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Would you drink a calorie-free beer?
MGD 64 ... not so good, Al.  
By Andy Tarnoff
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More articles by Andy Tarnoff

What is a blog?  For OMC, it is a short blurb that we write when the mood strikes us.  It can be first person, funny or informative. In short, a blog is whatever we want it to be. Published July 3, 2008 at 1:27 p.m.

At our Monday editorial meeting this week, we found ourselves a little off-topic, discussing the new 64-calorie Miller Genuine Draft Light (aka MGD 64). None of us had tried it yet, but Molly mentioned it was available at Summerfest.

Which led me to ask, "What if someone made a calorie-free beer?"

Then, "No matter how bad it tasted, would you drink it?"

I said "yes," as long as it was after a few good beers. The rest of the group weighed the pros and cons, and then we tabled the discussion for a later date.

Last night, I was on the Summerfest grounds to interview Brian Kramp and Jon Adler for a story running Friday. Even though the duo had to be up in a just a few hours for its Thursday morning show on FM 102.1, Adler took one for the team and hung out with me for an hour or two.

We wandered to the Harley stage to check out the Crystal Method DJ set, and lo and behold, we saw that the beer tent was selling MGD 64.

I confidently recalled Monday's meeting, re-declaring my willingness to drink a diet beer as I ordered up a pair of brews. Adler agreed with me, patting his stomach.

Then we took a sip.

I now understand why beer isn't supposed to contain only 64 calories. I don't know exactly what this stuff tasted like, but it certainly wasn't beer. More like bitter, carbonated yellow water, actually. Adler made a funny face and agreed with me.

Needless to say, it was "one and done" with the diet beer, and I immediately retracted my position on the calorie-free beer. I like almost every other Miller product I've ever tried. But this near-beer wasn't for me.

Hey, I thought my iron constitution could handle anything. But if it's 64 calories or less, count me out.

But what do you think? I'd love to hear your take. Just use the Talkback feature below.



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