Region & History

How old is Mahou? The Madrid brewery states the year 1890. That's when Enrique, Luis, and Carolina Mahou, children of Casimiro Mahou who hailed from Lorraine, founded a factory for ice and beer on Calle Amaniel under the name "Hijos de Casimiro Mahou." The first beer went on sale in 1891.

The ice wasn't a side business. Lager ferments and matures cold, and without refrigeration that's simply not possible during a Madrid summer. Anyone wanting to brew bottom-fermented beer in 1890 needed ice, and the Mahou family had both under one roof.

The name San Miguel can be a bit misleading in Madrid, since the brand actually originates from Manila. There, the Fábrica de Cerveza San Miguel opened on September 29, 1890. It was founded by the merchant Enrique María Barretto, who had been granted a twenty-year privilege by the Spanish crown. The brewery took its name from its city district.

The Spanish company is entirely separate. In 1953, San Miguel Spain acquired the brand rights for Europe and Mediterranean Africa, and in 1957 the company San Miguel, Fábricas de Cerveza y Malta, was established, with its first brewery in Lleida, Catalonia.

In 2000, Mahou bought 70 percent of San Miguel from the Danone Group, giving it full ownership after already holding a 30 percent stake. Since then, the Mahou San Miguel Group has existed, entirely in Spanish hands. The register holds no EU protected designation of origin for any Spanish beer.