Region & History

Order a beer from Baja California in Tijuana, and you're drinking border history. When the US banned alcohol sales in 1920, thirsty Americans crossed the line heading south. As early as 1921, the Azteca Brewing Company is said to have been founded in Mexicali, followed two years later by Cervecería Mexicali.

A second line of history leads to Tecate. There, Alberto Aldrete took over an old brick building in 1944 and started brewing beer; ten years later, Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma bought the brand. Since 2010, that company has belonged to Heineken. Tecate is still considered the border town's beer, even though it's drunk across all of Mexico and in the US.

The small craft beer scene is much younger. Cervecería Tijuana opened in 2000 and is credited with sparking the state's craft boom. Border Psycho, Mamut, and Insurgentes all emerged from its orbit. Cervecería Cucapá followed in Mexicali in 2003, and the first beer festival, the TJ Beer Fest, took place in Tijuana in 2005.

In Ensenada, Agua Mala started as the first craft brewery at the port in 2005. Cervecería Wendlandt opened in 2012, initially as a bar in the middle of town, before moving to its brewery in the El Sauzal district about eight months later. Founder Eugenio Romero wanted to bring home the beer he'd discovered as a student in the craft bars across the border.

Today, Mexican media count more than 200 craft breweries in Baja California, more than in any other state. Ensenada and Mexicali alone each have over 30 breweries and tap rooms, meaning taprooms located right at the brewery. Unlike Kölsch in the EU, beer from here carries no protected designation of origin.