Light Beer Taste Test

Whether we are kicking back at a football game or meeting up with some friends after work, we all reach for one thing — beer. While some of us enjoy dark beer like Guinness and others prefer beers with amber hues, sometimes the most appealing choice is a light beer. Crisp and refreshing, light beers are easy to drink (sometimes a little too easy) and well, often a popular choice for beer pong.

Light Beer Taste Test (Slideshow)

Light beer is apparently the first choice for a lot of beer drinkers. A survey of light beer consumption in the U.S from 2008 to 2012 found that about 53.5 million beer drinkers preferred to drink light beer. But with so many light beers on the market, which one is best?

The Daily Meal set out to find out which light beer was the best based on three criteria: smell, taste, and color. The contenders were: Natural Light, Miller Lite, Heineken Light, Bud Light, Bud Light, Coors Light, Michelob Light, Trader José Light, Keystone Light, Amstel Light, and Corona Light.[slideshow:

Beer smells ranged from "skunky" to "floral," with some beers described as tasting "horsey" and others like "potpourri." While these descriptions may explain the various aromas and flavors of the beers a little too well, we hope that none of the panelists have actually experienced some of the smells and tastes they used to describe the beers.

Keystone Light, Corona Light, and Amstel Light were some that ranked at the very bottom of the list. But others, including Miller Lite, Heineken Light, and Trader José Light were some of our favorites. Click through our slideshow to see how each beer ranked based on smell, taste, and color.

Haley WIllard is The Daily Meal's assistant editor. Follow her on Twitter @haleywillrd.