Once again, for the weekly #BeerSaturday challenge I want to present a Mexican beer. Unlike the last times, however, today I have picked a very special craft brew that is certainly quite different from ... well, any of the commercial beers, that I'm not even sure if I could distinguish from one another, if I didn't see its label on the bottle. My beer of choice for this week comes from the microbrewery Cervecería Allende, located in San Miguel de Allende in the state of Guanajuato.
A Much Shorter History
If you take a look at my previous #BEER posts, you'll notice that most commercial breweries in Mexico were founded right around the turn of the 20th century. Since then they were bought up or merged with one another, until all of them ended up becoming part of one or the other multinational beer conglomerates (one being Dutch, the other originally from Belgium), so today none of the big breweries is actually Mexican any more.
This is the time to shine for breweries like Allende, which goes back no further than 2014. Since then they have carved out an ever expanding niche for themselves, and have gained some fame all over Mexico, for being ... well, not one of the big ones. Beer connoisseurs do certainly appreciate this, as can be seen on their growing selection of delicious beers. In the past I was lucky enough to sample their IPA and their Brown Ale, and I would have gladly included either one of those in my post today. As it turns out, however, I was unable to find either of those at the store that offers more than the typical beer choices. What I did find, though, was a bottle of Baltic Porter, a seasonal choice supposedly available only in Winter. Quite the irony, considering that right now is the hottest part of the year in Mexico (the rainy season starts in June, which lowers the temps considerably). Still, the Porter was nothing to scoff at.
Dark Color, Even Darker Taste
Do you know the sensation when after the first sip of the beer something hits you? Kinda like a sensation of WOW, this beer IS different! Then you take another sip, and get to really appreciate it. Personally, I am not super crazy about the really dark brews. I used to make fun of needing a spoon to eat it with. What I really enjoyed, though, is that this beer tasted just as dark as it looked. I doubt that Allende's Baltic Porter is going to become my beer of choice, but one thing is certain: its unique flavor tops any alleged red ale, amber, or pseudo dark beers from any of the commercial breweries.
Join BeerSaturday, Share Your Beer and Win Something!
As always my beer posts are part of the weekly Beer Saturday Challenge. Go ahead and follow the link to see the prizes you can win, simply for sharing any beer-related post. Three pics, 200 words, proper tags, and a comment is all you need to participate. Hope to see you there!