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Mexican craft beer: Coming from south of the border for your taste buds
While overall U.S. beer industry sales remain flat, Americans' thirst for craft beer continues to grow and Mexican beers such as Corona Extra and Modelo Especial have unquenched market appeal. Could craft beer made by Mexican brewmasters be the next big beverage trend in the U.S.? A trio of former Anheuser-Busch executives and a Mexican entrepreneur are betting on it with a new venture, Quest Beverage. The company has already introduced four beers into Houston and St. Louis and throughout Missouri, and the beers are now hitting markets in California, Illinois and Texas.
The beers currently being imported are a citrusy Crossover IPA and crisp Blonde Ale from Cerveza Urbana, based in Mexicali, Mexico, and a light, dry Kölsch ale and a malty, mildly bitter London-style ale from Monterrey, Mexico's Cerveza Rrëy.
A trio of trends points to potential success:
• A growing Hispanic population in the U.S. now makes up 18 percent of Americans.
• Mexican imports are hot. Corona Extra and Modelo Especial each owned 5 percent of the retail market last year, according to IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. Modelo Especial sales rose 18 percent, dollar-wise, from 2017.
• Growth in craft beer, brewed by small, independent breweries, has slowed, but its share of the overall $111 billion-plus U.S. beer industry is expected to increase beyond the 23.4 percent it captured in 2017, according to the Brewers Association.
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Kelp in Craft Beer
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Nerdfest on Sunday March 03 2019, @03:21PM (5 children)
Calling Corona Extra a "beer" is a bit of a stretch, much less "craft".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 03 2019, @03:53PM
Modelo, especially negro, is pretty good, though.
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Sunday March 03 2019, @05:06PM
TFA was not actually calling Corona "craft". It was noting high, growing sales of Corona and a separate effort to introduce Mexico-based "craft" beers into the U.S. market. (Separate for now, they will probably be bought out if they are successful.)
I don't remember Corona Extra but Modelo Especial and Negra Modelo are OK.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 03 2019, @08:26PM
Corona is way better than bud, coors , special export or Milwaukee's best. They just price it too high so people think its fancy. There's always tecate and sol too, I don't think we're short of ok mexican beers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 03 2019, @09:04PM
Corona "familiar", is regular Corona, just in a 32oz brown glass jug. The taste difference is amazing. It's pretty widespread nowadays - give it a try.
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Monday March 04 2019, @05:50PM
Thanks, I realized that after I responded. Still ... the insanity of the clear bottles. Light does quite a number on the more subtle flavours in beer, and it's noticeable after a few hours (by more refined tasters than myself, but still). There's a reason you use dark glass for beer.
Now, on the other hand, I'll definitely drink Corona, as long as there's lime. I call it a "beer-like" beverage and enjoy it. Much like TMB noted, some beers are for after hard work on a hot day. Corona is that beer for those of us that are not quite as manly. I've bot a beard now, so I might have to look at switching.