Ready to discover the best beer from Mexico?
Did you know Mexico is the world’s largest beer exporter?!
It is also one of the world’s top beer producers, but this country’s rich history with brewing beer dates back to the Spanish Conquest in the 1500s.
Now, Mesoamerican cultures have made fermented alcoholic beverages before the Spanish arrived.
However, the Spanish did introduce wheat and barley to Mexico — leading to many of the best beers in Mexico.
Since then, beer brewing has flourished, producing fine quality Mexican beers that would be a sin not to enjoy!
This article contains the definitive list of the best Mexican beers that every beer-lover (and beer snob) needs to try.
The Best Mexican Beer Brands
1. Corona Extra (Best Selling Beer in Mexico)
🍺 Order Corona from Total Wine
Corona is the number one beer in Mexico
Corona Extra is 4.5% ABV (alcohol by volume)
Corona also makes Corona Light, Corona Familiar (Corona Lager), Corona Premier, Corona Seltzer, Coronita, and Corona Non-Alcoholic Beer
Arguably one of the most famous Mexican beers out there, Corona is the best-selling Mexican beer in the world.
It’s also the number one imported beer in all North America, including the United States and Canada.
Corona Extra Mexican Lager is a light, refreshing pale lager. It has a touch of hops, a slightly bitter taste and a mild flavor.
This beer is usually served with a wedge of lime, and some people also add a pinch of salt.
Best Beers in Mexico
2. Victoria Mexican Lager
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Victoria is 4% ABV
Victoria also makes Victoria Vicky Chamoy, ideal for those who like a sweet beer taste, Victoria Michelada, and more
Victoria Mexican lager is one of the oldest beer brands; it has been brewed in Mexico since 1865.
It is a Pilsner-Vienna hybrid beer, known for its slight bitterness and robust flavor.
This Mexican beer has a strong orange blossom honey aroma, with a smooth, light-to-medium body.
The taste profile of Victoria lager is a mix between a light pilsner and a dark beer.
Best Beers in Mexico
3. Bohemia Oscura and Bohamia Clara
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Bohemia Oscura is 5.5% ABV
Bohemia Mexican beer makes Bohemia Oscura (Vienna style lager) and Bohemia Clara
Bohemia Oscura, born in 1905, is a Vienna-type beer that offers beer drinkers the perfect balance between toasted malt and caramel.
This gives Bohemia Oscura beer its unique dark copper color and a slightly sweet taste, and is moderately bitter with a dense foam.
It is considered one of the finest and best Mexican beers, but there’s also Bohemia Clara (AKA Bohemia lager), a lighter version that’s also quite popular.
Best Beers in Mexico
4. Sol
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Sol is 4.5% ABV
Born in 1899 in Orizaba, Veracruz, the original recipe for this light and refreshing Mexican beer is still used today.
Sol Mexican beer is a golden pilsner beer, with a lemony fresh finish. The beer has a smooth, approachable, and refreshing taste.
It’s the perfect Mexican beer for a hot sunny day, ideal for a Mexican food BBQ or picnic.
Although often compared with Corona, Sol offers a little more balance, and a crisper finish.
Best Beers in Mexico
5. Modelo Especial and Negra Modelo Especial
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Modelo Especial is 4.4% ABV
Negra Modelo Especial is 5.4% ABV
Negra also makes Modelo Chelada, Modelo Oro and Modelo Aguas Frescas
Modelo Especial (light Mexican beer) is a medium-bodied lager, prepared with slow-roasted black malts that give it nutty flavor notes, and a slightly sweet taste.
Negra Modelo Especial (dark Mexican beer) is a Munich dunkel style lager that’s brewed twice as long as most other beers.
It is one of the best selling beers in Mexico, and with a higher-than-average ABV of 5.4%, it has an impressive balance for this style.
Known locally as “la crema de las las cervezas,” this transliterates to calling Modelo Negra “the cream of the crop of beers in Mexico.”
Best Beers in Mexico
6. Pacifico Clara
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Pacifico Clara is 4.5% ABV
Pacifico also makes Pacifico Light
When craving a light Mexican beer with more flavor than Corona, pick up a Pacifico Clara (usually called simply Pacifico).
This golden Mexican pilsner-style beer is known for its crisp, light taste, and just a hint of bitterness.
Pacifico beer has a light, hoppy citrus flavor and plenty of carbonation, which makes it the perfect summer beer.
Best Beers in Mexico
7. Dos Equis Lager
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Dos Equis Lager is 4.2% ABV
Dos Equis also makes Dos Equis Ambar
Do you remember “The Most Interesting Man in the World?” After this famous ad campaign from 2006-2009, Dos Equis nearly tripled its business
The Dos Equis man (American actor Jonathan Goldsmith) has remained a cultural icon — though sales declined after the campaign ended.
But what does Dos Equis beer taste like?
It’s basically a lager that drinks more like a pilsner. Dos Equis is a golden Mexican beer with a balanced composition and a smooth, crisp finish.
Best Beers in Mexico
8. Tecate Original
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Tecate is 4.5% ABV
Tecate also makes Tecate Light,Tecate Michelada and Tecate Ulta Lager
Tecate is a Mexican golden lager, and fun fact, was actually the first Mexico beer sold in cans.
It is full-bodied, with low to medium bitterness, a crisp malt flavor, and hints of sweetness that cut right through the bitter taste.
Tecate has a refreshing yet subtle taste, and is often served with a lime wedge. It is a casual beer, ideal for a beach day or a backyard BBQ.
Tecate beer is named after the city of Tecate, Mexico, one of the pueblos magicos (magic towns).
It is made right in Tecate, about one hour from Tijuana and the Southern California border, on Mexico’s West Coast.
Best Beers in Mexico
9. Indio
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Indio is 4.1% ABV
A Vienna-style lager, Indio has an amber hue to its color. It is known for a light caramel malt flavor, and just enough bitterness to balance the sweetness.
Indio beer is crisp and refreshing, with the right amount of carbonation to give all the flavors their share of the spotlight.
Thanks to the herbal hops mixed in, this is easy-drinking beer.
Best Beers in Mexico
10. Carta Blanca
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Carta Blanca is 4.5% ABV
Carta Blanca is a full-bodied, full-flavored Mexican lager that was first brewed in 1890.
This bright-golden beer has a light, refreshing yet balanced taste that is also slightly sweet and bitter.
Best Beers in Mexico
11. Cerveza Leon
Cerveza Leon is 4.5% ABV
A Munich-type beer that has been in production for more than 100 years, Cerveza Leon has a great aroma and body.
Taste-wise, it’s a mixture of sweetness and mild bitterness, accompanied by a light foam. It is a dark amber, full-bodied beer.
In recent years, it has become incredibly popular with Mexican youth, and is considered a trendy beer to drink.
Best Beers in Mexico
12. Moctezuma Noche Buena (Mexico Christmas Beer)
Moctezuma Noche Buena is 5.9% ABV
Moctezuma Noche Buena is a bock-style beer (part of the lager family) that’s been brewed in Mexico since 1924. It was the first bock-style beer brewed in Mexico.
Moctezuma Noche Buena is a dark beer with a light body. It has a caramel flavor with roasted malts and aroma notes of chocolate, caramel and red fruits.
This is a seasonal beer, only available from about October to January.
Moctezuma Noche Buena is known as the Mexican Christmas beer, and named after the nochebuena flower.
In English, this is the poinsettia flower, which is native to Mexico.
Noche Buena is also the name for Christmas Eve, one of the most important holidays in Mexico.
In Mexico, most families gather for festivities and a meal on December 24th for Noche Buena, not on Christmas Day.
🪅 Looking for a Cinco de Mayo beer instead of a Christmas beer? Tecate, Negra Modelo, and Pacifico make great options.
The Best Microbreweries in Mexico
Mexicans have had a strong love of beer for centuries! However, recently craft beer options and Mexican microbreweries have made it into the beer spotlight.
Have a look at the list below which features nine beers from Mexico microbreweries.
However, don’t miss out on some other great Mexican microbrews like Barrilito, Minerva, Allende, and Perro del Mar.
BEST BEERS IN MEXICO
13. Stone Xocoveza
🍺 Order Stone Xocoveza Mocha Strout from Total Wine
Stone Xocoveza is 8.1% ABV — a pretty strong beer!
Stone Mexican Brewery also makes Xocoveza Tres Leches
Mimicking the flavor profile of Mexican hot chocolate, this imperial stout beer is full-bodied and very smooth.
It has light bitterness with a good amount of sweetness to balance that out.
In both aroma and flavor, you can expect cocoa, coffee and cinnamon, followed by nutmeg, peppers and vanilla.
This beer pours black, with a thick brown head.
Xocoveza (pronounced sho-co-vay-zah) is one of the most unique Mexican beer names.
It is a hybrid word, combing the Aztec word for chocolate, xocolatl, with the Spanish word for beer, ceveza, to make Stone Xocoveza.
Best Beers in Mexico
14. Estrella Jalisco
Estrella Jalisco is 4% ABV
First brewed in Guadalajara, Jalisco in 1910, Estrella Jalisco is part of one of the largest beer brands in Mexico, Grupo Modelo.
However, it has stayed true to its microbrew roots as a premium Mexican pilsner with a beautiful golden yellow color and light, refreshing, crisp flavor.
Estrella Jalisco is the perfect Mexican beer for hot summer days, especially with a slice of lime, but also on its own.
Best Beers in Mexico
15. Mexicali
Mexicali is 5% ABV
Mexicali also makes Mexicali Light, Mexicali Dark, Rio Bravo Lager, and Rio Bravo Dark (among others)
Deep golden yellow in color, Mexicali beer is a pilsner-type lager with a lightly floral, hoppy, and sweet malt aroma.
Crystal-malts are also added to enhance the character of the beer.
Montejo Beer has a bright golden color, smooth flavor, citrus notes and a bright white head.
It’s a light, causal beer that you’d choose on a hot summer day for its pleasant flavors, excellent aromas and a slightly full body.
For those who prefer cans to a beer bottle, this is an obvious choice.
Best Beers in Mexico
17. Buen Día Belgian IPA (Good Day Belgian)
Buen Día Belgian IPA is 7% ABV
Found at Cervecería Calavera, Buen Día is an India pale ale, or IPA.
It has a medium to full-body, mild carbonation and beautiful golden amber color, and as with most IPAs, Buen Día Belgian has an intense flavor and a lot of hops.
The hops provide notes of grapefruit, pineapple and just a little lime, making this the perfect IPA for enjoying on a hot day.
If you love IPA beers, try La Lupulosa IPA and Psicosis Imperial IPA, two of the best Mexican IPAs.
Best Beers in Mexico
18. Tempus Reserva Especial
Tempus Reserva Especial is 6.1% ABV
Tempus also makes Tempus Dorada
A Scottish ale, Tempus Reserva Especial is a maple-colored ale with a toasted caramel malt flavor, a medium body, and a slight bitterness.
Best Beers in Mexico
19. Tijuana Morena
Tijuana Morena is 4.8% ABV
A unique combination of malts gives this dark beer a smooth body, gorgeous mahogany color, light caramel flavor, and a nice sweet aftertaste.
This particular beer is unique as it is brewed only with barley malt, yeast, water, and hops — and no additional ingredients.
Tijuana Morena is also the only hand-crafted lager in Mexico that is limited in production.
Best Beers in Mexico
20. Cucapa Green Card
🤔 Wondering, What’s the strongest Mexican beer? Cucapa Green Card is certainly a contender at 10% ABV.
Cucapa Green Card beer comes from Cervecería de Baja California, founded in 2002 and located in Mexicali, Mexico.
It is a barley wine, with an amber copper color, and dark fruit flavors with notes of sweet plum.
Best Beers in Mexico
21. Cerveza Superior
Cerveza Superior is 4.5% ABV
A lager-style beer, Cerveza Superior is known for its full body and great flavor. This beer has been brewed in the state of Veracruz, Mexico since 1869.
It has a golden color, which is where their famous slogan comes from — The blonde that everyone wants.
Best Beers in Mexico: Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Mexican beer?
In short: A Mexican beer is a beer from Mexico! As a follow up question, you probably want to know what makes Mexican beer different and special.
Most Mexican beers are unique in taste, due to the fact that they often use barley, corn and plants to brew their beer.
The most popular Mexican beers are pilsner, pilsner-style lager, Vienna-style light lagers, Vienna-style dark beers, and Munich-style dark beers.
Brief History of Mexican Beer
🍻 Ancient Origins of beer in Mexico
For more than 1,000 years, Mexicans have been brewing and drinking pulque (pronounced pull-kay).
Pulque is a pre-hispanic alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant, the same plant use to make mezcal and tequila.
Fermented alcoholic drinks were actually quite common during this period in Mexican history.
In fact, Mexicans also brewed drinks like tesgüino, tejuino and pozol, all made with corn, and tepache, made with fermented pineapple.
Many of these Mexican drinks are still brewed and consumed to this day.
🍻 European Influences on Mexican beers
But the history of beer in Mexico, specifically European-style beer, begins with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.
Although Mexicans had been brewing alcoholic beverages for years, including corn beer, the Europeans introduced barley and wheat into the mix.
Nevertheless, production of Mexican beer only started to take off in the late 19th century, after the end of the War of Independence.
Today, Mexico is among the world’s top beer producers of barley-based beers and wheat-based beers because of two of critical factors:
European regulations and taxes began dissipating after the war. This made brewing beer easier, and the Mexican beer industry much more profitable.
The influx of European immigrants, especially German immigrants, who brought their knowledge and expertise in beer production to Mexico.
🍻 Mexican beer today
By the early 20th century, the production of Mexican beer continued to soar due to Prohibition in the U.S.
Today, Mexico is one of the world’s largest beer exporters, garnering billions of dollars of annual sales.
Mexico is also the largest beer exporter to the U.S., and this huge popularity even set a new record in 2021.
In this single year alone, almost one billion gallons of Mexican beer crossed the U.S-Mexican border.
Best Beers in Mexico
Why do Mexican beers taste European?
🍺 Austrian Influences in Mexican Beer
One of the main reasons Mexican beers taste European is due to the influence of the Austro-German Emperor Maximilian.
He served as the Emperor of the Second Mexican Empire from 1864 until his execution in 1867.
During his reign, Maximilian loved beer so much that he opened his own brewery in Mexico.
Fun Fact: He lived in Chapultepec Castle, the only true castle in North Americas, as it’s the only one royals once lived in.
He was born in Vienna and brought over his love of Vienna lager to Mexico.
Although he was eventually executed, his influence stuck around as many Vienna Lager beers are still brewed in the country today.
During Maximilian’s rule, Mexico also welcomed German and Austrian immigrants.
When they came, they brought their knowledge and expertise of brewing traditions, heavily influencing the Mexican beer landscape we know and love today.
🍺 Spanish Influences in Mexican Beer
Nevertheless, before Maximillian’s rule, European barley-based beer was first introduced into Mexico during the Spanish Conquest.
In the 16th century, Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortes brought over this type of beer.
King Charles V of Spain then allowed Alfonso de Herrero to open the first barley-based cervecería (brewery) in Mexico in 1544.
However, his business struggled due to taxes and harsh European regulations, and eventually closed.
Best Beers in Mexico
What’s the most popular beer in Mexico?
Wondering, What is the best selling beer in Mexico?
The most popular beers in Mexico are the ones that are also popular worldwide, including Corona (the country’s most famous beer), Tecate, Negra Modelo, XX Dos Equis and Sol.
Most of the beers sold in Mexico today are Vienna-style dark beer, light beer and lagers.
Best Beers in Mexico
What are the Top 5 Mexican beers?
Want to know, What beer do Mexican locals drink?
The short answer is: All of them! Statistically speaking, the best selling beers in Mexico are Corona, Tecate, Negra Modelo, Dos Equis,and Sol.
However, you can also fine beer from other countries like Budweiser and Bud Light (after all, Anheuser-Busch InBev is the world’s largest brewer), Miller Lite, Stella Artois, Coors Light and others.
Best Beers in Mexico
What’s the Mexican word for beer?
The official word for beer in Spanish is cerveza (proounced ser-vay-zah).
However, there is a lot of slang in Mexican Spanish, and there’s even a book about this called MexiSlang where you can learn it all!
In Mexico, you’ll likely hear beer called chela or cheva, but many also use the standard Spanish word, cerveza.
The Mexican slang word for a large quart of beer (32 ounces/0.94 liters) is caguama or ballena,which means “whale.”
Best Beers in Mexico
What are the best beer breweries in Mexico?
There are two big breweries in Mexico that supply more than 90% of all the beer in the country.
That’s right — only two Mexican breweries make nearly allthe beers of Mexico.
They are Cervecería Modelo and Cervecería Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma (FEMSA). Let’s look a little more into who they are individually.
🍺 Cerveceria Modelo (Grupo Modelo)
Founded in 1925, Cerveceria Modelo first started to brew a popular lager called Negra Modelo. Not long after came the even-more-popular Corona.
Due to the popularity of the beers, Cerveceria Modelo started to grow rapidly. They eventually acquired more beer labels that would fall underneath their umbrella.
Today, Grupo Modelo is a leader in Mexican beer production, with more than 60% of the total (domestic and export) market share.
They own Corona, Pacifico, Negra Modelo, Victoria, Estrella Jalisco and León.
A few years after Cuauhtemoc opened its door, a German-born immigrant founded the Moctezuma Brewery.
He began brewing a beer called Siglo XX, which was later renamed Dos Equis.
The breweries later merged, and were acquired by Heineken International.
Today, this brewery produces Carta Blanca (known as the best cheap Mexican beer), Sol, Indio, Bohemia, Tecate, Dos Equis, and some others.
Best Beers in Mexico
What are the best Mexican beer cocktails?
🍺 Michelada
There aren’t many beer cocktails out there, but the michelada is arguably one of the most famous.
A traditional michelada is made with beer (you choose your beer), Clamato juice, Worcestershire sauce, assorted spices like Tajín, fresh lime juice and a tamarind rim.
Some people also add hot sauce, Maggi sauce, and in rare cases, soy sauce.
As these are very popular, different places prepare them with slightly different variations.
For this reason, they’re often compared to a Bloody Mary, with each bartender adding their unique spin to the classic recipe.
🍺 Chelada
If you aren’t keen on the idea of the Clamato (clam and tomato juice), opt for a chelada which omits the Clamato.
A chelada is beer with lime juice and a salt rim. It is similar to a Margarita, but with beer instead of tequila.
You can choose from any of the types of beer available at the bar when deciding what you want in your chelada.
However, the most popular choice is usually a light beer over a dark one.
🍺 Ojo Rojo
The ojo rojo (meaning “red eye”), is a michelada that comes with a rimmed-glass lined with chamoy syrup and a tamarind spice mix.
The chamoy adds a sweet flavor, and the spice mix is often quite spicy — so this is a very flavorful Mexican beer cocktail.
Best Beers in Mexico
What are the types of Mexican beers?
🍺 Dark Beers from Mexico
Dark beers, known as cerveza obscura (or cerveza oscura) in Mexico, are German-style beers with a dark color.
The color comes from roasted grains, which also give the beer a deep and rich flavor.
Although many have a higher alcohol content, dark beers don’t necessarily have to be strong.
Darker beers are also known for their notes of chocolate, coffee and other intense flavors.
Some examples of Mexican dark beers include Negra Modelo Amber, Bohemia Obscura and Dos Equis Amber.
Though it’s only available in late-fall and winter, many say the Moctezuma Noche Buena is the best dark Mexican beer.
🍺 Light Beers from Mexico
Light beers, or pale lagers, often have the same characteristics as a lager. The only difference is that these have lower calories and also lower ABVs.
A great example of this style of beer is Corona Light, a top-selling domestic beer with distinct lager properties.
🍺 Clear Mexican Lagers
Mexican lagers are often seen as pale, with low bitterness and high clarity.
The beers are light and refreshing but not overly sweet, making them the perfect beer to drink on a hot sunny day.
These beers also often have a lower alcohol by volume percentage (known as ABV). Corona and Sol are great examples of this style of beer.
The history of Mexican Lager beers is long, but they all originated as Vienna Lagers. Today, many Mexican-style lagers use Vienna or pilsner malts in their recipes.
🍺 Amber Beers from Mexico
Mexican amber lagers are also known as Austrian-Vienna lagers, a beer style popularized in the country during the 1860s.
These beers, like Negra Modelo Amber and Dos Equis Amber, have a copper to reddish brown color, and is usually known for its bready malt aroma.
Flavor-wise, they often have a low to medium range of hop bitterness, medium-body, and toasty or caramel-like malt flavoring.
🍺 Pilsner Beers from mexico
Named after the Czech Republic city of Plzen, pilsner is a type of lager.
However, the main difference between pilsners and lagers is that pilsners use different yeast and therefore have more hop-forward flavors.
Both Pacifico and Estrella Jalisco can be considered pilsner Mexican beers.
My Final Thoughts on the Best Beers in Mexico
Mexico has a long history and a rich culture when it comes to beer dating back hundreds of years to the first beer made in the country in the 1500s.
Today, it is among the top Mexican imports to the rest of the world.
It is enjoyed in the country as well — from Mexico City to the beaches of Mexico, in small towns and big cities alike.
The top-selling favorite beers are Corona, Tecate, Negra Modelo, Dos Equis and Sol. No Best Mexican Beers list would be complete without including them.
However, after reading this list of Mexican beers, you now know about so many more beers you can sample.
After all, the best way to pick your favorite Mexico beer brands is to try as many as possible!