Heads up, tequila and beer lovers. Something new is headed your way, at least if you live in the United States. Desperados Tequila Flavored Beer has been around in Europe since 1995, but it’s just begun to hit store shelves here in America. The beer was launched in April of 2014 in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee & North Carolina.

Desperados Beer, formerly produced by France’s Fischer brewery, is now brewed in Amsterdam, Holland by “HBBV” (read: Heineken, the owner and distributor of the global brand). Desperados comes in an attractive clear glass 11.2 ounce bottle with a distinctly Latin American theme. The bottles say this is “beer with tequila barrel aged lager and natural flavor” and “blended with tequila barrel aged lager”.

Lots of beers are aged in whisky barrels these days, so why not tequila? The notion certainly intrigued me. Desperados Beer has an alcohol content of 6% by volume. Disclaimer: I got a few bottles of this beer as a free sample to evaluate for review purposes. As is my custom, I made a donation in excess of the retail value of the samples to my favorite charity. I did see the beer for sale at my local Total Wine for $8.49 a six-pack.

Desperados Tequila Flavored Beer pours to a pale golden color with a moderate head of spritzy, short lived foam and a nose strongly hinting at tequila and citrusy lemons. Taking a sip, the beer has just a tad of malt underneath. You really have to think quickly to get it, because the tequila flavors take over quickly and dominate here, though they are on the sweet side. The lemon is quite apparent as well, especially in the finish, and it helps to balance off the sweetness to a degree. I am getting the ever so faintest hint of hops in the finish as well. That’s the biggest flaw here, the beer certainly needs more hops to balance off the sweetness.

I enjoyed a bottle of Desperados Beer on a rather warm spring evening, and it was quite refreshing. If you like tequila, this may be a beer worth trying, and it pairs well with Mexican fare. A second bottle served nicely to wash down spicy enchiladas with plenty of jalapenos. The sweetness of the beer cut through the spicy jalapeno peppers, or was it the other way around? Either way, the tequila flavors really did complement the enchiladas nicely. I’d drink Desperados Beer again, though perhaps more often if it were less sweet. And probably not more than one in a sitting, again because of the sweetness.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

(G)=Growler

 



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