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| Red Pig Mexican Ale. BYO tacos. |
Red Pig Mexican Ale first gained notoriety as the favourite cerveza of the Mexican Police force. Unlike Corona, Victoria, Dos Equis, Negra Modelo and other Mexican beers, Red Pig is noted as the perfect accompaniment to doughnuts. Especially glazed. This unusual taste combination has made Red Pig as synonymous with the Mexican constabulary as corruption, laziness and refried beans.
For those connoisseurs out there you may be wondering what the word "ale" is doing in proximity to anything related to Mexican beer. This sense of wonderment was also present in me when I found myself perusing the menu at the fine dining establishment known as the Flying Fajita Sisters. Once overcoming my initial horror at the concept of a Mexican Ale I found myself overwhelmed by curiosity. Much like a dead cat. I wanted to find out more. Much like a police officer after hearing a rumour of 50% off at Donut-King. So it was that I decided to find a flag pole to run this beer up in hope of a salute.
Now, if you will allow me to digress for a little. One of the many good things about Mexican beer, and there are surprisingly quite a few good things, is that you don't have to know much about Mexican brewing to know a lot about Mexican beer. If I asked you to name one Mexican beer I am confident I could predict your answer with 54 standard deviations of accuracy. That answer would of course be Corona. That ubiquitous urine coloured beer in the tall clear glass often found with a slice of citrus in the neck and in the hand of some citizen who has happily forked out $8 for the privilege without knowing the actual cost or respect that is shown to this beer in its country of origin. Before you think I have somehow lost my place and suddenly started to review Corona, stay with me. There is a point to this. Corona is a very simple clean low carbonated easy drinking beer. Great in a hot climate. Like Mexico. So you know what Corona tastes like? Yes. Congratulations. Now you know what 99% of Mexican beer tastes like. This singular lack of variety in Mexican beer is what lead to my doubt and curiosity.
What are the chances of a Mexican brewer making a half decent ale? If you look at the label on the bottle you may find it to be somewhat prescient. Pigs might fly. Or at the least jump through a hoop and for a moment in time look like they are flying.
So how did Red Pig Mexican Ale measure up? Was I like a communist pig in a collective pile of sh*t? Not quite. I did however, upon careful reflection, salute. Red Pig appears as an opaque reddish brown (hence the name I presume?). On the nose, it smells like bacon. Working on a comparative basis, Red Pig reminds me somewhat of Leffe Brune. Just without the depth of flavour and body. Red Pig is almost like a brown ale for the tropics. It has some of the flavour and bite you would expect but without the heavy nature of a more full bodied ale. Dare I say it, it's almost watered down. So for what at first is a bastardised version of a decent full bodied brown ale, I really think there is a place for the Red Pig. If you are hoeing into a plate of chiles rellenos or fajitas and feel like a beer with a little more bite then Red Pig could be just what the médico ordered.
So that's it. I know I should wrap this up and go to bed as the TV is now showing ads for adultmatchmaker.com and moronic mobile phone ring tones.
I hope you've enjoyed this short trip into the inane. Please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions for things I should review. Such as condoms or time travel.
For those connoisseurs out there you may be wondering what the word "ale" is doing in proximity to anything related to Mexican beer. This sense of wonderment was also present in me when I found myself perusing the menu at the fine dining establishment known as the Flying Fajita Sisters. Once overcoming my initial horror at the concept of a Mexican Ale I found myself overwhelmed by curiosity. Much like a dead cat. I wanted to find out more. Much like a police officer after hearing a rumour of 50% off at Donut-King. So it was that I decided to find a flag pole to run this beer up in hope of a salute.
Now, if you will allow me to digress for a little. One of the many good things about Mexican beer, and there are surprisingly quite a few good things, is that you don't have to know much about Mexican brewing to know a lot about Mexican beer. If I asked you to name one Mexican beer I am confident I could predict your answer with 54 standard deviations of accuracy. That answer would of course be Corona. That ubiquitous urine coloured beer in the tall clear glass often found with a slice of citrus in the neck and in the hand of some citizen who has happily forked out $8 for the privilege without knowing the actual cost or respect that is shown to this beer in its country of origin. Before you think I have somehow lost my place and suddenly started to review Corona, stay with me. There is a point to this. Corona is a very simple clean low carbonated easy drinking beer. Great in a hot climate. Like Mexico. So you know what Corona tastes like? Yes. Congratulations. Now you know what 99% of Mexican beer tastes like. This singular lack of variety in Mexican beer is what lead to my doubt and curiosity.
What are the chances of a Mexican brewer making a half decent ale? If you look at the label on the bottle you may find it to be somewhat prescient. Pigs might fly. Or at the least jump through a hoop and for a moment in time look like they are flying.
So how did Red Pig Mexican Ale measure up? Was I like a communist pig in a collective pile of sh*t? Not quite. I did however, upon careful reflection, salute. Red Pig appears as an opaque reddish brown (hence the name I presume?). On the nose, it smells like bacon. Working on a comparative basis, Red Pig reminds me somewhat of Leffe Brune. Just without the depth of flavour and body. Red Pig is almost like a brown ale for the tropics. It has some of the flavour and bite you would expect but without the heavy nature of a more full bodied ale. Dare I say it, it's almost watered down. So for what at first is a bastardised version of a decent full bodied brown ale, I really think there is a place for the Red Pig. If you are hoeing into a plate of chiles rellenos or fajitas and feel like a beer with a little more bite then Red Pig could be just what the médico ordered.
So that's it. I know I should wrap this up and go to bed as the TV is now showing ads for adultmatchmaker.com and moronic mobile phone ring tones.
I hope you've enjoyed this short trip into the inane. Please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions for things I should review. Such as condoms or time travel.
