We Tried The Cheapest Beer At Trader Joe's To See If It's Really As Bad As Customers Say It Is

Trader Joe's has built its entire brand on offering good food at surprisingly low prices. The California-based chain is the only place I know where you can grab organic almond butter, frozen tikka masala, and a decent bottle of wine, all for less than $20. One of the best deals at Trader Joe's is its budget-friendly beer selection, the cheapest of which is Simpler Times Lager, a brand offered exclusively at the store and made by a brewery in Wisconsin.

But is the deal too good to be true? Many people on the internet seem to think so. Customers have accused Simpler Times Lager of lacking flavor and being unfit not just for drinking but for cooking, too. Or, as one Reddit user so bluntly put it, "It sucks don't get it."

Given Trader Joe's reputation for quality in-house products, I found the reviews hard to believe, so I picked up a pack of Simpler Times Lager to see whether the seething sentiments online had any merit. I'm a fan of beer, but there's no pomp to my palate. While I like a craft can, I can also appreciate that a basic budget brew has its place in the world. I tasted this beer with an open mind and a bag of salted pretzels to find out if it really deserves all the hate it gets online.

First, let's judge a beer by its cover. The logo of Simpler Times Lager reminded me of a prop from a period piece set in the 1950s, and it very much evokes its namesake nostalgia. An illustration of shiny golden hops dangles atop the beer's name, written in retro cursive. The beer is marketed simply as "lager," with no other suggestions as to what flavor a can of this brew might contain. Maybe it's better not to make any false promises.

The color of the liquid was a deeper amber hue than I expected, and, at first glance, it looked more like a red ale than a lager. Its smell was a little funkier than average but well within the realm of a normal lager. When I took a deep sniff, a bready, malty aroma filled my nostrils. There wasn't much hoppiness or grassiness or any of the subtler, spicier elements that you might find in a top-shelf lager, but it also didn't carry the wet cardboard or sulfur scents that plague a truly offensive brew.

A beer is nothing without its bubbles, and this one delivered a perfectly adequate level of carbonation. Long head retention (the amount of time a head lasts on a beer before dissolving) is typically a sign of a quality beer, and, in this arena, Simpler Times performed better than expected. The beer forms a nice, pale caramel-colored head when it's poured into a glass, and the bubbles stick around pretty well for a beer of its price and reputation. I'm not the only one who thinks as much. Even some of the worst reviews on BeerAdvocate admit that the beer boasts a surprisingly good head.

While the decent carbonation hit my tongue with the right amount of bubbles, the mouthfeel was still a little heavier than I would like from a lager. Despite the way the bubbles tried to lift it up, the liquid weighed a bit too heavily on my tongue. That said, it avoids the flat, watery mouthfeel that I have come to associate with some of the cheapest lagers out there. Because it's a bit on the heavy side, I wouldn't call it one of the most crushable summer beers, but it strikes a decent enough balance between body and carbonation to be drinkable.

After reading bad review after bad review on Reddit, Untappd, and BeerAdvocate, I half expected Simpler Times Lager to taste like battery acid. One scathing BeerAdvocate reviewer called it "the depressed middle aged person with an office job version of a cheap malt [liquor]," while another one claimed the beer made them cringe after just a few sips. If you're a beer snob, don't crucify me for telling you the hard truth: Simpler Times Lager is not half bad.

It may not have the complex flavor profile of some fancier craft brews, but as far as lagers go, this one delivers a satisfying, malty flavor with earthy, hoppy undertones. I'll admit that it is far from perfect. It's a little sweet and syrupy for my liking, and it lacks the crisp finish that I'm after when I buy a top-shelf lager. It also has a bit of an identity crisis. It's got the earthiness of a red ale, the hoppiness of a pale lager, and the sweet caramel flavor of an amber lager. If you're a real lager lover, I could see this beer being a disappointment, but if you're just a casual beer drinker looking to chug a couple of glugs of bubbly brew, it'll do.

At 6.2% ABV, Trader Joe's Simpler Times Lager punches above its weight, especially for a budget beer. Most macro lagers — including Bud Light, Coors Banquet, or even Pabst Blue Ribbon — hover below that number. Simpler Times doesn't advertise its strength loudly, but it's definitely noticeable after you've housed a couple of these 12-ounce brews.

For many, that's part of the appeal. On Reddit, people seem to talk about this beer the way you'd talk about an old roommate: chaotic, nostalgic, and always around when you needed it. That higher ABV makes Simpler Times perfect for situations where volume matters. Tubing trips, tailgates, backyard BBQs, drinking games, and parties full of people who care more about beer as a means to an end are all places I'd expect to find a 12-pack of these budget-friendly beers. If you're enjoying an afternoon with Simpler Times Lager, you may want to be mindful of its strength.

For many people on Reddit, it seems that college was the simpler time in which they drank Simpler Times Lager, partly because its price tag — which sits at around $7.49 for 12 cans, depending on the store, at the time of writing — appeals to a student budget. Even the haters on BeerAdvocate praised its price point, and one Reddit user who also wasn't particularly enthusiastic about Simpler Times Lager admitted that it's "better than a lot of other cheap macros."

If you're somebody who regularly goes for 12 packs of Pabst Blue Ribbon or Coors, you'll find that you get way more bang for your buck if you switch to Simpler Times Lager. You could fill an entire cooler with cans of this lager for the cost of a cocktail at a fancy bar. While I wouldn't say that it's necessarily a must-buy Trader Joe's item, the value-to-quality ratio is undeniable. If you don't believe me, at least each pack is affordable enough to try without too much regret.

Trader Joe's Simpler Times Lager may get a bad rap online, but frankly, it's better than many people give it credit for. Sure, it's not a crisp Czech pilsner or a hazy double IPA, but it's not trying to be. At its core, it is a perfectly solid, totally drinkable, slightly malty lager that costs less than a fancy cup of coffee and clocks in at a respectable 6.2% ABV. Maybe the people on the internet declaring it one of the worst beers on the market just haven't suffered through a truly terrible 12-pack.

It's easy to write off cheap beer as barely tolerable, but Simpler Times deserves a little more generosity. It has more flavor than macro lagers like Pabst Blue Ribbon, Coors Light, or Natural Light, and it doesn't suffer from the strange metallic aftertaste that often plagues budget brews. There's a bready sweetness up front, a little bitterness at the end, and nothing in between that's going to offend your palate.

Sure, it's not packed with nuance or layered with complex hop aromas. Instead, it is a straightforward, slightly malty, gently bitter beer that's flavorful enough to stand out among budget lagers. It's not a Trader Joe's product I'll buy every time I visit the store, but when it's summertime, and I'm heading to a barbecue, you might just find some in my shopping basket.

Before I started this tasting, I did some research online to determine just how bad Simpler Times Lager's reputation really was. I scanned reviews across Reddit and BeerAdvocate, as well as its scores on Untappd, and then drove down to my local Trader Joe's and picked up a 12-pack to try the lager out for myself.

To taste this budget brew, the beer was chilled to a standard fridge temperature (around 38 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit). I tasted it both straight from the can and from a glass to evaluate its aroma, carbonation, and color. To begin with, I drank the beer on its own to get a sense of how the flavors held up. I then paired it with pretzels to see how it tasted with a salty snack.

Admittedly, I didn't have sky-high expectations, but I was looking for something more than just watery fizz with some malty graininess and a touch of bitter flavor — the way any decent lager should read. I also looked out for some common red flags, such as the taste of wet cardboard, skunkiness, and metallic tastes.