Two Trader Joe's Mission St. Beer Reviews

The first of the (Firestone brewed) Trader Joe's Mission St. series, this is the Pale Ale. It clocks in at 4.6% ABV. In 3 words it can be easily described as a hopped up Corona. The aroma carries a grainy smell with a bit of dried leaves. The taste has a grassiness from the hops along with the lightest malt presence you can imagine. I really feel like I get a macro lager type taste, so I'm wondering if they used corn or rice in the the malt bill here. This beer was bottled on 1/14/09, so while sitting on the Trader Joe shevles didn't do it any favors, it certainly wasn't a complete gonner in terms of freshness. I'm all for a blanaced pale ale, it doesn't need to have a huge hoppiness to it, so my main criticism here would be the total lack of flavor on the malt side and a mouthfeel that was so watery it was almost absent. I give it a 3.2/5, or a C+.

After that I took a step up to the Mission St. IPA. This is what the pale ale should have been. It definitely carried a more malty base, which actually tasted a combination of a caramel and toastiness. The hoppiness was in there, but nowhere near the standards we are use to in terms of most of the well crafted IPAs in the country. In fact, this beer was very similar to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but with a lower bitterness. The aroma was devoid of any major hop aroma. There is a reason 6-packs of these beers cost $5.99, so I get that they won't be loaded with flavor. This one gets a 3.55/5, or a B.

Even at their very low prices, I'll still be spending the extra $4 to get a 6'r of Green Flash West Coast IPA, Racer 5, or Stone IPA.