Evolution of Mexico’s cultural beer identity

Growing variety | The number of new enterprises being founded in the Mexican brewing industry has risen considerably. Dominated by Grupo Modelo (AB InBev) and Heineken Mexico, the beer market is hard – but not without hope. Numerous microbreweries are now specifically helping to establish a cultural beer identity in their country – and are thus also contributing to the value chain. BRAUWELT author Sylvia Kopp travelled to Mexico to speak to the pioneers of the new beer scene – and discovered an exciting new world.

I spent my first evening in Mexico City in a mezcal bar in the Condesa neighbourhood. There were a dozen types of various provenance to choose from, all high in alcohol and delicious with a wisp of smoke. We’re sitting inside as all of the outdoor seats are taken, street musicians are playing – an unforgettable evening, even if I can’t remember all of the details. And an appropriate start to my trip, for mezcal is an important drink in Mexico, with 25% of the value chain in the alcoholic beverage industry attributed to the production of agave spirits (source: Cerveceros De México). It’s also a clear indication of the autonomy and distinctiveness of Mexican drinking culture.

As the market data reveals, at 72% the value generated by Mexico’s breweries is almost three times that of its agave distilleries. The amount of beer produced each year runs to 134.7 million hectolitres (figure for 2021; +8.2% compared to pre-pandemic 2019). It’s a well-known fact that Mexico is the world’s top exporter, with 42 million hectolitres of beer sold outside the country (in 2021; up 4.5% compared to 2019). 80.9% alone goes to the USA. At the moment, at 57.4 litres (Statista) the per capita consumption is rather low, however. The market is in the firm grip of two international concerns: Grupo Modelo, which belongs to AB InBev (with market leader Corona Extra plus Pacifico, Modelo Especial and Victoria), and Heineken Mexico (Sol, Tecate and Dos Equis).

New beer culture

In the shadow cast by the giants a new beer culture is emerging, however, which is growing increasingly independent. Probably nobody else in Mexico City is more aware of this than founder and director of the Académia Méxicana de Eno-Gastronomia (AMEG) Edu Villegas. “I’m pleased that more and more breweries are focussing on quality. Our country now has well-trained brewers and beer sommeliers, its own trade publications and beer journalism.” He goes on to stress that “our beer culture is also gradually developing its own profile.” When he set up his academy back in 2011, the first craft breweries were just becoming established, among them Cervecería Wendlandt in Ensenada; Cervecería Tijuana and Cervecería Primus in Mexicali; and Minerva Brewery DF in Mexico City. The brewing schedules of this first generation of beer crafters initially featured stout, porter, pale ale, IPA and a number of Belgian styles such as dubbel und tripel.

Villegas, who worked as a musician and artist in the 1990s, trained as a sommelier at the beginning of the 2000s. “Wine was my first love,” he says. At a catering college he then taught ‘other beverages’, among other subjects, and through this came into contact with the craft beer movement. When an importer tempted him to taste the Belgian Golden Carolus Christmas, it changed his life. The aroma made a huge impression on wine connoisseur Villegas!

This was in 2006. “From this point on, I devoted myself almost entirely to beer,” he states. “I was able to apply my sensory skill and expertise – and taught myself everything else.” He researched on the Internet and in beer books and magazines, most of them from the USA. Inspired by the cultural wine societies in France, in 2008 Villegas founded Fraternidad Cervecera. His novel beer-tasting club caused something of a sensation! The media couldn’t get enough of these new, discerning beer drinkers, although there was still a very limited range of beers readily available. Back then, the main source for unusual beers was BeerBox, a bar and restaurant chain specialised in imports that’s still up and running today.

His work with Fraternidad gave rise to the idea for the present Académia. “There was a growing number of young brewery founders cropping up who had no clue about beer styles, sensory science or quality,” Villegas remembers. Not to mention the consumers. Then as now, most of them can merely distinguish between cerveza clara (light beer) and oscura (dark beer). “I saw the urgent need for a beer college on the newly emerging market,” he claims. At its headquarters in Mexico City and in the cities of Guadalajara, Querétaro, Morelia and Puebla, AMEG educates 120 to 150 students a year who also come from other countries in Latin America. They are taught to be beer connoisseurs and beer sommeliers and study brewing technology. AMEG is also the official representative of the Doemens Academy in Germany and Italy’s Academia Union Birrai. Every Saturday afternoon AMEG alumni meet up in the beer college’s conservatory for a drink and a chat. “AMEG isn’t just an academy; AMEG is a cult,” the regulars tell me with a smile.

One AMEG graduate is Abimelek Sagastume, co-founder and manager of Taberna Calacas, the first craft beer bar in the capital. “I was impressed by how Ebu taught us about beer culture. I wanted to pass this on to my guests in the same way,” Sagastume says. Unorthodox and independent, with a skull on the wall and metal blaring out of the speakers, Taberna Calacas has made a name for itself not least thanks to its perfect service, with each beer appropriately cooled and elegantly served. The beer menu features local craft beers and imports. “Our aim is to turn our guests into beer lovers,” Sagastume smiles. With the taberna celebrating its eighth birthday this year, he and his co-owner are opening a second branch in the suburb of Taxquena, this one with a restaurant. And Sagastume himself is now seen as a point of reference. “The best thing for me is that we’ve become part of the craft beer movement and have helped to change beer culture.”

Although the number of breweries rose exorbitantly from around 50 in 2008 to 1462 in 2021 (source: ACERMEX craft brewery association), the craft beer sector in Mexico isn’t a gold rush, as brewery and AMEG lecturer Antonieta Carion reports. She opened her brewery Madrina Casa Cervecera in 2015 and is the first female brewer in Mexico City with her own production site. The official regulations don’t present any obstacle, she tells me. You simply register your business and pay your taxes. “The most difficult hurdle for us new entrepreneurs is the beer market,” Carrion says. The craft beer share of the total market is a measly 0.8% – and is more or less stagnant. It’s thus no surprise that the average annual output of Mexico’s breweries amounts to a modest 450 hectolitres. “Lots of people have second jobs,” claims Carrion, who professionally trained both at AMEG and at the University of Alicante in Spain. Besides running the brewery, she also works for an estate agent.

Opportunity in a crisis

The lockdown crisis ultimately caused Carrion to strategically realign. Instead of selling her bottles, cans and kegs through wholesalers to craft beer outlets throughout the country, she now delivers direct to select partners based locally. In kegs – because small containers are in short supply. “We started out with our most loyal customers, offering them better prices and organising joint promotions with them.” The result? Less travel time, simplified logistics, lower costs and higher margins. Carrion brews a delicious cream stout with coconut, a refreshing Session IPA that she varies with the addition of citrus fruit and a balanced Scotch ale refined with coffee. She also makes “transitional” beers: beers that differ from the mass-produced varieties in taste but aren’t challenging, such as her best-selling Marina Kellerbier. She also fills this one into bottles and distributes it to outlets that aren’t as specialised in beer, such as coffee shops.

Lockdown caused lots of places to close, states Carrion, but also proved to be a “golden opportunity” for the craft beer scene. After the government had classed the brewing industry as being non-essential and ordered it to shut down during the corona pandemic and all the beer had disappeared from supermarket shelves, lots of consumers turned to online shops for fresh supplies. Brand-new apps also helped thirsty beer drinkers to navigate their way to hidden stashes of beer. “In this way, lots of consumers first discovered craft beer out of necessity,” Carrion explains. This gives cause to hope that the craft beer scene will now soon gather new momentum.

Monasterio de Las Cervezas’ business has also grown with Mexico’s new beer culture. Manager Marianna Manzur saw the newly emerging beer market as a chance to go self-employed. She had no idea about beer itself, however, so she registered with AMEG. In 2014 she then opened a beer restaurant and a year later a beer wholesaler’s. Specialised in imports, craft beer and select industrial beers, the company now operates two restaurants, two bottle shops and a wholesale business at three locations throughout the city. Manzur tells me that “when we started out, there were maybe six restaurants with a large selection of beer in Mexico City. Now there are hundreds.” They first had about 100 beers on sale; in the meantime there are over 300. The range is constantly changing and takes current trends, new brands, seasonal specialities and one-offs into account. “We deliver fast, have good prices and offer new beers,” says Manzur. The sharing of beer expertise makes up a not inconsiderable portion of her business activities in the form of consultancy, tasting events, seminars and social media posts.

Imports enjoy a high standing among Mexican beer drinkers. “Consumers trust in brand quality from abroad, while they’re not too sure about beers made by Mexican microbreweries,” says her brother-in-law Alex Manzur who’s responsible for wholesale. According to Cerveceros De México, 77.2% of all beer imports come from the USA, way ahead of imports from Belgium (7.7%) and Germany (3.2%), followed by Ireland and Spain. There seems to be a declining trend, here, however! Rises in prices and logistical challenges are making the business more and more difficult. This could also benefit the national craft beer movement. Regardless of how the structure of the market changes, Monasterio is nevertheless harbouring plans for expansion, with the Manzurs announcing that they are to open further tabernas in town.

Unique taste spectrum

“We need our own beer identity,” stress Marianna and Alex Manzur, “so that we can distinguish ourselves from international craft beers.” This is also what Edu Villegas impresses upon his students. “It’s not enough for us to look at what the Americans or Europeans are brewing,” he says. “Our country has a rich ethno-botanical culture and an abundance of traditional beverages and culinary delicacies. We have our own ingredients, traditional methods and a unique taste spectrum. We can take all this and apply it to our beer.” – I think of the freshly-pressed fruit juices and smoothies from Mexico’s countless juguerias. The glass of pulque, a slightly alcoholic beverage made of fermented agave juice that I enjoyed with my barbacoa meat dish. Or the michelada made of beer, chilli, fish sauce and lime juice served with a fish dish and the beer cocktail made of dark gose with tamarind juice and chilli that I was proffered in a craft beer bar. What did Antonieta Carrion say to me again? “The Mexicans don’t like things too sweet; they prefer it savoury.”

Of the many wonderful beers I was privileged to try, the Lágrimas Negras Imperial Cacao Stout from Rámuri Cerveceria in Tijuana primarily springs to mind that reminded me of Mexico’s champurrado chocolate drink: intense, with a creamy texture, aromatic bitterness and not at all sweet. Or the surprisingly fruity Stout de Olla (6.8% ABV) from Santa Sabina Cerveza Artesanal in Guadalajara which is based on café de olla made in a clay pot (olla). Or Lord Tepache (5.8% ABV) from Cerveceros Arellano in Querétaro, a refreshing gose whose taste is reminiscent of the tepache drink made of fermented pineapple (the flesh plus the peel!). Last but not least, Lägermaiz from Cervecería Hércules in Querétaro pays homage to Mexican culture: it combines Mexican corn with hops and malt.

It seems to me that Mexico’s craft brewers have heard Villegas’ call. And while the world community of beer fans can look forward to exciting innovations from Mexico, AMEG is going international. Edu Villegas is already offering a number of online courses in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Chile, Guatemala, Panama, Peru and the USA together with local partners. The new, totally exciting, Latin-American world beer region is joining forces!