Rolling Rock Green Light Review

Rolling Rock once produced a light beer product, under the lucid title "Rolling Rock Light". The popularity of light beer made it essential to produce a lower- calorie version of the company's regular beer, and the management of Rolling Rock knew they needed to respond with a light beer of their own. Today, the same phenomenon is occurring with low carbohydrate beer. And, once again, Rolling Rock has followed suit. Its new product is Rock Green Light, a low carb beer product brewed to compete with Michelob Ultra and the other beers offering reduced carbs to satisfy the demands of this growing market.

Beer Commentary:

Rock Green Light pours to a light yellow/golden color with a crystal- clear body. The nose of this product is odd, reminding me of the smell of plastic, cardboard, and perhaps rice. The foam level seems lively at first, but it falls flat on its face within seconds.

There is very little to note about the taste of Rock Green Light, which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. The taste features a little bit of graininess, corn meal, and crispness, with a sweet profile that is almost completely devoid of any hop flavor. There is almost no finish at all, and the weak, funky aftertaste of grain with metallic notes lingers for a while after drinking.

Rock Green Light ranks very low on the nutritional information scale, with only 91 calories, 2.6 grams of carbohydrates, and .9 grams of protein per 12 oz. serving. These numbers are among the lowest in the commercial beer industry.

Rock Green Light is a very light beer. It has a light aroma, light taste, light finish, and light colored body. Like most light beer, the head of foam is almost non- existent after a few sips. In appearance, it looks like an ugly glass of urine- colored fluid with no head and a lifeless body with only a few bubbles. True, the carbonation activates itself quickly upon agitation or after taking a sip. But in the glass, it looks light and anemic.

Compared to regular Rolling Rock, Rock Green Light does offer a good reduction in calories and carbs. The regular version has 142 calories and 13 grams of carbs per serving, compared to 91 calories and 2.6 grams for the light version. Measured in percentages, these numbers seem substantial- the light version has 35 percent fewer calories and 80 percent fewer carbs. But when you look at the raw numbers (51 fewer calories and 10.4 fewer carbs), the difference isn't all that impressive. When you consider what you give up in terms of flavor, the reduced numbers are really not worth it. Besides, beer without carbohydrates is like steak without fat. Beer was designed to be relatively high in carbohydrates. Take them away, and you eliminate much of the flavor and character, too.

Bottom Line Viewpoint:

Going "low carb" is a trend in the beer market that I hope disappears in a short time. Rock Green Light is one of several efforts in this low carb trend. Taking away carbs might not entail much sacrifice in other products, but in the case of beer, it reduces the flavor to almost nothing. My advice is to buy good beer and just drink a little bit less. Your taste buds will be more satisfied and you won't need to worry about exceeding your daily limit of carbs and calories. Rock Green Light just isn't worth it.