Tijuana Guera

Brewed by Consorcio Cervecero de Baja California
Style: Bohemian Pilsener
Tijuana, BC, Mexico

Actually not a bad Bohemian Pilsener. It pours a bubbling yellow-gold body with a modest head, and I was initially apprehensive that I was in for one more bad pale lager. As promised, no adjuncts are detectable in the nose, and although the floral/grassy hops could have been stronger, they rested nicely an a sweet, slightly grainy malt. The hop bitterness is more pronounced in the flavor and crisp finish. Malts weren’t bad, either. A good warm weather drink.

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Bottle: Light misty yellow color, light white head, no lacing. Nose of light husky pale malt, sweet light hops and soap. The flavor has a large malt and hop flavor, but it’s also bright with husk and a bit of malt liquor sweetness. Corn? Finishes light, thin, average.

Clean, light malt aroma. Maybe a touch of peach? Gold color with dusty motes (lightly filtered?), and a decent white head that went quickly away. Starts with a light malt sweetness that is almost immediately balanced by hop. The finish is lightly bitter. Arguably a light pilsener. Beats standard American large batch lagers by a lot. Beats standard large batch Mexican lagers by a lot. It’s not Pilsner Urquell, but it will do.

Bottle (12oz). Pale, bright, oily gold with a small frothy white head, some small bubbles. Smells like peach and orange marmalade, orange zest and ginger, sweet lightly toasted caramel malt, maybe a hint of wet newsprint. Taste is harsh, like stale hop oil, burnt candied fruit and plastic. Thin body yet I almost had to choke it down - flat, harsh aftertaste - nah thanks.

No, actually it dosen’t taste remotely like Corona. Try it again
My third favorite beer of my Cali trip, behind Beatification and Redemption. I had 2 draught pints at the Liar’s Club on 3/23/07
I think the draught nature of the beer worked heavily in its favor, as the bottled morena from the same brewer was nothing special at all. This one had a large enough white head that steadily faded to cover, leaving only a light filmy lace behind. Crystal clear, deep maize-golden with plenty of carbonation visible.
Beautiful yeast in the nose is authentic Czech pils yeast and full of that mineral-character associated with it. Plenty of crispness as it crackles on the arid finish. Malts are generally quite crisp and give some graininess, adding to the overall crisp nature of the beer, but they do yield a bit of light honey sweetness. Hops are very reserved in the nose. Distinct saaz grassiness, dry floral and hay notes, are not exactly bursting forth, but are nonetheless fresh and tastefully done. Though I guess these days, a top-notch beer almost has to be oozing strong, dry-hopped aromatics. Whatever, I thought the yeast and malt and absolute stark cleanliness of the beer more than made up for the only traditional hop rate.
Where the aroma fell short of overall strength, the flavor picked up the slack and then some. Delicious honey overtop crackers, with just a pinch of sweet dough thrown in. An ever-so-slight hint of corn-like biproduct from the pale malt and a fully biting, crisp, dry pils yeast finish that is complemented by soft floral and grassy hop notes. A bit of peppery/hay-like bitterness is quite reserved, but the beer is so crisp to begin with, it needs not rely on hop bitterness. High carbonation, appropriate to the style (though perhaps still a bit too high in an absolute sense) keeps it very light and refreshing. I can see how some would fault the lack of strong hop flavors/aromatics, but I think it really allows the obvious care in brewing to show through. The beer is no doubt lagered properly and brewed nearly-flawlessly. Why don’t we have a draught pils like this on the East coast?

Draft. pale straw color with a whitish head. Straw/hay and light mineral aroma. Malt, straw/hay flavors with light hops and backing fruitiness. Medium body - easy drinking. Lingering mineral tones.

On Tap @ the Liar’s Club. Clear yellow with bright white head. Sweet malts in the aroma with some sugar. A surprisingly crisp hop flavor to go along with the sweet malts. Nice summer brew alternative to macro garbage “beer.”

29-Aug-07 (12 oz bottle: Purchased 08-Aug-07 at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) TJ Brewery is certainly making a name for itself around San Diego, appearing in good beer bars like O’Brien’s, Liars’ Club and Hamilton’s. Unaware shoppers may think Güera is just another run-of-the-mill Mexican pale lager like Pacifico, but all you have to do is pour the beer and enjoy the aromatics emanating from the glass to know this is made from quality ingredients. Spicy, grassy hops blends with grainy malts that aren’t sweet-smelling for a clean, fresh nose. The grainy malts are minimally sweet on the palate too, and do not have any corn or rice undertones. And for the style, the spicy hops are fresh and assertive, yet in perfect balance, assuring a crisp, clean and refreshing mouthfeel. Body is light-medium and carbonation is lively without being prickly on the palate. Light-golden color with perfect clarity. Dozens of streams of small, slowly moving carbonation bubbles persist for the duration of the session, which for an enjoyable beer like this is turning out to be over 30 minutes. After rising to half an inch on the pour, the white head settled to a thin, but full layer, though only spotty lacing is left on the glass. An impressive beer across the board and highly recommended.