Drive Thru Red
Trader Joe's Brewing Company

 

A little too hoppy for my liking. I like to taste the sweet roasted malts in Reds with minimal hop presences. If I want hops IPAs are great. 42 IBUs

 

Nifty hint'o'hops and an unsubtle sweetness to it. A very lovable ABV, too. Will probably imbibe a few more when I can get more. Meanwhile...

Single can from Trader Joe's

 

Drive Thru Red by Trader Joe's was very yummy. It had kind a Grainbelt Nordeast vibe going on. I still don't know much about beer classifications, but It had almost a bock-like situation going on. There were notes of grains.

 

 

Impressive 3-finger starting head. It recedes in a lumpy fashion, leaving plenty of webby lace on the glass. The liquid is clear, dirty copper color.

Semisweet with a toffee-like aroma. No notable hop nose.

The darker malt flavor is much dryer than the smell suggests. It's closer to caramel and it's brief as the bittering hop takes over quickly. Fuller body goes with the higher carbonation. Overall, it's an easy drinking amber ale but not very complex.

 

It’s ok but no way would I pay a premium for this. It should be a 5.99 sixer beer.

 

some good and some bad with this, which you take at this price point right? been awhile for me with a trader joes beer so picked this up for a holiday party. neat beer for this time of year, stronger, fuller malt flavor but still pretty light, even kind of thin feeling, in body, less hoppy than expected given how they brand it, but it could be a little old too. not bad, but there is definitely some general cheapness to this, the ferment is a little suspect and there is a major metallic property as it sits and warms a little bit. good clarity and a pretty tall airy white head, looks good. some light caramels and toast in the nose and taste, a kilned warmth and not overly sweet, some copper metallic character, but its got some richness too. the hops seem faded, more bitter and vegetal than anything that would be desirable from dry hopping, some snappy almost spicy back end bite, but very little fruitiness or anything. the metal part runs wild at the end and there is some astringency with the bitterness breaking down the mouthfeel some, but the carbonation is good and when i drink through this quickly its not bad. would never be my first choice, but a pretty robustly flavored beer at a heck of a price, for better or worse. neat that these exist, quality aside, keeping beer affordable, and its really not awful...

edit: lost a few cans in the fridge for six months or so and woof, this really has gone down hill. that ferment i was suspicious of, well, its full on funky now, like bretty and even more oxidized at the end, the hops have faded into being kind of yucky, and this tastes like its been left in a hot car all summer. i didnt love it when i first bought it, but it was really poor later on, as with most basic beers, drink fresh, but this seems to show its cheapness and quality imperfections a little more with time than others. leaving original scores in place.

 

 

When it was $6.95/six pack it was a great bargain. TJs switched from bottles to cans a while back and uped the price to $9.95. I would buy Killians first at that price.

A very caramelly sweet brew that has some mild citrus hop character and reasonably dry finish. I don’t really detect the dry hopping in either aroma or flavor. The toffee and caramel sweetness is a bit too heavy-handed for my taste, but I can see why some would really like this beer. No off flavors noticeable.

Nicer than I expected it to be, with a definite candy undertone and nice fall orange color. Serve it very cold!