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.

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 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).

Frankfurt

I was looking for a new place to have a beer and ran across a German restaurant in Condesa called "Frankfurt." They have a large selection of Belgian, German, Russian, and UK bottled beers, some bottled varieties of Sam Adams, and regular Mexican clara y oscura on tap. They had most of the Belgian beers I blogged about previously, including everything from St. Bernardus. I was hoping they would have more Mexican craft brews, although they did have a few bottles of Jack Beer. Not a great place, but if you are dying for some German food while in Mexico City and a decent beer to go with it, then it might be worth checking out. 

Frankfurt is located at Tamaulipas 136. According to some comments on this site, you shouldn't use your credit card here. They will steal your number.

Belgian Beers

Here is a random selection of Belgian beers that I have laying around the house. Belgian beers are relatively easy to find in Mexico City. I'm not exactly sure why, but it is much easier to find a large assortment of beers from Belgium than just about any beer from the U.S. While I don't think I have had a Belgian beer I truly disliked, it is a rare occasion that I will buy one here in Mexico because they are so expensive. Individual bottles usually range in price from 40-60 pesos. The only reason I have so many pictured here is Superama was having a clearance sale on their imported beers for 25 pesos/bottle.

I do not plan on reviewing individual imported brews, but if I was going to recommend one of the 12 pictured here, I would suggest the St. Bernardus Wit, the best wheat beer I've had in a long time.

You can find these and other Belgian beers for sale at La Belga, El Deposito, The Beer Box and occasionally at large supermarkets.