Baja Lager
Elliott Bay Brewing Co.

Poured into a Reuben's Brew pint glass. Pours a light to medium golden amber with a half finger white head that dissipates to a thin cap with light lacing. Aroma of lager malt, grassy hops, some light graininess and a hint of citrus. Flavor is lightly grainy lager malt, grassy hops, a touch of corn sweetness, hay and vague citrus; moderate grassy hop bitterness in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A quite nice domestic take on a Mexican lager with an authentic tasting lightly grainy malt and grassy hops. There is a little corn adjunct as is appropriate. This is a perfect beer for this brewery as the style is straight-forward and complementary to meals. Nicely done. We need Mexican Lager as a style; it's fairly distinctive and definitely used as a style name by the breweries; at least, like here, with Mexican place names.

 

I had this beer on-tap in a pint glass at the Elliott Bay Lake City brewery. They bill it as a "Mexican lager".

Appearance: medium golden hue with a clear body and a thick finger of creamy ivory foam atop. Looks good!

Smell: yeasty aroma with a lightly grainy character. Not a lot going on, but not bad.

Taste: slightly sweet malt with a hint of corniness and a bit of a yeasty character; bitterness is moderate. A pretty decent example of the style.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a decent carbonation and creaminess.

Overall: a pretty decent adjunct lager. I’m still not entirely sure what constitutes “Mexican style lager”, but this seems in line with other beers advertised as such.