Mexican Vacation

My family went to an all inclusive resort in Rivera Maya Mexico the first part of January and had a great relaxing vacation.  The resort we went to advertised "Premium Beer"; however we found out that meant Corona on tap at every bar on the resort.  My wife and I kept asking at every bar if they had something else and we were told no.  So I'm sure Anheuser Busch InBev paid a pretty penny for that, since Corona is in their stable of beers.  Finally we did find one bar in the lobby that had "Premium Beer".  This meant Pacifico, Negra Modelo, Modelo, Sol, Dos Equis, Leon and Victoria.  All of those except for Sol are very good drinkable Mexican beers.

 A couple of them Leon and Victoria were new to me.  Leon is a Munich Dunkel style beer, which my wife and I enjoyed.  It had a good toasting, Munich malt aroma with little hop aroma.  Flavor was slight toasty malt, a sweet brown sugar note and as my wife put it, it had a slight tea bag like taste.  Medium bodied with low carbonation, almost no head out of the bottle.  After reading my description you may wonder why I liked this beer, but it was a much enjoyed difference from Corona.  My next duty is to find it here back home if I can and see if I still like it.  I am looking forward to that challenge.

 Victoria, the other new beer, is a Vienna Lager.  We both had this beer at a restaurant/ bar in Playa Del Carmen on the suggestion of our waiter.  Again it was a beer we enjoyed and not your typical Mexican beer.  It had a slight malty sweetness with little or no hop aroma.  Flavor was noticeably malty with a hint of sweetness.  It paired well with the Mexican food we were eating.  I will be on the lookout for this beer as well to see what I think of it when I am home.

Both of these beers are from Grupo Modelo which is in the Anheuser Busch InBev stable as well.  Remember though that there are only really two brewery groups in Mexico so it is hard to get away from beer that is owned by the big guys.  The other brewery in Mexico is Cerveria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma which is owned by Heineken.  So the big guys make almost all of the beer in Mexico, but to their credit they do it so well that there is no difference bottle to bottle of their beers.

In wrapping up my thoughts on our Mexican vacation and Mexican beer, if you have a chance go to Mexico it is eye opening and enjoyable.  As far as the beer is concerned look for something new to you or stay with the brands that you like at home.  At all cost try to avoid Corona, even though it is everywhere.  Corona is really for the tourists, the average Mexican does not touch the stuff.

A couple last pointers learn these words Cerveza and Gracias.  The locals really appreciate it when a tourist uses some of the Spanish language.  Also be wary of your resorts definition of "Premium Beer".

QC Beerguy