Cerveza Mexicali Beer

Brewed by Cervecería Mexicana
Style: Pale Lager
Tecate, Mexico

04-Dec-07 (12-oz bottle: BevMo in La Jolla, CA) I’d heard from a few customers that Mexicali was one of the best Mexican pale lagers out there. Having finally given this beer a try, I’d have to strongly disagree with them. When first poured, the beer was sweet, corny, and seemed somewhat malty. Lots of flavor and actually not bad at all. But that’s when it was cold. With even just a few minutes in the glass, wow, the beer has taken a sharp nosedive. While the attack is sweet and strongly corny with no bitterness, the beer finishes with an atrocious cardboard flavor and some kind of peppery spiciness. The sweet, corny nose is a bit better than the flavor, but only because the cardboard is much lighter. Light in body and medium in carbonation, but the beer leaves the palate feeling stale, longing for either better beer or a toothbrush. Medium-yellow in color, showing solid clarity and an acceptable amount of white head. However, the head has settled to an island of coagulated bubbles that looks like a blob of backwash. Small patches of lace are impressive though for a beer of this nature. Overall, just flat out undrinkable to me unless it’s ice cold. A few twists of lime would probably help considerably too.

Bottle. Sour corn malt aroma. Medium yellow with large white head. Sweet corn malt flavor - actually a nice flavor. A very nice pale lager - not too sweet, not skunked like many Mexican imports. The best Mexican lager I’ve tasted outside of Mexico. Infinitely better than Corona.

The beer gushes forth from the clear bottle a crystalline gold, the head small and frothy, fades fast, leaving a patchy bit of lace. Nose is sweet malt, nothing else; start is sweet malt, some bitter bite at the back, skinny top. Finish has a fair acidity, light hop presence, still sweet at the dry aftertaste, not much else to say, well I can say its better than Corona.

Everyone that has lived in Mexicali older than 70 says that this pilsener used to be the best beer everywhere in the thirties through the late sixties, it actually gets some pages in almost every Mexicali history book, and i made some research.Three german-born brewers came to Mexicali, because there wasnt any beers here around the American Prohibition thing,which made beer totally necessary since this is border, so the recipe was purely german and top secret.The company refused to give the german brewers more money, so they quit and the beer magic too.The son of one of the brewers a few years later asked for one million dollars and they laughed at him so he keep it until he died in some Texan town in the US. Now is only poor attemp to copy the original one as you might guess,now its only another bier

Bottle. Dull gold with no head. Aromas are sweet corn with butter. Quite thin and dry. Flavours are sweet grain and corn with soda water. Quite buttery with a thin finish.

Bottle from BevMo. Light golden color upon pouring. Grainy acidic aroma with a hint of skunk. Crappy lager from south of the border. A little more flavor than some though, so it’s got that going for it, which is good.

Bottle from ? Aroma is sweet lager malts, hints of hrbal hops. Taste is a similar bag. I didnt find this offensive in anyway but it was soo uninspiring.

12 oz. bottle from Plaza Liquor - Pours a crystal clear golden color with a 3/4 finger thick white head. Light lacing. Lively carbonation. Aroma is grain, herbal hops, and slight diacetyl. Flavor is a nice mix of sweet grain malt and lightly spiced hops. Medium body. This beer was a pleasant suprise. Worth a try.