Beer Styles

What is a Mexican Lager? It refers to a pale, lean, bottom-fermented beer with low bitterness, served very cold. In the BJCP guidelines, the competition reference for beer styles, it has no category of its own. It falls under International Pale Lager.

Carta Blanca, Cuauhtémoc's first brand, belongs here: it tastes lightly grainy, a touch sweet, and smooth. Bohemia, also from Monterrey, counts among this brewery's pale lagers too, and both share the same lean body. Both typically sit within the style's range, usually between 4.5 and 6 percent ABV. Exact figures appear on each bottle's label.

How does this differ from German Pils or Helles? A Pils has noticeably more hop bitterness, while a Helles is rounder and maltier. A Helles from Bavaria has more malt sweetness up front, while a Pils brings the bitterness forward. The Mexican lager holds back between the two and puts refreshment ahead of flavor, and that's by design. The style is built for heat, not for long, contemplative sips.

A counterpoint comes from Noche Buena. It's a dark, malt-forward seasonal beer from the Moctezuma line, drunk around Christmastime. Whether a beer is a lager, an ale, or something else entirely is decided by the yeast, not the color: even the dark Noche Buena is bottom-fermented. The style profile shows the typical ranges for pale lager. Individual brands may fall outside these ranges.