Region & History

Mexico's oldest beer doesn't come from the capital, but from Toluca, west of Mexico City. Victoria is considered the country's oldest beer. It was there that Agustín Marendaz founded a small craft brewery in 1865, which later grew into an industrial operation.

In 1890, this workshop became the Compañía Cervecera Toluca y México S.A. The company name references two places at once, the city of Toluca and the name of the country itself. In 1935, Cervecería Modelo bought up all the facilities of the Toluca brewery, but kept only the most popular brands going, Pilsner and Victoria.

Modelo itself is considerably younger. In 1925, the company launched a dark beer that would later become Negra Modelo. From this brewery grew Grupo Modelo, headquartered in Mexico City, which also owns Corona and Modelo Especial.

In 2013, AB InBev took over the group. At the same time, an agreement settled the US business: Constellation Brands acquired the brewery in Piedras Negras in the state of Coahuila, along with permanent rights to distribute Corona and the Modelo brands in the US. So anyone buying a Corona in the United States is buying from Constellation, while outside the US the brand belongs to AB InBev.

For everyday life in the city, this means little: the brands carry on, and Victoria continues to be brewed and enjoyed in Mexico. The beer from Toluca has outlasted the takeovers and changes of ownership.

There is no EU protected designation of origin for Mexican beer. "Mexican Lager" is a marketing term with no legal standing, and Victoria, Modelo and Corona are brands, not protected regional names.