25 Awesome Craft Beer Brands To Drink in Mexico

Mexico is the world’s number 1 beer exporter in terms of both revenue and volume. Most of the beer made in Mexico is produced in macrobreweries by multinational companies. However, there are a ton of small craft breweries making beer for their community and friends. I want to highlight some of the great small and medium-sized breweries that are Mexican-owned and producing delicious beer.

As I was researching this article by Googling “The best beer in Mexico,” I read a bunch of boring articles about the same ten industrial beers. When you are traveling to different parts of Mexico, why not support some of the locally owned beer brands that don’t have international distribution? Corona is great and all, but they have the same global reach as Budweiser and Stella Artois.

Considering Mexico’s love of beer, there is no shortage of craft breweries. However, the industry is still young. Legacy brewing companies have a history of oligopoly and anti-competitive practices to restrain small startups. To this day, big beer companies will reward restaurants that promise to sell only their products by lending them refrigerators, equipment, and cash.

Quick Guide: The Best Beer Cities in Mexico

• Tijuana – Sin City with a long and sordid history of beer drinking and craft breweries
• Guadalajara – An early adopter with breweries, beer bars, and taco shops with craft beer
• Mexico City – The biggest city on the continent, with a lot of beer drinkers
• Mazatlán – Beer and banda on the beach
• Ensenada – Great breweries and a legendary beer festival that can launch a career

La Humadera Guadalajara

Guadalajara is a great beer city because of cool breweries, bars, and restaurants. I love talking to the folks at La Humadera about beer and Mexico. Conversations with them about beer and travel helped inspire this article. If you are in Guadalajara, go get some great tacos and craft beer at La Humadera.

📍 La Humadera Guadalajara: Av. Niño Obrero 502, Zapopan

A Brief History of Beer in Mexico

There was some beer made in Mexico during the 16th century after the Spanish changed the name of Tenochtitlán to Mexico City, but the industry didn’t take off until much later. In the 19th century, Mexico gained independence, fought a war with the US, had a civil war, and fought with France. Towards the latter part of the 19th century, Mexico saw some immigration from Prussia, Switzerland, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Archduke Maximilian I, President Porfirio Diaz, and even Alvaro Obregon invited many German-speaking people to immigrate to Mexico to help modernize agriculture, commerce, and education. Beer, Polka, and Mennonite cheese are one some of the legacies of German immigration.

Early brewers set up shop in Toluca, Chihuahua, Monterrey, Yucatan, among many other parts of the country.

Where there were German people, there was beer. My wife’s people immigrated to Mexico from Austria by way of Saint Louis, Missouri, another German-speaking community famous for beer.

In the 20th century, there was a consolidation of the Mexican beer industry with two big companies acquiring breweries responsible for 90% of the industry. Grupo Modelo and Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma had a stranglehold over the industry for a long time. In the early 21st century, Grupo Modelo was sold to AB InBev from Belgium, and Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma was sold to Heineken, headquartered in the Netherlands.

The Best Beer in Mexico

Mexico is known for its love of beer, and there is a well-developed cantina culture. There are beer cocktails like micheladas, pachecadas, and licuachelas, but I was always more interested in the simple things. There is nothing like rolling into a new town and finding an amazing brewery making something similar to what you know, just a little bit different.

I recommend attending the beer festivals and tasting as many different microbrews as possible. You can find the corporate beers all over the world. When in Mexico, look for locally owned Mexican breweries. They are a unique evolution of the traditional cantina culture.

Mexican beer festivals are a great way to sample a lot of different beers in a short period of time. Look for beer festivals in:

• Ensenada Beer Festival – Baja California is held each March
• Cerveza México – Mexico City at the World Trade Center held in October
• Expo Cerveza Monterrey – Nuevo Leon is held in November

1. Cerveza Fortuna

Guadalajara, Jalisco

Cerveza Fortuna is one of the best craft beer breweries in Mexico, with close ties to Southern California. The founder of Cerveza Fortuna comes from one of the oldest tequila families in Mexico, but was interested in taking his career in a different direction. He fell in love with San Diego’s beer culture and decided to study brewing at the University of California, San Diego, where he made a lot of important connections. Today, he is making beer with legends like Ballast Point and Sierra Nevada.

This is a brewery that is uniquely Mexican but also very well plugged into the global beer trends that influence ingredients and styles. Cerveza Fortuna has been making beer for over ten years and has had the honor of receiving Aro Rojo, Cerveza México, Copa Cervecería del Pacífico, and Mitad del Mundo awards.

One of the things that I love about Fortuna is the easy availability all over Mexico. I have seen Fortuna in San Diego, Tijuana, and Mexico City. Keep an eye out for Ippolita Indian Pale Ale and their Hazy Pale Ale. They are both great beers.

When you are in Guadalajara, make sure to plan a trip out to their brewery on the outskirts of town. The Cerveza Fortuna brewery is the first stop along the Tequila Trail, right where highways 15D and 70 merge at La Primavera.

📍Cervecería Fortuna Carretera Guadalajara-Nogales No. 4380 Zapopan, Jalisco

2. Cerveza Insurgente

Tijuana, Baja California

I’ve been drinking beer here for a long time, and I have a nostalgic love of the main brewery in the Zona Río neighborhood of Tijuana. They have had a taproom in Guadalajara since 2023 and are forging a new path to distribution in a very competitive market.

There are great stories about people who are really passionate about beer and started brewing in their garage, or in this case, their Mom’s patio. They started making really interesting beers for their friends and family, and it turns out that the Ensenada Beer Festival gave them some first-prize medals and rocketed them to local celebrity.

Today, Cerveza Insurgente is one of the easiest craft beer brands on a national scale. Keep an eye out because I think you will enjoy what you find.

📍Cervecería Insurgente: Calle Juan Cordero 10021, Zona Urbana Rio Tijuana, Tijuana, B.C.
📍Insurgente Taproom Centro (Tijuana): Avenida Revolución 1010, Zona Centro, Tijuana, B.C.
📍Insurgente Taproom Guadalajara: Calle Argentina 16, Colonia Americana, Guadalajara, Jalisco

3. Cerveza Urbana

Mexicali, Baja California

I recently had a Global Entry interview in Calexico and took advantage of being in the area to check out some food and drinks.

Cerveza Urbana is reason enough to visit Mexicali and a testament to a passion for the craft. The Reneaum brothers come from a family of date farmers but really love beer. They started brewing beer at home and quickly realized they had a gift. Within a couple of years, they were winning awards at the Ensenada Beer Fest and the Copa Cerveza Mexico.

Best Beers at Cerveza Urbana

Blonde Ale: 5% ABV, clear golden color with a gentle bitterness. Aroma of hops and a clean, crisp finish. It is great to enjoy all year long.

Crossover IPA: 7% ABV, refreshing with an intense aroma of citrus and tropical fruits. The mild malt profile highlights the aroma and flavor of hops that characterize the “West Coast IPA” style.

📍Cervecería Urbana: Av Reforma 2064, Nueva, 21100 Mexicali, B.C., Mexico

4. Cerveza Zorra

Guadalajara, Jalisco

As I have gotten to know Cerveza Zorra, I get the feeling they are thinking about more than just beer, but the entire hospitality experience from visual design to both food and beverage.

Cerveza Zorra was founded in 2014 out of frustration with a market dominated by two big companies Zorra wanted to make something different.

Right now, Cerveza Zorra has four of the hottest brew pubs in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. All four are awesome, but the Downtown Zapopan location is phenomenal. The experience of walking down the pedestrian corridor in Downtown Zapopan from the Basílica to Cerveza Zorra is one of the coolest things to do in Guadalajara. The design of the restaurant feels like an extension of Zapopan’s retro-cool vibe. The whole experience is just stunning, but the beer and food will be memorable.

If you happen to be in Guadalajara, make sure to eat and drink at the Cerveza Zorra brew houses. They need to be on your radar.

My favorite beer is their Rye Session IPA. It is a medium-bodied beer that feels light for an IPA. The rye gives it a unique, kind of grainy feel. It is one of my favorite beers because it is similar to a style that I know back in San Diego but uniquely different.

📍Cervecería Zorra Downtown Zapopan: Calle 5 de Mayo 272, Zapopan
📍Cervecería Zorra Bistro Pub: Diagonal Gulfo de Cortés 4140, Monraz, Guadalajara
📍Cervecería Zorra Colonia Americana: Calle Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 173, Col Americana, Guadalajara
📍Cervecería Zorra Jardín Real: Plaza D’Lucca, Av. Sta. Margarita 4199-Local A18, Zapopan

5. Cervecería de Colima

El Trapiche, Colima

“Nos Gusta Mucho Ser De Aquí” is the tagline of Cervecería de Colima. It roughly translates to, ” We really like being from here”, and is a testament to the laid-back country culture that Colima is famous for.

It gets really hot in Colima, and the founders of Cervecería de Colima wanted to make a refreshing beer that would make you feel better on a hot day. Since 2014, Cervecería de Colima has been making beer inspired by the places, history, and legends of Colima.

Colima is a small and often overlooked corner of Mexico. It is the land of volcanoes, parota trees, palm tree forests, wild surf, and black-sand beaches; eruptions, torrential downpours, and tropical mist; the people of Colima love their state.

The Cervecería de Colima brewery is located on the way from Guadalajara to the beaches of Manzanillo. It is a classic pit stop to pick up some beers on the way to the beach house. The Corona factory is easier to spot from the freeway, but the Cervecería de Colima factory is way cooler.

📍Cervecería de Colima: Carretera Colima-Guadalajara Km. 5, El Trapiche, Cuauhtémoc, Colima
📍Casa Colimita: Calle Gabriel Ramos Millán 146, Colonia Americana, Guadalajara, Jalisco

6. Cervecería Wendlandt

Ensenada, Baja California

An Ensenada institution. The big brewery is right at the entrance to one of the best surfing beaches in the region. Surfing San Miguel or 3M’s all day and getting beers at Wendlandt is a classic Ensenada experience.

📍 Wendlandt Cervecería: Calle 10 385, Fondeport, El Sauzal, B.C.
📍 Wendlandt Cervecería: Blvd Costero 248, Zona Centro, Ensenada, B.C.

7. Buqui Bichi Brewing

Hermosillo, Sonora

One of the larger craft breweries in Mexico, Buqui Bichi Brewing has won the best large brewery in Mexico award three years in a row. Founded in Hermosillo, Sonora, they have a respectable presence in neighboring Arizona.

Hermosillo is in the middle of the Sonoran Desert and temperatures surpass 100 degrees for much of the year. When it is hot, people like to drink beer. Buqui Bichi has been quenching thirst for over ten years now.

I drink Buqui Bichi beer in Guadalajara but the next time I pass through Hermosillo on my drives back and forth from San Diego to Guadalajara, I am going to check out some flights of beer at one of their many brew houses.

📍Cervecería Buqui Bichi: Blvd. Juan Navarrete 502, Hermosillo, Sonora

8. Border Psycho Brewery

Tijuana, Baja California

Border Psycho Brewery is a Tijuana legend. They have a factory in the Zona Norte and a beer bar on Avenida Revolución in a historic building.

While Border Psycho has a bunch of different pubs, the main brewery is located in Tijuana’s Zona Norte, red-light district. The Border Psycho Taproom on Avenida Revolución is in the same building that the historic La Ballena Bar occupied for a time. They have embraced the local vibe and made a bar for people in the neighborhood.

La Perversa is the Imperial IPA that can be found outside of Tijuana. At 8% ABV, it feels lighter in body than other Imperial IPAs in the category. It is a good beer and one that you should definitely try if you find it in the wild.

📍Border Psycho Cantina: Av. Revolución 821, Zona Centro, Tijuana
📍Border Psycho Brewery: Calle Coahuila 7064, Zona Nte., Tijuana

9. Cerveza Minerva

Guadalajara, Jalisco

I’m thinking that I need to move Minerva up the list a little bit. I am have some nostalgia writing this section of the article. This was the first craft beer that I got into in Mexico. There was a beer bar called El Deposito World Beer Store in the Glorieta de los Caballos on Av. Niños Heroes in Guadalajara that I would hang out at all the time in college. There was this awesome street cart out front that sold ostrich tacos.

📍Cervecería

10. Cervecería Hércules

Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro

📍Cervecería Hércules: Av. Hércules Ote. 1, Hercules, 76069 Santiago de Querétaro, Qro., México

11. Morenos Beer

Ciudad de México

📍Cervecería

12. Bichola

Mazatlán, Sinaloa

📍Cervecería

13. Cervecería Cuatro Palos

Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro

📍Cervecería

14. Cervecería Aguamala

Ensenada, Baja California

📍Cervecería

15. Farland Aleworks

Tijuana, Baja California

📍Farland Aleworks Address: Av. 20 de Noviembre 12613, Colonia 20 de Noviembre, Tijuana, B.C.

16. Cervecería Allende

San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato

📍Cervecería

What I’m looking For Next

Traveling around Mexico looking for food and drinks. I like to search Google Maps for great beer in the city I happen to be visiting. These are the next beers that I want to try.

17. Cervecería Fausto

Monterrey, Nuevo León

18. Cervecería Tulum

Tulum, Quintana Roo

19. Cerveza Patito

Mérida, Yucatán

20. Cervecería Tres Islas

Mazatlán, Sinaloa

21. Campfire Brewing

Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes

22. Cervecería Primus

San Juan del Río, Querétaro

23. Cervecería Navegante

Mazatlán, Sinaloa

24. Interstellar Brewery

Toluca, Estado de México

25. Baja Brewing Company

San José del Cabo

26. Sierra Madre Brewing Company

Monterrey, Nuevo León

27. Cervecería Monstruo de Agua

Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad de México

28. Cerveza Porfirio

Guadalajara

29. Cerveza 7 Barrios

San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí

FAQ: Best Craft Beer in Mexico

These are the mostly common questions that I see about beer in Mexico

What are the two Big Beer Companies in Mexico?

Grupo Modelo and Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma are the two largest beer companies in Mexico. They are a part of larger, multinational conglomerates that own huge portfolios of brand names in the food and beverage sector.

Grupo Modelo claims on its website that its sales represent 1.6% of Mexico’s GDP. Their brand names include Modelo, Corona, Pacifico, Victoria, Estrella, and León.

Final Thoughts: The Best Craft Beer in Mexico

Mexico makes some of the most famous beer in the world, but most of the bottles you see on restaurant tables are owned by companies in Belgium and the Netherlands. The craft scene is different. These are small, Mexican-owned breweries started by homebrewers in their mom’s patio, by tequila families, by date farmers in Mexicali, and by surfers in Ensenada. They’re still fighting for space in fridges that the big guys have been paying for decades.

So when you travel in Mexico, skip the bucket of Coronas at least once. Look for the taproom down the street, ask the bartender what’s local, and order a taco with it. Some of my best memories in this country started that way, like finding Minerva in Guadalajara or talking beer with the staff at La Humadera. Every city on this list has something worth trying, and I’m still working my way through the rest.

If you’ve found a great Mexican brewery I missed, tell me in the comments. It might end up on the list.

Go travel and drink good beer. ¡Salud!