The best American-style lager is Yuengling Traditional Lager, America’s oldest brewery making a proper amber lager with real toasted-malt flavour at a macro price. That is my verdict after buying and tasting the major American lagers side by side, every one out of my own pocket, and scoring each on aroma, balance, body and drinkability.
I am Dan, and beer is my life. I have been an active homebrewer for over 10 years and have tasted breweries all over the world. This guide is built from my own tasting notes, with honest scores and a full review behind every pick. You can read more about me or see everything I have reviewed on my author page.
Below is the best American-style lager for every job, from the flavourful amber and craft options to the classic macros and the best value by the case.
The Best American-Style Lagers, Ranked
Here is the short version, ranked by how they actually taste. Full reviews are linked under each pick.
| Rank | Beer | Style | ABV | Calories | Our score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuengling Traditional Lager | American amber lager | 4.5% | 128 | 4.1/5 |
| 2 | Samuel Adams Boston Lager | Vienna-style amber lager | 5.0% | 175 | 4.0/5 |
| 3 | Coors Banquet | American lager | 5.0% | 147 | 3.8/5 |
| 4 | Miller High Life | American lager | 4.6% | 141 | 3.6/5 |
| 5 | Budweiser | American lager | 5.0% | 145 | 3.5/5 |
| 6 | Miller Genuine Draft | American lager | 4.7% | 143 | 3.5/5 |
| 7 | Pabst Blue Ribbon | American lager | 4.7% | 144 | 3.4/5 |
| 8 | Coors Light | American light lager | 4.2% | 102 | 3.1/5 |
| 9 | Bud Light | American light lager | 4.2% | 110 | 3.0/5 |
| 10 | Busch Beer | American lager | 4.3% | 133 | 2.8/5 |
| 11 | Natural Light | American light lager | 4.2% | 95 | 2.7/5 |
The Best American-Style Lagers at a Glance
Swipe through the top picks and tap any card to jump straight to the full write-up.
Best American-Style Lager Overall: Yuengling
Yuengling Traditional Lager is a proper amber lager with real toasted-malt flavour, and it costs about the same as the pale macros. It is a genuine step up from Bud, Coors and Miller.
American amber lager, 4.5% ABV, 128 calories. More malt, color and character than any macro at the price.
- Real caramel-malt flavor and amber color
- Smooth, balanced and very drinkable
- Excellent value for the character you get
- Heritage from America’s oldest brewery
- Only sold in part of the US
- Still an everyday lager, not a craft showpiece
- Malt-forward profile is not for pale-lager loyalists
Serve it right: An amber lager suits a classic British nonic pint. This set keeps it traditional.
- Budget pick: Pabst Blue Ribbon
- Lower-calorie option: Michelob Ultra
- Also worth trying: Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Pairing it with food? Try our best beer with burgers guide. More like this in our best American lager guide.
Best American Craft Lager: Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Sam Adams Boston Lager is a rich, well-hopped Vienna-style amber with excellent balance and superb value. It is the beer that helped launch American craft, and it stands up to smoky, grilled food.
Vienna-style amber lager, 5.0% ABV, around 175 calories. A rich, malty, well-hopped craft lager that helped launch American craft beer.
- Rich, full malt body with caramel and toast
- Firm, balanced Noble hop bitterness
- Complex and satisfying without being heavy
- Excellent with food and superb value
- Higher in calories than pale lagers
- Too full-flavored for those who want a light beer
- Best fresh, as hop character fades
Serve it right: Sam Adams designed the Perfect Pint glass for its lager, with a nucleated base and a laser-etched ring that keeps the head alive.
- Budget pick: Yuengling Traditional Lager
- Lower-calorie option: Michelob Ultra
- Also worth trying: Coors Banquet
Pairing it with food? Try our best beers for a BBQ guide. More like this in our best American lager guide.
Best Classic American Lager: Coors Banquet
Coors Banquet is the original, and it is better than the Light version. It has a little more body and a clean, golden malt character that makes it the pick of the old-school macros.
American lager, 5.0% ABV, 147 calories. More malt and backbone than the light macros, and it shows.
- More malt, body and flavor than the light macros
- Clean, crisp and very drinkable ice cold
- Iconic recipe brewed the same way since 1873
- Great value for a full-strength lager
- Still a simple beer, not one for slow sipping
- At 5.0% it is not a low-calorie option
- Corn character will not win over malt purists
Serve it right: A simple, sturdy pint glass is all this one needs, and this set is a best-reviewed everyday option.
- Budget pick: Pabst Blue Ribbon
- Lower-calorie option: Coors Light
- Also worth trying: Budweiser
Pairing it with food? Try our best beer with burgers guide. More like this in our best American lager guide.
Best Budget American Lager: Pabst Blue Ribbon
PBR is the best of the cheap American lagers. It is cleaner and a touch maltier than most in its bracket, which is why it earned a cult following, and it is hard to beat for the money.
American lager, 4.7% ABV, 144 calories. A full-strength old-school lager that is cheap, honest and better than the hype or the backlash suggests.
- Full-strength lager with a bit of malt body
- Clean, crisp and easy to drink cold
- Very good value
- Widely available in cans and bottles
- Simple and a little sweet, not for slow sipping
- Corn character is not for everyone
- Flavor thins as it warms
Serve it right: Cheap, cold and endless is the whole point here, so grab a stack of koozies to keep every can cold.
- Budget pick: Busch Beer
- Lower-calorie option: Natural Light
- Also worth trying: Miller High Life
Pairing it with food? Try our best beers for a BBQ guide. More like this in our best American lager guide.
Explore More Lager Guides
Want to go wider? These guides cover the rest of the lager world:
American Lager FAQs
What is an American-style lager?
An American-style lager is a pale, light-bodied lager brewed with a portion of corn or rice alongside the barley malt. That adjunct lightens the body and gives the clean, crisp, easy-drinking character of the classic American macros. Amber versions like Yuengling and craft takes like Sam Adams add more malt.
What is the best-selling American beer?
Bud Light has long led by volume, though Modelo Especial overtook it by sales in 2024. Among home-grown American lagers, Bud Light, Coors Light and Budweiser are the biggest names.
Is Budweiser a lager?
Yes. Budweiser is a pale American lager brewed with rice as an adjunct and a beechwood-aging step. Bud Light is its lighter, lower-calorie version.
How We Test and Score
Every beer here was bought with my own money and tasted properly, not skimmed from a spec sheet. I score each on aroma, balance, body, drinkability and how well it does the job it is built for. Simple beers are not marked down for being simple, but the ones with real character and balance score higher. You can see every score on the individual beer reviews.
