Fun Facts: Mexican Lagers – German Origins, Mexican Roots

Mexico, for many of us, elicits images of leisurely beach days, street tacos, and buckets of Mexican lagers to wash down the tacos and quench the thirst from the tropical heat.

While that is all fine and dandy, Mexico is more than just a vacation place. It is a vibrant country full of culture, diverse people, and yes, beer. And its beer is more than just beer. It’s a defining piece of how a country once colonized took remnants of brewing from other places and made it their own.

A very brief history of Mexico and its beer

To understand how this was achieved, we must first understand Mexico’s history, or at least a very brief version of it.

Rewind to the 1500s when exploratory excursions were increasing across the globe. Spain was one of the countries sending explorers out far beyond its borders, including the lands of what is now the Mexican Peninsula.

While the Native communities have been brewing fermented beverages such as pulque (made from the agave plant) and tepache (made from pineapple rinds) for centuries prior to the Spanish Conquest, with new people come new endeavors. Beer being one of them.

Don Alonso de Herrera from Spain brewed the first recorded beer in New Spain (what is now Mexico) in 1541, although beer wouldn’t gain much in popularity until centuries later with the arrival of Germans, Austrians, Swiss, and other Europeans. Only then did beer begin to find its real roots within Mexican lands.

History of the Mexican Lager

Those roots grew strong with an additional increase of German immigrants under Austrian Archduke Maximilian I’s rule during the 1860s. As the rumor goes, Maximilian, charged with broadening Western values and culture, brought with him across the ocean an army of brewers. Reportedly, these brewers specialized in Vienna lagers, the same style as Modelo Negra. In 1867 Maximillan’s rule was thwarted, but the beer influence remained.

It was this influence that beget the growth of Mexican breweries. Swiss-born Augustín Marendaz and founded the Cervecería Toluca y México, S.A. in Toluca in 1865, becoming the country’s first large-scale brewery ten years later when another Swiss, Santiago Graf, took the helm. Thanks to advancing refrigeration technologies and imported German brewing equipment and techniques, Graf was the first brewer to achieve success with lager beer in Mexico and was instrumental in creating the “Graf” style of Vienna lager, which remains one of the two main variations of Vienna lager today.

Another brewery that played a role in the history of Mexican lagers was Cervecería Guillermo Hasse y Compañia in Veracruz, later becoming Cervecería Moctezuma. Founded by German master brewer Wilhelm Guillermo Hasse in 1890, Hasse wanted to brew a special beer to welcome in the 20th century, calling it Siglo XX (siglo meaning century and XX for Roman numeral 20 signified by the XX). Little did he know then, that he had crafted what would become one of Mexico’s most popular beers today…Dos Equis Ambar.

Later still, in 1985, Hasse’s brewery would merge with Cervecería Cuauhtémo, also started in 1890, laying the groundwork for one of Mexico’s largest beer conglomerates, Fomento Económico Mexicano (FEMSA) to form in 1988. FEMSA housed brands like Dos Equis, Sol, Carta Blanca, Tecate, Bohemia, and more.

In the early 1900s, these large branding companies were yet to be a part of Mexican beer culture. For example, Modelo, first brewed in 1925, was local to Mexico City. Pacifico began its journey in the first decade of the 20th century in Mazatlán.

Today, even though many well-known Mexican lagers are owned by large conglomerates based all over the world and have German beginnings, Mexican lagers were established in Mexico.

What is a Mexican Lager?

A Mexican lager has its origins from Europe, but it is Mexico’s beer. While it can refer to a variety of styles, a Mexican lager is generally crisp, light, balanced, and low bitterness. Common styles include Vienna lagers, ambers, and pale lagers, to name a few.

Josh Pfriem, brewmaster and cofounder at pFriem Family Brewers in Hood River, Oregon, when talking to Forbes, defined Mexican lagers quite nicely. “They are lager beers that have brewing techniques that were passed on from Germany. Many of these beers use high levels of corn as adjunct for fermentability and flavor. These beers range from being bright, light and blonde in color to varying depths of flavor and color that go from amber to dark brown.”

Mexican lager is a well-known style of beer. However, the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) only recognizes this style as a part of a broader style categorized as International Lagers with subcategories of International Pale Lager, International Amber Lager, and International Dark Lager. A portion of their definition follows:

“Whether developed from American or European styles, they all tend to have a fairly uniform character and are heavily marketed. Loosely derived from original Pilsner-type lagers, with colored variations having additional malt flavors while retaining a broad appeal. In many countries, the styles will be referred to by their local country names.” (BJCP)

Official style or not, people from all over the world recognize and love Mexican lagers.

Mexican Lagers Embody Culture

Mexican lagers should be about more than just slapping a cactus on a label and calling it good. This style is about a culture that fought hard for its independence. And although Mexico’s beer namesake may have German origins, whether brewed in Mexico, the U.S., or any other country, Mexican lagers of today should pay homage to the rich history behind the country that made them truly Mexican.

MMC Knows Malts

Quality Mexican lagers need quality malts to bring out the flavor profiles we all expect from a crisp, clean lager. Straight from the source, try our Malta Mexico 2-row to brew your next authentic Mexican Lager. Malta Mexico 2-row is malted at our local MMC malthouse in Meoqui, Chihuahua, Mexico, made from barley grown by our local Mexican farmer partners.

Whatever malts you need for your recipes, here at MMC they’re all exceptional. So when you’re ready to craft your Mexican lager, we’re ready for you!

“Malt should not be something that somebody has to worry about. That’s our job as maltsters. We produce something consistent and to specification every time and take that off of your plate.” (Joel Grosser, Director of Operations for North America)

Premium grains from field to flavor.

– – – – –

About Malteurop Malting Company (MMC)

Malteurop Malting Company (MMC) is based in North America – specializing in growing and producing quality malts for the beer, whiskey, and food processing industries.

With local farms and Malthouses spread across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, Malteurop’s commitment to excellence is fully ingrained into every batch it produces, ensuring businesses of any size can create the finest beverages and food products on the planet.

Visit www.malteuropmaltingco.com to learn how we can support your malting needs.

Malting is our passion. Quality is our promise.