Chupacabras Pale Ale

One year ago I tried a Chupacabras at a beer tasting in a local liqueur store in Monterrey. To start, only by the name I was intrigued about that beer. Chupacabras is the name given to the mysterious animal that in the late 90's used to kill goats and other farm animals in ranches all around the north part of Mexico. I didn't believe any of those stories and at the end I think it was a big deal made by the Mexican government to take the attention of the Mexican population while they increased rates and prices of gas, electricity, and water. Any way, I was excited to try this beer. Then, I found out that the style of this beer was one of my favorites: Pale Ale, this very hoppy and aromatic English style that seduces the most demanding palates.
The experience that I had was amazing, out of this world. To start the beer has this deep copper color that is very attractive to the eye with a rich and creamy head that encapsulates the magnificent flavors that this bee has. You can appreciate delicate notes of dark caramel and toasted nuts that tells you that you're about to try a beer with a robust body. The taste is so good!! It has a light citric flavor and at the end it leaves the most awesome hoppy flavor ever!! It has a very long persistence in the mouth, something that in my opinion is one of the most important things in a beverage in general.
It has 5.8% of alcohol, is strong considering the Mexican market and it won the gold medal in the World Beer Championship in 2007.
It’s just an experience that everyone should have in their lives
Chupacabras is a beer from Cucapá, a Microbrewery located in Mexicali, Baja California that latter I'll talk about.
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Cervecería Minerva

Cervecería Minerva is one of my favorite microbreweries in Mexico. This brewery was established in Jalisco and makes hand crafted premium beers. The main objective of this beer, and something that really makes me love this company, that is to create and sell specialized beers in fare prices. Sometimes you can find very good beer in the market, but they’ll be very expensive, and Minerva gives you the opportunity to drink good beers in a good price. Minerva started as a family business, where father and sons own and run the factory. I consider this a very special quality because it says more about the business.
Most of the beers that Minerva produces are well known European styles that they reproduce to create very especial Mexican beers. Their beers have strong character, pleasant aroma, good texture, and all of them provide an amazing experience because of the magnificent flavor that they have.
Minerva brews under the German law known as Rheinheitsgebot. This law states that beer should only be made with four ingredients: Barley, Water, Hops, and Yeast. Minerva’s beer is all about quality, so the ingredients used in their beers are always of premium quality. The Barley that Minerva uses is made in the same way Germans do it. The hops are imported from the Czech Republic and the Bavarian part of Germany. Diversity of yeast that they use is bought directly from England. The water Minerva uses is taken from deep underground water well, which is treated and filtered to give an excellent body to the beer.

Minerva produces five different beers:

Malverde: It’s a very fresh Pilsner ideal for hot days.

Colonial: Brewed as the typical German Kolsch, with a touch of wheat malt.

Viena: This amber beer is ideal for pairing it with beef dishes.

Pale Ale: The new beer of Minerva won the golden medal in the most recent World Beer Cup.

Stout Imperial: The pride of the company. This dark rich bodied ale has the most amazing notes of coffee and chocolate.
 
Minerva, also than provide a very good quality of Mexican beers to the market, they commercialize imported beers such as: Delirium Tremens, Schlenkerlas, Warsteiner Premium Verum, Erdinger and Fuller’s

Minerva considers itself as a goddess warrior that is leading the Mexican beer revolution.   

I ♥ TJ Beer

Today I will tell you about the brewing company known as: Cerveza Tijuana TJ. This microbrewery is located in the city of Tijuana and it’s about to celebrate their 10th anniversary. José Antonio Gonzalez Ibarra created this company because of the memories of his childhood when his dad used to work for a mayor Mexican brewery company. He chose the name of Tijuana in honor to the city, because it’s known as the land of opportunities, the path for progress and success, and also it is for most of the foreign the closest way to get a kick dip of the Latin-American culture.

TJ beers are sold mostly in the North West part of the country, Guadalajara and Mexico City. Also they have a lot of market in the south west of the United States, but it’s very difficult to find it in other parts of the country.

They produce their beers under the German law known as Reinheitsgebot, which states that only barley, water, hops and yeast are allowed to use to produce beer. This gives a very high quality to the beverage and its something that at the end makes the difference between a regular commercial beer and a special handcrafted micro brewed beer.

TJ Beer has two lines of beer, one bottled and other sold in kegs. I don’t really know why they do that, but I found this very special because buying a keg means parting!!!

As TJ focus a lot in the American market they have some light beers that are directed to these customers. At the same time TJ has two other main beers that in my opinion I consider them as the most representative product, known as: Guera and Morena; Spanish words for blonde and brunette. As the names states one is a light beer and the other one is a dark one. Most of the beer they brew is inspired in European styles, most of them German. The drafted beer that TJ produces is the most interesting. They have the same Guera and Morena in the non filtered version, and also they have a Bock and a Dark Lager, typical German styles.

In general this is a very interesting microbrewery that everyone should give themselves the chance to try. Go out to the liquor store, buy it and post me a comment on what do you think about them so we can share opinions.