Budweiser American Ale

Where Spotted: Verizon Center, 601 F St. NW

Price: $7/pint

This Dud’s for You: Even discerning drinkers must be curious about Anheuser-Busch’s latest crypto-craft beer, if only for the brute force of the marketing. The pretty label says ale in capital letters, lest you forget you’re drinking something (supposedly) better than cheap canned lager. What you actually get is a watery product with a faint whiff of sweet malt and zero hops, sort of a lite Redhook ESB. It is inoffensive, though, and for a company in the lowest-common-denominator business, that’s probably considered a success.

Upper-Middling Class: American Ale is the quintessential stadium quaff. When you’re spending double digits on a hot dog and fries or ponying up for the steak buffet (brought to you by Acela Express), why expect a quality beer for a reasonable price? This is as American as highway traffic, crappy sitcoms, and cheese in a can. —Orr Shtuhl

Seen an interesting quaff lately? E-mail beerspotter@washingtoncitypaper.com