Tijuana Guera

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

This is a best seller in San Diego - I drink it regularly at The Liar’s Club in San Diego. Salud!

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, in a mug, pours a light honey with a medium but creamy head. The scent was malts and barley as to was the crisp taste, but finishing with spicey and floral hop tone. I would not rate it as a bohemian pilsner because it has little to no bitternes. But it is to me the best beer the country has to offer refreshing and pretty much goes with anything. Very enjoyable for its kind.

A really nice beer. Much better on tap and fresh than in the bottle. I’ve had both and the fresh version at the brewery is very nice.

Pours golden yellow with a smallish dissipating white head. Light aroma of grape and hops. Flavor is crisp and hoppy. Light malt and light hops balanced well. Finish is mildly bitter. Really a very nice beer. Quite tasty and refreshing.

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.

A nice flavored brew, faint honey, malt, not overly sweet, slight hops, clean drinking brew! enjoyed.

On tap @ the Liars’ Club - I finally got to this beer on my 4th visit of the week. Pours a clear light golden color with a small white head. Light carbonation and lacing. Aroma is grain and light herbal/grassy hops. Flavor is lightly sweet. Light to medium body. One of the better lagers from Mexico. Pretty good beer.