Cucapá Obscura

Cucapá Obscura Brown Ale

4.8%ABV

2 out of 5

I love Cucapá. If given a choice among Mexican craft brewers, I'll pick their beers over any other. But, I do not love this beer. Cucapá's Obscura is little different than the myriad brown lagers that litter the Mexican landscape. It is light, watery, and very boring. The only thing that makes this better than a Bohemia Obscura or a León is that Cucapá's version has a more noticeable roasted flavor. But that is it. I'm being harsh because I know Cucapá can do better. For what it is, this beer is very drinkable. However, I would prefer to drink just about anything else.

You can find this beer at La Belga, El Deposito, The Beer Box, La Nacional, and Graciela.

Graciela, Taller de Cerveza (Brew Pub)

Outside view of Graciela

 Graciela is a brand new brew pub that just opened up in Roma. It is owned by Cervecería Primus, the makers of Tempus beer. It is about time one of the local breweries did something like this!

Inside Graciela

 The inside of Graciela is really nice, there is a front room with a row of tables, a small bar, and then two back rooms with more tables. There is also the small brewing room pictured below where they are currently working on a brown ale.

CheLaboratorio!

 Since Graciela just opened, it doesn't seem like they have reached their full potential. They only had Tempus Doble Malta and Clásica on tap, but the menu mentions that there will be a pale ale. A Tempus Pale Ale? I can't wait to try it!

The bar, with twelve taps!

 The bar has space for 12 taps. What are they going to have? If they manage to keep all twelve operational at the same time, Graciela may become the beer bar of choice in Mexico City.

A half liter of Tempus Doble Malta

For their tap beers, you can order a half liter for 50 pesos, or a full liter for 100 pesos. They come in these enormous mugs, pictured above. In addition to the tap beers, you can ordered bottled beer from Cucapá, Minerva, Baja Brewing Company, Brew Dog, and a few other breweries. There is also a small menu with sandwiches, fries, and other non-Mexican inspired bar food.

Graciela is located at Orizaba 163, just south of Querétaro. La Nacional is right next door, along with La Belga, a new pulquería, and Bop! Records nearby. To get there, exit the Metrobus on Linea 1 at Sonora, or on Linea 3 at Hospital General and use the map to figure out how to get there. The metro stop Hospital General is also close by.

Tempus Doble Malta

Tempus Imperial Altbier

7%ABV

3 out of 5

Tempus is brewed by Primus, based out of Tlalnepantla, Estado de México. Their doble malta is a slightly dark, golden color with strong malt and caramel flavors. It is also light-bodied and fairly easy to drink.

This Doble Malta and other Tempus beers are available just about anywhere that serves cervezas artesanales in the city. You can find it on draft at Zazá, La Nacional (next door to La Belga), and Makena. In the bottle, you can drink this at Al Andar, Lucille's, and El Deposito. You can also buy this for takeout at La Belga, El Deposito, and The Beer Box.

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).

Cucapá Honey

Cucapá Honey Amber Ale

4.5%ABV

4 out of 5

I am pleasantly surprised at how good this beer tastes. For months I have been avoiding this beer because I thought the honey would make it sweet (I really prefer bitter beers). While Cucapá is my favorite Mexican brewery, I know they make some duds (i.e. their Oscura). I was completely wrong on this one. The first thing I noticed was the hops in the nose, not too overpowering but certainly enough for me to notice. There is a faint hint of honey in the nose, but upon tasting the honey almost completely disappears. Only in the finish did I get a small taste of the honey, mixed in with some malts. This beer is very drinkable and if you are looking for a light beer with lots of flavor, you would be hard pressed to find something better in Mexico. It is a toss up over whether I prefer this Honey Ale or Cucapá's Clasica Blonde Ale when I want something light but tasty. Looks like I'll need to do a side by side comparison in the future!

Get this for takeout at El Deposito, La Belga (for 27 pesos), or The Beer Box. Drink it at La Nacional (for 55 pesos) or El Deposito.

Getting to El Deposito: Metro/Metrobus Patriotismo.
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).
Getting to La Nacional: Right next door to La Belga, on the corner of Orizaba and Querétaro.

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.

Short list of bars and restaurants

Publimetro just put up an article on where to try cervezas artesanales in Mexico City (in Spanish). Some of these places I am familiar with, others I am not. Can't wait to check out some new spots!

I highly recommend La Nacional in Roma, where you can enjoy some bottled brews by Cucapá, as well as a large variety of other nationally made drinks like Mexican vodka (?). Zazá is also a great place. They only serve draft beers, primarily Tempus, Calavera, Cosaco and Azteca. However, since they only have beers on tap, and taps run out all the time here, it is really anyone's guess what they'll have available on any given day. They also make amazing pizzas at Zazá, so go hungry.

One comment on the article. At the beginning they state: "These national drinks are considered some of the best in the world for their aroma and variety." While Mexican microbrews need all the help they can get, this is a little over the top. Some of them are very good, some of them are very very bad. This industry is still in its infancy and they are bound to make a few missteps. Nevertheless, most of them are at least better than the beers produced by Modelo or Cuauhtémoc.

I'll reprint the list here (with the correct address for La Nacional, Publimetro got it wrong). I've divided up the places by colonia with the name of the place first, followed by the street address. I'm excited to check out the place in the Centro Histórico, since (in my somewhat limited experience) it is generally a wasteland for good food and drink.

Polanco:

Pujol, Petrarca 254

Jaso, Newton 88

Condesa:

Boca 21 Deli, Amsterdam 36-A

La Nacional, Querétaro esq. Orizaba

El Deposito, Av. Baja California 375

Makena, Tamaulipas 56.

Zazá, Pachuca 1 esq. Veracruz.

Centro Histórico:

Miralto, Madero 1, Piso 41 Torre Latinoamericana.

Roma:

Barraca Valenciana, Monterrey 220.

Coyoacán:

Centenario 107, Centenario 107.