When I picked this up, I assumed that this was made somewhere outside the US. In fact, when I looked closer at the label, it actually says in Spanish that this is authentic and from the Dominican Republic. Well, it doesn't say that it's from there, but it is heavily implied. It turns out, this is made in Missouri. St Louis is, I believe, not in the Dominican Republic. I'm not really sure what I'm getting into.
The beer pours like a pilsner should, and it doesn't overflow with bubbles, but they're just enough. The very clear beer reminds me exactly of what a pilsner should be, and I get small points of nucleation that I enjoy more than I probably should. I expected this to be skunked, as the last beer I got from this seller was. I am delightfully surprised when there is only a little skunk to the heavily crusted bread malt that is pretty much all I can smell. I wanted to smell some lemons or citrus or something, but that malt is pretty much it. By the way, I did check the clear and readable freshness date, and I am several months before this is no longer to be consumed.
First sip starts off like it's going to be skunked, but that taste goes away very quickly before a very mild, almost bland, watery malt heads down the gullet. I would really appreciate if more was happening with the beer, but I need to appreciate the beer for what it is, and that is a very straightforward and easily consumed 5% ABV beverage. I can tell from just this first sip that I would sooner drink this beer then any of the hard seltzers that normally come in right around 5%.
Tip-in is that start of a skunk before the watery bread malt takes over. The middle veers toward tasteless, but it has just enough malt to give it a little bit of heft. The finish lends a little bit of yeast before heading to the trail off where another hint of skunk follows.
1.75/5