Have you ever bought a beer knowing exactly what you were going to get before you even tasted it? I suppose what I mean is that I’ve occasionally bought a beer for the novelty of it, knowing that the beer would be very average. When I bought this bottle of Tusker, it was really more about giving it a try just to get it under my belt. Going into the tasting, I didn’t expect something special; I simply wanted to find out if my suspicion was correct.

When I poured this beer, it was a clean, pale golden color with little head retention. It was clean looking and bubbly in the glass. So far, so suspected.

Taking a sniff, there was not a lot going on. I noted a slightly more yeasty profile than is typical for a counterpart American lager. A slight Heineken-type quality was also noticeable in the beer.

Taste-wise, the beer had some slight yeastiness and residual sweetness in the mouth. In the finish of the beer, there was a slight graininess and a very slight woodiness in the beer.

Overall, the beer was very average…just as I suspected it would be. It was certainly better than the big brewery American lagers that most of us have had. It had more body and character than big brewery brews, but it was nothing spectacular.  It sure would be good with some of the Kenyan food my African neighbors used to share with me.

Mike’s Rating

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★☆☆ 

Among other Lager's: ★★¾☆☆