The Cheap Beer Diaries

Trader Joe's is selling a kolsch-style beer. It's called Trader Joe's Josef Brau Summer brew and it is rather good for the buck a bottle price. It's a bright straw-colored brew with a light toasted malt smell that has a crisp cracker-like malt flavor along with a slighty spicy, hoppiness and mineral-like, toasted malt finish. Not too bad.

I consider $7 a six-pack for what could be considered a craft beer pretty good these days, so when I spotted Mission Street Pale and India Pale Ale at my local Trader Joe's I had to pick up a couple bottles and give it a try.

First up is the Mission Street Pale, which is probably the palest pale ale I've ever seen, shining a bright straw yellow. It smells spicy and citrusy hoppy which is reassuring and the head looks decent. The taste is very smooth and a bit watery for a pale ale, but with a decent spicy hop note in the finish. A touch of peppery alcohol is a bit of surprise for a beer seemingly so benign and drinkable. A hint of toasted malt surfaces as the beer warms up. This would be an excellent "gateway" beer those wondering what hops are supposed to really taste like, without scaring said person away from hoppy beer. I would also note that the drinkability factor and low alcohol by volume (4.6 percent by volume) of this beer should qualify it as the official pale ale of the summer of 2009.

The Mission Street IPA is oddly not as hoppy in the aroma as the Pale Ale. The hops are there, but as pronounced and more grassy than citrus-like. The color is a bit darker than the pale. It is rather malt forward, too, with spicy hops sort of riding on top of the malt towards the finish. The bitter hops seem to struggle through the malt in the finish, but end up winning, coating the tongue with a latent bitterness. Not too bad, but the Pale Ale seemed a little cleaner, as there seem to be even more fusels here.

As anyone who has followed this blog for some time has probably noticed, Trader Joe's is a good place for cheap beer. Some of it is good, some not so good. This evening while buying some groceries I spotted Simpler Times Pilsner, a beer brewed by Minhas Brewing Co. (formerly Huber) in Monroe, Wisconsin. I haven't had too many Minhas private label beers. I've had more of their contract brews such as the Berghoff brand.

Simpler Times Pilsner is a pretty good lookin' clear, golden beer that pours with plenty of foam that builds a rocky head. The label advertises hops, and I think I can pick them out in the smell. The rest of the beer ain't bad either. As smooth, very drinkable pilsner, Simpler Times can't be beat. Sure it's kind of plain except for little bit of floral hops and a bit of bubblegum sweet finish, but it called Simpler Times. Not bad at all for a standard American-style lager and pretty cheap at $0.84 a bottle. Drink it cold though, it gets a little too sweet as it warms up.

There is also a Simpler Times Lager, which I didn't buy, that is stronger (6.2 percent compared to 5.5 for the Pilsner), but somehow a dollar a six-pack cheaper. Perhaps more adjunct?

If you haven't ever enjoyed German lager out of a mini-keg (a 5-liter self-pouring aluminum can) now is your chance at Famous Liquors at Roosevelt and Main in Lombard, Illinois. Cases of DAB mini-kegs, a fine Dortmunder, (two in each box) are going for $20 or one 5-liter can for $10. Such a deal. I've had this beer before and it is a very clean, somewhat malty, light- to medium-bodied lager with just enough hops. Top reviewers at Beer Advocate seem to like it okay, giving it a "C+" (which is an average that got me into college) so it can't be that bad.

Today I picked up some cheap Fuller's London Pride at Sal's Beverage World in Elmhurst, Illinois. Fifteen bucks for a case of pint cans of this decent English Bitter is a great deal. I've seen this beer for as much as $10 a four-pack of pint cans. The cases are about three months past there best before date, but I'm sampling a pint right now and it's not too bad. The flavor are a little subdued, but you can't complain much at 15 bucks a case.

Fuller's London Pride is a decent ale with enough complexity to balance it's excellent drinkability. London Pride starts out with a honey-ish nose accented by woody hops, followed by a delicate biscuit-like maltiness, a hint fruitiness, a slight bit of tartness and finally a crisp, bittersweet finish. Although I'd like to taste more bitter hops in the finish, this is still a decent session ale, and it must be noted that the particular sample I'm enjoying is about three months past it's best before date, which could explain it's lack of luster. I normally wouldn't consume beer past it's due date, but in this case I succumbed to a case that was more than half off it's normal price. So, given this product's condition, I'm certainly not too disappointed.

It's spring 2008 and the definition of cheap beer is changing. Barley malt and hop prices are going up, up, up and there seems to be no ceiling in sight. Fortunately, Trader Joe (or in this case Trader Josef, his German counterpart) is keeping prices down for a decent beer. The entire Josef Brau range of beers can be found for $6 a six-pack. Sure, if you really want to save money at Trader Joe's you can pick up a six-pack of Mountain Creek ($3 for six cans), but Trader Josef offers real value and a heck of a lot more real beer flavor.

Trader Josef's Dunkelweizen is a seasonal offering that shows up at Trader Joe's stores in the spring. It pours very murky, but the murkiness is just yeast, and hefe-weizens are naturally cloudy with yeast. The Hefe-weizen style originates in Germany and "hefe" means "with yeast" in German. There's lots of B-complex in yeast, which is good for you. That said, I'm surprised at the amount of yeast that ends up in my glass, even as I take measures to keep some of the yeast at the bottom of the bottle out of my glass. There's enough in suspension to probably start fermenting a typical batch of homebrew.

The beer has a decent. It smells a little spicy (normal for a hefe-weizen), but also little metallic. A metallic aroma is kind of expected in a cheaper beer. The problem is this beer isn't that cheap. The beer still tastes good, with some sweet caramel aromas, a subtle spiciness (perhaps some clove?) and a dry-ish finish. The body is light, so it goes down easy. I'd probably pick up more of this if I was in the mood for dunkelweizen and didn't feel like paying for the fancy German imports.

Trader Joe's is perhaps my favorite grocery store. The prices are good (if you're careful) and they stock lots of fun house brands. You can get house brand everything at Trader Joe's: even beer.

About half of Trader Joe's beers are made by an entity called the Steinhaus Brewing Co. and most of these beers are about $5 a six-pack.

First up is Frugal Joe's Ordinary Beer. This beer not only ordinary, it is a rather poor example of a "macrobrew" with the sweet and prickly graininess of six-row malt and not enough hops. Frugal Joe isn't just "frugal", he's a cheap bastard. You might be paying four bucks a six-pack, but it's worth it to bump up a buck for some of the other brews.

Gila Monster is a simple amber beer with a smooth mouthfeel and a bit of adjunct flavor. It's not that bad, but not that good either. It looks good, with lace down the sides of the glass and a sustaining 1/8-inch head, but this beer is otherwise pretty malty on the palate and a bit too sweet for my tastes.

Next up we have the Jumping Cow Amber Ale. This beer has a fantastic appearance. It's a light amber ale with a rocky head that leaves lace behind. It doesn't have much of a nose (most cheap beer doesn't offer much in the aroma department), except for a hint of malt and adjunct. The Jumping Cow is very, very smooth with a very light caramel malt flavor, some fruitiness and a bit of a coarse bitter finish.

We move on to the Fat Weasel Ale. This beer pours ridiculously clear with tons of carbonation that forms a rather impressive rocky head that settles slowly into a fairly dense layer of foam. This is a real good lookin' beer, unfortunately it gets worse from here...

First, the aroma is kind of bubblegum-like and grainy. Next, the taste is sweet and grainy with an unpleasant bitterness in the finish. This Fat Weasel tastes more like a strong European lager than an ale, with a grainy and bitter fusel alcohol-laden finish. Forgot whatever anybody else says about this beer: it is nothing more than a bad malt liquor masquerading as an ale. I'd sooner drink Haffenreffer Private Stock instead of this crap.

Overall, the Fat Weasel is good for a fairly cheap buzz, but only if you like your beer grainy and bitter.

Fortunately, Trader Joe redeems himself with Black Toad Ale, a dark ale that poured into an Imperial pint glass, has a nice thick off-white head and grainy, cocoa-like aroma. The first sip is smooth, with some light roasted malt flavors balanced by a bit of chocolate and lightly bitter hops. The bottle may say dark ale, but this beer has me thinking black lager instead of porter, as it is very clean tasting. The finish is nicely balanced with a pleasant roasted character. Overall, a pretty drinkable dark beer and a good buy.

All of the above beers (brewed by Steinhaus) can be had for less than a dollar a bottle. Some of them (such as the Frugal Joe's Ordinary Beer and the Fat Weasel Ale) have their flaws, but offer a lot of flavor for the buck. Next time we'll sample some of the Trader Joe's Brewing Co. beers, most of which are replicas of German beer styles, such as lager and bock.