In the past I have loved shopping at Trader Joes's for their cheap but good wine. Recently I was in my local store and I saw that they had their own brand of beer. For $5.99 a 6-pack I picked this up along with their Trader Joe's - Bavarian Style Hefeweizen. I enjoyed both beers on style and price.

As the name states, this poured amber. The head was weak and with little retention.

This lager's aroma was sweet and laced with apple and the apple was fresh and bright. It seemed as if the apple were cut seconds ago.

The apple carried through in the flavor with the sweetness balancing the caramel backbone of this amber beer. Toward the middle the beer became tart and sour with deep molasses flavors developing. The beer finished dry and faded away.

Being an amber beer the body was medium with a good amount of carbonation.

This was a great beer and a great value. The flavors were not complex but just deep and rich.  When it comes down to it, this grocery store beer was a lot better than many traditional craft brewer beers that I have had over the years.  That is why I shop at Trader Joe's. 

I picked this up on sale as my beer store was having a clearance sale for their remaining summer seasonals in inventory as the new Fall selection was coming in. At the same time I also grabbed Red Hook's Autumn beer. I was actually surprised that I have not tried this before. In any case I found this to be refreshingly light and a flavorful beer for the summer season. Since I tried Red Hook's autumn seasonal at the same time, I do prefer this beer.

Sunrye poured golden and slightly opaque with a weak white head.

It's aroma was sweet and fruity (grape, banana, apricot) complimented by some raw grain notes.

This ale was sweeter with earthy (very natural) malt notes as the primary flavor along with some citrus. There also was a mineral like quality about the flavor. The finish was uneventful, however I could taste a little rye bread like flavors. And, that was after the beer warmed up. Other than that the rye was not really apparent.

The body was light with a solid amount of carbonation I would expect for a summer beer.

There was not special or significant about this beer other than being a refreshing summer drink. Personally I would grab Redhook's Long Hammer IPA. To me that is a great beer but this is average.

It is already that time of the year again and the Autumn seasonals are starting to show up. I picked this up along with Mendocino's Oktoberfest. I found both beer to be different and yet appropriate for the coming cooler months.

Late Harvest poured amber with a weak, loose white head.

Its aroma was sweet and malty. I could also smell some alcohol but overall the nose of this beer was light. However as the beer warmed apple pie spices developed

The flavor profile was also lighter. Up front the autumn notes hit with cinnamon, clove and cherries. Light caramel and vanilla notes from the malts served as the backbone of the beer. Late Harvest did finish slightly sour but also dry as the hops kick in.

The carbonation as well as the body I would consider medium and the texture of the beer seemed oily.

Red Hook's Fall seasonal was not a ground breaking beer but it was a very good beer none the less. For me I will stick with Red Hook's IPA, even in the Fall which as I write this is in the fridge.

Great beer if you like your beer hoppy. I like this IPA a lot as you can smell the hops as soon as you pop the cap and a fair amount of fruitiness as well.

Long Hammer pour a nice rich, deep, gold (almost a very light amber).

There is also a good amount of carbonation which I personally like with an IPA.

And then the hops - nice and strong. However I thought the hops were rather one dimensional and did not add much depth to the drink. For the most part I could not taste much of the malt. The hops were very dry and lacked malt sweetness or smoothness to balance the beer out.

The aftertaste did have a nice bitter bite to it and just about right for my taste. The bitterness was not harsh but a little wake up call at the end.

And I think I need to mention that is a strong beer as in alcohol content with and a 6.5% ABV. I did not see that on the bottle when I picked this up.

Red Hook has brewed a very good IPA with their Long Hammer and is one of my favorit This is a nice drink that for me is readily available and perfect for pizza.

I certainly have liked this brewer over the years. They have always offered a great prodeuct at a reasonable price. I was very surprised to find that Mendocino is offering or is now available by me a Fall seasonal. I found this to be a very nice drink and the first Autumn beer I have tried this year. Drinking this certainly made me feel as if it were late October and the leaves were changing even though it is 80+ degrees outside right now.

Oktoberfest poured a deep brown-amber that was almost purple. The biege head had excellent lacing and retention.

The aroma of this lager was surprisingly malty and laced with caramel and bread-yeast notes. As the beer warmed the honey notes developed.

With a nice tanginess complimented by an assertive malty earthiness and honey sweetness, Oktoberfest was very smooth and balanced. When I first poured this ice-cold, the beer almost tasted and smelled like dried fallen leaves. Given the honey notes the beer finished dry without being sweet.

The mouth feel was very smooth, silky and sugary as the body was about medium and the carbonation lighter.

Mendocino has a great seasonal with Oktoberfest as this beer tasted like autumn (warm without being heavy). This was not a complex beer but in any case a it is nice beer to have on hand as the seasons begin to change.

BBC's pale ale is hoppy and is a nice pick for those that like American style IPAs. The hops were ascertive and balanced by roasted malts finishing with an aggressive bitterness.

It poured cloudy with a rich amber-gold color. The head was beige, well laced but with a weak retention.

Like an American style IPA, the aroma was dominated by the hops and they were sweet and floral.

The flavor also was dominated by the hops and the hoppy aroma was always on the nose with every sip. In many ways the general style of this reminded of Boulder Beer - Singletrack Copper Ale and Florida Beer Company - Indian River Shoal Draft Pale Ale in that this had a very dry character. The hops were very fruity. The malts has a deeper brown sugar character without being sweet. Amercian Pale Ale finished with the right amount of bitterness for this beer.

I did find that as the beer warmed the flavors did seem to become watered down a bit. This was not a negative.

This also was highly carbonated with a medium to light body.

In the past I have loved shopping at Trader Joes's for their cheap but good wine. Recently I was in my local store and I saw that they had their own brand of beer. For $5.99 a 6-pack I picked this up along with their Vienna Style Lager.

I must say that I thought both were great, drinkable beers at an excellent price.

TJ's unfiltered wheat beer certainly was a very nice beer and consistent with the style.

This Hefeweizen poured like it should, cloudy, goldent and with a great white head that had wonderful retention.

Trader Joes nailed this beer from the start as the aroma was well laced with deep, rich banana notes.

Rich and mature banana notes dominated the flavor, complimented by some corinander. The hops add some light lemon citrus finishing with a tangy-bitterness.

Consistent with the style, the body was medium to light with a good amount of carbonation.

Great beer at a great price. That is what I have always liked about Trader Joes. Most of what they sell is good quality but also at a good price. 

TJ's had a number of beers besides this and the Vienna Lager. I plan to try them all.

This is another beer I picked up at Trader Joe's grocery store along with frugal joe's and a couple Trader Joe's brand beers. I have never seen this before and it was relatively cheap at $5.99 a 6-pack.

Kennebunkort IPA poured a very deep amber-red with a biege head that did not have good retention.

The aroma was caramel,chocolate cherry sweet. I could not smell the hops and from that did not expect an American style IPA.

Even the flavor was sweeter and deeper than I initially thought this would be and it certainly is multi-dimensional as the flavor morph with every drink. Chocolate and cherries are the first notes to pop out. There was even some "burnt" notes blending in with light caramel and vanilla flavors from the malt. The beer finished very dry and with enough bitterness to burn a little going down.

Overall the flavors were not heavy but generally light and airy, brightened up with lemon and some sourness.

Given this beer was dark it was a lighter body beer with a lot of carbonation.

I liked this beer very much as the flavors were complex and rewarding. However when I am in the mood for an IPA, this would not be my first pick as I prefer the fruity-floral American style. My only knock on this beer is the IPA in the name. Otherwise, this is a great beer.

I picked this up for the at Trader Joe's grocery store (go figure). As I have never seen this before and at $4.99 for a 6-pack I thought it was worth trying. Given how expensive beer has become, this was a good beer at a good price. Frugal Joe's is not my style of beer, but for the same price as Bud, I certainly prefer this.

This poured a pale yellow color with very little head. It sort of looked like Bud or typical macro-brewed lager.

The aroma a malty and yeasty. It reminded me of a pilsner or even Hollandia.

Frugal Joe's is malty with a contrasting sweet and sour quality about it. The sourness was assertive and it was also associated with light citrus notes. The sourness also lingered in the aftertaste. I thought this beer had a pilsner like quality about it.

The body was just like a typical macro lager in that is was light and highly carbonated.

Overall the flavor was light and refreshing for an everyday type of beer. Just as the name implies, this is an ordinary beer on the cheap and it is pretty good.

Sierra Nevada as a brewer became interesting again with their Southern Hemisphere Harvest I tried this past spring. I thought that was one hell of a fresh hoppy beer. For that very reason I decided to grab their Anniversary Ale.

Their Anniversaary Ale is a very good beer with bright flavors and deep character for those that prefer hoppy American style IPAs. This is an IPA in all but name.

Anniversary Ale poured amber with an nice well laced biege head that had good retention.

The aroma was a cacophony of hops: fruity, floral and piney.

Anniversary Ale was a poem to hops. Beautifully crafted, the hops did not overwhelm the malty base and yet the hops were strong and the focus of this beer. The hops were especially fruity but yet very dry and nicely bitter. Underlying the hops was a light vanilla and cream malt base.  The bitterness at the end did not make me cringe but yet it fit this beer.

I thought the body of the beer was medium with a light amount of carbonation.

This was not a multi-dimension beer that surprised me with many different flavors. What did surprised me was how this just seemed to work as the beer was so well balanced. This really is that nice of a beer.