Beer Review: Cucapá Imperio

Tags

Cucapá, Cucapá brewery, imperio, mexicali beer, mexican ale, the beer box tijuana

I knew only three things about this beer before I opened it:

1. It’s from Cucapá, the brewery in the Mexicali
2. It’s 9.2% ABV according to the label
3. I’m told it is sold exclusively at The Beer Box

It’s rare for me to know so little about a beer before drinking it. Usually if I’m drinking a beer it’s been recommended by a friend or bartender, or I’ve read something about it. Or I at least know what style it is before drinking it. Not with Imperio. While paying a visit to The Beer Box in Tijuana earlier this month I picked up a few beers from Cucapá that aren’t readily available in the US. I was told this beer was exclusive to The Beer Box, and the label says it’s 9.2%, but that’s about all I know.

Appearance: Red with a small tan head that dissipated rather quickly in this standard pint glass. It’s a dark red, but when held up to the light it is the color of cranberry juice.

Smell: Boozy. The 9.2% ABV gives it away that this is going to be a strong beer, and that is apparent in the smell. Not much malt but some hop smells come through.

Taste: Boozy again. Also a bit hoppy. Far less malt than I expected. The alcohol and the hops are what stand out. It’s bitter, after a few minutes a bit of sweetness comes through from the malts as it warms up.

Mouthfeel: Good carbonation but slightly cloying because of the sweetness.

Drinkability: This isn’t an easy beer to drink. The high alcohol content makes it up front and aggressive.

I would give Imperio another shot when the weather gets cooler, I’d also like to try it with a bit of age on it to see if the alcohol mellows out a bit (unfortunately this bottle isn’t date coded so I’m not sure how old it is).

Mexicali Brewery Cucapá profiled in Union-Tribune

Tags

Chupacabras Pale Ale, Cucapá Honey, Cucapá Obscura, green card barleywine, la migra imperial stout, lowrider rye, mexicali, mexican ale, mexican beer, runaway ipa, tequila barrel barrel-aged barleywine, tijuana international beer festival, tijuana international beer festival 2010

Peter Rowe wrote a great piece on Cucapá, a small brewery in Mexicali for the Union-Tribune recently.

The article profiles the brewery and describes some of the problems they face due to Mexico’s beer culture. I’ve seen Cucapá’s beers in the US far more often than I have seen them in Mexico.

It’s not too hard to find Cucapá Obscura, Cucapá Honey or Chupacabras Pale Ale in San Diego. And the article mentions some new beers the brewery recently release or will release soon: La Migra Imperial Stout, Runaway IPA, Lowrider Rye Ale, Green Card Barleywine, and Tequila Barrel barrel-aged Barleywine.

Many of these beers will be available at the Tijuana International Beer Festival, happening July 16th and 17th (more on that soon).

Photo: Creative Commons flickr user gabofr