It’s hardly a representative sample size, but Consumer Reports recently conducted a blind taste test of 23 ‘craft’ beers, ranking their favorite ales and lagers based on flavor and aroma attributes.
The non-profit magazine which compares and reviews a variety of consumer products, awarded Shock Top — a craft-like offering made by Anheuser-Busch InBev — with a “best buy” rating and identified “big malty flavors of molasses, caramel and honey with relatively low bitterness and some sweetness.” Its tasters mentioned that Samuel Adams had “fruity and malty notes but might also be too bitter for some.”
Other notable craft beer brands receiving high praise from the publication included Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and Stone Brewing IPA. A version of the Consumer Reports article “Best Bets in Beers” will appear in its August, 2013 issue.