REVIEW 79: DOS EQUIS SPECIAL LAGER

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Mexico

BREWERY:  Cerveceria Cuauhtèmoc Moctezuma, S.A. de C.V.

STYLE:  Adjunct Lager

ABV:  4.3%

PURCHASE:  Draught (18-oz.), $5.59

SERVING:  Weizen glass, sans lime. From the tap, initial head stayed within the typical 3/4" to one-inch range. Pitiful retention.

APPEARANCE:  Adjunct straw color with white head. Transparent. Some bubbles. No lacing. Next.

BOUQUET:  Mostly generic grain. A slight touch floral. Know what I smell? Adjuncts!

PALATE:  The usual body and carbonation for an adjunct lager. Nothing out of the ordinary here. Slightly grainy and yeasty--emphasis on "slightly"--with essentially no hop presence whatsoever. Aftertaste seems split between yeast and seltzer. Has the mouthfeel of a light beer; this isn't surprising, considering it has a light beer's ABV, too. 

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  Bleh. Every country has its Budweiser. This is Mexico's . . . I guess.

Or more like Bud Light. It has a light beer's look, feel, and lack of real beer character. In fact, I bet you could pull a Folger's-style switch with this beer and that one at a frat party or Nascar event and barely anybody would tell the difference. This may be brewed in Mexico, but there is nothing distinctly Mexican about it.

Surely the "Most Interesting Man in the World" drinks a better beer than this.




GRADE:  D