Trader José Dark Premium Lager

Brewed by Cervecería Mexicana
Style: Amber Lager/Vienna
Tecate, Mexico

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Shaker

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Bottle:   Coppery colored, thin sudsy off-white head, sparce lacing.   Soft toasted malt nose, a little dusty.   Smooth maltiness up front, slightly biscuity, a little honeycomb cereal.   Seems sweeter than most.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate, albeit this one is a little sticky.   Finishes toasty, malty, sweet, with some biscuit and honeycomb cereal like flavors.   Fairly mellow, but perhaps a bit too sweet.   Otherwise decent.

Bottled. Poured clear, medium coppery-amber with a short off-white head. The aroma picked up light molasses and fruity sugars with dusty earth accents.. not a lot to it, but it was aiight. The flavor found caramel and molasses at the semi-dry core, with light rye and grassy notes around.. finished with muddled malts and a sweet vanilla kick right at the end. Light-bodied with low-ish carbonation on the palate.. definitely drinkable.

Trader Jose! Figured this for a Modelo product...oh well not a huge difference. Smell is wooden and chocolate brownie. Darker copper color. My first impression is that it tastes like smoking cheap cigar, kind of cocoa infused and somewhat peaty. Better than expected for less than a buck a bottle. Light enough to drink a few, too heavy for binges.

Light brown pour with an off-white head. Nose is sweet toffee, bread, toast, and grassy hops. Mild esters, some floral hops, and a fair amount of yeast. Nice malt sweetness to the flavor. Mild roasted malt quality, bread, toffee, and toast. Some grassy and floral hops, minimal bitterness, and yeast. Pretty decent, actually.

Chestnut brown without a large head even after a vigorous pour. Bready, chocolatey flavors, with a little edge, like a spice of some kind. The palate flats to somewhat flat after just a little bit. Reasonable and something I wouldn’t be ashamed to serve at a party. Bottle.

12 oz. bottle from my aunt Coco. Pours a mostly clear brown with an off-white head. Aroma of toast, nuts, earth, chocolate, and stale cereal. Flavor follows the same lines, with a little root beer spiciness and cola sweetness. Light-bodied, with medium-high carbonation and a toasty, sweet, earthy mouthfeel. All right.

For the price, this is not a bad beer. I think I paid $5 per six pack. The flavor is clean, with a sweet malty finish. I would buy again for a cheap beer for game day when you don’t want anything too heavy.

Bottle. LIght brown pour. Quarter inch tan head. Aroma of sweet bread. Taste is a mix of caramel, chocolate, and a slight metallic flavor. Easy to drink. Wish I bought two.

Bottle: brown with reddish tint pour with a large white head. Aroma is soft with cocoa, malt and a lightly charred roast grain. Flavor is mild roasted grain with a light caramel sweetness. Palate is mostly sweet with quickly fading flavors that run thin in the end. I found this beer ok in flavor, easy drinking, but not too complex. Good value.

I would bet a lot of cash that Trader José Dark Premium Lager is Trader Joe’s version of Negra Modelo. A smooth, dark lager with mild sweetness and is better than their pale adjunct lager. This brew has actual taste to it, though it’s not anything to write home about.

I poured an 11.2oz bottle into a lager glass.

Appearance: Extremely dark copper/brown hue; transparent body. Forms a pretty large, white, foamy head which leaves a good amount of lacing and doesn’t evaporate completely.

Smell: Mild nose with hints of dark malt, chocolate, and an underlying generic lager scent.

Taste: Mild sweetness throughout the palate which increases as it warms. There’s components of a traditional bock in here, as well as some chocolate flavors often found in stouts or porters. Don’t get the wrong idea, though, this is not a dessert in a glass or a stout that’s been lagered. It’s possible there’s adjuncts in here, as I do notice subtle metallic flavor, but it’s not nearly as overt as the pale lager. There’s a short burst of sweetness right as it finishes, but the aftertaste is too clean for its own good. Though nothing amazing, this is a genuinely decent palate.

Drinkability: I couldn’t find an ABV listing for Trader José Dark Premium Lager anywhere, but I’d estimate it’s 4.5 - 5% ABV. It’s about as heavy and potent as a generic macro lager, and has the flavor intensity (or lack thereof) to match. That’s not surprising considering the target audience for this beer. The body does go tepid rather quickly, although that enables it to be a smooth, easy-drinking beer with a body probably smaller than you’d expect. This is the beer craft beer nerds should use for their beer pong tournament.