Brewery: Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma (Monterrey, Mexico)
Type: Adjunct Lager
ABV: 5%
Just got in from Mexico the other night - quite the adventure. And my quite the adventure I mean it's a bloody miracle that Michelle and I got back to Canada in one piece. To be sure, the trip itself was fantastic, lots of views like the one below, sand, booze and warm temperatures
to boot. But thanks to the incompetence of our travel company, we missed our connecting shuttle to Cancun International Airport, which meant a crazy $100 cab ride at 130 km/h down the highway that, due to the Latin American Summit that was happening in Cancun, was loaded with policemen with M-16 rifles. God damn it... Despite the frantic and infuriating finish, it truly was a relaxing and enjoyable trip, which was made exponentially better by the all-inclusive nature of the resort. Free food, free booze. Awesome.
As a dedicated beer geek, I was looking forward to sampling some of the local fare, but perhaps I was being a bit optimistic. There really was only one option at this particular resort, and that was Dos Equis. Amazingly, I went my entire Mexican trip without having a single Corona. As I understand it, these resorts operate on a contractual, Coke-vs.-Pepsi relationship with brewers, and therefore you either get Corona or Dos Equis, not both, and often nothing else. Either that, or the guy who owns the Gran Bahia chain really digs Dos Equis. In either case, my options for brews were extremely limited, but somehow I made do.
Pictured: Coping.
I did manage to get a bit of local flavor, however. On the drink menus under cervesa, they offered what I thought to be three other beers, but instead turned out to be variations of a beer cocktail known as michelada, or chelada. I particularly enjoyed the concoction in which the beer is served in a salt-rimmed glass with ice, lime, and tabasco. You can also get it mixed with some clamato for a modified Calgary Red Eye. Chelada is a style that's gaining popularity in the States, which unfortunately means Miller or Anheiser Busch will probably try to market pre-mixed chelada beers in yet another misguided attempt at replicating the success of Bud Light with Lime. It is unavoidable...
I've never really been fond of Dos Equis; like most adjunct lagers, it does what it sets out to do, but does it in the most spectacularly mediocre fashion. It's drinkable, I'm sure it's good on the porch and on the patio, but there ain't much to it. It's light golden, fizzy, with light hops and corn/malt flavour, and that's about it. But when the price is right (free) and the quantity is right (whenevers I wants one), Dos Equis tastes pretty damned fine. In a lounge chair on a sunny beach, with nothing but the sounds of the Caribbean and the company of a lovely lady in a bikini, Dos Equis tastes bloody fantastic.
A good lesson to take to heart: perspective is everything. (Grade: C- in Canada; B+ on a Mexican beach)
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