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| This weeks topic: Mexican Beer |
So far I’ve covered beer in Australia (Tasmania to be
precise) and Japan. While at work recently I searched the fridges for something
that isn’t from Australia for my next review. The only one I could find sadly
was Corona and Sol. Both are Mexican beers and both are in competition to be
the world’s best Cerveza (Mexican for beer I think?). So I had the idea to
compare the two and deliver my judgement.
There
is something very different about these two beers as opposed to pretty much
everything else you can order from a fridge at a bar. (Good) Bartenders will
ask if you want a slice of lemon or lime with the beer. Why do they only ask
with these beers and not with a Boag’s Draught or a VB? I mean if someone
ordered a Cascade Draught why don’t they get a slap around the head to go with
it? (Only Joking to any Cascade fans out there!). Mexico is famous for another
kind of popular alcohol – tequila which drinking is synonymous with a bit of
salt and lemon or lime. I have heard that there are two ways of doing a shot of
tequila though (apart from straight shot after straight shot) where you lick
some salt of the back of your hand, do the shot then suck on the fruit. A more
intriguing version of the tequila slammer called the tequila suicide where you
snort the salt, do the shot and squirt the fruit into your eye – resulting in a
morning after with a salty nose, a hangover (for some) and sore eyes from the
citrus squirting.
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| How much did I drink last night? |
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| Corona from where you would rather be |
Corona
(Extra) is a beer of Mexican origin (born in 1925) which has an alcohol volume
of 4.6%. Ironically breweries worldwide brew 4.6 billion litres per year. It
holds the title of one of the five best beers in the world. A carton of 325ml
stubbies will set you back about $50 on a good week at the local bottle shop. I
have always known that you can buy Corona in cans but could never find them
except for a little convenience store in Tokyo, Japan. I’m going to ignore the
fact that I drank a can of Corona before because I love Corona, but I didn’t
like what I tasted in the can. What makes Corona different is in the brewing
process. I have learned through research that Corona is made with barley, malt,
rice and/ or corn, hops, yeast and antioxidants mostly. Because of what is in
Corona it is considered an almost
gluten-free beer, it contains less gluten than other brands of beer. Previous
packaging of Corona is appealing to beer drinkers of many countries. The six
packs feature eight different languages for beer (including Japanese), I’m sure
if you could read beer in at least one of those languages then you would be
glad that Mexico brewers want you to drink their product. A problem for the
clear bottles is that prolonged exposure to sunlight and transporting worldwide
will destroy it (best drunk at the source – Mexico). Going back to my point of
lemon or lime in the beer I will admit that I think Corona tastes better with
one, people online argue that this is to give flavour to flavourless beer but I
disagree. I believe it adds novelty to a beer which is branded as a tropical,
summer themed beer. Price: Around $50-$60 a carton.
After
research and asking my knowledgeable sources (Thanks Lisa) I have learned that
the origin of using lemon or lime comes from two reasons, first, in Mexico,
bottle caps are prone to rust and by using a wedge of lemon or lime to clean
the rim it ensures you can still drink the beer. The second reason is because
of insects, flies and other bugs that could fly into the beer, Mexican beer
drinkers will plug the top of their beer with a piece of fruit and take it out
when they go to have a drink. Australians (as far as I know) took this one step
further and poked the fruit into the beer.
Now
is time for Sol to defend itself. Sol was first made in 1899 and currently
sells more in Mexico than Corona does. I tried to do some research about Sol on
my phone but the official website doesn’t seem to want to give me access. After
many attempts to find websites that would talk about Sol most gave very poor
reviews for Sol that is exported from Mexico. In the interest of getting this
article out to the public I will leave Sol with very little to say for itself
and will hopefully provide more information when I can find it. Price: Around
$40-$45 a carton.
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| I take this job very seriously |
Here are my findings.
Dos Equis:
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| Dos Equis |
Because I don’t ever remember drinking this before I
decided it would start the experiment. The green bottle was appealing to me as
I love the colour green. But from the first taste I realised that it wasn’t a
very good tasting beer. It was flat tasting with a nasty finish, I forced
myself to finish it and don’t plan to buy it again. I doubt that lemon or lime
would even improve it at all.
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| Sol know how to sell beer |
Sol:
I was asked by my local bottle shop to up sell this product
because it is one of their sponsored drinks. To be honest, I tried Sol next
with a washed out mouth and it tasted very similar to Dos Equis, a bland beer
with a bad after taste. I was disappointed after I tried this beer. I don’t
doubt that it is a big seller (especially in Mexico) but I don’t rate it as a
beer I would choose to buy from a bar or bottle shop in Australia. My idea of
beer is one I have developed over many years and there are beers that I love,
hate and beers that I love to hate. I’m not sure which one to class this under
though. I would have to try this from the source and discover why it is the
best selling beer in Mexico.
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| Mexican hap |
Corona:
Possibly the first time I had ever had one without
fruit (excluding the can in Japan) I was hoping for some redemption in the
experiment. I will admit that the beer tasted like beer without the fruit and
was a little difficult to drink, however, it was much better than drinking the
other two. My findings are that Corona should still be consumed with fruit.
Findings:
Mexican beer is a law unto itself, the three main
beers are there for all to see and do have varying success across the world.
From my point of view though, Dos Equis and Sol are cheaper and poorer quality
beers. If I wanted to drink Mexican I would always choose Corona, with a slice
of lemon or lime on a hot day.
When I started writing this I thought that Mexican
beer was going to be straightforward to write about. However, I now feel that I
have barely scratched the surface. To be a true critic I need to go to Mexico
to find out about the place where these unique brews come from. Mexican beer
isn’t high on my favourite beer list but it is still something I recommend you
to try.
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| Drink Corona |
I feel like a Corona right now.
Cheers
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