WTF is Cerveza?
Have you seen a few more clear bottles on the bottle shop shelves lately? Wonder what the f*&K is a ‘cerveza’? Let me tell you a little more about what it means, where it came from, and why everyone seems to be making one these days.
To put it simply, cerveza is Spanish for beer.
The one you’ve probably seen around – in ads, in bars, in my hand at a party is a Corona. It’s la cerveza mas fina. Made in Mexico and packaged in a clear glass bottle so you can see how bright it is. The perfect beach beer, always served with a lime (not a lemon!!!) and often in icy cold buckets.
It’s brewed to be DRINKABLE. The flavour, the body, the finish – it’s all very mild. And it’s oh-so-refreshing on a hot day. But people like you and me – we want to crave that drinkability and lime-laced brew – but still support a local brewery.
So as this summer kicks off in Australia, it’s delightful to see the Cerveza take off, too.
Clear bottles, crisp, refreshing – and always made a bit more delicious with a wedge of lime.
And sometimes we’ll see them flavoured with salt and lime straight out of the can – perfect.
This style totally lends itself to the Aussie summer and beach eskies
Is this really a Mexican beer style? Not really. The original Mexican beers were German and Austrian influenced lagers, having been introduced by immigrants. The pale, light, crisp beer brewed with corn that we’re accustomed to clear bottles is definitely a modern thing. Anyway….
This is an anytime time beer.
For knock offs? Yep!
Watching the cricket? Yep!
Park picnic? 100%
Beach? You better believe it.
Have you tried one of the new Cervezas?
Here’s what I’m drinking from Beer Fans right now – You can’t beat the first release of an Aussie Cerveza from Modus. And the beach-dwellers over at Freshwater have also just released one.
The best part? If you try any of these from Beer Fans, you’ll be getting the beers straight from the brewery and if you don’t like them, you’ll get your money back.
I came across the Balter Cerveza last week and it is Awesome.
I came across the Balter Cerveza last week and it is Awesome.
Nice spiel but how about some truth telling about the “style” as well.
Yes Cerveza translates to Beer in Spanish but Corona is actual an International Pale Lager, which includes other beers like Asahi Super Dry and Heineken. Unlike other versions of the Style, Corona uses corn (adjuncts) instead of malted barley because it is cheaper to produce.
As for the clear bottle it is packaged in, whilst it does “allow you to see how bright it is” it also subjects the beer to “light strike” which can interfere with Hop Iso Alpha Acids and this creates a chemical reaction called MTB. This causes an off flavour in beer commonly refereed to as “skunked” and smells and taste like skunk scent or burnt rubber. This is common in most beers packed in clear bottles, which is why most producers don’t use them.
The addition of lime helps hide the flavour in beers that are skunked.
As for it being “made in mexico” it is owned by AB in Bev, and impoted by CUB in to Australia and I am pretty sure it is being brewed in China at the moment.
Anyway apart from that, the rest of the article is fair and I would certainly encourage people to buy the locally made products like Modus, which is bound to be fresh and well protected in the can. No need for lime either!