Corona Premier is a premium light lager and is the highest-grossing beer category. Since the launch of Miller Lite in 1975, large brewers have battled for light lager dominance.
The category’s success has spawned pricing tiers that drive pricing and positioning for these beers. In this post, we’ll look at Corona Premier as a beer style and the idea of premiumization for which it exists.
Recently a new tier of light beer has gained prominence, ultra-premium light lager. Led primarily by Michelob Ultra, beer makers position premium light beers from the traditional view of light lager as cheap and watery. Premium beers command a premium price, and Corona Premier fits the category for Corona.
What Makes Corona Premier a Lager?
A lager is a beer that ferments with a particular kind of yeast. Lager yeast is a distinct sub-species of saccharomyces: Saccharomyces Eubanyus and its child Sac. Pastorianus prefer to ferment at cooler temperatures than its ale-making counterpart.
The discovery of cool fermenting lager yeast transformed how people viewed beer and quickly spread across the world as the preferred beer style and still is today. Lagers create clean-tasting beers that compliment pale malts (another beer innovation), creating crisp, refreshing pale-colored lagers.
Corona Premier is a beer that brewers create by using this type of yeast, along with pale malts, water, and hops, but what makes it ultra-premium?
What Kind Of Lager is Corona Premier?
The answer isn’t in the type of yeast the brewer chose or the quality of malts used; it has more to do with the beer consumer than the beer.
Premium Light Lager isn’t as much a beer style as a price point. The beer is put out to market because the beer maker believes consumers are willing to pay more or “trade up.” A great example is when you are going to a friend’s house for a party and want to bring to impress. You choose to purchase a barrel-aged craft beer at a higher price than the typical beer you usually would buy for your home consumption.
Beer consumers trade down, too. During the Pandemic, sub-premium beers experienced an uptick in sales as at-home alcohol consumption and economic uncertainty affected consumer spending. So, if you liked to drink premium-priced beers from craft breweries before the Pandemic, you might trade down to Coors Banquets because they cost less for more than a six-pack of Sierra Pale.
“Premiumization doesn’t just occur across beer categories, but within them as well.” writes Bart Watson, Chief Economist for the Brewers Association.
Thus, within the light lager category, different price tiers exist. Sub-premium brands like Busch Light and Keystone Light. Brands like Bud Light and Coors Light represent premium brands. Beers like Corona Premier and Michelob Ultra are light beers that fill the ultra-premium space. They’re all light beers; they just cost different and are positioned as such for the consumer to choose from.
There is no better portfolio to describe this than Corona beer. The Corona brand is known for making Mexican Lager, Corona Extra is one of the most recognized imported beer brands in the world, and yet, they realize that not everyone will buy Corona Extra, that’s why they also offer Corona Light, Corona Familiar, and Corona Premier. Each of these beers can be described as a pale lager.
You have one that might pass for a Vienna Lager, but Corona doesn’t have a beer that would compare to Negra Modelo; they don’t need to. So they just need to offer Mexican restaurants a variety of beers for beer lovers at different price points.
Corona Premier Flavor
Corona Premier will remind most beer drinkers of Michelob Ultra. It is low in malt flavor and has little to no hop flavor. The malt that is noticeable has a lightly toasted aroma, but the beer is primarily driven by a crisp, high carbonation level that makes for a refreshing finish.
Corona Premier Brewing Process and Ingredients?
Corona’s website lists malted barley, hops, unmalted cereal grains, and water as the ingredients in Corona Premier. Of course, lager yeast also goes into making this beer.
The brewing process for Corona Premier will go something like this:
Mash
Malted barley and unmalted grains (maze) are crushed with a mill and sent to a large container. There the grist is mixed with hot water. The hot water activates enzymes within the grain kernels that convert starches into sugars.
Boil
Once the conversion is complete, the liquid will be separated from the solid grain husk and transferred to the kettle. There, the liquid wort will receive hops. The mixture is boiled, which concentrates and develops malt flavors.
Fermentation
After boiling, the wort is again transferred via a heat exchanger to cool the liquid to a suitable temperature to ferment. Once inside the fermentation vessels lager yeast is added, and the yeast goes to work consuming the sugars to create alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Packaging
Lagers take a long time to develop, so the beer is likely cellared for some duration to allow for the flavors in the beer to develop. Once this stage is complete, the beers will be packaged for sale and distributed.
How Many Calories in Corona Premier?
Corona Premier has 90 calories per 12-ounce serving. This is nine calories less than Corona Light and 49 calories less than Corona Extra. The primary driver in calories in light beers comes from alcohol. Corona Premier lists 4 percent alcohol by volume, the same as Corona Light. Corona Extra lists 4.6 percent ABV.
Best Way To Drink Corona Premier?
Corona Premier is any occasion, everyday beer. It is best served very cold. At 4%, it is a refreshing beer to have in a cooler at picnics or BBQs.
What To Eat With Corona Premier
Corona Premier’s carbonic character makes it an excellent tool for cleansing your palate. Flavor-wise, it won’t hold up to your typical Mexican cuisine, but the ability of the beer to scrub your taste buds makes it an easy option for lighter fares like raw seafood and salads.
What Do Other People Think of Corona Premier?
I’m a bit surprised that beer geeks tend to give Corona Premier a pass. It is a well-made light lager, but you’d expect them to be overly critical due to AB InBev and Grupo Modelo ownership. In the United States, Corona is distributed by Constellation Brands. As is the case with all beer, Influenster loves everything.
| Reviewer | Corona Premier |
|---|---|
| Untappd | 2.9 out of 5 |
| Rate Beer | 2.77 out of 5 |
| Influenster | 4.66 out of 5 |
| Beer Advocate | 3 out of 5 |
| Average | 3.33 |
Other Beers that are like Corona Premier
List some similar beers:
- Michelob Ultra (Anheuser Busch InBev)
- Heineken Light
- Victoria
- Modelo Especial
- Pilsner Urquell
Final Thoughts on Corona Premier
Corona Premier is a tasty light beer. It is crisp and highly carbonated but has a tiny bit of malt flavor that sets it apart from other lagers that come off watery. If you like Michelob Ultra, you’ll like Corona Premier. I prefer Corona Light; it drinks more like a pilsner.
