Salva Vida
Cerveceria Hondurena, S.A. / BevCo Ltd

BeerAndGasMasks from Virginia

3.38/5  rDev +26.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25

From the can, it pours a clear yellow golden color with a nice white head. In the nose, it has a grainy scent. In the mouth, a light grainy flavor. A perfect beer for after a bit of hard work in this hot weather!

Jul 26, 2020

elnachooo from Spain

1.75/5  rDev -34.7%
look: 1.75 | smell: 1.75 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 1.75 | overall: 1.75

Cerveza ligera, de carbonatación media y con un dedo de espuma de poca retención. Aromas débiles a maíz. En boca es acuosa y ligeramente amarga. Simple y plana.

Nov 30, 2019

StonedTrippin from Colorado

3.11/5  rDev +16%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3

i have never seen this in the states before now, i think this is my first beer from honduras! very exciting! its another global macro lager, nothing really groundbreaking or distinctive about it, but it is better than many of its peers, especially in latin america, and it works great with seafood, for whatever thats worth. golden and as light as they get, this looks like carbonated and clarified chicken broth or something, insanely light, as carbonated as they get, and actually holding some head, which is not always the case with these. not much aroma to it, but that can be a good thing with an adjunct lager, no metallics, no stale character, no chemical, its basic but its not messed up and its not gross. the same is true with the flavor, and while i dont get much grain or hops, i also dont get any of the usual off flavors in the style. i get just a light cereal profile towards the end, flash of bitterness which must be hop derived but has almost no flavor, and a crisp and brilliant lagered finish, refreshing and crushable, with a light honey note to it, off dry. it worked great with spicy peel and eat shrimp, and pretty well with a catfish poboy. this beer stands above many of its peers for me...

Nov 10, 2017

ordybill from Georgia

3.42/5  rDev +27.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 12 oz can into a pint glass at the Taco Mac in Atlanta, GA. The appearance is a straw color with a small white head. The aroma is all grain. The taste was very metallic but the presence of grain was very heavy also. An average beer.

Oct 19, 2016

Tone from Missouri

2.97/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

Pours a clear, straw color. 1/4 inch head of a white color. Decent retention and decent lacing. Smells of strong adjunct, pale malt, sugar, and a hint of hop. Fits the style of an American Adjunct Lager. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with an average carbonation level. There is also a distinct dryness. Tastes of strong adjunct, sugar, hint of hop, hint of metallic, and hint of pale malt. Overall, and average adjunct.

May 14, 2016

Jwale73 from Rhode Island

3.2/5  rDev +19.4%
look: 4 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.25

12oz. bottle served in a willibecker. Pours a translucent yellow with a loose, half inch, bright white head the slowly recedes into a soapy slick. Nose is dull but adjuncts are definitely detectable, as well as a faint metallic quality. Taste consistent with nose - lots of corn and more adjuncts. Mouthfeel is light in body with a lively carbonation shy of crisp - perfect body for a hot summer day. Overall - not bad for the style; however, there are better adjunct lagers out there.

May 06, 2016

Act25 from New Jersey

2.85/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 2.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75

Your first one, ice cold, at the beach, feels a bit like a Red Stripe. But it's down hill from there.
All the same - perhaps ties w port royal for best honduran beer. They're all adjunct watery grain beers.

Appearance: a pale yellow color with a lot of effervescence. Head pours a finger of white foam that actually delivers some lace.

Smell: Typical adjunct, grassy and grain. Cereals and faint.

Taste: Starts off the best of the Honduran beers, with a malty flavor that offers grass, lemon and a bit of hoppy cleansing in the finish

F: Very light body with a lots of carbonation. Dry enough, scrubbing finish.

O: Lawn-mower, beach beer.

Mar 27, 2016

MacMalt from New Jersey

2.3/5  rDev -14.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.25

Poured from can into pint glass. It pours a pale golden-yellow with a thin, milk-white head and minimal lacing. There is little discernible smell: a little grass, some grain, and a whiff of citrus. It may be that it was poured from a can but it has a rather funky, and unpleasant, taste. It's like a weak light beer with a metallic taste. It is very light and watery with moderate carbonation. Although the ABV is low, I cannot imagine drinking enough of this for it to matter. I want to be fair but I don't find any redeeming quality in this lager. Perhaps if served fresh and on draught it would be better.

Jan 09, 2016

LAp from Ohio

2.43/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.25

Ultimately, it's difficult to separate this beer from the memories that accompany it. This was the sole beer on the backpackers' island of Utila where I learned to scuba dive, and chilling with the dive buddies on a pier overlooking the beach after a long day on the reef is a recipe for overstating the merits of a thoroughly mediocre beer.

Oct 25, 2015

GarrettB from Colorado

1.57/5  rDev -41.4%
look: 2 | smell: 1.75 | taste: 1.25 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 1.5

October 30th, 2013 - It's a pity that I can't attach photos to my reviews, because what we have here is a half-empty bottle of Salva Vida, and in the background is a Honduran scuba diving site. There's a wooden pier leading out to a open air structure where divers train tourists like us not to drown in shallow water. And after we succeed, there's a small bar waiting for your, serving up Salva Vida. Is it a good beer? No. But here at West End Dovers, and after a morning in the ocean, the sweet and heavy palate of this lager tastes good against the accumulated sea water on my lips.

Aug 29, 2015

Wowcoolman from California

2.75/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.75

Poured into a frosteg mug- hard to see through the ice. Very metallic tasting, which overpowers the crispness associated with lagers. Maybe not the "life saver" the beer purports to be.

Apr 26, 2015

PhilHeinricke from Virginia

4.16/5  rDev +55.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

I love Honduras. I've been there at least half a dozen times. I've been in the cities, I've been in the aldeas, I've been in the mountains, and I've been to the beach resorts. There is no place I'd rather be. There is no food I'd rather eat. They have a dish there called "baleadas". It's a flour tortilla with scrambled eggs, refried beans, crema and anything else you want to put in there. It's so simple and easy to make yet so good.

For the weekend we took our people to a resort. It was hot. We thrashed around in the pool for hours. The resort fee included complimentary drinks. I just kept going back for Salva Vidas. By the end of the day I was feeling no pain.

It's a beautiful color. It's a beautiful golden, golden color just like the Honduran sun. It's light; it looks like just the perfect refreshment to cool you down after sitting on the beach or at poolside. And the taste just comes through with that subtle taste of the typical island brews.

Dec 22, 2014

LiquidAmber from Washington

2.88/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a light golden amber with a one finger white head with good retention and lacing. Standard adjunct aroma of sweet malt, mild grassy hops and corn, a hint of soap. Flavor follows; sweet malt, hints of bread, grassy hops and biscuit, tapers off quickly to a watery light sweet malt finish with an odd, light residual unflavored bitterness. Light bodied, but decent carbonation. A fairly typical adjunct lager, lighter in finish than normal, but as usual, harmless and bland. Wouldn't be too bad on a hot Honduran afternoon, but just ticker fodder for me.

Jul 03, 2014

IchLiebeBier from Virginia

2.65/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: golden/straw colored; effervescent; big frothy white head

Smell: citrusy; malty; grassy

Taste: like a slightly hoppy water; very thin throughout; like a megabrew pale lager; not much to talk about here; probably good on a hot day after mowing the lawn, but otherwise, meh.

Mouthfeel: thin and watery

Feb 24, 2014

birchstick from Colorado

2.56/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.75

A - pours a pale golden yellow with a pretty nice looking head on it. The head settles and forms what amounts to an above average looking adjunct lager.

N - nose is nothing but aluminum/metal and some off grain flavors. Not too pleasant on the nose.

T - the taste is better than the smell - soft grainy malts with a touch of dry grassy hops (the hops are a reach). Nothing else going on - pretty straightforward adjunct (not that I was expecting anything else).

M - nice carbonation and body

D - overall, it is somewhat refreshing, but would be even more so if there was some more flavor in it. Obviously, when in Honduras there aren't a lot of options, but I think I would take a water over this for the price.

May 01, 2013

Halcyondays from California

3.97/5  rDev +48.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

12 oz. bottle,

A: Pours gold with a medium white head, some solid lace.

S: Grainy husky malt, some sugar cane, quite pleasant, especially in this style.

T: Sweet grains, lots of malt flavour, hint of grassy hops, sugar cane.

M: Light-bodied, crisp, a bit grainy and cloying in the end. It is refreshing though.

O: I've never had a beer from Honduras, and this is pretty darn good. I'm enjoying this effort. Crisp, cold, easy drinking, beats the Hell out of Corona in the style from Latin America.

Nov 27, 2012

ChrisCage from Canada

2.8/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

A- Like Cerveceria Hondurenas' other brews, this one pour a very clear grassy color, but I do have to say that there is a more golden coloration about it. There is plenty of carbonation rising to the top, suggesting a palate scrubbing experience! Not much head here, and what there is, is a patchwork of soapy white foam. As for lacing, it starts off looking impressive, but fizzles away rather quickly. Overall, not a very appealing brew....just what one would typically expect from an AAL style beer.

S- More malt aromas than it's sister beers, but that doesn't say much really. In general, there is more rice and/or corn adjunct smelled here, and it still has that overboiled quality to it. Nothing in terms of hop aromas either.

T- Refreshing, and with more malt flavor than the sister beers, which is a good thing. That's where the positives stop...it is still full of corn husk adjunct, which dumbs the overall flavor to the point of tasting cheap. No hop bitterness on the finish either, but if I'm strolling the beaches of Roatan, I'm probably not going to complain.

M- Thin bodied, but leans slightly toward medium fullness surprisingly. It is rich in carbonation, keeping any lingering flavors of my palate for any length of time, which is probably a good thing in my opinion.

O- Better than its' sister beers?....yeah, I'd say so, but still this isn't a very drinkable beer....at least nothing I'd seek out, again, unless, I'm in the Honduras and there isn't much selection, which I know there isn't! Clean, refreshing, and crisp, this one is best suited as a very hot weather type beer!

Nov 14, 2012

BasementBer from Canada

2.27/5  rDev -15.3%
look: 2 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

After a brief trip to Honduras, I picked up all the beer of the country that I could: Barena, Royal Export and Salva Vida. This one was my the second to least favorite (make sense?!). This one was described to me as the "mans" beer in relation to the "womens" royal export. Looks like they need to work on their demographic as the latter was superior. Or maybe now im embracing a womanhood i didnt know i had.

A: golden yellow color, standard head, standard carbonation.

S: faint bitterness and plenty of rice/adjunct smells with grain.

T: nothing to write home about except it goes well with the heat.

M: Again standard, nothing about the hops stood out on the palate, had a slight thickness in the wash (but thats just by comparison to the other lagers I had).

O: 1916 is when it started, and in 2012 it needed work.

Jan 19, 2012

ElCommodoro from Texas

2.3/5  rDev -14.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Pours a transparent golden with a small white head and lots and lots of bubbles.
It smells very simply of wet grains with a hint of skunkiness. It was in a clear bottle, so that may be why.
The taste is a bit skunky as well. As a result, this is not a good stand-alone beer. Luckily, I'll be enjoying it with a tamale pie. Hopefully, that'll go good together. It's got that weird starchiness that some foreign adjunct beers tend to have. It's got no other real flavour. Just the mild graininess, starchiness, and some skunk. It's also very high in carbonation. Not a good beer. Not terrible, but not good.

Dec 23, 2011

flagmantho from Washington

3.27/5  rDev +22%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from 12oz bottle into a Pilsner glass.

Appearance: a nice pale golden color with a good deal of apparent effervescence. Head poured a thin finger of white foam and lacks tenacity, but otherwise a decent-enough looking beer.

Smell: malty aroma with a nice complement of noble hops; on top of this, it lacks obvious flaws. As adjunct lagers go, it's pretty damn good.

Taste: starts off with a nice malty flavor and peters out rather quickly. Bitterness is low. It is clean, though, and again lacks obvious flaws.

Mouthfeel: light body with a decent, effervescent carbonation. Actually pretty decent.

Overall: I like a good light lager in certain circumstances. Given a choice, I rather like Salva Vida as a nice thirst quencher.

Dec 01, 2011

Overlord from California

2.58/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Of course I ordered this just so I could tick off another country on the old reviewing chart. Surprisingly, it was only mildly bad, instead of terribly horrendous.

Pours a light golden yellow. Some white crusted foam. Smells faintly sweet, like corn/malt liquor.

Taste is, again, malt liquor like in corn-y sweetness, with some light rotting hay/grass notes, and an interesting bitter bite.

Overly carbonated, despite the lack of any real head.

Eh. not horrible.

Nov 22, 2011

schmidtn from Michigan

3.01/5  rDev +12.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

A golden lager, pours with a nice white head that remained for awhile.

The brew has a sweet smell. Malted barley and corn. Smells like a high life.

Sweet taste and a little hops to add flavor. Very carbonated. Burp!

Thus the mouth feel is strongly bubbly.

It is what it is, and that is a standard brew not pretending to be something else.

Jul 12, 2011

kylehay2004 from Illinois

2.23/5  rDev -16.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Like one of the other reviews, mine was poured from a bottle into a plastic cup at Salva Vida as the wife shopped. Typical macro lager smell, taste and body. Perhaps Budweiser packaged in a different bottle. Has the same refreshment qualities however the same taste as well. Smooth, light bread/grain taste but no hop or malt flavor is appreciated. Overall, a beach goers beer.

Jul 03, 2011

armock from New York

2.78/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

A - Poured a golden color with a white head that fades quickly to a ring

S - Has a sweet grainy malt and corn nose

T - Follows the nose sweet grainy malt with corn flavors

M - This beer has a medium body with medium carbonation to it

D - Overall this isn't really even an average beer for the style sure theres worse out there but don't bother with this one

Oct 31, 2010

RonaldTheriot from Louisiana

4/5  rDev +49.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Salva Vida has a thick, white head and a semi-cloudy golden appearance. Carbonation is moderate, and the smell is of rancid grain and bubble gum. The taste is of barley and some other grains, and the hop presence is almost nil. Mouth-feel is light to moderate, and Salva Vida finishes semi-dry. I did not appreciate the spoiled profile, which, by the way, I NEVER encounter with the supposedly inferior American-made macro-brands. I did not like this, and would not want to have it again.

REVISIT- I had this again on 8/7/11, and it was fresh, roasty, easy-drinking, and pleasant. Apparently, the original sample was somehow spoiled.

RJT

Oct 16, 2010