Certainly riding the coattails of the massive success of Bud Light Lime, and the popularity of Coors’ Blue Moon, Anheuser-Busch is rolling out Bud Light Golden Wheat, an unfiltered wheat beer brewed with citrus and coriander.

Bud Light Golden Wheat hits store shelves nationwide today. We’ve tried it, we like it, and there will be more on that later.

“Bud Light has the unique ability to introduce wheat beers to a broader audience of beer drinkers” said Mike Sundet, senior director of Bud Light brands. “With the personality of Bud Light, Bud Light Golden Wheat appeals to light beer drinkers who seek a variety of flavor options from their beer.”

Busch recommends garnishing it with an orange or straight from the bottle.

“Bud Light Golden Wheat is not a craft beer, but captures the refreshment of the wheat beer style while remaining consistent with Bud Light’s product attributes that beer drinkers enjoy” Sundet said. “Our Innovations and brewing teams have worked for almost two years developing Bud Light Golden Wheat from consumer insight and perfecting it to Bud Light standards.”

So let us know. Have you tried it? Seen the commercials? What do you think of Bud Light Golden What?

The American beer industry posted its third consecutive year of increased sales, managing a 0.5 percent increase from the prior year.

According to the Beverage Information Group, light and low-carbohydrate beer helped boost sales, particularly the launch of Bud Light Lime last year.

“The growth of the distilled spirits and wine industries continues to take market share away from beer industry, albeit at a slower rate in 2008 than previously,” the group said Monday in a statement.

Bud Light Lime, first thought of as a seasonal beer, helped the light beer segment grow more than 2 percent

“Ice” beer also saw an increase, gaining 4 percent.

Imported beer sales have been down since the recession began, the group said.

Anheuser Busch squeezes Bud Light Lime onto package store shelves nationwide on Tuesday.

We got our hands on some.

Skepticism reigned when I passed the twist-off bottles around the table at the weekly poker game, with looks of “what’s this stuff?”

Surprise followed.

“This is pretty good!” “Wow … not what I was expecting.” “Not bad.”

Even MadeHandPoker.com‘s Mark Scalia took a break from his usual steady stream of Twisted Tea.

Bud Light Lime is a crisp, summery brew. It’s light and easy to drink like traditional Bud Light but subtly fruity and very tasty, unlike traditional light American beers.

It’s a corny notion, but the beer makes me feel like flipping a burger on the grill or roasting some corn on the cob the way a bucket of Corona’s or a tall glass of Sam Summer does. Bud Light Lime could turn itself into a successful picnic beer during the coming warm weather months.

The beer is a pleasant surprise and looks like it represents a growing trend among national brands to capture the kitsch of craft beer and popular micro-breweries. With the amazing popularity of Samuel Adams’ seasonal brew, Busch recently introduced its own collection of winter, spring, summer, and fall flavors.