General Zaragoza
Goliad Brewing Company

 

Pours straw colored and with little head. There is a slight hop smell. The bottle says Mexican Lager, so comparing this to Dos xx, Modelo and the like, this is more flavorful. Very easy to drink and the low abv makes it extremely sessionable. Medium carbination with a sweet malt and grain flavor up front, slight hop presence at the end.

I was given a sample at HEB from one of the Goliad reps. I didn't get to enjoy the whole bottle but I sipped on 3 oz sample. While it's not ideal to review the beer fully, I think it was sufficient for me to make a judgement.

First of all this is a lesser known brewery for me, and I didn't expect much. Rep told me it was a "Mexican lager", I guess they were competing against Dos Equis, Corona, Modelo and alike beers.

I can't say much about "look and smell" because I couldn't judge it properly but nothing stood out for me to have any bad comments, so I'd rate it conservatively on 3-3.5 scale for these.

Taste is good. It was served cold and I didn't pick up any "adjunct lager" flavors there. There was nothing offensive about this beer. But I couldn't pin point the style. It was a good and light lager, pleasant to drink, not too malty or too hoppy. Definitely no corn taste there that I've come to expect from cheap brews and some local ones that tend to "cheat" on the good stuff. It reminded me of more and well rounded Dos Equis.

Overall, it's a good beer. I was impressed simply because it was well rounded, refreshing, crisp and thirst quenching. I could definitely drink a six pack of this on a hot day. Next time I am BBQing with my friend (and we like to start at noon) I'll pick up a 6 pack or two to drink it through out the day and make a better judgement of it. I gotta have a 6 pack to make a definite decision, because if you can't sip on this then why bother? But at 4.3% of alcohol and drinkability, I think my first impression will be confirmed.

I'd be purchasing it in the near future.