Recently I got to try some very fine tasting beers from the Cervezería Colima. At a ver unassuming-looking eatery, where they serve tacos de guisado, that is various cooked dishes that you can pick up with a tortilla (and hence call it a "taco"), I asked for one of those commercial beers that you find pretty much anywhere in Mexico, only to be told: "Sorry, we only serve craft beer."
Only Craft Beer??? Well Then, Bring It On!
I was very pleasantly surprised, since this is not too common in Mexico, let alone at unassuming-looking taco shops. So I checked their selection carefully, and even found something new to try: various types of beers from the aforementioned Cervezería Colima. I decided on the Colimota Siete and afterwards went for a Río de Lumbre.
Special, Special, like a German Beer Fest
Looking at the beer selection on the brewery's website, I couldn't find the Colimota Siete. That's not surprising, since the beer is a very special and limited brew, a so-called Festbier, whose description of "noble hops" and "floral and herbal notes" are supposed to remind us of a German beer fest, or something like that. Having had my fair share of Bierfeste in Germany, I can't say it had this effect on me. Still, the taste was deliciously different, after all the typical tasting Mexican beers. The name, by the way, is a word-play on Colimita, diminutive of the State's name Colima, but turned around, to make it big instead small. Kinda like the Grand Colima, hahaha!
A Delicious IPA, Just for the Taste
That one beer would have been enough to accompany my tacos, but my curiosity made me want to try another of these exotic tasting beers. This time I went for the IPA called Río de Lumbre or River of Fire in English. It didn't taste firey at all, instead it had a nice fruity flavor, just as one would expect from a good IPA. Later I realized that there was another IPA from this same brewery that I had tasted before, called Piedra Lisa. Too bad I don't have a photo of it. Though it said IPA on the bottle, I think it was actually closer to an ISA, since the alcohol level was merely around 4%, in spite of the high hop content.
Colima: Limes, Craft Beer, and much else...?
I'm pretty happy that I found these good beers from Colima, since the state is usually made fun of for not having anything to offer. After all, it is one of the smallest states in Mexico. Most people will associate the name Colima with limes, which is its main product, and heavy rainfalls, resulting from its location on the Pacific coast. But of course the best way to respond to these stereotypes is mentioning something particularly special about the place, which in this case will be the Colima Brewery.
image source
Join the BeerSaturday Challenge
If you also enjoy a nice #BEER, and want to share it with the rest of us, why don't you participate in the longest ongoing challenge on Hive, created by @detlev . For further details see all the instructions on the prompt post, where all the winners of the previous week are also listed. Because that's right: you can win some sweet prizes! So good luck, and cheers to you all!