Trader Joe's Bohemian Lager

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

Purchased at Trader Joe under the name JosephsBrau Bohemian Style lager. Pours a golden colour with a very slight unfiltered hazy. The head is mildly warm, nice lasting with some decent lacing. After having the Pilzn, I find this one pretty close to it, but the hops are different. Cereal grain aromas with some sweetness. The taste starts off a little hoppy with some bread in the middle and sweetness lingering. Not bad but a little to rich to have many of these.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Considering the price, this "rebranded" Trader Joe's brew is not to bad. My bottle was at least 9 months old and still the flavor was refreshing, and reasonable flavorful. Some alcohol flavor so I can not recommend it for bringing to the church potluck, but it might work well for the guys gathering after the meeting.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

more refreshing than the vienna lager, and therefore better. nothing that'll blow you away, but for $5 a six-pack? i'll give that a light recommendation.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Pours a clear, light golden color. Has a decent head. Aroma of bready? malts. Tastes light and crisp, kind of fruity. Just a clean, easy to drink beer.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

While this beer suffers horribly from the affliction known to most lagers as "boring", this is drinkable. Aroma was honey, subtle hops, a bit doughy perhaps. Appearance is clear, yellow and fizzy. Mouthfeel isn't that bad. It's also clean, not harsh like some lagers can be, light bodied. Flavor is honeyish malts with a very light spicy finish. You could be steered into a much worse lot of beers, so if this is all you have in a pinch I think it'll do.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

this beer was good it had a good clean crispness to it! the monthfeel is good it leaves my month refreashing! of course i taste a lot of wheat. overall its a great beer and i'd get it again!!

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 4

On my initial sip, I have to say I wasn't impressed. In fact, I was downright disgusted. But it's cheap, so I gave it many more tries and have come to really like this beer. After trying it a few times, I can't really find much of a correlation between this lager and other Czech Pilsners I've tried. However, because it doesn't offend is probably why I like it. It has a fruity flavor; I can't help but think about pumpkin ale when I drink it.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

Pretty average. A fan of two-buck chuck, I was expecting a bit better. TJ's offers many alternatives at the same price point. Given that, I don't think I would buy it again. It is quite unofesnsive, but as the previous reviewer mentioned, the beer is pretty much tasteless. There is a good bitter kick to it, but I tend to enjoy a Lager that's a bit crisper. Can't quite put my finger on what that takes, but it wasn't in this beer.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Ah yes, my first of four "Trader Joe Brewing Company" Lagers -- boy, can't you tell how excited I am about this...? ;^)

I think TJ's angle with these beers is to try to create the "Two Buck Chuck" concept for craft beer (i.e. a reasonably respected beer at a great price, and only sold at TJ's). But while I know wine folks typically have either a "love it" or "hate it" regard for The Two-Buck, I can't really see as many folks buying this by the case like I see is often the case over TJ's wine offerings. Rather, I think it'll quietly only gather a small following of budget-minded folks looking for something to serve the beer-geeks at a wine party.

Anyway, brand semantics aside, onto this beer in particular. Since this is a essentially a Gordon Biersch beer, I did expect a certian amount of maturity from this beer. In other words, giving it a pass since it's a new kid on the block is not an option IMO....

Good appearence, with a decent amount of foam, and some decent lacing. Rather nuetral in the nose, but that's all that unexpected, to be honest.

Where a Czech Lager really needs to shine is from the very first sip. Like in live, first impressions are lasting impressions. And with this beer? Not too shabby, really. Enough Saaz-y-ness to matter, even if we're only talking about around 18 IBUs all-told.

Light and grainy in the mouthfeel, and quite easy to down. But I guess the big question is, would you really want to down this beer?

Eh, I suppose. For the price, it's not bad at all -- and I've certianly had worse Pilseners for a lot more money. The lightest and most accessible of the four-beer lineup, so this is, by it's very nature, not very complex. But to be honest, I didn't mind this. No, not at all....

Music: Rotting Christ's "Sanctus Diavolos".
//TB

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Light orange gold color. Small to medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is malty with a touch of citrus. A medium bodied Bohemian lager. Malts are fruity, slightly bready. Hops are mild and a little spicy. Light and refreshing. Crisp and clean. Slightly spicy finish. A little bland. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.