How Strong Is Steel Reserve Beer?

Choosing a good beer can be tricky. When browsing shelves, you may come across Steel Reserve lagers packaged in silver — High Gravity Lager — or black — Triple Export Malt Liquor — aluminum cans. These drinks pack 8.1% alcohol by volume (ABV), an effective conduit for getting smashed. To give you an example, most lagers clock in around 5% ABV, whereas a strong Belgian beer can deliver somewhere around 8 to 10% ABV in your glass, while a standard glass of wine can range from 11 to 13%. And while some beers summon a blustery 12% ABV and above of a wallop, even sparking some controversy among brewers and connoisseurs about their proper categorization, as long as the beverage isn't distilled, it is still classified as a beer. 

To make boozy beers like Steel Reserve, more raw ingredients like cereals and malts are added throughout the brewing process. This is because more fermentable sugars are then produced and converted into alcohol once interactions with yeasts take place. In addition to beer, Steel Reserve also has a line up of flavored products ready to crack open and drink out of a can, including an Alloy Series that includes Spiked Lemon Ice, Spiked Orange Soda, and Spiked Watermelon. Don't let the colorful labels fool you. These, too, all deliver the same punch of an 8% ABV.

As indicated on each can of Steel Reserve, the company uses almost twice the ingredients of other lagers for twice as long to make Steel Reserve. While some tasters have ranked the beer poorly due to its flavor, others have justified the purchase due to its price point and ability to, well, effectively get the job done. The beer did pull in gold at the 2012 World Beer Cup out of 37 competitors for the American-Style Premium Lager or Specialty Lager category, so you may need to sample it for yourself to make your own conclusions.

Regardless of who is tasting the beer, Steel Reserve presents a rich, drinkable pour that helped pave the way for other high-ABV beers like Imperial IPAs to captivate consumers' palates. The creamy head opens up to a tangy, malty liquor that can be refreshing when served cold. You just may want to alternate servings with ample glasses of water and stock up on plenty of salty snacks to accompany your experience.