Breweries in Mexico

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Label of the historical Compañia Cervecera Toluca y Mexico SA , Toluca
Label of the oldest still existing beer brand in Mexico

The first Mexican brewery , the name of which was retained for posterity, was La Pila Seca, founded in Mexico City in 1845 by the Swiss Bernhard Bolgard . Probably in the same year, Friedrich Herzog, who came from Bavaria, founded a second brewery with La Candelaria in Mexico City . The breweries of that day produced dark, top-fermented beers.

Agustín Marendaz, also a Swiss, founded in 1865 in Toluca , the capital of the State of México , the Cervecería Toluca y México, SA , which in 1875 - after the transfer of ownership to Santiago Graf - operated the first industrialized Bierbräu in Mexico. Graf imported German equipment in 1882 and was the first brewery in Mexico to produce a lager : the Toluca lager .

Further giants emerged in 1890 with the Cervecería Cuauhtémoc in Monterrey , Nuevo León , and in 1894 with the Cervecería Moctezuma in Orizaba , Veracruz . The latter brewery was initially founded under the name Cervecería Guillermo Hasse y Compañía and renamed accordingly in 1896.

In 1900 Mexico already had 29 registered breweries. Most of them, however, only sold their products on a regional basis. Only the three giants of that time covered larger areas: Toluca y México the capital region and in particular the state of México, Cuauhtémoc large parts of northern Mexico and Moctezuma the states on the Gulf coast in the east of the country.

With the Cervecería Modelo , founded on March 8, 1922 and going into production in Mexico City from October 15, 1925 , a new giant appeared, which, due to its spatial proximity, initially advanced to become the main competitor of the Cervecería Toluca y México , which has now been in existence for 60 years and was able to push back their market shares more and more until he took them over completely in 1935. The oldest beer industry in Mexico was a thing of the past and its traditional brand, the Victoria Pilsener , has been marketed by Modelo ever since. Modelo continued to expand and in 1954 swallowed the two equally not insignificant breweries Estrella in Guadalajara , Jalisco , and Pacífico in Mazatlán , Sinaloa . In this way, the Grupo Modelo developed into the leading brewery group in Mexico.

The other two giants, Cuauhtémoc and Moctezuma , also pursued aggressive expansions . They have been united under the double name Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma since 1988 and formed the brewery division of Fomento Económico Mexicano SA (FEMSA), which in turn was sold to Heineken in April 2010 , with FEMSA still owning 20% ​​of the shares. FEMSA is the largest beverage company in Mexico and Latin America.

Modelo and Heineken de facto completely dominate the Mexican beer market. There are also some independent small and home breweries, but their market shares are negligible.

In the following chapters the most important breweries in the history of Mexico are named, broken down according to the individual states. Due to the incomplete documentation and some contradicting sources, no claim to completeness or absolute correctness of all information can be made. However, dubious sources have been left out, and if there are contradicting sources, those with the higher probability have been used. Example: In the article Historia de la Cerveza en Mexico by Luis Gomez, the year the Cervecería Yucateca was founded is given as 1869. Other sources put the founding year at 1899 or 1900. Due to the fact that the Montejo beer brand, launched in 1960, was developed to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the brewery, it cannot have been founded in 1869. Although the founding year 1899 cannot be ruled out either (according to information, the brewery was initially founded in that year under the name Gran Cervecería Yucateca , before it was renamed the following year), the founding year 1900 was adopted here.

Baja California

Mexicali brand label

The most traditional beer brands from Baja California are Tecate , which has been brewed in the US border town of the same name since the 1940s, and Mexicali , which was brewed as early as 1923 and is therefore the oldest beer brand in Baja California. After the death of co-founder Miguel González, the brewery closed in 1973 but reopened in 2000. This beer was served in the Mexicali Beer Hall , allegedly the world's largest beer bar at the time. A beer of the same name was or is also produced by the two private breweries Mexicana and Río Bravo based in Tecate .

Here is an overview of the most important breweries in Baja California:

Tecate beer glass
brewery Location founding Beer brands Remarks
Cervecería de Anza Mexicali 1926 Reina Maya
Cervecería de Mexicali Mexicali 1923 Mexicali, Suprema Closed in 1973 and reopened in 2000
Compañía Cervezera Azteca Mexicali 1924 ABC Moved to San Diego, USA in the 1930s
Cervecería de Baja California Mexicali 2002 Cucapá independent microbrewery
Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Tecate 1954 Tecate, Carta Blanca Successor to the Cia. Cerv. de Tecate (see below), FEMSA Group
Cervecería Mexicana Tecate ???? Mexicali Microbrewery
Cervecería Río Bravo Tecate 1997 Azteca, Mexicali Microbrewery
Compañía Cervecera de Tecate Tecate 1943 Tecate Acquired in 1954 by Cuauhtémoc and renamed (see above)
Compañía Cervecera de Tijuana Tijuana 1924 Cardinal no longer exists
Consorcio Cervecero de BC Tijuana 2000 Tijuana TJ Microbrewery

Coahuila

Until they were made in 1966 takeover by Grupo Modelo in was Torreón be moved Compañía de La Laguna Cervezera an independent brewery. After being incorporated into the mega-corporation, it was transferred to the newly built Cervecería Modelo de Torreón . This brewery started operations on April 23, 1967 and produces the Corona Extra and Modelo Especial brands .

Chihuahua

Label of the Cerveza Cruz Blanca

When the Compañía Cervezera de Chihuahua opened on February 8, 1896, life in the city of Chihuahua, which had around 10,000 inhabitants at the time, changed suddenly. The brewery had an average of 280 employees, all of whom - with the exception of the first master brewer and his two assistants, who had German nationality, and the equipment manager from the USA - were native Mexicans from the state of Chihuahua . She brewed the brands Austríaca , Chihuahua and Cruz Blanca , whereby the label shown on the right reveals that the final processing of the latter product was carried out by the Compañía Arrendataria de la Cerveceria de Ciudad Juárez . In small print between the white cross and the inscription CRUZ BLANCA appears the note: Elaborada por la Cia. Arrendataria de la Cerveceria de C. Juárez, SA - C. Juárez, Chih.

Here is an overview of the most important breweries in the state of Chihuahua:

brewery Location founding Beer brands Remarks
Compañía Cervecera de Chihuahua Chihuahua 1896 Austríaca, Chihuahua no longer exists
Cía Arrendataria de la Cerv. Juarez Juarez 1933 Cruz Blanca Acquired by Cuauhtémoc in 1965
Cervecería Tríangulo de las Bermudaz Juarez ???? ???? Microbrewery

Federal District

Corona - the most successful product from Grupo Modelo

In Mexico City , which has now expanded far beyond the Federal District, but was originally identical to it, the oldest breweries still known by name were founded: La Pila Seca in 1845 by a Swiss and probably La Candelaria in the same year from a German. The La Cruz Blanca brewery , founded in 1869 by the Alsatian Emil Dercher, was also one of the pioneers of beer brewing in Mexico.

However, the beer brew really took off in the capital in the 1920s. On March 8, 1922, Braulio Iriarte, who immigrated from the Basque Country, founded the Cervecería Modelo here , which went into production on October 15, 1925. Incidentally, one of the partners was Plutarco Elías Calles, who was elected head of state of Mexico in 1924 . The brewery developed into a giant early on and just ten years later swallowed Cervecería Toluca y México , which had previously dominated the market around the capital and was founded in neighboring Toluca, the capital of the state of México, in 1865. But they too quickly faced competition: as early as 1929, the large Cuauhtémoc brewery based in Monterrey, Nuevo León, acquired the Mexico City-based Cervecería Central and renamed it Cervecería Cuauhtémoc . That was the beginning of the eternal rivalry between the two brewery chains, Grupo Modelo and FEMSA (Cuauhtémoc), which today absolutely dominate the Mexican beer market .

After all, a few independent microbreweries have formed in recent years, which are a little livening up the market.

Microbreweries in Mexico City

brewery founding Beer brands
Cervecería Artesanal Jack ???? Cerveza Inglesa
Cervecería Primus 2007 Tense
Cervecería San Angel 1997 San Ángel u. a.
Cervecería Santa Fé Beer Factory 1997 Santa Fe u. a.

Historic breweries in Mexico City

brewery founding Beer brands Remarks
La Candelaria 1845 ???? no longer exists
La Cruz Blanca 1869 ???? Closed in 1898
La Pila Seca 1845 ???? no longer exists
Cervecería Central ???? Colosal, Munich was acquired in 1929 and became the Cerv. Cuauhtémoc

Durango

In 1926 the Durango Brewing Company was founded in Ciudad Lerdo , which was later renamed Compañía Cervecera Sabinas and produced a beer of the same name (Sabinas). It hasn't existed for a long time.

Jalisco

Estrella - the most traditional beer brand from Jalisco

The breweries of the state of Jalisco concentrate on the capital Guadalajara and its neighboring city Zapopan .

The best-known beer brand developed in Jalisco is Estrella , which was formerly marketed by the brewery of the same name, which was taken over by Grupo Modelo in the 1950s . The beer, which used to be sold almost exclusively in Jalisco and is now available everywhere in Mexico, has been brewed by the Cervecería Modelo de Guadalajara since 1964 .

FEMSA , Modelo's major competitor in the Mexican beer market, operates the Cervecería Cuauhtémoc , which was once the result of the acquisition of the Cervecería Occidental .

In addition, there has been strong growth in microbreweries for several years. Of these, the Zapopan-based Cervecería Minerva is probably the best known, but it was bought by Grupo Modelo at the beginning of 2015 and is no longer one of the "Cervecerías artesanales". By contrast, the Cervecería Revolución , which sells such memorable beer brands as Che Guevara and Zapata , relies on originality and “the heroes of the revolution” .

Here is an overview of the most important breweries in Jalisco:

brewery Location founding Beer brands Remarks
Beer lounge Guadalajara ???? ???? only brewery in Mexico with a master brewer
Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Guadalajara ???? Superior u. a. formerly Cervecería Occidental, FEMSA Group
Cervecería Estrella Guadalajara 1890 Estrella Acquired from Grupo Modelo in 1954 and later to Cerv. Modelo de Gdl. transformed
Cervecería Modelo de Guadalajara Guadalajara 1964 Estrella, Modelo Successor to the Cervecería Estrella, Grupo Modelo
Cervecería Occidental Guadalajara 1935 Fragile was taken over by Cuauhtémoc and later renamed (see above)
Cervecería Revolución Guadalajara ???? Che Guevara, Zapata Microbrewery
Cervecería Minerva Zapopan 2002 Minerva Small brewery, part of Grupo Modelo since 2015.
Cervecería Berber Zapopan 2011 Berber Microbrewery

México

The industrialized beer brewing of Mexico began in Toluca , the capital of the state of México . Here, in 1865, the Swiss Agustín Marendaz founded the Cervecería Toluca y México, SA , which was acquired by Santiago Graf in 1875 and from then on underwent rapid development. Although it dominated the beer market in the capital region for decades, it could not hold its own against the Modelo brewery, which was only founded in Mexico City in 1925, and was taken over by them only ten years later. Since then, their legendary Victoria Pilsener , the oldest still existing beer brand in Mexico, has been produced by Grupo Modelo .

In 1969, the Cuauhtémoc brewery , which is part of today's FEMSA group , also built a production facility in Toluca on a former hacienda : the Cervecería Cuauhtémoc (today Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma ).

Nuevo León

Indio (formerly Cuauhtémoc ) has been brewed in Monterrey since 1905

While the Cervecería Cuauhtémoc, founded in Monterrey in 1890 , acted early on on the doorstep of today's main competitor with the acquisition of Cervecería Central in Mexico City, the Grupo Modelo has never built a brewery in the state of Nuevo León . The brewery belonging to the FEMSA group, which today bears the full name of Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma , controls the beer production of this state almost completely. Formerly independent breweries, such as the Cervecería del Norte or the Especialidades Cerveceras , have long been taken over by Cuauhtémoc. Only the Sierra Madre microbrewery has been able to maintain its independence to this day.

brewery Location founding Beer brands Remarks
Especialidades Cerveceras Apodaca 1998 Casta, Milenia Acquired by FEMSA in 2005 and production transferred to Cuauhtémoc
Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Monterrey 1890 Carta Blanca, Indio, u. a. Seed of today's FEMSA Group
Cervecería del Norte Monterrey 1919 Norteña Acquired by Cuauhtémoc in 1957
Sierra Madre Brewing Co Monterrey ???? Sierra Madre et al. a. Microbrewery

Oaxaca

In the city of Tuxtepec in the state of Oaxaca , the Grupo Modelo established the Compañía Cervecera Del Trópico , which began production in 1979. Since the closure of the Yucateca brewery in Yucatán , which has also been part of the Grupo Modelo since 1979, the legendary Montejo has been produced here (since 2002) .

San Luis Potosí

In San Luis Potosí , the capital of the state of the same name , there were two historically important breweries: the Cerveceria Potosina produced the Cerveza Colonial and the Cerveceria Zorrilla the Cerveza San Luis .

Sinaloa

Pacífico

The Cervecería del Pacífico , founded by three Germans in 1900 in the coastal town of Mazatlán, is one of the few and the only still existing brewery that has retained its name to this day - for 55 years (!) - after being taken over by Grupo Modelo .

In the same year (1954) in which this takeover took place, Modelo's competitor Cuauhtémoc (FEMSA) acquired the Cervecería de Humaya, founded in 1938 .

Here is an overview of the most important breweries in Sinaloa:

brewery Location founding Beer brands Remarks
Cervecería de Humaya Culiacan 1938 Gallo, Yaqui Acquired by Cuauhtémoc in the 1950s, the brewery is now part of the FEMSA Group
Cervecería Díaz de León Mazatlan ???? Listón Azul
Cervecería del Pacífico Mazatlan 1900 Pacífico, Ballena has been part of Grupo Modelo since 1954
Pepe y Joe Mazatlan ???? Maria bonita, Toña La Negra former microbrewery that existed in the 1980s

Sonora

High Life label, already brewed by the Cervecería Cuauhtémoc at that time.

The pioneer of beer brewing in Sonora was the Cervecería de Sonora , which was founded in 1897 by the German Dr. Albert Höffer was founded in the capital Hermosillo . Their legendary beer called High Life was launched in 1923. A few years after the opening of the Cervecería Modelo del Noroeste , it closed its doors forever. The history of this brewery began in 1956 when the brothers Rodolfo and Víctor González, who already owned a brewery in Mexicali, bought a site in Ciudad Obregón to set up another brewery. The brewery was not even finished when Grupo Modelo acquired fifty percent of the shares on October 13, 1960, thus securing the naming rights to the new brewery, which went into production in June 1961. In December 1991, FEMSA opened the Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma in Navojoa , around 50 km southeast of Ciudad Obregón ; a brewery that has the most modern means of production.

Here is an overview of the most important breweries in Sonora:

brewery Location founding Beer brands Remarks
Cervecería de Sonora Hermosillo 1897 High Life, Reina Blanca Closed in 1969
Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Navojoa 1991 ???? FEMSA group
Cervecería Modelo de Noroeste Obregón 1961 ???? Grupo Modelo

Veracruz

Superior

Founded in Orizaba in 1894 as Cervecería Guillermo Hasse y Compañía and renamed in 1896, Cervecería Moctezuma was the only Mexican brewery that maintained a top-tier soccer team for ten years between 1940 and 1950 . In addition, her team was one of the ten founding members of the professional league introduced in 1943 and was the first cup winner in the era of Mexican professional football in the 1942/43 season .

The brewery, which launched the Superior brand, which is still in production today , and which was taken over by FEMSA in 1988 , was at least powerful enough to bring its name to the group's beer division, which had previously been controlled by Cuauhtémoc alone. Since then, all breweries with the former name Cuauhtémoc or Moctezuma have had the double name Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma .

There was only one other major brewery in the state of Veracruz : it was founded in Nogales in 1933 and renamed Cervecería Cuauhtémoc after it was taken over by the beer giant from Monterrey in 1945 . After the merger of Cuauhtémoc and Moctezuma, the brewery was closed and its production relocated to Orizaba. The historic Cervecería Nogales , which at times also operated as Cervecería Orizaba , brewed a beer called Azteca .

Yucatan

Montejo

In 1900 the Cervecería Yucateca was founded in Mérida , the capital of the state of Yucatán . Their first beer León Negra is still produced today. For the 60th anniversary of the brewery, the Pilsener Montejo was brought onto the market in 1960 , which is dedicated to the city founder Francisco de Montejo . In 1979 the brewery was acquired by Grupo Modelo . Since the brewery closed in 2002, the popular León Negra and Montejo beer brands have been produced by the Compañía Cervecera del Tropico in the state of Oaxaca, which is also part of the Grupo Modelo .

Zacatecas

In 1997, the Grupo Modelo had the world's largest brewery built with the Compañía Cervecera de Zacatecas in the municipality of Calera de Víctor Rosales , located between the cities of Zacatecas and Fresnillo .

Notes on Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma

Since the Moctezuma brewery was taken over by the Cuauhtémoc brewery in 1988, all breweries with the former name Cuauhtémoc or Moctezuma have been given the double name Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma. In order to better document their respective origins, their original names are given in this article, i.e. the double name is omitted.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.clubplaneta.com.mx/bar/historia_de_la_cerveza_en_mexico.htm
  2. ↑ http://html.rincondelvago.com/industria-cerveza-en-mexico.html  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / html.rincondelvago.com  
  3. ↑ http://www.cervezacasera.com.mx/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=41
  4. ↑ http://beerme.com/brewery.php?1244
  5. ↑ Cerveza Mexicali ( Memento from May 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ http://www.cervezacasera.com.mx/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=47
  7. ↑ http://members.chello.nl/j.pulido1/Recipes/MexicanDrinks/mexican_Beer/mexican_beer.html
  8. ↑ http://www.oem.com.mx/elheraldodechihuahua/notas/n1083929.htm
  9. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from November 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ http://www.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/noticia/192060.decretan-desde-1936-usar-terrenos-de-ejido-co.html
  11. ↑ http://www.los-dos.com/culinary-expedition/verarticulo.php?ldArticulo=244471

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