Tusker Premium Lager - East African Breweries Ltd (Kenya Breweries)

bmwats

Louisiana

2.95/5  rDev -2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a pilsner.

A: Transparent, hay colored hue. Pours a 1 finger, bubbly, white head. Rising effervescence. Thick beer ring lacing.

S: Pungent malt. A little peanut, and rubber.

T: Pale malt with a slight synthetic sweetness, and soapiness.

M: Crisp and fairly light. Sticky and washed out.

D: Session lager.

Atmosphere is decent. Light hue, nice head, and thick lacing. Nose is pungent and nutty. Pale and washed out malt with a synthetic sweet/soapy palate. Overall, this is a pretty average quaff.

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2013 02:42:17 | More by bmwats

hardy008

Minnesota

1.96/5  rDev -34.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2

Clear light gold with a one finger white head with decent retention and lacing. The aroma has cooked corn and is somewhat sour and unpleasant.

The taste has a combination of sweetness from the malt and a bit of the sourness I picked up in the aroma. Doesn't seem to come together very well.

Light bodied with average carbonation. Nothing special here, just a typical Adjunct Lager. I am glad I had a chance to try this. Too bad the beer wasn't better.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2013 04:29:51 | More by hardy008

Tone

Missouri

2.78/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75

Pours a clear, straw color. 1/3 inch head of a white color. Great retention and good lacing. Smells of pale malt, rice, hint of hops, and a hint of sorghum. Fits the style of an American Adjunct Lager. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with an average carbonation level. There is also a slight dryness. Tastes of rice, pale malt, hint of hops, and a hint of sorghum. Overall, decent appearance, but otherwise average at best in all other categories.

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2013 13:40:35 | More by Tone

beeroclock

United Arab Emirates

3.24/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

a - poured a clear gold with a some carbonation apparent and thick head with some lacing

s - some malt and cereal grains

t - picking up some malt with slight sweetness, more of the cereal and some hop notes

m - slightly oily with a nice aftertaste

o - refreshing enough, middle of the road, but very acceptable and happy to see Kenya producing a decent brew. I can drink it again...

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2013 13:10:32 | More by beeroclock

Michigan

Michigan

3.44/5  rDev +14.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75

Consider this: this was the beer that greeted me after an 8 hour safari in the Serengeti. It was a hot and dry day and the sun was high.

A- The glass glistened with cool drops of condensation as I poured this cold bottle into a pint glass. The head ran slightly over as I vigorously pour this elixir. It was a pale yellow color and a pure white head that stuck around longer than expected. lots of bubbles from all over the glassr

S- aroma of a sweet lager

T- refreshingly crisp taste. clean finish. fresh.

M- thin feel. light body. thirst quenching. like drinking fizzy water

O- this is just what the body needed. If you find yourself in the same situation, pass on the Kilimanjaro Lager and have this instead! The best you'll get in the area

Serving type: bottle

02-19-2013 04:32:14 | More by Michigan

RonaldTheriot

Louisiana

4.71/5  rDev +56.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Tusker Lager has a thick, foamy head, a clear, bubbly, straw appearance, some suspended white particles floating throughout, a thick, foamy head, and a some minimal lacing left on the glass. The aroma is of full, sweet, bready, barley malt, and the taste is of the same, with some grass, mild hop bitterness, subdued sugar, and a bit of steamed vegetable. Mouthfeel is light and watery, and Tusker Lager finishes crisp, clean, refreshing, drinkable, and wonderful. Overall, this is a definitive lager beer, and I rate it most excellent. Great stuff!

RJT

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2013 15:54:48 | More by RonaldTheriot

LiquidAmber

Washington

2.75/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.75

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a light golden amber with a thin white head with good retention and lacing. Faint aroma of sweet malt and grassy wheat. Flavor is light slightly sweet malt and a hint of grassy hops. Finishes rather dry and abruptly leaving a slightly mineral aftertaste. Light bodied. A very bland and lightly flavored lager with no off flavors, but nothing really to recommend it. At least I can tick Kenya without flying thousands of miles for this.

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2013 02:02:04 | More by LiquidAmber

tastymug

Ohio

2.8/5  rDev -7%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance: Pours a clear, pale gold typical of a pilsner with a small frothy head that dissipates quickly.

Smell: Light aroma, mildly sweet.

Taste: Generally light on flavor with a bit of a bite. Maybe a little grassy. I don’t notice the skunky aftertaste often found in American light lagers.

Mouthfeel: Crisp and carbonated, light.

Overall: Nothing extremely special, probably about right for a typical lager with an extra point or two for not tasting skunky and I’d guess when having a fresh bottle in the country it originates from it would be very thirst quenching and agreeable.

Serving type: bottle

01-21-2013 21:39:27 | More by tastymug

decimator

Ontario (Canada)

3.43/5  rDev +14%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

500ml bottle poured into a mug. ABV 4.2%.

A - Poured a clear pale gold with a 1cm white head. Head slowly reduced to a thin cap and good lacing is produced.

S - Light grains & with a hint of grass. Quite light.

T - Light malty sweetness with a mild bitter finish.

M - Medium body, medium carbonation, crisp finish.

O - Decent light lager.

Serving type: bottle

12-28-2012 02:12:01 | More by decimator

Ryan011235

Ohio

2.8/5  rDev -7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Poured into a nonic pint glass on 12/3/12

APR 13 printed on the bottle

Pours with almost no color at all. It's very light even in the glass; kind of a dulled golden apple juice color. Fizzes like club soda. One finger head dissipates quickly leaving a ring of smooth foam that tapers out to rather impressive lace. Good rings of lace overall.

The aroma calls to mind a gin and tonic. It has an herbal spiciness and grassy, nippy hops. The malt backing is barley dusk and clean cereal grains. Focus shifts toward the grains over time.

The flavor and feel are both thinner and more hollow than the aroma had me hoping for. A watery body is punctured by aggressive, crackling carbonation. To top it off, the finish has a coating feel; no idea how they pulled that off with such a thin feel.

My initial impression of the flavor is weak. After I drink on it for a while (and after I move past some of the body issues), cereal grains flesh out and spar with herbal hops and something of a spicy, herbal-tinged finish. A little skunky, too.

Tusker is far from great, but it's drinkable. I reckon fresh bottles are pretty solid.

I doubt I'll ever find myself in Kenya but if I do, I'd probably drink the hell out of this.

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2012 01:52:46 | More by Ryan011235

cfalovo97

Ontario (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev +8%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Grabbed this one for nostalgic reasons, and half considered drinking it East African style - that is to say warm. Glad I resisted as it was better ice cold.

This beer is what it is: a mass produced lager, and at that Fairly unremarkable. Given the shipping distance, at least my bottle, was a bit off smell wise. But really, overall it was crisp, Light and with out any real discernible hop.

Drinkable. Yes. Collectible? Maybe for he bottle.

Serving type: bottle

11-23-2012 01:15:56 | More by cfalovo97

beerme626

Kentucky

3.73/5  rDev +23.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A bottle from Beltway Liquors, in Baltimore, poured into a Weizen glass

A: Beautiful lager appearance. Nice and yellow/amber, with an impressive two-and-a-half head and champagne bubbles. Looks nice.

S: A bit farmhouse-y, but not hoppy like a farmhouse IPA. Barley clearly present.

T: Average+ lager. Better than, say, Miller, and better than most developing countries' lagers I've had, i.e. Latin American ones.

M: Pleasant bubbles and mild taste = refreshing, if simple

O: Comparing to other foreign lagers, excellent. NOT WORTH the 3.49 a bottle, but still very good!

Serving type: bottle

10-18-2012 02:51:48 | More by beerme626

magine

Pennsylvania

3.13/5  rDev +4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

At DIsneys ANimal Kingdom sanaa

Clear pale malt color fluffy white head

Smells of rice and pale wheats

Carbonated and finishes smooth, macro and plain in all aspects. Cool to try but nothing special. Rice and pale wheat malts. Some mellow spiced hops.

Average lager that has better than average flavor. And they do it better then the macros here.

Serving type: bottle

09-17-2012 21:45:37 | More by magine

sommersb

Tennessee

3.2/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Tasted On: 09-13-2012
Freshness: Best by 12-08-2012
Packaging: 12 oz. brown bottle, pry-cap
Glassware: Mug
Purchased: Single from World Market

My motivation for picking up this beer was to try a beer from Africa for the first time...

Color is golden and clear, topped by a thin white head that fades away quickly. Some lace stays on the glass. Aromas are of bready, light pilsner malts as well as hay and grassy smells.

The taste is clean but not very flavorful. I get low bitterness, light maltiness and a little sweetness. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated and crisp, with a thin body. Finishes slightly bitter with some vegetable aftertastes.

Overall nothing too special about the taste of this beer, but it wasn't bad. The website says all of the ingredients are sourced in Africa which is pretty cool. I'd say it is a good example of the style.

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2012 01:33:24 | More by sommersb

kangarooAdam59

Pennsylvania

3.06/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Best by 12 Jul 2012 (oh well, I'm twelve days late):

In a pilsener:

A: golden transparent body that leaves a large one finger white head and lingers for a good two minutes. There are some fast rising carbonated bubbles. Some foamy spiderwebbed lacing appears and slides down the glass.

S: all about the rice and the sweet corn. A bit of honey comes out.

T: rice and the corn again except its not as sweet as the smell.

M: light to medium, slightly watery, some carbonation felt on the tongue, sessionable

O: I'm glad I can say I've tried something from Africa, but probably won't seek this out again.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2012 13:20:21 | More by kangarooAdam59

damndirtyape

Ohio

3.23/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle (no date) poured into a Shaker pint glass.

Appearance: Crystal clear pale dirty straw color. Thin white head with some persistent strands of lacing noted. Remarkably colorless beer.

Smell: Crisp, grainy, a little bit of sweetness.

Taste: Sweet, crisp clean malt, hint of honey, earthy hop finish. Quite a simple flavor profile.

Mouthfeel: Watery with carbonation just south of fizzy.

Overall / Drinkability: Despite not being much to look, it's still a crisp and refreshing beer. I could easily have another. It's a simple and unassuming beer and it goes quite well with food to wash it down (fish tacos in my case). I suspect it would go quite well with highly spicy African food as well to counter the fire and heavy flavor from that type of food. Glad I tried it.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2012 22:35:09 | More by damndirtyape

ChuckNorris

3/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I really liked the fact that they still re-use the bottles. Not crush, melt and make a new bottle like in the US. I didn't find this a very flavorful beer but what flavor it did have was nice. It is a decent beer for those hot summer nights. I wouldn't bother trying to save a lot of luggage space to bring some back, maybe a bottle or two.

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2012 02:45:02 | More by ChuckNorris

mick303

Ontario (Canada)

3.2/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a head of pale white foam, leaves a film and good lacing. Colour is pale gold with a decent carbonation.

Aroma holds mostly malt, sour lager notes. Nothing particularly inspiring.

Taste initially holds a light citrusy, taste is quite refreshing. Not much other than thin malt flavours along with the carbonation, hops are fairly understated. A sort of mineral or grainy character towards the end. Drinkable without much body in the way of taste or aftertaste, but certainly better than the big macros. Finish is very dry.

I find the mouthfeel quite light, not excatly watery, slightly crisp.

Good on a hot day. Not offensive and pretty refreshing, but not terribly inspiring.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2012 02:40:01 | More by mick303

thehyperduck

Ontario (Canada)

3.35/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

500 mL bottle from the LCBO; best before January 22 2013. I've sort of wanted to try this for a while simply because I've never had African beer, but by the time I came to it on the shelf I always already had a bunch of other Euro lagers I wanted to try in my basket - and the 3+ dollar price tag was also a slight turnoff. But I am a ticker with an itch, so I was bound to get this eventually.

Pours a familiar pale golden-yellow colour, completely clear and highly effervescent. Good, attractive head, especially for the style - big, puffy and pillowy, and it leaves behind lots of webby lacing on the glass as it gradually dies down over the next minute or two to a thin, even cap that remains for much of the drink. Looks really tasty - but the aroma isn't nearly as enticing, differing little from most of the other examples of this style. It is subdued, grainy, a little sweet, and wholly uninteresting. Decent for the style.

Relatively approachable taste. Lots of bready malts, some grainy sweetness with a bit of an adjunct twang. Given the style, I can't really fault it for that - it's not offputting but it's definitely a bit corny. There is a light brush of grassy hop dryness toward the end of the sip, but the aftertaste is mostly adjunct and malt sweetness. Acceptable balance, enough to maintain the inherent refreshing/crisp quality of the style, and certainly not cloying or unappealing. Light-bodied and watery, with relatively mild carbonation for a pale lager. I might have served this a bit too warm, but it's still enjoyable.

The taste is where this beer shines - a rarity in adjunct lagerdom, and very surprising given the light 4.2% abv. It is not exactly exceptional, but in my opinion is decidedly above average. Two or three of these would make a decent quick session, but I can think of cheaper (domestic) and better (Euro) options in the overarching category of 'pale lagers'. Which unfortunately means I probably won't make it a regular purchase.

Final Grade: 3.35, a surprisingly solid B-. I actually rather like Tusker Lager, and I may just get it again some time. It is a fine example of how even this comparatively bland style of beer can be enjoyable, and even charming in its simplicity when done correctly. No, it's nothing to write home about - but it is still a quality quaff, at least to me. Perfect for the patio.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2012 08:03:47 | More by thehyperduck

buschbeer

Ohio

3.45/5  rDev +14.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle
Served in a pint glass

A - It pours a pale yellow and is topped with a couple inches of creamy white head.

S - I get a sweet, caramel or toffee, smell. No hops to speak of.

T - I get that sweet toffee in the taste as well. Clean finish.

M - Thin

O - It's actually a lot better than I expected. It has some taste or it is mildly pleasing.

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2012 17:02:29 | More by buschbeer

Murrhey

Montana

1.93/5  rDev -35.9%
look: 1.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a pint glass. Reviewed live. No best-by date visible.

A- Half a finger white head. Soapy looking with large, glassy bubbles. Fades quickly. Some spotty lacing. Crystal clear pale-golden color. Looks like a Budweiser.

S- Sour malts and soapiness. Actually surprisingly fruity and sour. Not sure if that is intentional or not. Light fruits and light lager smell.

T- Funky malts, gave me the goosebumps. Extremely watery taste, and what is beyond the water is some sour mash kind of maltiness. Definitely more flavorful than some American lagers, but not by much.

M- Carbonated water.

O- For as bad the score I'm giving it, it is actually fairly drinkable. It would be hard not to be considering it is so watery.

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2012 04:12:26 | More by Murrhey

Tastybeer007

Georgia

1.9/5  rDev -36.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Water water water water water water!!! This is like drinking bud light, except produced in Kenya

I wouldnt drink it again unless i'm on a bowling alley and its 10 the pitcher

no flavor, No smell, no taste of anything but water with a faint carbonation.

People mention sweet water. I didnt taste no sweetness. Just water

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2012 03:35:10 | More by Tastybeer007

ckollias

Maryland

2.9/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Enjoyed this 12oz bottle out of a Chimay chalice.

A: Pours a clear golden hue with a very thin white head that quickly dissipates leaving no lace whatsoever.

S: Very faint nose here – mild grains and hops.

T: Slightly bitter and sweet lager. A little tart up front with some mild grain flavor and finishes a little dry.

M: Medium body and medium carbonation.

O: This was a pretty forgettable Lager. It was crisp and refreshing but nothing I would grab again. Although I am pretty sure this would be refreshing on a hot day in Africa.

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2012 01:37:24 | More by ckollias

Brad007

Vermont

2.83/5  rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I don't think I've had many beers from the continent of Africa.

Pours a straw gold with a decent white head into my glass. It looks like a standard adjunct lager.

Sweet malt that is almost non-detectable. Not much else either to impress the nose.

Sweet, sweet, sweet. Inoffensive. It's just bland. There's more flavor in the American examples.

Watery. Sweet. Sweet water?

As much as I wanted to like this, I just don't dig it.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2012 01:27:04 | More by Brad007

Dave1999

Virginia

1.38/5  rDev -54.2%
look: 2 | smell: 1 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 1

This beer poured a transparent yellow with a foamy white head.

It smelled like butter and corn. It was rather pungent and off putting.

The taste wasn't quite as bad as the smell however it was still pretty bad. It tasted of corn and was pretty sweet.

In the mouth it felt sloppy not crisp at all like a larger should be.

Overall this was a terrible larger, it was undrinkable and the smell was truely awful. Worst beer I've ever had.

Serving type: bottle

02-19-2012 14:03:40 | More by Dave1999