Wait what? Is that a Mexican craft beer I’m drinking? It sure is! DOA IPA from Day of the Dead Beer Company (Cerveza de Los Muertos) claims to be a genuine Mexican craft brew. As such, it’s the first one I’ve ever tried. And that after more than 32 years of beer drinking.

Actually, it’s hard to tell if Day of the Dead Beer Company is a small contract brewer or just a label for Mexico’s third largest brewer, Cerveceria Mexicana. Some facts about the brewery from the website:

Day of the Dead beer is the first fully developed, fully accessible craft beer to come out of Mexico brewed at Cerveceria Mexicana

-Mexican owned, Mexican brewed

-Located 100 yards from the US border in Tecate, Mexico

Day of the Dead Brewing offers a lineup of several beers, all with ornate labels and names that celebrate the Day of the Dead holiday popular south of the border. To be honest, I had not heard very good things about DOA IPA, so was a little skeptical going into it. The ingredients sounded good enough:

•Malt: 2 Row, munich, carapils, caramel

•Hops: centennial, cascade, fuggle, saaz, goldings, Willamette

Then too, the beer has 6.8% alcohol by volume and a whopping 83 IBUs, in the ballpark for an IPA. The interesting mélange of American and European hops intrigued me. The beer is about average priced at $8.99 a six-pack.

DOA IPA pours to a pale orange color with a thick foamy head and an appetizing dry resiny nose. Taking a sip, the beer has firm caramel malt up front followed by more of the resin the nose promised and a sharp grassy bitterness that leaves the finish long and dry. That bitterness really intensifies as it warms, and the slightly resiny notes of the American hops quickly yield to a grassier aroma from the European ones. The bitter finish is the most impressive aspect of the beer, and well reflects those 83 IBUs.

Day of the Dead DOA IPA may be brewed in Mexico, but it’s a solid malty, hoppy American IPA. I think the mix of hops is going to throw off some beer geeks, but I was impressed with this effort. It’s definitely a beer I would buy again.

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