Cervecería Hacienda

Catrina Red Ale, <7%ABV, 0 out of 5

Hidalgo Stout, <7%ABV, 0 out of 5

Jaguar Pale Ale, <7%ABV, 0 out of 5

Cervecería Hacienda made by Hacienda San Juan Pueblilla out of Hidalgo, produces three different beers, a red ale, a stout, and a pale ale. The best thing I can say about these beers is that they have really cool labels, and it seems other people agree. It may be that there was something wrong with the batch from which I drank these beers, but I sort of doubt it. In the Fall of 2010, I had tried the pale ale and the stout and remember them being rather unpleasant. For the sake of the blog, I decided to give these beers another shot. The stout and the red ale I drank in Oaxaca at El Olivo, the pale ale was purchased at La Belga in Mexico City. All three of these beers were incredibly sour, and did not even remotely resemble the style of beer. A pale ale without the taste of hops? check. A stout without the flavor of roasted malts? check. The red ale? I don't even know what they were attempting there.  The closest thing these beers resemble is a poor attempt at a home-brewed cider.

It is really unfortunate that these beers are completely undrinkable, I really wanted to like them. I'm a bid fan of Hidalgo state, and want to see some quality beer come out of there. Hopefully the brewers at Cervecería Hacienda spend some time on their recipe and engage in some serious quality control. My guess is that something is going wrong in the bottling process that is ruining the beer, but I could be wrong.

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.