Review Date 6/1/2012
Try?
Re-buy?
What’s the hype? I had heard about Victoria Lager, to be sure, a Vienna-style lager from Mexico’s Grupo Modelo brewing concern. In truth, that company might be more familiar to you for their Corona brand than Victoria. Unless you live in Mexico, of course, where Modelo sells a number of beer brands and controls over 60% of the beer market. It’s also interesting to note that Modelo is 50% owned by Anheuser-Busch.
But back to Victoria Lager. Taco Mac featured it as their beer of the month for May of 2012, which meant you got a free Victoria pint glass if you ordered one up on a Thursday night. While supplies last, of course. This was also the month that Victoria was first offered in Georgia. Apparently it has been offered on a test market basis in some parts of the country since 2010, though even today distribution is still limited. For this reason it has been referred to as “Mexico’s Best Kept Secret.”
According to Taco Mac, the beer has been highly prized by beer drinkers in America; I assume much like Coors once was before it was distributed nationally. Further, the importer tells us that Victoria is Mexico’s oldest beer brand, and can be traced all the way back to 1865.
My mug of Victoria Lager arrived a bright copper color with a light wispy head formation and rather faint nutty malt nose. Taking a sip, I got some light toasted nuts in the palate along with a hint of caramel. In the finish, I got a light trace of hops, just enough to balance the lightly sweet malt.
Overall, the palate seemed a bit on the light side for a Vienna lager to me, and I would have liked more malt here. Indeed, it seems I’m using “light” and “faint” a lot when describing this beer. Still, this is a passable Vienna, and a quaffable one at 4% alcohol by volume. I could see it as an acceptable quencher in the hot Mexican climate, and it does have more flavor than a Corona. At $5 for a pint, it wasn’t overpriced.
Not a beer I would go out of my way to buy, but I might order it up at a Mexican restaurant with a plate of tacos, beans, and rice. Unless Negra Modelo (ironically another Vienna from the same brewery) was also at hand.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
