Calavera's Smoky Scottish Ale on Tap!

I just recently reviewed Calavera's Smoky Scottish Ale and fell in love with it. Thankfully, you can also enjoy this beer on tap at El Deposito. I have to admit, this beer works slightly better in the bottle. The smokiness of the beer becomes a little sour in the draft version, but it is still an enjoyable beer.

Calavera Morningstar IPA

Calavera Morningstar IPA

??? ABV

4 out of 5

Calavera has recently released their IPA, and they have done a fine job of it. I was a little skeptical because their American Pale Ale (not yet reviewed on this site) is a pretty poor excuse for a pale ale. The Morningstar, however, is a solid example of an American-style IPA, with strong floral hops. In fact, after drinking so much beer from Mexico, I've started to forget what it is like to have a beer like this, where the hops are like a punch in the face. They dominate the beer and I love it! The only critique I have of this beer (and it is a small one), is that there is a slight sweetness to it. I noticed the sweetness right away when I first sampled it, but it started to fade the more I drank.

Right now the Morningstar IPA is only available on tap. You can find it at El Deposito, Makena, and a bar I haven't had the chance to check out, El Trappist in Condesa at Alvaro Obregón 298, Local D. I enjoyed this beer at El Deposito, where it cost 80 pesos (!) for a half liter.

Calavera Smoky Scottish Ale 80/-

Calavera Smoky Scottish Ale

5.4%ABV

5 out of 5

I have been a little harsh on Calavera on this blog but I knew they could do better than the beers I have previously sampled.  They nail it with this Smoky Scottish Ale, which I absolutely loved! I remember seeing this beer for sale when I first arrived in Mexico, but never got around to trying it. It disappeared from the market for a while, but now it is back and I just tried it for the first time. It is a fairly light-bodied brown ale with a slight sweetness and nuttiness, and a slight hint of caramel. The underlying flavors really complement the smokiness of the beer well. One thing I don't particularly like about run-of-the-mill browns is that they are sweet, which for me, makes it hard to drink more than one. The smokiness in this beer, which is very very noticeable, dries the beer out a bit and makes it much more drinkable. I am also a complete sucker for anything smoked: cheese, oysters, chiles, beer, etc. If its tastes smokey, I'll probably like it. So, if you don't like all things smoked, then maybe this beer will be a little too strange or unappealing, but if you do, then I highly recommend it. Next time I'm at the beer store I'm stocking up, because this beer is about to become a regular.

I purchased this 330ml bottle at La Belga for ~30 pesos. It is also available in a 750ml version.

Mexican Craft Brew: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly*

A few weeks ago, a homebrewer and beer aficionado from DC came down to Mexico City. In the short time we had, we sampled as many craft brews as possible. I asked him if he would be willing to write up something for the blog summarizing his impressions.  What follows is his response. - bicyclepirate

American craft beer lovers can’t help but snub their noses at Mexican beer.  Back in May, dcbeer.com published a guest post for Cinco de Mayo that summed up this sentiment nicely.  I may be butchering the article’s pithy-ness, but it goes more or less like this: Mexican macro-beer-water is bad, Brooklyn Lager is delicious with Tex-Mex food, celebrate this more-American-than-Mexican-holiday with American craft beer.  While all of this may be sound advice (I do recommend reading the whole article), I have a different suggestion for fighting the “evil corporate juggernaut” that is Corona and co., drink a Mexican micro-brew instead.

Mexico now has a young and very small, but potentially exciting craft beer movement – think American beer in the 1980s.  A lot of them go very well with Mexican food without the blandness of the macros.  Guided entirely by this blog, here are some highlights, organized by brewery, of the Mexican craft brews I was able to taste in a week’s time.

The Good

Only available in a few select spots throughout Mexico City, Cucapa Brewing Company offered by far the best beer I had in Mexico.  Of their beers, the Green Card Barley Wine, Runaway IPA, and Chupacabras Pale Ale were all phenomenal.  These were also probably the most similar to the American craft beers that I’m familiar with, as Mexico’s brewers seem to be more inspired by European-style brews.  There’s nothing here that extreme-beer lovers would get excited about, but these are solid, drinkable, and unique enough tasting beers that if I had access to them in the US, I’d probably make them regulars.  The Green Card is sweet and caramel-y and apparently aged in Tequila barrels, though there is no mention of this on the bottle.  The Runaway IPA is not as strongly hopped as most American IPAs, but is a good mix between an English and American IPA (think somewhere between a Brooklyn EIPA and a Dark Horse Crooked Tree).  By far, I drank more Chupacabras than any other beer, as it was more widely available – so to speak, it’s still hard to find – think of a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but decidedly more bitter and with a little more body.  If you’re in the mood for something a bit lighter, look for their Honey Ale, it’s quite good as well. 

Even harder to find than Cucapa, but always worth it, were the keg-only beers from Azteca.  Apparently a rogue brewer from Mexico City’s Beer Factory, Azteca had a Kolsch, an Imperial Stout, and an Agave Ale on tap at a couple bars while I was in the city.  The Kolsch poured a bit cloudy, but it was a decent representation of the style, light with a bready finish.  The Imperial Stout wasn’t as big as say, a Yeti, but it was chocolatey and roasty without being over-powering.  While a little too watery for my tastes (this was a common trend in many of the beers I had), this was almost certainly the best stout I tried in Mexico.  The Agave Ale was my favorite Azteca beer.  It’s a refreshing, lightly hopped, deep amber colored beer.  The kicker is the addition of agave cactus, which gives it an intriguing vegetable aroma and a bit of sourness.  While this might not sound appealing to some, it’s really a well-balanced beer with the touch of unique “Mexican” flare that I found lacking in most of the other craft beers I tried.  I hope to see Mexican brewers produce more beers like this in the future.  I also look forward to trying their Manzana Ale.

Cerveza San Vicente only makes one beer, but after Cucapa and Azteca, it was among the best I had.  Claiming to be a Belgian Wit, I’d consider it more of a mix between a Wit and a Saison.  It has a light spiciness from the yeast and is flavored with cilantro and orange.  I could be wrong, but it seems to also have a healthy addition of East Kent Goldings hops.  While a bit fizzy, this beer was very well done.

Two other breweries that belong on the ‘good’ list, but are perhaps less exciting, are Cerveceria Minerva and Cerveceria Primus, which produces a beer called Tempus.  Both offer a selection of very decent, well done lighter beers that may just be what convinces the unassuming Groupo Modelo drinking majority that there’s something better out there.  These were also the two most widely available Mexican craft beers throughout Mexico City.  I recommend the Minerva Imperial Tequila Ale and the Tempus Doble Malta, a double Alt beer.  Primus also just opened a small brewpub in the city called Graciela, with what I think is a small 15-gallon brewing contraption.

The Bad

While I want to focus on the good Mexican craft beer has to offer, there are a couple unfortunate duds that I think, with a little more time, could eventually turn into something quite good.  While I only sampled two of the 6 or 7 beers available from Cervecería Calavera, I was sorely disappointed.  Focusing primarily on Belgian-style beers, Calavera makes an American Pale Ale that leaves much to be desired.  It’s the right amount of bitter, but it has almost none of the “abundant” Cascade hop aroma it claims to contain on the bottle, and is entirely too carbonated and watery to be anything beyond just drinkable.  More disappointing was the Mexican Imperial Stout.  I was excited to read on the bottle that it contained chilies and goes great with molé dishes, however, it pours way too transparent and tastes way too watery and astringently bitter to go well with any food.  Nevertheless, I support the spirit behind the idea of this beer, and wish Calavera all the best.

Beer Jack was another disappointment.  Better classified as a homebrewer with a license, Beer Jack is only available in a couple of places in Mexico City.  He has a Brown and a Chocolate Stout, both pour sludgy and more resemble wort than a finished beer.  The Brown could have promise with a few more tries, but the Chocolate Stout – please, use more chocolate malt and less Hershey’s chocolate syrup!  Interestingly, the brewer is also apparently a teetotaler.   

The Ugly

Unfortunately, when a craft beer scene is so small, the really bad ones still make it to market.  Stay away from Cervecería Hacienda and Ocozol!  Both seem to have a propensity for making beer styles that aren’t supposed to taste sour taste like Sour Patch Kids.

Granted, unless you live in San Diego or probably one or two other places in the Southwest, you’re not going to find any of these beers outside of Mexico, at least for now.  Here’s to drinking a Cucapa for some future Cinco de Mayo, and, of course, any other day you feel like “fighting the forces of the moneyed aristocracy,” or just drinking good craft beer.

*Above text written by kereva. 

El Olivo Bar in Oaxaca City

El Olivo Bar located in downtown Oaxaca is a neat little cocktail bar with a relaxed atmosphere. They have a wide variety of drinks and small snacks (like tapas, but not quite). Their beer selection is fairly interesting, although I preferred La Biznaga since they had Cucapá on their menu. On my visit, they had beers by Tempus, Hidalgo (Catrina Red Ale and the Stout), Calavera (the Pale Ale and the Mexican Imperial Stout), and Minerva. They also have a small selection of imported beers from Europe.

El Olivo is located at Francisco Murguía 218, near Reforma. The linked map doesn't seem exactly accurate, but you'll see the intersection close by. You can also follow them on twitter.

La Biznaga in Oaxaca City

Outside view of La Biznaga

La Biznaga is primarily a restaurant offering creative versions of traditional Oaxacan cuisine. According to the number of reviews of this place online, individual opinions of this place seem pretty polarized.  The service varies from awful to tolerable, some of the food seems overpriced, and most customers are foreigners.

Walking into La Biznaga

La Biznaga's Beer Menu

I've experienced all this, but the great thing about La Biznaga is their beer selection. I took a picture of their beer menu, which you can see above. They offer bottled beers from Cucapá, Calavera, Tempus, Minerva, and other Mexican craft brewers, draft beer from Cosaco, plus a wide variety of imported beers.

I like the food here just fine, but I found myself coming here more to have a beer (and a mezcal!), rather than to eat dinner.

The other interesting thing I learned is that the bartender (or owner?) makes his own beer called Cabuche. Unfortunately, there wasn't any available when I was in Oaxaca, but he told me that in about a month there would be some available. He's made a porter and a hefeweizen in the past. I almost want to go back to Oaxaca soon to try this beer!

La Biznaga is located at García Vigil 512 near Plaza Santo Domingo.

El Deposito World Beer Store

 I can't believe it has taken me this long to write something about El Deposito, one of the most important beer bars/stores in Mexico City. At El Deposito you can find nearly all the Mexican craft brews, a large selection of imported beers, and a constantly rotating selection of imported and Mexican craft brews on tap. What is also nice is that all the beers you can buy here for takeout are also available to drink at the bar, in case you want to spend an evening out sampling a variety of beers.

There are a couple downsides to El Deposito, which means I don't go as often as I would like. First, they have a small, but largely terrible selection of food. They do have popcorn, which is what I usually get when I come here, but if you are hungry, go somewhere else first. Second, this place is very expensive. Draft beers usually run anywhere from 60-120 pesos, and some of the bottled beers have a pretty steep markup if you want to drink them at the bar. Even buying beer for takeout here is more expensive than at La Belga.

On the weekends, this place is usually packed, so it doesn't seem like the prices are driving enough people away, and they typically do have several beers on draft that you won't find anywhere else. On this particular visit where I took the pictures, they had draft beer from Tempus, Cosaco, Ocozol and Azteca. On previous trips they have also had beer by Fuller's and Calavera. In addition to beer, you can also pick up some glasses from local and international breweries if you are looking for a souvenir.

El Deposito is located at Baja California 375 in Condesa. The easiest way to get there is from the Metro/Metrobus stop Patriotismo.

Calavera Dubbel

Calavera Dubbel de Abadía (Abbey Ale)

6.4%ABV

3 out of 5

This Belgian dubbel by Calavera is slightly better than their Tripel or their Witbier. The beer is a copper color and has a nice spicy flavor of typical Belgian-style beers. The problem with this beer, and also the witbier, is that it is way too carbonated. The insane levels of carbonation in the beer make it very difficult to taste anything distinct in it. I would like to say more about the beer, since I do like it better than the other attempts at Belgian ales by Calavera, but the cringe-inducing carbonation makes that almost impossible.

I purchased this 750ml bottle for 90 pesos at Liverpool. You can also find this beer at La Belga in either the 330ml or 750ml version.

Makena Pub

 Makena is a great little pub located in the heart of Condesa. They carry several different craft beers on tap, plus a decent selection of bottled beers. They also have a full bar if your friends don't like beer, plus a small selection of appetizers if you get hungry.

There are two floors to this small place. The upstairs is small and isolated, just a small set of tables. Downstairs is where the bar is, with a small tv, several tables, and a few couches if you feel like lounging. When I was there it was a pretty relaxed atmosphere, but I can imagine that at night on the weekends it gets very packed very quickly. I wish the music here was better, at least it wasn't too loud and I could drown it out. They had MTV videos on the television on mute, while playing some mediocre rock and dance music in the background.

On tap, you can get beers here by Ocozol, Azteca, Cosaco, and Tempus. The Ocozol beers are brewed by the owner of the pub, and as far as I know, are only available here at Makena and at El Deposito. On this particular visit, they had on tap the Ocozol Azafrán (Saffron Ale), the Azteca IPA, the Azteca Manzana Ale, the blond, red and porter by Cosaco (stay away from these beers!), and I think just the Tempus clásica (which is not very good). For bottles, besides the standard selection of commercial Mexican beers, they had various styles of beer from Calavera, Tempus, Toro, and some imported German beers.

The prices were fairly typical, you can order the beer on tap in a caña (about 10oz) for 45 pesos, or in a pint for 60 pesos. The one bottle of Toro I had was 55 pesos.

Makena is located at Tamaulipas 56 in Condesa. It is equidistant from the Metro stops Juanacatlan, Patriotismo, and Chilpancingo, so look at the map and figure out from where you want to walk. It is also fairly close to the Campeche metrobus stop on Linea 1. If you exit there, walk north on Insurgentes one block, turn right on Michoacan, follow Michoacan through Parque México, then turn right on Tamaulipas.

Calavera Witbier

Calavera Belgian Style White Ale

4.8%ABV

2 out of 5

Calavera's witbier is pretty mediocre. I think I would prefer a Blue Moon over this, and I don't even really like Blue Moon. It is slightly sour, and extremely bland. On the plus side, it is easy to drink so it isn't actually an unpleasant beer, just not a very good example of a witbier.

I purchased this particular bottle at a Liverpool near the Obrero Mundial metrobus stop on Linea 3 for 33 pesos. You can also get this beer at La Belga and El Deposito (near Metro/Metrobus Patriotismo). Occasionally you can find this beer on tap at Zazá.

Calavera Mexican Imperial Stout

Calavera Mexican Imperial Stout

9%ABV

3 out of 5



This is a decent stout by Calavera, although calling it an imperial stout is a bit of a stretch. It is made with chile so I was hoping for a little bit more of a unique flavor, but I couldn't even tell there was chile in it. The flavor overall falls a little flat, and the weak body leaves something to be desired.




You can get this beer at La Belga for 40 pesos in the 330ml version, or ~100-120 pesos for the 750ml version (I can't remember the exact price right now).

Calavera Tripel

Calavera Tripel de Abadía (Abbey Ale)

9.5%ABV

2 out of 5

This beer by Calavera (Tlalnepantla, Estado de México) was pretty disappointing. The beer itself is a deep golden belgian style ale with absolutely no head and very lightly carbonated (even though on the bottle it says the head is "dense and creamy"). You can tell they are trying to imitate belgian style ales with the spicy aroma and flavor, but the overwhelming flavor of this beer is just alcohol. You also get the alcohol flavor in the nose and the finish. Not very pleasant at all. On my first few drinks, I thought it even tasted a little salty. I have never had a beer that I thought tasted salty before. Calavera needs to spend more time on their beer recipes and less on their bottle designs. Maybe if I hadn't been sampling a bunch of real Belgian beers recently I'd be a little more kind, but this beer is an extremely poor substitute.

The beer itself is also pretty expensive, 40 pesos for this 330ml bottle, so I doubt I will be trying this again. It is also available in a 750ml bottle for ~100 pesos.

You can get this beer at La Belga and El Deposito (near Metro/Metrobus Patriotismo).

La Belga

La Belga is my favorite place to purchase Mexican craft beers. It is a tiny little place, just a small room packed with bottles lining both sides of the store, but they have a great selection. You can find just about any beer made by TJ Beer, Minerva, Cucapá, Tempus, Baja Brewing Company, 7 Barrios, Calavera, and several other Mexican craft brews depending on availability. They also carry a large selection of beers from Belgium (duh), Germany, and the UK, plus a few others from other countries. Unfortunately, their selection of American beers is pretty limited, just a few types of beer from Butte Creek, Eel River, and Samuel Adams.

The major reason I go here over other places (i.e. The Beer Box and El Deposito) is that the prices are slightly cheaper. Since good beer is not exactly cheap in Mexico, saving a few pesos on every bottle adds up quickly. The staff is also quite friendly and very knowledgeable about the beers they carry.

Check out their website for hours, contact info, and pictures of some of the beers they carry. They also have a small fridge in case you want to purchase a cold beer. While you can't sit down and drink beer at La Belga, you can go next door to La Nacional to enjoy several different Mexican craft brews by the bottle or on tap.



La Belga and La Nacional are both located near the corner of Orizaba and Querétaro in Colonia Roma. La Belga is actually on Querétaro, while La Nacional sits on the corner.

Getting to 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).

Bar Zazá

 Zazá is my favorite place to go and have a few cervezas artesanales in the city. They only serve beer on draft, and there is usually something new to try every time I visit. On most visits, you can count on them having Cosaco and Tempus on tap. Cosaco produces an Amber Ale (la guera), a Red Ale (la roja), and a porter (la oscura). Personally, I think Cosaco beers are very mediocre, although certainly better than a Corona. If I have to drink Cosaco, I'll drink the guera, and the porter is passable. Stay away from the roja at all costs. For Tempus, they have the clasica and the doble malta. All Tempus beers are very malty, and the doble malta is a pretty decent beer with strong malt and caramel flavors. The clasica (or dorada? I'm not sure) is pretty bad though, almost sour, I do not recommend it. If you happen to be with someone else with bad taste in beer, they also have one of the major beer brands on tap, I think Sol but I could be wrong. It doesn't really matter what it is though, trying to differentiate among the variations of clara or oscura of any major brand of Mexican beer is a near impossible task.

In addition to Cosaco and Tempus, Zazá usually has beers by Calavera and Azteca on tap, though they often run out and the particular styles they have change often. I highly recommend trying whatever they have by either of these breweries. On my last visit, I sampled the Azteca Manzana Ale and the Imperial Stout, both excellent beers. On the menu, they also list a stout by the Beer Factory, but they have never had this available on my many visits to Zazá within the last year. All the microbrews on draft cost 55 pesos.

Not only is this a great place to drink, Zazá also makes pretty incredible brick oven pizzas. One of the biggest problems with most pizzas in the city is the crust, but Zazá gets the crust just right. Their medium pizzas run about 100-140 pesos and are probably enough for two people, unless you are like me and can eat an entire pizza no matter what size it is. They also have other appetizers and entrees, but I haven't had anything else there except the french fries. If you are looking for a slightly more upscale place to eat before or after having drinks at Zazá, you can also check out Casa D'Italia and Vecchio Forno, which are just a couple blocks from Zazá.

As far as the atmosphere goes, Zazá is extremely laid back and informal, which is just the kind of place I like. They usually have music playing, but it is never too loud like a lot of establishments, and it is usually an eclectic of mix of jazz, garage rock, classic rock, soul, ska, and punk. My only gripe is that while the music they play is usually pretty good, it just sounds like someone put their ipod on shuffle, somewhat ruining the ambience of the place. The staff is fairly friendly, although usually completely unknowledgeable about the beer. Make sure you ask several times what beers they have until they actually go check. Since Zazá is pretty far out of the way compared to most other places in Condesa, there isn't much else around and fortunately this means there are very few ambulantes passing by annoying the customers.

Zazá is located at Pachuca 1, right on the corner of Pachuca and Veracruz, just a few blocks from the Chapultepec Metro stop.