A while back I asked on Twitter what people wanted to save money on, and one of the most popular responses was alcohol. Since then I have been experimenting a lot more with cheaper alcohol options and have decided to start doing regular posts on cheap booze options. This week I am writing about cheap beer, and the beer I recently discovered is James Ready 5.5.
After tweeting about trying the beer, I quickly learned that James Ready was a popular beer for University students. Either I am older than these people, or maybe because I went to College instead of University, I had never heard of James Ready beer until a few weeks ago!
My girlfriend and I were at our local beer store trying to find some beer for a night of board games and drinking. It basically came down to trying to decide on a tasty craft beer, or to get a more generic beer (ie. Coor’s Light or something like that). That was until we spotted the James Ready cases tucked in the corner of the “cheap beer” section. The green box seemed to call to me, and at 5.5% alcohol I figured how bad could it be for about $30 for a 24 pack! At worst I figured it would be similar to Molson Canadian but with more alcohol so I decided to give it a shot.
James Ready 5.5
When we got home I cracked one open and was actually quite impressed! This beer actually has some flavour to it, and goes down nicely. Though there is not a whole lot to the beer, I find it to be much nicer than most generic beers (Molson, Labatt’s, etc.) and considering it is several dollars cheaper it is great value!
This is not the kind of beer I am gonna rave about, like I do with my favourite Innis & Gunn, but if you are looking for a good drinking beer that is cheap I definitely suggest giving the James Ready 5.5 a try! If I would compare it to wine, I would say James Ready 5.5 is like a great table table wine.
One cool thing I like about James Ready is under each of the caps there is some kind of game. I am not sure how it works entirely, but each cap has a message and apparently there is a board game you can get, though my searches online turned up empty.
Have you tried James Ready? If so, post what you think in the comments below because maybe I just have weird taste buds, but from everyone I have given one to or talked to about it they also said they enjoy drinking them!
When I was in college, I would frequently go in search of cheap beer and winded up with 12 packs of canned beer like Stroh’s. The taste left a LOT to be desired. I no longer try to find “cheap” alcohol, instead I try to find the brands I like at good prices. I suggest watching for sales in newspaper flyers, watching Twitter feeds for beverage stores (or “Liking” them on Facebook) and shopping in warehouse membership stores such as Sam’s Club to save $$$ on alcohol.
Thanks Walter for the comment! I definitely agree most cheap beer tastes awful, but if you get a chance, give James Ready 5.5 a try. It is not like most of the cheap ones!
After Molson discontinued a bunch of their expansion brews, I had to find an alternative. Moosehead was refreshing, homegrown, and well-rounded, but I wanted something a bit heartier. Been buying JR 5.5 for a while now, and it’s a great replacement for my old brand, and miles more inexpensive! Thanks for the review, Graham.
Thanks for the comment Mike! I agree it is a nice flavourful beer for it’s price range. I was shocked when I cracked one open for the first time.
If you really wanna get a nice cheap beer you must try to find some “Miller Highlife Lite”. They are not easy to locate and they are not to be confused with Miller lite. The flavor will really surprise and the price…
21.00 a 30 pack and that includes the deposit! Now that’s a great cheap beer..!
And no, I do not work for the company in any way. I just love sharing this beer with everyone who likes good beer at a great price. Cheers..!
Tyler
James Ready is my favorite beer, if you like a non bitter taste with a clean finish you can’t go wrong with J.R 5.5
Have been buying JR 5.5 and Ale for several years (think almost when it first appeared) and have always enjoyed both.
Many friends visit and drink JR with never a complaint. I too wondered about the motives under 5.5 cap, but can’t find any info on web sight.
Cheers Jim