BEER RUN OF THE WEEK: WILL ANY OF THESE BEERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD HAVE A CONNECTION WITH OUR “I LOVE MICHELADAS” MIXES AS INTENSE AS CAROLE BASKIN'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH TIGERS?

On this beautiful Friday, we want to give a huge shout out to all those loyal blog readers. We don’t know how many people actually take the time to read our blogs each week, but just know that if you’re reading this sentence right now…. WE APPRECIATE YOU! (Please never stop reading our blogs.)

This is a great opportunity to let you know that this blog has nothing to do with Carole Baskin or her tigers. (Did she really feed her husband to her tigers though??? ¡QUÉ BARBARIDAD! If only tigers could speak because I have a ton of questions!) So once again, our apologies if our title mislead you and you’re still trying to figure out what’s going on. Let me “copy and paste” a very important paragraph from our very first BEER RUN exercise about 2 months ago before we get into our BEER RUN OF THE WEEK details. It will definitely help you understand the nature of this piece.

THE “COPIED AND PASTED” VERY IMPORTANT PARAGRAPH:

We know that “time is money” and that you value your free time. With that idea in mind, we are starting this biweekly exercise, in which we select 3 random beers and we’ll let you know if they are perfect (or not) for micheladas! We want to save you time, money and effort by just letting you know what you should try and perhaps what beer you should avoid. We are not beer sommeliers nor are we experts of any kind… we just enjoy drinking micheladas especially if it’s for very important research purposes. We will do our best to keep it real and just provide honest feedback from our very own tasting experience.

We also want to apologize for our tiny BEER RUN OF THE WEEK hiatus. Labor Day messed us all up and we somehow lost track of time. We also got our weeks confused. It doesn’t matter now though since we are back! Now that we are all caught up and on the same page, let’s get down to business.

This week we sent out the same unexperienced person who has been randomly picking the beers for this exercise. (Not too sure why he is still being sent out there or why he hasn’t been fired yet….. but we aren’t judging.) Once again Ramirez Beverage Center on Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles, California was the place he was assigned to go out and explore. After receiving many stares for taking so many doubtful steps through the numerous aisles of such an amazing liquor store, he decided to pick three random beers from around the globe. The countries being represented this week are Germany, Spain and China. This is the second BEER RUN OF THE WEEK, in which the beers of three countries battle it out to become the champion!

We are convinced that giving out symbolic medals is the best way to rank these beers. Based on how well the three beers tasted with our “I Love Micheladas” mixes, they were either given a gold, silver or bronze medal. Of course, a gold medal is the best, a silver medal is considered second place and a bronze medal would be third and last place. Just to be clear, receiving a bronze medal is not a horrible thing….. it just means that two other beers had a stronger connection with our michelada mixes. So please refrain from sending any type of hate mail if your favorite beer somehow received a bronze medal. Ain’t nobody got time for that, familia!

With that said, these are the beer picks from around the world for this week and their respective medals:

GOLD MEDAL WINNER

LUCKY BUDDHA (China)

(4.8% ABV)

This Asian-style lager that is brewed and bottled in Qiandao Lake, China was extremely refreshing! For starters, the shape of the bottle is very intriguing and captures the attention of anyone who comes across it. The bottle shape depicts a laughing Buddha (It's not meant to represent the actual Buddha. The symbolic figure isn't portrayed in a religious way, but more in a cultural manner.) This lager with the aroma of a sweet and malty lager was smooth and worked excellent with both mixes. It was interesting that it had a bubbly sensation when drinking it. The OG Brown worked the best though. It created a spicy flavor that was thirst quenching and left you satisfied…. but still wanting more. We definitely recommend this amazing beer for any future Michelada making sessions. We want to congratulate Lucky Buddha and China on its much deserved GOLD MEDAL!

SILVER MEDAL WINNER

BECK’S (Germany)

(4.6% ABV)

Beck's is a beer that used to be brewed in Germany and now has relocated. (We had no idea when this beer was selected. It's still German though!) Beck’s is a lager that’s perfect for those who expect a michelada that is more on the bitter side. Every sip left a bitter taste in one’s mouth with both of our mixes, but it was quitet enjoyable. Our Red Mix worked great with this beer since it balanced out the bitterness with its delicious tomato flavor. Like we always mention, it all comes down to what one prefers when enjoying a michelada. If you want more of a balanced flavor, use our Red mix. If you want to taste the beer with a spicy twist while sipping on your michelada, the OG Brown mix is best for this beer. For that reason, this is a German lager that should be proud of its SILVER MEDAL!

BRONZE MEDAL WINNER

ESTRELLA GALICIA ESPECIAL (Spain)

(5.5% ABV)

This golden color lager is perfect for those michelada drinkers who enjoy the heavy bitter taste in their drink. It was tried with our Red mix and our OG Brown mix, and the bitter taste was stronger with our Red Mix. The spicy nature of the OG Brown mix helped balance the bitterness, so we enjoyed it best in this way. Overall, this is the perfect beer if you like the very strong beer flavor while enjoying a michelada. If you want a michelada that doesn't taste like beer, this is not the beer for you. We are proud to present this Spanish beer with a much deserved BRONZE MEDAL. ¡Olé, tío!

(PLEASE INSERT VERY LOUD CLAPPING, CHEERING AND WHISTLING HERE, WHILE RICKY MARTIN’S “LA COPA DE LA VIDA” PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND, FOR ALL THE MEDAL RECIPIENTS.)

To summarize, the three beers in this group proudly represented their home countries when paired with our “I Love Micheladas” mixes. They didn't disappoint. It’s important to note that lagers aren’t usually the best beer picks for michelada making. Yet, for many it is because they enjoy the bitter factor of the pairing. Again, selecting the right miche mix for your beer also depends on the level of spiciness that you prefer on your miches. Go out and support these beer companies because they've all been around for a plethora of decades.

Don’t forget that you can also be part of this experience. Buy these beers and our "I Love Micheladas" mixes and try it all for yourself. Our “I Love Micheladas” 32 oz bottles can be purchased at your local latino supermarkets (most of them) or can be ordered online by visiting www.ilovemicheladas.com/collections/products. Once you try them out, let us know what you think! It's okay if you completely disagree with our thoughts. 

Enjoy this year's first weekend of Fall! Have fun and stay safe.

¡Salud, familia!