Why bother with Mexican beers?

Industry stats for the period immediately before US Prohibition and after Repeal shows that adjunct usage (that is usually the implication of the word "cheapening") was actually a little less after Repeal, and the average pounds of hop per barrel a little higher.

1915 - 33.4 lbs Barley Malt vs 16.7 lbs of adjuncts* and .64 lbs/bbl. of hops.​

1935 - 38.2 lbs Barley Malt vs 14.1 lbs of adjuncts** and .7 lbs/bbl. of hops.​

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* corn, sugar & syrup, rice and "other grains"​

** corn, sugar & syrup and rice​

figures from The Brewers Almanac​

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US adjunct usage then gradually increased, with a big bump due to WWII grain shortages and rationing and though barley malt's usage went up slightly after war, it never recovered to pre-war levels, and then steadily decreased for the rest of the century. Similarly, the hops per barrel went steadily down for the macro brands.

But as for "watered down" - if that implies a lowering of ABV, that didn't really happen with the flagship light lagers.
Just before Repeal, in a Dec. 1932 interview August Busch Sr. claimed the pre-Pro Budweiser was "...4.5 to 4.7 per cent" alcohol and today's Bud is 5%.

Today, with low cal "light beers" now the dominant product, the average ABV of all macro beer is probably lower that it was pre- or post-Prohibition, but "light beer's" rise happened three decades after Repeal.

As for the flagship Mexican beers from their "Big Two" (besides the few notable ambers ones that started out as Vienna Lagers, like Dos Equis and Negra Modelo, etc) there is little difference in adjunct rates, ABV or IBU of them and their US macro counterparts.

Prohibition did change the public's taste for beer, and WWII encourage increased adjunct usage, and it took the US industry decades to recover the per capita amount of beer sold, but as for a comparison between US and Mexican macro beers today, I don't see how missing out on Prohibition (or WWII, for that matter) benefited their beers.

 

Beers from Berber are pretty tasty. The Porter, and Vienna amber are my 2 favorites.

 

The popular Mexican beers are mediocre unless of course, you are drinking them with some tasty Mexican cuisine. I enjoy Negra Modelo on occasion.

 

Mexican beer with a lime wedge on the beach around noon is pretty dang hard to beat.

 

Nothing wrong with Mexican beers in hot weather or with some Mexican food. Even Corona but no fruit for me thanks. Pacifico, Canned Corona, Dos Equiis, Nerga Modelo, and Bohemia are all good in the right situation.

 

Recipe wise, Carona and Bud are almost certainly closer than Negro and Amber Boch.

 

Where in California are you??

I'll go to San Diego & Anaheim 11/9 - 11/15, if you are interested I can bring some Házmela Rusa and do a trade with you

 

I have fond memories of visiting small Mexican border towns (e.g. Nogales, Agua Prieta, etc.), wandering the streets with an ice-cold Bohemia. Or five.

 

oh man, i miss arizona. my favorites mexican joints there are los dos molinos in springerville and el charro in flagstaff.

my standby at a mexican joint is a negra modelo draft and a shot of their best tequila.

 

no, Red Stripes recipe is Jamaican, it just moved its production to the US in 2012. If anything it was a British recipe from the Brits that lived in Jamaica in the early 1900s. When you are smug and feel the need to correct everybody, don't.

 

Last time I checked, if a product is made in America it, by definition, is not an import. Yes, Red Stripe used to be an import, but it no longer is.

And if you think that the recipe has not changed, then I have a Beck's to sell you as well.