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Cucapá's Chupacabras Pale Ale - Beer of the Week



by Joshua M. Bernstein
Posted Dec 7th 2009 5:00PM

While tequila has assumed its perch as a respected spirit, Mexican beer mostly remains a lime-juiced joke: a cool thirst-quencher to slurp while browning on a beach.

"In Mexico, 99.9 percent of the beer offerings are pale lagers," explains Mario García, CEO of Mexicali, Mexico's Cucapá Brewery. "Clear-bottle beer is not craft beer. That's why they make you shove a lime in it."

But against daunting odds, García and Cucapá are trying to rewrite the rulebook for Mexican beer. Since 2002, Cucapá (located in the Mexican state of Baja California) has crafted full-bodied, full-flavored brews such as the Obscura, a dark, nutty ale with chocolaty undertones and a burly barelywine redolent of citrus and molasses.

South of the border, though, the most puzzling release has been the Chupacabras pale ale. "We brought this to several festivals, and people said, 'This beer is rotten. It's bitter.' They associated bitterness with the beer being bad."

Compared to most American hop Godzillas, however, the Chupacabras is delightfully restrained. The ale (5.8 percent ABV, 45 IBUs) pours out a clear copper, with a tan head that lingers like a welcome house guest. An assertively citrusy scent is leavened with a little caramel, roasted nuts and toaster-fresh bread, carrying into a lusciously sweet-bitter taste.

"We love beer, and we love making beer," García says. "We just happen to be in Mexico."

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

...lingers like a welcome house guest...

Originally Posted by Marty Cortez

Hey, I don't write this stuff...