Cristal - Union De Cervecerias Peruanas Backus y Johnston

zeff80

Missouri

2.8/5  rDev -0.4%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

12oz. bottle from Hemmingway's.

Poured out a slightly cloudy, yellow. There wasn't much of a head and it didn't last long. The smell was a little skunky to me. I asked my wife if it smelled skunky and she disagreed. Corn taste was noticed, but basically it tasted like a standard lager. It was fairly smooth drinking. Not bad overall. If I'm ever in Peru (yeah, right) I'd grab a bottle or two.

Serving type: bottle

04-29-2006 18:35:32 | More by zeff80

dertyd

California

1/5  rDev -64.4%

05-04-2013 20:22:13 | More by dertyd

Mr3dPHD

Florida

3.45/5  rDev +22.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Served in a small stemmed pokal glass from the bottle. Enjoyed with a delicious Peruvian beef and pasta dish.

A - Bright yellow, crystal clear. Head was quite fluffy with decent retention. Not very much lacing however once the head began dying down.

S - Hint of lime right up front. Some nice bright citrus hops with no real malt present. A bit more interesting than your run of the mill adjunct.

T - Flavor was a tad disappointing after the nice aroma, although certainly not bad. Some dry bitterness trails throughout...sort of a crisp white wine dryness in the finish. You can definitely get some corn sweetness on the palette. Not a whole lot of malt character at all. The mild sweetness seems to be all filler. Should be noted that it was quite muted when compared to most adjuncts however, so that's a plus.

M - Light body. A bit watery with medium carbonation.

O - You have to go into a beer like this not expecting a whole lot, and in that sense, it actually did pretty well. When stating preference in the world of adjuncts, you can't really get too picky because they're all so similar...but I'd say this is on the higher end as far as quality goes. Not a great beer, but a pretty damn good adjunct. If you want a Peruvian lager and you have options, try a Franca if they have it (which they probably won't)...if not, this is a good second. A little better than Cusqueña at least, in my opinion. Enjoyable to say the least.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2013 20:11:07 | More by Mr3dPHD

Kuongming

California

2.75/5  rDev -2.1%

02-16-2013 23:15:33 | More by Kuongming

matjack85

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev +24.6%

01-29-2013 12:10:21 | More by matjack85

NeoZaZ

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev -2.1%

01-25-2013 00:53:20 | More by NeoZaZ

cliff1066

Virginia

3/5  rDev +6.8%

01-07-2013 02:35:23 | More by cliff1066

eduardolinhalis

Switzerland

1.78/5  rDev -36.7%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

330ml bottle served in a small chalice.

A: Pours a pale yellow color forming a small white head. Low retention an few lacing left

S: Sweet on the nose. Quite corny with far notes of hops. Lager yeasts

T: Sweet corn upfront. Really weak. Watery with a faint carbonation. Adjunct malts giving terrible caraboard notes. Very mild bitterness in the end. In overall, a dry mouth sensation

M: Light watery body and medium carbonation. Malty and cardboard aftertaste

O: Please avoid it. One of the worst ones I've ever had

Serving type: bottle

10-06-2012 10:16:49 | More by eduardolinhalis

SocalKicks

California

3/5  rDev +6.8%

09-27-2012 04:36:36 | More by SocalKicks

LeapintoBeer

4/5  rDev +42.3%

09-26-2012 21:06:08 | More by LeapintoBeer

raythealeman

Connecticut

2.5/5  rDev -11%

09-09-2012 02:05:19 | More by raythealeman

metter98

New York

2.8/5  rDev -0.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

A: The beer is clear light yellow in color and has a very slight amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a thin white head that quickly died down and left a bit of lacing on the surface.
S: There are light aromas of skunk in the nose along with some hints of adjunct malts.
T: The taste has flavors of adjunct malts—corn seems to stand out in particular. A light amount of bitterness is also noticeable.
M: It feels light-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer tastes rather bland and is nothing overly special.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2012 14:45:26 | More by metter98

dbrauneis

New Jersey

2.43/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

A: Pours a crystal clear medium golden yellow in color with some light to moderate amounts of visible carbonation. The beer has a half finger tall creamy white head that quickly reduces to a thin film covering almost the entire surface of the beer with a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: A fairly strong aroma of skunk with a lighter underlying aroma of sweet corn adjunct malts.

T: Light flavors of adjunct malts, specifically grain and corn but the main flavor of this beer is bitterness (which I can not attribute to anything specific).

M: Light bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Slightly thin/watery.

O: Easy to drink but really nothing special - very similar to a lot of other semi-macro American Adjunct Lagers from South and Central America. Would be a really refreshing beer on a hot summer day but not a beer I would go out in search of finding to have again.

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2012 21:30:10 | More by dbrauneis

beerpadawan

California

2.25/5  rDev -19.9%

08-25-2012 20:09:37 | More by beerpadawan

LJWalker

Alabama

3.25/5  rDev +15.7%

08-02-2012 03:52:25 | More by LJWalker

rolltide8425

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev +6.8%

07-26-2012 16:01:18 | More by rolltide8425

cuy50

Virginia

3.5/5  rDev +24.6%

07-21-2012 02:03:35 | More by cuy50

JohnK17

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev -2.1%

07-11-2012 17:35:30 | More by JohnK17

gshackles

New York

2.5/5  rDev -11%

05-29-2012 02:03:44 | More by gshackles

bootsandbeer

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev +24.6%

04-27-2012 00:10:24 | More by bootsandbeer

bluetrevian

Florida

3.25/5  rDev +15.7%

04-08-2012 15:45:26 | More by bluetrevian

Paracatu

Brazil

2.5/5  rDev -11%

02-08-2012 11:03:10 | More by Paracatu

jsisko01

Michigan

3.58/5  rDev +27.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - Pours a clear golden-yellow color with a centimeter thick head that dissipates instantly. Has decent lacing.

Smell - Very skunky. I could smell it right when I opened the bottle. Grainy and corn. Not really anything else in here..

Taste - Quite bitter with a strong grassy/skunk flavor. Grains and corn as well. Exactly like the smell..

Mouthfeel - Pretty light in the body with mild carbonation.

Overall - This can be easily compared to Lowenbrau, except more refreshing. Not too bad

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2011 05:44:30 | More by jsisko01

supermeniscus

Netherlands

3/5  rDev +6.8%

12-07-2011 09:43:01 | More by supermeniscus

DoubleJ

California

3.18/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Cristal is labled as "Beer from the Andes", yet this is bottled in Lima, which is not in the Andes. From a marketing standpoint, Cusqueña is the truer beer of that long mountain range. But what about the beer itself? Here comes 330 ml. On to the beer:

Grassy yellow with a hint of gold. There's a small head formed on top, but it shows good head retention on top and spotty lacing.. The nose is nothing to be shameful of. There is a small dose of DMS, but it's got a pleasant hay and grass note and some sweet maltiness.

It's a surprise that this tastes less like an adjunct lager more like a watered down helles lager. There's dry hay at the begining, and it continues as a seltzery bitterness creeps in. Dabs of wood hit. In general, the overall flavor is on the lighter side, but with little nastiness, I can live with that. The body is very light and seems watery despite small bubbles bursting.

Now that the beer part is over, I can state that Cusqueña is the better of the two. But let's not laugh at Cristal, which is still better than many other nation's top-selling lager. At least I know that the one day I vacation in Peru, the macro options won't completely suck.

Serving type: bottle

11-28-2011 05:56:48 | More by DoubleJ