Mexico= Cerveza, Runs, overall great time!

Taking a trip to a remote part of Mexico anytime soon? Please remember my three incredibly useful travel tips:

1. If a Mexican woman offers to cook you food....try everything. It's a sign of respect and tastes awesome.

2. Always stash Toilet Paper because you will need it and can't bank on any place having it for sure. Consider only drinking beer and bottled water.

3. Don't you dare purchase a Corona or Modelo...if you think that is Mexico's best beer, you suck. Try a Victoria!!

I just returned from a trip to Malagana, Mexico to visit family. When I said a remote part of Mexico, think ten hours past the border with dirt roads, small family owned businesses and farms, chickens and dogs essentially run wild. I stayed on a ranch with mostly family who all only spoke Spanish. My weak language skills didn't help, but I was able to find common ground through saying Salud ( "Saa-lude" which means Cheers) and drinking beer. I drank Cerveza Preparadas and Micheladas. A Preparada was a canned beer, luckily Pacifico, with lots of tomato juice, hot sauce and shrimp with a slice of lime. It was actually pretty tasty but so hot I had to chase it with a Sol Con Limon which is similar to a Miller Chill but a lot more bitter and salty. A Michelada is like a poor mans bloody mary but seems to be too much tomato juice, like how a Bud Light Clamato tastes. Another Grupo Modelo beer I tasted is the American lager-ish Estrella which is light and refreshing but pretty bland and finishes kinda tasting like dirty socks.

Great...so now I have quoted beers that taste like Budweiser and Miller products. Please, please keep reading! Because of my willing tour guides ( brothers-in-law) I was able to discover Mexico's Oldest Beer. Victoria has been brewed for over 140 years and to this day is only sold in Mexico. It pours an amber head with caramel sweetness and is overall really refreshing. It has great flavor and a crisp, clean finish. One of the darkest Mexican beers I have had but is so smooth and reasonably priced. We drank from Cawhlomas(40 oz bottles) for 20 pesos, which is only about US$2 and $5/6pk. It was a crowd favorite and more popular with the locals than any Corona, Modelo, or Sol. I wanted to sneak a few cases of Victoria back across the border but I am a pansy, and as you know the USA has some apparent beef with Mexico.

In my mind Victoria is like Fat Tire in Colorado and Yuengling in Pennsylvania. Great regional beers that are very popular, but not widely distributed. Enjoying a Fat Tire in Colorado is something that everyone should do at one point in their life (but be sure to enjoy New Belgium's other beer more).

Please do yourself a favor and enjoy a Victoria on your next Mexico trip! Also, tip number four, plan ahead and bring pepto bismol, I know it sounds bad but you will thank me.

Readers: What is your favorite Mexican Beer?

Cheers!