What Does Miller Lite Taste Like And Is It Good?

Across the world, Miller Lite is recognized as one of the most well-known light beers, especially in the country of its creation, the United States. It will forever be known as the first successful mainstream light beer in the United States. Apart from its devoted drinkers, many drinkers wonder what Miller Lite tastes like and is it any good?

Miller Lite is an American light lager beer. It’s further categorized as a Pilsner beer due to the addition of hops in its brewing process. Miller Lite offers a distinct and crisp flavor profile. It is low in both alcohol content (4.2% ABV) and bitterness (IBU of 12), allowing easy drinkability and a refreshing taste.

Continue reading, and we will show you what Miller Lite tastes like and why it is, in fact, a good beer. We will take you on a journey through Miller Lite’s history, flavor, mouthfeel, smell, and appearance.

History

Miller Lite was created in 1975, by the Miller Brewing Company, as the original light beer. Miller Lite has worked hard to become known as a brand that continually strives to deliver a consistent quality taste. They pride themselves on going the extra mile with meticulous attention to detail in picking only the best ingredients.

Miller Lite uses a 21-day brewing process. It uses the purest of water, the same strain of yeast as Fredrick Miller used in 1855, and adds hops at three specific times throughout the brewing process. Aroma is essential to the makers of Miller Lite. Miller Lite incorporates Galena hops and specially grown barley to give it a medium malt and hop aroma. So, yes, Miller Lite has been a light lager since the very beginning.

Flavor

Miller Lite is classified as an American Light Lager. More specifically, an American-style pilsner beer. This light beer is brewed explicitly for taste and offers a light to medium hoppy flavor. It finishes off with a clean malt taste.

Miller Lite goes to great lengths to provide a spectacularly light yet defined flavor to its drinkers. Miller Lite uses a 21-day brewing process. Ingredients used in their brew are outlined below:

Water: Miller Lite is brewed utilizing only the purest of water sources. The company sourced high-quality water from cold springs, deep lakes, and ancient aquifers. Thus allowing Miller Lite to have a consistent taste.
Barley malt: The foundation of the Miller Lite is the malted barley. They utilize only crystal malt in their brewing process, which gives a taste of toasted toffee.

Yeast: As proof of their commitment to delivering the best flavor, Miller Lite continues to use the same yeast carried from Germany with Frederick Miller in the 1850s. In over 160 years, Miller Lite has never changed its yeast in its brewing process. Miller Lite utilizes corn syrup to ferment the yeast into alcohol. Corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup are not the same things. Corn syrup is a natural and healthier alternative to high fructose corn syrup. Corn syrup is added to the fermentation process; however, no corn syrup remains in the final product.
Hops: The heart and soul of the Miller Lite flavor come from hops. Miller Lite brewmasters select Saaz hops, and Galena hops from the Pacific Northwest. These are chosen for the complex and unique flavor profiles they bring.
Hop Extract: Miller Lite gains further control and consistency of its flavor by using hop extracts. The hops are produced in-house and then extracted naturally. Using hop extract allows Miller Lite to produce less waste.

On the IBU (International Bitterness Units) scale, Miller Lite comes in at the top of the light lager category with an IBU of 12. This helps classify it as a light lager and why Miller Lite gives a distinguished yet refreshing taste. For reference, Coors Lite has an IBU rating of 10, and Bud Light has an IBU rating of 6. The lower the IBU, the less bitter the beer will taste, having fewer hops involved in the brewing process. Since Miller Lite has an IBU of 12, it will be one of the hoppiest tasting light lagers.

Miller Lite’s alcohol content is on the low side, coming in at just 4.2%. This, coupled with its unique flavor, makes Miller Lite a drinker’s go-to beer for game days, parties, and other hangouts, as they can drink for an extended amount of time without the worry of getting too drunk.

Also read: What Does Miller Lite Taste Like And Is It Good?

Mouthfeel

Overall, Miller Lite has a smooth and easy mouthfeel. This beer will never be described as tough to swallow. While Miller Lite is in no way a harsh beer, the drinker will notice a slight tingle in their mouth compared to other light beers. This is due to the hops content of the brew. Miller Lite is an easy beer to drink. The light hop taste and ease of drinkability may be why it is the go-to beer for lighter weight drinkers or drinkers looking to kick a few beers back with the boys.

Miller Lite is not suitable for drinkers looking for a rich dark beer. While Miller Lite has more mouthfeel than other light beers, it lacks a robust taste. Drinkers with a high palate for complex beer flavors would not appreciate Miller Lite.

Smell

Aroma is essential to Miller Lite as it sets the stage for the beverage’s enjoyment. Aroma and the taste are why Miller Lite is highly selective in its ingredients list. Miller Lite has a hop and medium malt smell. There is a distinct difference between Miller Lite and other light beers. For example, Bud Light and Coors Light are both light lagers that offer little to no smell. Miller Lite would be easily recognizable if all three were placed on a table for a blind smell test.

Appearance

Miller Lite is known for its deep golden hue. It ranks between 2 and 3 on the SRM scale (Standard Reference Method), which is used to measure the intensity of the color of the beer. This scale ranges from 2-to 80. This places Miller Lite on the bottom of the scale and accounts for its light, see-through, yellow-tinted color.

Overall, Miller Lite is a good beer, and its distinct flavor and aroma set it apart from all other light beers.

Calories In Miller Lite

Miller Lite has just 96 calories per 12-ounce serving. This puts it on the lower end of the caloric scale when compared to other light lagers like Michelob Ultra and Bud Light. Its modest calorie count has made Miller Lite a go-to choice for beer drinkers who are mindful of their caloric intake but still want to enjoy a flavorful, satisfying brew.

What Do Other People Think About Miller Lite?

Another thing we definitely have to take into account while discussing the taste of Miller Lite is how other people perceive the beer. Of course, I’m tasting the beer while writing this review. However, different people have different tastes and whether or not a beer appeals to the general public is often a completely different question.

In the table below, we’ve gathered the average rating of Miller Lite on several prominent beer review websites.

Platform	Rating (out of 10)
Beeradvocate	5.4
Ratebeer	2.9
Untappd	5
Influenster	8.2

What immediately becomes clear here is that the beer isn’t that highly rated on the three specific beer review websites such as Beeradvocate, Ratebeer, and Untappd. However, we do have to mention that it does get a slightly higher rating overall than other beers like Bud Light and Coors Light which we’ve also reviewed. However, in general, it seems the experienced beer drinkers aren’t too pleased with the product, as becomes clear with a review like this on Beeradvocate:

For a light beer it has decent taste and is cheap. Good beer if quantity is your main goal on a given day.

On the other hand, it seems that the beer does find more foothold with the non-experienced beer drinkers. However, we did also find it has a slightly lower rating than beers like Bud Light and Coors Light. That’s probably because Miller Lite does have a stronger hop taste, which may put some people off. This review on Influenster summarizes the sentiment:

I’m not a huge fan of beer to begin with or even really a big drinker. However, when my friends and I get together and want to have a few beers, we usually end up grabbing these. They’re not overly strong and its a lighter beer, so I can tolerate drinking a few. They’re also affordable and relatively cheap.