Viva La Cerveza! Celebrate Oktoberfest with Latin Beer Cocktails

Ask the average person to name a Latin beer and chances are they’ll rattle off one of the “Big Five”: Corona, Pácifico, Dos Equis, Tecate, Modelo. Get ready to expand your Latin beer repertoire with a new wave of Latin microbrews that are conquering American palates, one frosty mug at a time.

Watch: How to Make Mexican Beer Cocktails [Video]

“People in the U.S. are getting excited about the Mexican and Brazilian brewery scenes,” said Brandon Woodcock, a New York-based Certified Cicerone and independent beer consultant. “Brazil has had a craft beer culture for some time, but some of the Mexican microbreweries are starting to get their products into U.S. markets near the border.”

Woodcock notes that Latin American microbreweries are producing beer styles that are in line with North American trends in craft brewing. “A Mexican brewery called Cucapá in Mexicali makes a flagship pale ale called Chupacabras that just hit the Los Angeles market last November,” he said. The company also produces an IPA, or India Pale Ale, a style of beer that originated in the nineteenth century with a higher hops content and a pleasantly bitter, malty taste.

Craft beer may be a recent trend among young Latin American brewers, but beer has been a mainstay in Latin America for centuries, as have beer cocktails. Mexico’s classic beer coctél, the Michelada, varies depending on where you are in Mexico. “There’s a small cantina in the south of Oaxaca called La Jiranda,” relates Oaxaca native Bricia Lopez, partner of La Guelaguetza restaurant in Los Angeles. “They claim to have invented the Michelada, but I think there are a lot of little bars in Mexico who share that claim,” she said.

Next, three beer cocktail recipes…

The Michelada, a savory beer concoction, boasts a varying combination of lime, chili powder, Clamato, tomato juice and Worcestershire sauce, among other ingredients. La Guelaguetza’s Michelada is so popular that the restaurant bottled its starter mix and sells it online.

To meet the demands of an increasingly global and discerning consumer, Latin mixologists are putting modern spins on classic drinks or inventing original cocktails with beer as the primary ingredient. Take the Barranco Beer Company in Lima’s BoHo Barranco district.

This hip microbrewery and bar was opened last fall by Peruvian cousins Andrés and Maurice Lefevre. The cocktail menu boasts a series of “Choptails,” beer-based cocktails with ingredients like Pisco, grenadine and citrus fruit. Although Barranco Beer Company’s “Bulls Ay!” and “50/Fifti” beers are not available in the U.S., the brewery caters to a growing demand among Latin consumers for artisanal beers.

Not heading to Mexico or South America anytime soon? No worries – we’ve gathered three Latin beer cocktail recipes you can make in your own kitchen. The good news–making a beer cocktail is easy. The non-beer ingredients go from shaker to mug, and the beer follows. If you’re unable to find some of the specialty beers in the recipes, you can use a similar style beer made by one of the Big Five. Salud!

Next, get into the spirit with three beer cocktail recipes.

Michelada 

• Agave worm salt (or Tajín)
• 2 ounces lime juice
• 1 ounce tomato juice
• dash Tabasco
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 13 ounces Victoria Mexican beer 

Get the full recipe.

Paloma Ingrata

• 12 ounces Cucapá Runaway IPA
• 1/2 fresh lime juice
• juice of 3/4 grapefruit
• 1/2 ounce  agave nectar
• 1 ounce of Ilegal brand Mezcal Joven

Get the full recipe.

Charanga Pisquera 

• 1 shot of Triple Sec
• 1 shot of Pisco
• 2 ounces of fresh squeezed orange juice
• 11 ounces of 50/Fifti lager (or Cusqueña Premium in the U.S.)
• a slice of orange to garnish

Get the full recipe.