA)
- Other Half Brewing Co. (Brooklyn, NY)
- Equilibrium Brewery (Middletown, NY)
It’s difficult to quickly pull up the lowest-rated beers on Untappd. I can use my own stats, however. Of the 1,454 check-ins I’ve had since Untappd launched in 2010, my five worst beers are as follows (some are no longer produced):
- Traveler’s Grapefruit Shandy
- Shock Top’s Twisted Pretzel Wheat
- Coors Light
- Sierra Nevada’s Brut IPA
- Colt 45
What are the worst beers in the world? While my list would put Colt 45 at the top, data collected from Beer Advocate differs. Explore the 20 worst beers, ranked from the worst to the absolute worst, by Beer Advocate members, then compare this list to the best beers in America.
Red Dog
Red Dog was huge in the 1990s, so I’m surprised it’s considered a bad beer. It was simply an affordable, crushable beer that wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst, in my opinion.
- Brewery: Miller Brewing Co.
- Style: American adjunct lager
- ABV: 4.8
- Non-Weighted Score: 2.04 out of 5
Keystone Ice
Keystone products are bad enough, but make them into ice beers and I agree with others. Beer Advocate reviewers are right when they say Keystone Ice is what people drink when looking for a cheap, quick buzz. That’s pretty accurate in my area, and I can contest to finding many Keystone Ice cans tossed into my yard when lake traffic picks up in the spring and summer.
- Brewery: Molson Coors Canada
- Style: American adjunct lager
- ABV: 5.5%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.72 out of 5
Sleeman Clear
Of the many beers on the list of worst beers, this is one I’ve never seen. Sleeman Breweries is a Japanese-owned brewery in Canada that’s partially owned by Sapporo Breweries. The brewery has a long history in Canada going well back before Prohibition.
- Brewery: Sleeman Breweries Ltd.
- Style: Light lager
- ABV: 4.0
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.85 out of 5
Keystone Lager
Keystone to me is just a cheap beer that people buy because it’s all they can afford. It’s a lousy beer that I frequently see in the clearance rack in my state. Vermont is known for craft beers, so those tend to sell better than some of the mass-produced beers.
- Brewery: Molson Coors Canada
- Style: American adjunct lager
- ABV: 4.9%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.9 out of 5
Corona Light
I admit that on a hot summer’s day, I don’t mind an ice-cold Corona Light with a wedge of lime. It was one of my go-to summer bonfire beers with friends and family gathering. A bottle of Corona Light with the wedge of lime shoved into the bottle, and then makings for s’mores set out on the picnic table in our back yard. Those were great times.
- Brewery: Grupo Modelo S.A. de C.V.
- Style: Light lager
- ABV: 4.1%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.98 out of 5
Bud Light & Clamato Chelada
One sip of this and I vowed never again. It’s a horrid mix of already bad Bud Light and Clamato (clam and tomato) juice. I do believe it deserves its spot on the list of undrinkable beers.
- Brewery: Anheuser-Busch
- Style: Fruit and field beer
- ABV: 4.2%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.93 out of 5
Michelob Ultra
Some Beer Advocate members mention the metallic taste. That’s exactly what I never liked about Michelob Ultra. It had an aftertaste reminiscent of the iron pills I have to take. It became popular in my area when the Atkins Diet of low-carb everything trended. People I knew turned to lower-calorie beers to cut carbs.
- Brewery: Anheuser-Busch
- Style: Light lager
- ABV: 4.2%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.96 out of 5
Busch Light
Growing up in the ’80s, this was the go-to beer of teen boys in my town, likely taken from their dad’s beer fridge, as it is the beer that dads often drank during backyard barbecues. It’s not a palatable beer to me.
- Brewery: Anheuser-Busch
- Style: Light lager
- ABV: 4.1%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.95 out of 5
Bud Ice
Ice beers become trendy in the 1990s due to the higher ABV. Make a lager, freeze it, remove some of the ice crystals, and what remains is a higher-alcohol beer. I dislike them as they always come out more syrupy, and I do not like syrupy beers.
- Brewery: Anheuser-Busch
- Style: American adjunct lager
- ABV: 5.5%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.94 out of 5
Busch Ice
Busch Ice is another of the ice beer selections that I find too syrupy. I’ve yet to find a decent ice beer, and this one to me is one of the worst as Busch is already a bad beer.
- Brewery: Anheuser-Busch
- Style: American adjunct lager
- ABV: 5.9%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.87 out of 5
Milwaukee’s Best
I didn’t know many people who drank this beer, and I certainly didn’t. It’s an undrinkable beer that has very little flavor. It’s also one of the cheapest beers in the store, which is why I feel it’s still around.
- Brewery: Miller Brewing Co.
- Style: American adjunct lager
- ABV: 4.8%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.89 out of 5
Bud Light
Bud Light is bad, but I do have fond memories of it. A late neighbor used to give neighbors he liked a can of Bud Light at Halloween to enjoy after trick or treating with their kids. I miss him a lot, so while I never liked Bud Light, it has a place in my heart.
- Brewery: Anheuser-Busch
- Style: Light lager
- ABV: 4.2%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.88 out of 5
Milwaukee’s Best Light
Close up of a customers at a bar holding a beer and making a toast with people having fun at the background
Take an already bad beer and reduce the calories and ABV. That’s all Milwaukee’s Best Light is. It’s cheap, doesn’t taste of much, and just isn’t a beer I ever enjoyed.
- Brewery: Miller Brewing Co.
- Style: Light lager
- ABV: 4.2%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.84 out of 5
Miller 64
Miller 64 is an extra light lager that has recently been rebranded as Miller Extra Light. I’m curious if the rebranding is going to entail a new recipe. Overall, this beer seems more like a seltzer with a slight note of grain and caramel color, but not much flavor.
- Brewery: Miller Brewing Co.
- Style: Light lager
- ABV: 2.8%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.84 out of 5
Natural Ice
I’m not surprised so many ice beers are on this list. Natural Ice is the first I ever tried, and it left me wondering if it was just a bad representation or if ice beers are just that bad. I’ve never found a good one, so I think it’s just a bad beer style for me.
- Brewery: Anheuser-Busch
- Style: American adjunct lager
- ABV: 5.9%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.85 out of 5
Beer 30 Light
Melanie Brewing’s Beer 30 is a light beer I’ve never heard of. It’s a Wisconsin brewery, so I’m assuming it just doesn’t get distributed in Vermont. I’ve read many reviews on it and a few things come up in almost all of them. It’s cheap – some people paid $1 a can, which is incredibly low. Because of the price, it proved popular with the college crowd.
- Brewery: Melanie Brewing Company
- Style: Light lager
- ABV: 4.0%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.66 out of 5
Keystone Light
Coors is not a popular brewery in my house, and Keystone Light is among one of the worst as it has a metallic aftertaste to me that I always blamed the can for. I realized this isn’t necessarily the case as one of my favorite beers, Collective Arts’ Pocket Wrench, is in a can and definitely has no metallic notes.
- Brewery: Coors Brewing Company (Molson-Coors)
- Style: Light lager
- ABV: 4.1%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.84 out of 5
Sharp’s
Sharp’s is in the nonalcoholic section in my grocery store, though it technically has a trace of alcohol. I don’t find it tasty at all. It’s watered down. If you want an NA beer, Athletic Brewing has some much better options.
- Brewery: Miller Brewing Co.
- Style: Low-alcohol beer
- ABV: 0.40%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.72 out of 5
Natural Light
I dislike Natural Light, though it is popular around here because it’s so cheap. Generally, I think it’s odd that it’s near the top of the list of the worst beers in the world given the reviews and my husband’s enjoyment of it in the ’70s and ’80s. It’s a go-to cheap beer that people don’t hate, but also don’t rave over.
- Brewery: Anheuser-Busch
- Style: Light lager
- ABV: 4.2%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.76 out of 5
Budweiser Select 55
Raters liken this to “malt-flavored seltzer.” I fully agree with that assessment, but if I’m drinking a more beer-flavored seltzer, which does exist, I highly recommend either Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher or BBCO’s Wave.
- Brewery: Anheuser-Busch
- Style: Light lager
- ABV: 2.4%
- Non-Weighted Score: 1.65 out of 5
Good-tasting beers don’t have to cost a lot. Check out the 10 cheap beer brands that are actually good.