Four Corners Brewery Beer
Four Corners Brewery incorporates Latin imagery in its branding.
By Ed Avis
When el Tequilas Bar & Grill opened in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood last November, the owners didn’t want to serve the same beers every other Mexican restaurant taps. They wanted high quality, interesting brews to accompany the authentic, handmade cuisine they serve.
“We had 10 taps we had to fill with draft beers, and we wanted to focus on local breweries and beers with Hispanic themes,” says co-owner Lauren Raizk.
Raizk and co-owner Freddy Perez sampled a variety of options, and settled on a mix that includes three beers from Baja Brewing Co. in Mexico; three from 5 Rabbit Cerveceria in suburban Chicago; Hominy White Ale from Tocayo Brewing Co. in suburban Chicago; Agave Wheat Ale from Breckenridge Brewery in Littleton, Colorado; and a handful of more conventional brews.
“Our customers definitely appreciate the choices,” Raizk says. “We encourage sampling of any of the beers if they’re not familiar with them.”
Raizk and Perez know that serving better beer means happier customers, and these days Mexican restaurants can tap more interesting brews than ever before.
Growing Craft Scene in Mexico
In Mexico itself, craft beers have exploded in the past couple of years.
“I think there are over 600 craft breweries in Mexico now,” says Jordan Gardenhire, owner of Baja Brewing Co., which is headquartered in Los Cabos, in the southern tip of the Baja peninsula. “Most are really small, but some are growing. It’s just a great scene. People are discovering quality and local products, not only in craft beer but in everything.”
Unfortunately, if you operate a Mexican restaurant in the United States, few of those
Baja Brewing Co.
Baja Brewing Co. exports Mexican beer to the U.S.
600 brews are available for your taps.
“I think the market is growing so quickly here in Mexico that people are content to produce for that market,” Gardenhire says.
Baja Brewing Co., which Gardenhire founded in 2007, has been distributing its beers in the United States since 2014. Three varieties are currently available: Cabotella, a blond ale; IPA Por Favor, an India pale ale; and Escorpion Negro, a dark ale.
Cabotella is the company’s most popular brew in the United States, but the other two are gaining ground.
“Black Scorpion has more body than Cabotella,” Gardenhire says. “Our goal was to make a really dark, black beer, but it’s really easy drinking and not bitter. It has a little extra flavor from the malts. That came on the market about a year ago.”
The company’s newest beer is the IPA. It’s been on the market about six months.
“It’s a Mexican IPA, a unique style that’s more malty than a typical IPA,” Gardenhire says.
Baja Brewing Co. beers are distributed by Southern Glazers in California, and other distributors in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma and Illinois. The company opened a new production brewery in Tijuana earlier this year, which will increase its capacity five-fold.
Another imported Mexican craft beer is Insurgentes, brewed in Tijuana and imported into Southern California by Polaris Beverages. The brewery was founded in 2010 by brothers Ivan and Damian Morales.
“They’re brewing a line-up from wit beer to IPA,” says Stephen Walker, president of Polaris Beverages. “About 70 to 75 percent of their sales are in Mexico, and about 20 percent in the U.S.”
Insurgentes’ wit beer, called Tiniebla, is a lighter brew with hints of citrus and coriander. The Cerveza Brown, an ale, features chocolate, caramel and toast notes. And Lupulosa is an IPA with fruit and citrus flavors.
U.S. Craft Beers with Latin Themes
Great craft beers with a Latin twist also are available from several U.S. breweries. While many craft brewers have produced one or two beers with that concept, there are a small number that focus on that niche.
5 Rabbit Cerveceria, founded in 2011, brews a range of beers infused with Latin
5 Rabbit Cerveceria
5 Rabbit Cerveceria is located in suburban Chicago
flavors. According to Aztec mythology, the number five is associated with excess and loss of control, and the brewery’s core beers all include 5 in the name. For example, 5 Rabbit is a classic golden ale, and 5 Vulture is an amber ale spiked with roasted ancho chile. Other beers in the category are 5 Grass, which is brewed with juniper seeds and white salvia, and 5 Lizard, a wheat beer brewed with coriander, lime peel, and passion fruit.
Another beer from 5 Rabbit that Raizk serves at El Tequila’s is Gringolandia Super Pils. The brewery’s website says the name emerged from the community: “Gringolandia is our multi-culti home, where we live, play and brew our beers. Gringolandia brings big craft beer flavor, focused through the lens of our Latin America meets Chicago experience.”
Four Corners is a Dallas-based brewer that uses the Loteria theme in naming its brews. The beers don’t include specific Latin flavors, but the overall theme is decidedly Latino.
“We wanted the brand to be friendly and vibrant and colorful, and at the same time we were inspired by our neighborhood roots, which are very multicultural,” says George Esquivel, one of three founders of the brewery. “The little tiendas in the neighborhood always carry the loteria cards, so that concept gives us that colorful street vibe.”
Esquivel says that he and his partners, Greg Leftwich and Steve Porcari, were home brewers who noticed that Dallas lacked the craft beer culture found in many other cities.
“What inspired us was what craft brews were adding culturally to their respective regions, and Dallas didn’t have that,” he says. “We would go into local breweries in different markets and always come back to Dallas and say, ‘Why don’t we have that?’”
The trio launched Four Corners almost six years ago. The company’s best seller is Local Buzz, a honey-rye golden ale. Another popular beer is el Chingón, an IPA. Esquivel says they source ingredients – such as honey and grapefruit – from Texas whenever possible.
Distribution is limited to Texas at the moment, but Esquivel says they hope to expand to other markets within the next few years. Restaurants interested in getting Four Corners beer can email beer@fcbrewing.com.
Raices Brewing Co. is a Latino-owned craft brewer in Denver. The company was
Raices Brewing Co.
Raices Brewing Co. is launching later this year in Denver.
founded by Jose Beteta, who came up with the idea during an executive professional development program.
“We were going through a brainstorming session and this idea came to my head,” Beteta says. “I had seen a lot of craft breweries but not one owned by a Latino. So I looked at the numbers and learned that the import market dominates 75 percent of Latino consumption. So this was an opportunity.”
Beteta began brewing about two years ago, but the company will formally launch this year. Nevertheless, the brews have already begun winning awards.
“Our Belgian beer, La Latina, won a medal at a national competition,” Beteta says. “When you taste it what you will taste is a light beer with hints of banana. The flavor comes from the fermentation – it has a little more body.”
The other award-winning beer is a Mexican lager, A la Raiz, which Beteta says will be their staple beer.
Beteta, a native of Costa Rica, says his company is renovating a building near Denver’s Mile High Stadium. The building will house the brewery and provide room for food trucks, so customers can enjoy the beer paired with cuisine from Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, and other Latin countries.
“We will be distributing throughout Denver and beyond, and then outside the state,” Beteta says. “We are already making ties to several Latino restaurants to carry our beers.”
Ed Avis is the publisher of el Restaurante.