Saturday Night Blue Collar Brew Review

Friday came with a special meaning. It was the first of 5 remaining vacation days which I'm taking before I lose them on my anniversary of hire. I decided to take 5 successive Fridays in a row. This allowed me more time for my visit to the highly acclaimed, world renowned Morris Beer Store and perhaps a brief chat with Gail, the Beer Store Maven. She greeted me at the door. The store was empty. We talked about the Brew Reviews and she made some recommendations. I took some mental notes. I decided to go with a brew endorsed by a friend at work, and picked up a sixer of Negra Modelo Dark Beer.

The Mexican guys I work with all prefer Modelo to Corona but some have said that the Negra Modela will get you drunk too fast. Well, I'll be the judge of that. I bid Gail a farewell and wended my way home and stashed the brew in the fridge.




It seemed to take forever for Saturday night to arrive and finally, the time came to have beer. And a little enjoyment to boot. I popped open the first squatty body beer bottle. A sniff at the neck revealed almost nothing. No way to judge if there's a surprise inside or not. But that might be a good thing. The brew poured out and revealed its dark color. Not as dark as, say, Coke, but a little darker than an amber ale. The head came up in moderation, not too tall but nice and thick. Once again we have the larger bubbly cling-ons and the micro-bubbles (lots) rising from the bottom.







First taste revealed a bit of maltiness but a smooth flavor. The hops taste is barely noticeable. The succeeding sips became more enjoyable and smooth as the drink was drained from the mug. By the time the first bottle was halfway gone, the slight tinge of malt fit right in and became an integral part of the overall flavor. This beer, albeit darkish in color, is nowhere near the taste of Guinness. The beer does have a darkish taste but it's not the primary quality of this brew. It's almost like the aftertaste you experience in your mouth about 10 minutes after you popped a Hershey's Kiss. Not sweet, but borderline sweet-malt, if such a condition exists.

This beer is a good choice if you want some balls-out smo-o-oth with taste thrown in the trunk. Don't let the dark color fool you. Have a taste of this dark Modelo and you will be just as amazed as I am how many unique, delicious tastes and tangs there are in beer. Negra Modelo is a numero uno in my book.

The SixPackTech ratings for Negra Modelo Dark Beer are:

Taste: 9.3 - a subdued fiesta in your yap.
Smoothness: 9.5 - like dark STP without being thick.
Drinkability: 9 - Uno mas, por favor.
Bang for the buck: 7.9 - pony up a little more as an investment.
Wife's all encompassing opinion: "It's too beery." (Ya see what I'm up against?)