It’s that time of the year again, the dreaded Cinco de Mayo. The plan was to hit BevMo and pick up some cheap-ass Mexican beer, cram a lime in it, and write about what a lousy time I had. In between trips to the sink to dump beer, I would regale you with the touching story of a man and his mouth loving relationship with a Corona long neck. Chances are good that I will still regale you with that tale but instead of drinking cheap, mass-produced lagers, I will be drinking beers from Cerveza Cucapá.
Cerveza Cucapá is one of the few Mexican microbreweries. Located in the city of Mexicali, Cerveza Cucapá is named after the one of the five Indian tribes that live in the Mexicali Valley. They currently have a 7 beers in their product line (according to their website): Clásica (blonde ale), Light (light beer), Honey (amber ale), Triguña (wheat ale), Obscura (American brown ale), Chupacabra (pale ale) and a barleywine. Tonight, I’ll be focusing on only 3 of their beers (because that’s all I could find at BevMo today).
Honey, Cerveza Cucapá, 4.5% ABV
Honey has a pleasant malt aroma that has a light caramel aroma, toasted grains with an equally, light fresh, hop aroma and honey undertones. The beer pour out a light amber color with a lasting, off-white head. Honey has a nice, sweetish, malt flavor this is part caramel and part toasted grains with medium/medium-high citrusy hop flavor and honey notes underneath. Hop bitterness is perfectly balanced and matched with the malt profile of the beer. The mouthfeel is medium-light with high carbonation.
The beer’s webpage (can’t link to it because it’s Flash) does an excellent job teasing you with a well-written description of what to expect but you have to take those with a grain of salt. It is marketing speak of course. Thank goodness this beer does a pretty good job of living up to the hype. I am pleasantly surprised by this beer. As it begins to warm, the malt character of the beer begins to open up to show it’s surprising depth and complexity. The hop bitterness is enough to balance but is full flavored with tons of citrus character. Honey is labeled as an American Amber Ale.
Obscura, Cerveza Cucapá, 4.5% ABV
This beer pours out a clear, dark brown with amber highlights and a lasting, beige head. The aroma has a wonderfully complex malt aroma that has slight dark fruit esters, roasted malt notes, toasted whole grain character and a touch of molasses. The flavor of Obscura echoes that of the aroma with more of an emphasis on the roasted grain aspect of the flavor profile and hints of dark chocolate. The hop flavor is subdued in this beer while the hop bitterness is low/medium-low. Obscura is medium-light in body with high carbonation.
Like Honey, Obscura is also an award-winning American Brown Ale. Most brown ales are, frankly, kind of boring. They’re malty and that’s about it, pretty one-dimensional. Obscura is chalk full of aroma and flavor and if I could make a brown ale like this, I’d be pretty damned happy. The beer is nearing a Munich Dunkel in aroma and flavor. Two-for-two for Cerveza Cucapá.
Chupacabra, Cerveza Cucapá, 5.8% ABV
Chupacabras pours out a hazy, amber with a short lasting, off-white head. The aroma is a balance between lightly toasted grain character, slight caramel and a citrus hop aroma. The flavor is initially of a citrus hop character followed by a lightly toasted maltiness. The hop bitterness is medium-high, lasting but isn’t harsh, just enough to remind you this is a pale ale. This is a medium bodied beer with high carbonation.
I have officially been won over by Cerveza Cucapá. While I have had better pale ales, this one is tastey nonetheless. Instead of overbearing hops, Chupacabra is well-balanced and shows a pleasant, yet multi-dimensional malt character.
Overall…
As I said in the previous paragraph, I am now a fan of Cucapá beers. I was originally skeptical because they were a Mexican brewery. In addition, two of the three beers I had tonight were sessionable beers that weighed in at 4.5% ABV. While not much of an indicator of anything, I usually think of low alcohol beer as low in flavor and character. Not sure where I got that particular “filter” but there it is. Cerveza Cucapá, thankfully, is breaking me out of old habits and pre-conceptions.
Vivá Cerveza!
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I’ve been enjoying these beers for the past few months now, glad you discovered them and gave them some publicity. My favorite of the three (and I’ve only found those three in the South Bay, too) is the Obscura. I think it would go well with some sort of mole’, but haven’t had a chance to give that a whirl.
I once had an encounter with a chupacabra. I will now try this beer.
Glad you tasted and liked these beers, they also brew seasonal beers that are just wonderful. Their names toy with border life: Lowrider (Double Rye), Green Card (Barley Wine), Migra (Imperial Stout), Migra Winter (Imperial Stout) and Runaway (IPA). I am a Mexicali native and these are our best kept secret, cheers !!!…