What are Mexican lagers? Some say their entire reason for existence is to lull the drinker into an 18-minute vacation. Others claim they were invented to soothe a grass-torn throat after mowing the lawn. Or maybe even serve as a crisp contradiction to the 10,000 Taco Tuesdays in Tacoma. It’s still a common belief that Mexican-style lagers are Vienna-style lagers based on the preferences of early German expats in Mexico. However, based on contemporary Mexican lagers, they vary widely in flavor, style, and appearance, and, therefore, so do the American-made Mexican-style lagers that pay homage to them because the Brewer’s Association doesn’t even classify Mexican-style lagers as their category, American craft brewers are set on making their Mexican-style lager unique, with plenty of ideas to help you party with their smooth, crisp cervezas. Today is Cinco de Mayo, commemorating the Battle of Puebla, where Mexicans defeated the French army. Peaks & Pints presents a flight of Mexican-style lagers we call the Peaks & Pints Mexican Lager Flight.

Peaks & Pints Mexican Lager Flight

Buoy Beer Mexican Lager

4.5% ABV

Bright and refreshing, Buoy Beer’s Mexican Lager showcases smooth, light-bodied malt flavors with a touch of corn, aromas of corn chip, a hint of citrus, and a crisp hop finish.

Fort George Beach Eagle

4.7% ABV

Beach Eagle is a Mexican-style lager named for the glorious Beach Eagle of the North Oregon Coast. Fort George brewed this pale lager to pair specifically with Mexican food on the beach. Pale in color, light in hops, and full of refreshment, this classic lager has a light grainy corn flavor with subtle citrus and floral notes that taste great with or without a lime wedge tossed in.

Block 15 Sol Fresco

5.25% ABV

This golden-hued Mexican-style lager from Block 15 Brewing balances gentle corn sweetness, light hop bitterness, and aroma with a crisp, clean finish.

White Bluffs Montana Blanca

5.4% ABV

White Bluffs Brewing Montana Blanca Mexican Style Lager, the 2022 Washington Beer Awards Silver medal winner in the American Light Lager category, is an easy-drinking lager brewed with pilsner, Vienna malt, and flaked maize for light corn on the nose, and a hint of pepper on the tongue.

Wet Coast Costa Humeda Mexican Lager

4.9% ABV

The Viennese lager is widely regarded as an original lager style. The beer shared its name with the Austrian city where brewer Anton Dreher first brewed it with an isolated lager yeast, which was revolutionary for its time. The combination of the new lager yeast and the invention of high-temperature-controlled malting yielded a reddish beer, from the Vienna malt that was clean tasting due to the yeast. Wet Coast Brewing’s Costa Humeda Mexican Lager brings Vienna, Pilsner, and Chocolate malts with just a touch of flaked corn to create an easy-drinking Lager full of character. Expect notes of sweet malt and chocolate.

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