A Brief History of Mexican Beer

Native Brewing, the German Influence, and Modern Breweries

Apr 25, 2009

Although Mexico is more associated with pulque and tequila, the Maya and the Aztec people brewed grain-based beverages long before the Conquistadors arrived. These brews generally were made from the maize or corn that was native to the area. According to Michael Jackson, the Beer Hunter, Mexico even had the first commercial brewery in the New World. It was set up by the King of Spain in the mid 1500s.

German Influence on Mexican Beer

German settlers began arriving in the early 1830s, settling first in areas that are now part of Texas, but migrating further south into present-day Mexico after the Mexican-American war. Those immigrants brought their brewing styles along with them, and those brewers greatly influenced the course of brewing in Mexico. Today, the majority of beers brewed in Mexico are lagers.

The first lager brewery in Mexico, La Pila Seca, was founded in 1845 by a Swiss immigrant. Much like brewing in the U.S., most of the early brewers were small operations. By 1890, Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc was built in Monterrey, ushering in the large industrial brewing that is familiar today.

Modern Beer Brewing in Mexico

Although it's not unknown, craft brewing has not seen the surge in popularity in Mexico that it has in the United States. Most Mexican beers today are produced by two companies, FEMSA and Grupo Modelo. Both produce brands for export as well as brewing beers that are available only in the domestic market.

FEMSA is one of the leading beverage companies in Latin America. Export brands include Tecate, Dos Equis, Sol, Carta Blanca and Bohemia. FEMSA has a smaller share of the export market than Grupo Modelo, but began gaining ground after entering into an agreement with Heineken USA for distribution in the United States.

Grupo Modelo has six export brands - Corona, Corona Light, Negra Modelo, Modelo Especial, Modelo Light, and Pacifico. Corona holds the title of the best-selling non-domestic beer in the United States, and is also the number one imported beer in the world. American mega-brewer Anheuser-Busch owns roughly half of Grupo Modelo, but control of the company remains with the Mexican shareholders.

Lime or no lime?

Order a Mexican beer in the States, and it will almost always come with a slice of lime. The same holds true at tourist resorts in Mexico. But is the lime a Mexican tradition? Well, probably not, since outside of the tourist areas, beer usually comes without lime. And according to All About Beer magazine, some 80% of beer bottles in Mexico are returned for cleaning and refilling. The difficulty of removing lime slices from used bottles would probably make it a frowned-upon practice.

Some beer drinkers believe that Mexican beers are bland at best, and need the extra boost from a bit of lime. Others just enjoy the flavor. So go ahead and offer the lime. It may not be a real Mexican tradition, but it's one that's enjoyed by a lot of people.

"Beer in Mexican Paradise" by Matt Stinchfield. All About Beer Magazine, May 2003, Vol 24 No 2

The copyright of the article A Brief History of Mexican Beer in Beer Brewing is owned by Angie Rayfield. Permission to republish A Brief History of Mexican Beer in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Jun 19, 2009 8:45 AM

Marty Nachel :

Having lived in Mexico for four years, it was my experience that Mexicans laugh at silly gringos who stuff a slice of lime in their bottles of beer (I wasn't one of them).

There does seem to be some logic behind the fad, however. Many of the Mexican beers marketed in Mexico are canned. And because open-topped cases of cans can collect a lot of dust and debris --including small mammal urine and feces-- Mexicans have been known to wipe the top of their beer cans with a lime to "sanitize" the opening.