“Cinco de Mayo,” Spanish for “the sink is full of mayonnaise.” OK, not really. We made that up, which is only fitting, because the idea that May 5 is a big holiday celebrated throughout Mexico is also made up. This yarn was spun by some PR hack for Corona beer back in the ’80s when the company was looking for a way to get Americans to drink more beer. Since this is not an especially hard task, they didn’t work especially hard on the idea, not even hard enough to note that Mexico’s real Day of Independence is Sept. 16. Cinco de Mayo commemorates The Battle of Puebla, where Mexicans defeated the French army, and in Mexico is mostly a regional holiday. Holy mole! Why celebrate the fake holiday by drinking tasteless beer? It’s the perfect opportunity to drink Mexican inspired craft beer. We offer five such beers in our Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Cinco de Mayo.
Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Cinco de Mayo
Matchless Mexico Gold Lager
4% ABV
Matchless Brewing brewed their Mexico Gold Lager with Pilsner and Vienna malts, plus flaked corn, to balance the Wakatu hops for one seriously crushable Mexican-style lager. It hits the nose with a faint grain followed by toasty grain flavor plus vibrant yet gentle hop presence.
Stoup Cervecita Mexican Lager
4.8% ABV
The Mexican lager style originated around Vienna in the mid-1800s, but its popularity faded until Austrian brewers who immigrated to Mexico created a following there. The Vienna lager is often closely associated with märzen and Oktoberfest styles, but historically the malt used for the Vienna was more highly kilned, leaving it with more light-roasted qualities. Stoup Brewing’s Cervecita Mexican Lager follows style that is “light and bright and irresistibly crushable, sunshine optimal but not required.”
Wet Coast Costa Humeda Mexican Lager
4.9% ABV
The Viennese lager is widely regarded as an original lager style. The beer shared its name with the Austrian city where brewer Anton Dreher first brewed it with an isolated lager yeast, revolutionary for its time. The combination of the new lager yeast and the invention of high-temperature-controlled malting yielded a reddish beer, from the Vienna malt that was clean tasting due to the yeast. Wet Coast Brewing’s Costa Humeda Mexican Lager brings Vienna, Pilsner, and Chocolate malts together with just a touch of flaked corn to create an easy drinking Lager that is full of character. Expect notes of sweet malt and chocolate.
Rooftop La Azotea Negra
5.2% ABV
Rooftop Brew brewed the sister to one of their most popular beers, la Azotea: introducing La Azotea Negra. Based on a very popular beer we know and love, this is a modern take on a dunkel lager, modified to lighten the body and conditioned on fresh lime for maximum drinkability.
Reuben’s Gose-a-rita
4.3% ABV
Reuben’s Brews put a citrus twist on their award-winning Reuben’s Gose — Gose-a-rita. Made with lime, lime zest, sea salt, and coriander, this fruited gose is refreshingly tart with a vibrant salinity and a bright note of lime.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
