Cerveceria Allende - IPA

Allende's IPA presents a medium amber hue in the glass, with good clarity and a head of beige foam that drops to a persistent collar and laces the glass nicely. On the nose, we picked up plenty of herbal character backed by pine, citrus, and a bit of tropical fruit, all underpinned by a solid note of caramel. That caramel malt forms a very sturdy backbone on the palate, too, delivering a robust body and a light touch of residual sweetness to support the firm 60 IBUs of hop bitterness that easily keeps this brew dry, especially in the finish where it lingers with a resiny bite. The herbal and fruity hop notes abound in the flavor, too, and the overall impression is of a very sturdy, flavorful, and satisfying IPA. For pairing options, we'd recommend a spicy sweet & sour chicken dish, or, perhaps more appropriately, carnitas tacos with a fiery mango salsa. Salud!

The city of San Miguel de Allende in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato is considered by many to be among the most beautiful in all of Mexico, and many tourists come to enjoy the city's rich culture, brightly colored buildings, and colonial Spanish architecture. It became an important focal point at the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence, and was the first Mexican city to become free of Spanish rule. It's here in this historic location that one of Mexico's standard bearers of its burgeoning craft beer scene is located: Cerveceria Allende.

The brewery is the brainchild of founder Rodrigo Moncada, whose interest in craft beer was sparked by a trip to the U.S. in December of 2013. It's a story that parallels those of many American brewers from our country's first wave of the craft beer renaissance who picked up their interest in beer after visits to Europe. Impressed by the U.S.'s beer culture and firmly bitten by the beer bug, Moncada returned to Mexico with a dream of building Mexico's premier craft beer company. Unfortuntely he knew nothing about brewing, but when he met Carlos Garay, a very experienced homebrewer who was looking to take his talents to the next level, the stars aligned favorably for the establishment of Cerveceria Allende. He had found his maestro cervecero – his brewmaster.

San Miguel de Allende was chosen as the home of their new enterprise due to several factors including its cultural heritage and significance to Mexicans, its close location to Mexico City, and its superb water supply drawn from natural wells. The brewery began operations in August of 2015, and demand was strong out of the gate. Their initial production forecast of 60,000 bottles had to be quickly doubled. Over the next few years, they expanded their distribution to many cities in Mexico including Mexico City, Cancun, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Puebla. They also began exporting to Spain, and eventually elsewhere in Europe including Belgium, France, and the U.K., in addition to the U.S. and even China. We're excited by what we've seen from this young brewery so far, and are very much looking forward to watching what comes next from them, as well as several other Mexican craft breweries that are beginning to hit our radar. Salud!