New Brews

Our stay in SoCal after México gave me a chance to see hermano menor J-O, who had a fabulous new brew. Reissdorf Kölsch is a golden ale from Köln (Cologne), a Roman city on the River Rhine in Germany. The beer came in tall, brown 0.5-L bottles, and poured clear and bright in the glass. It was light and refreshing, but had a satisfying fullness and clean finish. Eminently quaffable, especially in the summer. In Oaxaca, we found a Munich-styled amber lager called León. It had a lovely softness in the malt flavor, not too sweet, and finished dry. León is a Grupo Modelo product, the folks who bring you Corona. I have a great fondness for mass-produced Mexican beer, there's just enough variation from similar beers in the States to keep them interesting. The light lagers have a little more body and flavor, and there are actual choices of darker beers on the menu! Maybe it is just México, the state of mind, that makes all those beers--Dos Equis, Tecate, Pacífico, Bohemia, etc.--taste so good to me. Two new brews, one German, one Mexican of obvious German lineage! The Kölsch I would like to taste on draft in the city of its birth--the so-called "real ales" in the UK can only be properly appreciated at the source. Someday, perhaps, there'll be a beer pilgrimage to Germany. And someday, perhaps, there'll be a return to México, and I'll find a place with Léon on tap. Till then? Cheers, mates.