Trader José Dark Premium Lager

Brewed by Cervecería Mexicana
Style: American Dark Lager
Tecate, Mexico

Bottle. Pours a light brown color with a bit of a tan head. Aromas are of dirt, toffee, and something a little nutty. Flavor is about the same... kind of a non-descript, but nice, mix of sweetness, earthiness and nuts... Nice enough without being too exciting.

Bottle. Sweet, slightly funky caramel and toffee nose. Coke-colored pour with a creamy cocoa-colored head. Taste has dim chocolate slurry, faint ash under mocha, and some grainy, grassy nuttiness. Light body with little crispness. No hops, but really feels dirty. Gosh, I like their pale lager more than this slop.

Aroma is corn. Pours dark with head that disappates quickly. Typical cheap dark beer. Not worth it unless it free!

Appearance: Pours a clear, dark mahogany-hued body with a frothy, white head. Smell: Sweet-smelling, malty nose with notes of caramel, toast, and dark fruits. Taste: A flavor of sweet caramel, with lighter hints at toast and nuttiness. Light fruitiness. Only a very light bitterness. Drying, reasonably toasty finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Not altogether terrible and priced, if not for glory, then at the very least for an outdoor, sunnytime gathering.

12 oz bottle. Pours clear, medium brown. No aroma. Flavor of toasted grain, malt. Light. bland.

(Bottle) Moderately dark in appearance, little head. Only barely bitter...somewhat sweet. Neither heavy nor light. Has a hint of the creamy taste that some Mexican dark beers have, but without the pleasant vanilla aroma. There’s not much aroma at all, in fact. Overall it is weak tasting, although not completely flavorless. Somewhat reminiscent of Negra Modelo...perhaps it’s an attempt at an imitation...if you ask me, it succeeds in this role.

Poured a dark brown with a thick caramel head that dissipated pretty quickly. It reminded me of a slightly darker Killians. Pretty malty but nothing out of the ordinary. Definitely a pretty good "regular" beer, especially for the price. It’s my first Trader Joe’s brew of all styles so I’m interested in how they did with the other ones.

Pours into my 33cl tulip glass with a frothy, initially almost three-finger thick, amber-dirtied, tan colored head. The beer shows some clearness but is dark enough that it is hard to see through as it sits on the table with a red-tinged, concentrated amber color; when held up to the light it shows a brilliantly clear, cranberry red / amber color. The aroma smells of caramel and grain husks up front and has a sweet, almost fruitiness. The finish has a slightly grassy, crushed grain aroma to it as well as just a bit of toasty / bready malt character to it.

Sweet tasting, with a light nuttiness to the finish and just a hint of roast to it. Fuller bodied than I was expecting, but this is light and quaffable. The sweetness plays up some light caramel notes and even a touch of berry-like flavors. The hop presence is fairly low, but there is a slight bitterness to this brew and perhaps a touch of herbal hop presence. The carbonation provides a touch of a bit in the middle that couples with the hop notes. This finishes with a toasty, almost bread crust like, biscuit malt character that in its dryness does a fair job of balancing the sweetness that is found up front.

I know it says its from Mexico so it must be crap, but I am quite surprised by this brew. I think it gives Negro Modelo a run for its money and if it isn’t, it sure does a good job of faking the aromas and flavors of an all malt beer (well minus the caramel coloring). While this is certainly not earth shattering, it actually has a better mix of flavors and balance than many of the usual Trader Joe’s label beers. At the price they sell this at it is almost a go to BBQ / grill beer for those hot Summer afternoons & evenings.