The indigenous people of Mexico were fermenting alcoholic drinks like pulque for hundreds of years before the Spanish arrived, but beer didn’t appear until it was brought over from Spain in the 16th century.
Beer’s popularity in Mexico didn’t really take off until the mid-1800s, when Swiss and Alsatian immigrants began opening small breweries. In the 1860s, France briefly occupied the country and installed Maximilian I, an Austrian, as the emperor. Maximilian brought his own team of German brewers to Mexico. In 1890, Mexicans Isaac Garza and José Calderón started the first industrial brewery, named Hielo y Cerveza Cuauhtémoc and located in Monterrey.
Today, there are two main corporations that brew beer in Mexico: Grupo Modelo and FEMSA. In Puerto Vallarta as in the rest of Mexico, bars and restaurants sell beer made by one corporation or the other. Although most people think of pilseners like Corona when they think of Mexican beer (their light, crisp tastes pair perfectly with the hot weather and hot food), there are also a range of medium and dark beers available. Below is a list of the major brands with descriptions from the breweries themselves.
Grupo Modelo
- Barrilito – “a lager beer” with a “transparent and bright gold color, good body, clean aroma and refreshing flavor”
- Corona Extra – “a pilsener beer”
- Estrella – “a pilsener beer” with a “light and friendly taste”
- León – “a Munich-type dark beer, with great aroma and body”
- Modelo Especial – “a very different pilsener beer”
- Negra Modela – “a Munich-style beer offering a balanced flavor and delicate aroma of dark malt, caramel and hops”
- Pacífico – “a pilsener, clear beer with a refreshing, smooth taste”
- Victoria – “a Vienna-style beer” with a “delicate aroma of the highest quality malt and hops”
FEMSA
- Bohemia – “distinctive and impeccable taste”
- Bohemia Obscura – “a Vienna type beer, with a full body thanks to the mixture of caramel and toasted malts, which brings out its grain character”
- Carta Blanca – “a Pilsner”
- Dos Equis (XX) Amber – “dark, full body and toasted malt flavor”
- Dos Equis (XX) Lager – “blond in color and easy on the palate”
- Indio – a “uniquely balanced… mildly dark brew”
- Noche Buena – “a dark, full-bodied premium brew with a strong, distinctive flavor.” Only available around Christmas.
- Sol – “a crisp, light-bodied lager” with a “clean, natural taste and smell”
- Superior – a “slightly hoppy lager”
- Tecate – a “medium lager”
