Presidente Cerveza Tipo Pilsner

Presidente Pilsener in The Dominican Republic

So I find myself here on my honeymoon at a beautiful five star resort with access to only one single beer: Presidente Pilsner.   Now I've come across this Beer several times during previous Caribbean vacations, but never have I been confined to a Presidente stranglehold at any resort.  I'm going to make the most of this situation and write this review.

Limited edition Baseball can and a lineup
of President beach pints

Presidente is one of a few popular beers in the Caribbean.  You may also be familiar with other vacation destination favourites like Buccanaro, Cristal and even Caribe. It's actually made in The Dominican Republic and is a staple in this country like anything Molson is in ours.  You see this beer splashed up at sporting events, on billboards, fat guy t-shirts and whatever else you can think of.

Presidente is a super clear and light Pilsner style beer.  Until closer inspection of the can, I actually thought that this was some form of Cerveza style (e.g. sol).  A pilsner style beer to me seems a little odd for the Dominican based brewery but I'm not going to question it and just go with this.

Presidente has a crisp aroma, highly clear, yet straw coloured body and a delicate head. In a typical vacation day I would sample this both in can format as well as on draft.  I found that the can has a better crispness and the draft has better carbonation.  Its a decent beer but its so light that it comes across almost watery (which is funny because its also available in "Presidente light").  

My experience with this beer is that it didn't seem to matter how much of it I drank I simply could NEVER even get a buzz off of it.  What is this stuff, like 2% abv?  It probably isn't but it kinda seemed like it at times.  Maybe my vacation tolerance has just kicked in overdrive... seriously, it happens when you're on vacation.

So to you Presidente, I say thank you.  You are a super light beer that served me well on my vacation and you came in endless supply in multiple formats.  I even appreciated your limited edition Baseball can (see second picture) and the fact that I got to say "Hola senior, dos Presidente cerveza por favour" every time that I ordered you.  You were a sudsy comfort between Mojito's and you deserve a C- for effort but an outstanding A+ for your ease of availability in multiple formats and because you were free for a week.  Presidente can't hold its own against other Pilsner favourites such as Double Trouble's Prison Breakout Pilsner and especially Toronto's own Steamwhistle.


Learn more about Presidente at http://www.presidente-beer.com

Support your vacation brewery!


Chris