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Get Your Game On - 7-11’s Game Day Beer By: PoisonRamune, the Apathetic Lizardman I had first seen 7-11’s Game Day about a month ago and thought to myself “Wow, 7-11 is kind of taking this house brand thing a bit too far.” I mean, I thought their 80 cent chips were a clever idea especially during this recession (and they’re pretty tasty) and their heat lamp snacks are normally all good (aside from their cream cheese taquitos); so maybe 7-11 beer is something not totally unfounded (or inherently undrinkable). And because my previous experiences with the 7-11 brand food stuffs had all been pretty good (for the most part), I decided to take a chance with these beers. I must admit that despite me liking the other 7-11 brand product line; part of me was honestly anticipating that this beer would taste awful or at least kind of bad. Perhaps, it was the fact that the beer retails for about $1.50 a tall can (about 50 cents less than the next guy), but after taking my first drink of Game Day Light, I have to say that it’s pretty decent.
The beer stands as a pretty close facsimile to Bud Light. Even the bright metallic blue and red color scheme on the cans scream “We might be mistaken for Bud Light if you’re already buzzed or not paying attention.” In terms of taste it’s nearly spot on as a mock Bud Light when it’s cold, except for the fact that it feels a little lighter. It’s got that flavorless, mass produced, easy to drink light beer flavor, but this time it’s slightly brisker. It’s almost like you’re making out with a really drunk chick rather than drinking light beer. There’s really not much to the taste and that’s sort of a good thing (since I’d probably never buy a 7-11 beer that tried to be a heartier beer like a Fat Tire or Guinness). The smell of the beer is very Bud Light-esque, it has that wet metallic smell; just what you’d expect from a cheapy domestic canned brew. After drinking it for a bit the smell of almost vinegary alcohol starts to bring itself out a bit more; however, I don’t really suggest sitting on an unmanned can for any length of time. In terms of buzz, the beer gets you decently lifted. As I said many times before it’s comparable to a Bud Light, even in the term of getting you high. I’m a bit shocked to see that there’s no ABV rating anywhere on the can, so this may just be a placebo effect and I could just be drinking non-alcoholic pond water. Either way, compared to Trader Joe’s house brand beers, which also don’t have an ABV rating on their packaging; Game Day actually makes you feel something (other than being bloated), so I’m sure Game Day has some sort of notable alcohol content. Before you go dumping your favorite domestic for a rack of Game Day, let me warn you about a couple things. First of all, this beer is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when it gets just a little warm. Right out of an iced cooler or the back of the fridge and this beer is all that I said it is before. However, when it gets even about 7 or so degrees warmer than that (and it might get close if you pour it straight into a lukewarm glass on a warm summer afternoon), and the beer starts tasting like one of my least favorite beers, 211 Steel Reserve. The metallic and “cheap” taste of the beer starts to come out and it gets that bitter “urban” malt liquor flavor going through it in a bad way.
Worst yet is the vinegar smell starts to get really noticeable and is very off putting. In fact, from my last warming session of this beer (and yes, I purposely made the beer undesirably warm for an accurate review), the smell had become so dominating that I began to taste a fine lacing of vinegar with every sip. In short, if someone handed me this beer, I’d drink it again. I mean, it’s not as bad as you’d want to make it out to be for a joke. But on the same note, I’m also not going to be switching from being a Budweiser guy to being a Game Day bro anytime soon. And to put thing further into perspective, I got about 2 more talls of Game Day in my fridge and a 12 ozer of Bud Light there too. Honestly, I’m probably going to finish the Game Days first (most likely in frosty mugs) since I can probably name about 15 other beers that are higher in price and alleged production quality that I find worse than Game Day Light. Note: There’s also an Ice version of Game Day, but I normally don’t like ice beers and could never assess them without going on some crazy tirade as to why I hate them. We’ll just say, I’m sure GD Ice tastes much like Bud Ice.
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