It doesn’t have to be Cinco de Mayo to enjoy a refreshing, easy-to-drink, Mexican-style lager. There are myriad American-made, Mexican-style lagers just waiting to be paired with yard games, end-of-the-summer beach days, and an afternoon spent sitting in a lawn chair with your feet immersed in the cooling water of a kiddie pool. From coast-to-coast, brewers have crafted countless no-frills, crushable beers that deserve your attention all year long…. Especially in the dog days of August.
Since we’re not in the business of making you do the heavy lifting, we found eight of the best Mexican-style lagers available today. Then we ranked them based on overall flavor and how well they pair with Mexican food. Keep scrolling to see them all.
8. Cerveceria Colorado ¡Venga!
ABV: 4.9%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This 5% ABV lager was crafted to taste like the traditional Mexican lagers we all know and love. Cold fermented with Mexican lager yeast, it’s known for its no-frills, crisp, surprisingly balanced flavor profile. It’s the kind of beer you’ll want to have on hand all year long.
Tasting Notes:
There are a ton of classic Mexican lager aromas on the nose with cereal grain and corn upfront. There are also aromas of citrus peels, freshly cut grass, and gently floral hops. Sipping it reveals more corn sweetness, bready malts, lemon peels, hay, and herbal, floral hops. The finish is crisp and highly crushable.
Bottom Line:
While some authentic Mexican lagers might lean a little watery, Cerveceria Colorado ¡Venga! Is crisp, flavorful, and pairs well with spicy nachos.
7. 21st Amendment El Sully
ABV: 4.8%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
21st Amendment El Sully is a 4.8% ABV Mexican-style lager brewed with pilsner malt, flaked maize, Vienna malt, flaked barley, and acidulated malt. It gets its hop presence from the liberal use of US Golding and Magnum hops. The result is an award-winning, sweet, refreshing, clean take on the classic style.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll be greeted with aromas of sweet corn, cereal grains, lemon peels, orchard fruits, and floral hops. Drinking it brings forth notes of cereal grains, corn sweetness, wet grass, hay, honey, lemon zest, and floral, lightly bitter hops. It’s a crisp, refreshing, crushable beer if ever there was one.
Bottom Line:
21st Amendment El Sully isn’t supposed to blow you away with aroma and flavor. But it still manages to have a ton of both. The sweetness and bitterness ratio pairs perfectly with cheesy quesadillas.
6. Ska Mexican Logger
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
You don’t have to be a lumberjack to enjoy Ska’s take on Mexican lager called Mexican Logger. Brewed with select malts, proprietary yeast, fresh water, and Saaz hops, it’s like a Mexican lager meets a Bohemian pilsner. It’s known for its light, clean, fresh, and very crisp flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of yeasty bread, cracker malts, sweet corn, lemon peels, fresh-cut grass, pepper, and floral, herbal hops greet you before your first sip. The palate is loaded with flavors like bready malts, cereal grains, corn, lemon zest, honey, straw, grass, and floral, earthy hops. The finish is spicy, floral, and lightly bitter.
Bottom Line:
This is a very well-rounded take on the style. There’s a perfect balance of malts and hops. Its malty backbone and crisp, floral finish make a great compliment to savory, meat-filled tacos.
5. Great Lakes Mexican Lager With Lime
ABV: 5.4%
Average Price: $10.49 for a six-pack
The Beer:
There’s no confusion about what you’re about to drink when you crack open a can of Great Lakes Mexican Lager With Lime. That’s exactly what it is. Brewed with 2-row base malt, flaked corn, and Mt. Hood hops, it gets a tart, zesty kick from the addition of lime peel and lime puree.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find aromas of sweet corn, pale malts, citric lemon, and floral hops. The palate continues this trend with a ton of corn sweetness, bready malts, grass, honey, lime zest, and floral, earthy hops. It’s a beer for fans of light, crisp beers and lime tartness.
Bottom Line:
This is a classic, no-frills Mexican-style lager. It’s crisp, easy to drink, and has a nice kick of lime. It pairs well with fried fish tacos.
4. Epic Los Locos
ABV: 4.8%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
You don’t have to wait until Cinco de Mayo to imbibe this sublimely refreshing take on the classic Mexican-style lager. Brewed with Weyerman pilsner malt, Carapils malt, and yellow corn, it’s hopped with Amarillo hops and flavored with lime juice and sea salt.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a mix of bready malts, cereal grains, a ton of corn, lime zest, and floral, piney hops. On the palate, you’ll find notes of biscuit malts, cereal grains, sweet corn, grass, honey, lime peels, floral hops, and light salinity. Crisp, citrusy, salty, what’s not to love on a hot day?
Bottom Line:
This Mexican-style beer is already refreshing and flavorful. But the addition of lime and sea salt elevates it to a new level. This crisp, refreshing, salty brew perfectly complements freshly made salsa and chips.
3. Lone Tree Mexican Lager
ABV: 5.3%
Average Price: $10.49 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Lone Tree figured this beer was good enough that it didn’t need a comical or pun-filled name. It was good enough to simply be called Mexican Lager. This 5.3% ABV lager is brewed with malt, hops, water, yeast, and flaked corn. The result is an award-winning, crisp, clean, thirst-quencher of beer.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of cracker-like malts, corn sweetness, orange peels, lemon, pears, black pepper, and floral, piney hops makes for a welcoming start to this beer. The palate is sweet and crisp with notes of freshly baked bread, sweet corn, fresh-cut grass, pepper, orchard fruits, lemongrass, and floral hops. A beer worth trying.
Bottom Line:
The sweet corn, cracker malt backbone citrus peels, and floral hop flavors make for a well-balanced, crushable beer that pairs perfectly with fresh guacamole.
2. AleSmith Clásico
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $12.49 for a six-pack
The Beer:
San Diego’s AleSmith is well-known for its IPA prowess, but if you don’t give this Mexican-style lager a shot, you’re missing out. Available year-round, AleSmith Clásico gets its European flavor from the use of Munich and Vienna malts and select hops. The result is a sweet corn-forward, malty, crisp, thirst-quenching beer.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There are scents of sweet corn, bready malts, wet grass, hay, tropical fruits, lemon peel, and floral hops. Sipping it brings forth notes of cereal grains, corn sweetness, fresh bread, grass, honey, bright lemon, orchard fruits, and herbal hops. The finish is a gentle mix of malt sweetness and floral hop bitterness.
Bottom Line:
This beer used to be brewed to pay homage to the band Sublime. You can still enjoy some of their early 90s hits while you sip this balanced, sweet, crisp beer and enjoy a loaded burrito.
1. Hi-Wire Atlántico
ABV: 4.5%
Average Price: $12.49 for a six-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This sessionable, 4.5% ABV Mexican-style lager was crafted to have authentic aromas and flavors. Brewed with select hops and Pilsner malt, Vienna malt, and flaked maize, it’s known for its corny, sweet, malty backbone, fruity, earthy body, and gently bitter, floral, hoppy finish.
Tasting Notes:
Notable aromas of sweet corn, yeasty bread, cracker malts, lemon peels, orchard fruits, honey, and floral, herbal hops make for a great start to this beer. The palate continues this trend in the best way possible with a ton of bready malt, pilsner malt, sweet corn, citrus peel, fresh-cut grass, and floral, herbal hop flavors. The finish is corny sweet, crisp, and lightly bitter.
Bottom Line:
If you only try one beer from this list, make it this one. In a sea of no-frills Mexican-style lagers, this is one of the most well-balanced we’ve tried. It pairs well with traditional tamales.
