Anheuser-Busch isn’t set to release Bud Light Platinum (its new higher-alcohol beer) to the nation until January 30th but we were able to pull a few strings and score six of these highly publicized, hyped up brews a couple of weeks early.

We’re not going to reveal our source, so don’t bother asking how we got them.

It’s no secret that we have ties to the craft beer industry. It doesn’t take long to figure out that craft beer lovers love to hate macro brews. In fact, it often seems that despising "the big guys" is just as important to the culture as drinking good beer. All of the industry rumors seem to identify Bud Light Platinum as a desperate attempt to appeal to craft beer drinkers. Will anything they ever make appeal to indie drinkers? We’re not sure it’s possible.

However, in an effort to be fair, we wanted to give A-B’s most recent effort a real chance. We put together a two-person tasting panel consisting of the most refined palates in our office. We also managed to keep the identity of the new brew a secret. We really wanted to know how they’d feel about Bud Light Platinum’s taste, without allowing the beer’s name or origin to skew their opinion.

Anheuser-Busch describes Bud Light Platinum as having a slightly sweeter taste and more alcohol than Bud Light. According to their third-quarter earnings report, the beer is "a trendy blue-bottle line extension that appeals to a key group of beer drinkers and expands consumer occasions."

Here’s a "by the numbers" comparision: