The Discontinued Michelob ULTRA Beer You'll Luckily Never Have Again
In the halcyon days of summer 2007, Anheuser-Busch, the world's biggest brewer, aimed for some light and fruity refreshment with its limited-time Michelob ULTRA Fruit Infused beers. Pomegranate Raspberry, Lime Cactus and Tuscan Orange Grapefruit were the first three offerings from this line, which targeted fans of long summer nights spent in the pool or manning a barbeque. They were only ever intended to last until Labor Day of that year, so it's not shocking that all three have ended up on the list of discontinued beers you'll never drink again. Yet none are so infamous as a Michelob ULTRA Fruit Infused successor that appeared three years after the first trio: Dragon Fruit Peach.
Going from the official description of this beer, it sounded pretty good on paper, with the inclusion of dragon fruit and peach flavors. Its low 4% alcohol by volume meant that Michelob ULTRA Dragon Fruit Peach could have been a sweet, refreshing session beer designed to prolong your drinking enjoyment. Instead, the unlucky souls who were tempted by the description were dismayed to find a flavorless, watery brew that was such a fail that it even became a punchline on a beloved TV show.
Where did Michelob ULTRA Dragon Fruit Peach go wrong?
A clip from "Family Guy" shows main character Peter peeking in on a scene at a brewery boardroom, where a sharp-dressed woman warns that a controversial new product could be "one of the most notorious developments in beer history, second only to Michelob ULTRA Dragon Fruit Peach!" (via YouTube) What made this beer so terrible that it descended to full-on laughingstock status? A peek at some beer review aggregators gives us a clue.
On Untappd, the fruit beer has a dismal rating of 2.53 / 5 stars. "You are clearly insane," one commenter snarked on a photo of someone drinking the beer. Beer Advocate scores for Michelob ULTRA Dragon Fruit Peach averaged out to 61 / 100, which is considered Poor. "[I]t smelled bad, tasted bad, was unenjoyable, and an overall bad beer," one reviewer summed up. "That falls completely flat. I think the entire budget went on smell," a YouTube reviewer griped following a taste test. While there are quality tips to make cheap beer taste better, it seems that nothing was redeeming this Dragon Fruit Peach disaster.
Today, only two fruit flavors remain in the Michelob ULTRA stable: Lime and Prickly Pear, along with Pomegranate and Agave. These offerings from the ULTRA Infusions line are recommended alongside the ULTRA Organic Seltzers, which aim for fans of light, refreshing sips. None have made it to similar animated joke status (thus far), so maybe that's a good sign.