Cucapá Chupacabras

Cucapá Chupacabras Pale Ale

5.8% ABV

5 out of 5

Cucapá, based out of Mexicali, is hands down the best brewery in Mexico. Their Chupacabras Pale Ale has to be my favorite microbrew in the country, not only for its quality, but its versatility and price. It has a great full body with a nice golden color, a wonderful hoppy aroma and taste, with a slight malty finish. This beer works great with a meal, on its own, or as a session beer. It is also fairly easy to come by (relatively speaking of course). The Chupacabras pale ale generally runs around 25-30 pesos a bottle, which makes it my favorite local beer to keep a stock of at home. One could argue Cucapá's Runaway IPA or Lowrider Ale are better beers, but their high price means I rarely drink them.

A while back I was able to get several bottles of Chupacabras at my local Superama supermarket since they had a special display of the "100 Best Beers in the World." While their selection of beers certainly did not warrant the label, at least Minverva and Cucapá were handsomely represented. You would think supermarktes would get the picture that people want these beers, since all the local microbrews ran out in a few days (I know because I went everyday until they ran out!). Superama was stuck with a lot of very expensive Belgian and German imported beers, which they are now trying to get rid of on clearance. Several months after the fact they still have these imported beers, but no Minerva or Cucapá.

It is unlikely you will be able to regularly find the Chupacabras at a supermarket, but there are many other places to get your hands on it in the D.F. Chupacabras can be purchased for takeout at La Belga (for 27 pesos a bottle) and El Deposito (about 30 pesos a bottle), or you can sit down and drink a bottle at La Nacional (for 55 pesos) or El Deposito.

Getting to these locations:
El Deposito: Exit at Metro/Metrobus Patriotismo, Av. Baja California 375.
La Belga: Metrobus - Linea 1, Sonora stop; or Linea 3, Hospital General stop. Metro - Hospital General.  (You'll need a map to walk from these stops to La Belga)
La Nacional: Located right next door to La Belga, on the corner of Querétaro and Orizaba in Colonia Roma.