Cucapá Honey - Cervecería Cucapá, Mexicali

It's starting to reach 80 degrees and the windows are open, nothing sounds better than a light bodied import with a sweet finish. That's why I reached for a bottle of the Cucapá Honey. It's Mexican and it has a honey right there on the label... next to cerveza, it's gotta be exactly what I'm looking for, a honey flavored beer ... right? Wrong! This beer was full of surprises when I got around to drinking it, and I mean that in a good way... When I poured this beer into my pint glass I quickly realized that it wasn't a light Mexican lager at all... this is colored a bit like an IPA or a Maibock.

There's virtually no head at all, something that Mexican beers tend to have a bit too much of. When I went in to take in the aroma I noticed it was... subtle, to say the least. You have to try pretty hard to isolate the aromas in this beer. The best I could come away with was, "Funky grains and an old frying pan." Not a ringing endorsement but it intrigued me.

The Cucapá Honey doesn't taste like I'd expected either. There is much more hops and malt in this beer, it's got a pretty remarkable amount of flavor. The ratio of hops to malt is right where I like it, both flavors are present but neither is too strong. What this beer is lacking is honey. It seems like they put all their honey in the name and there was none left over to put in the beer. There is just a hint of sweetness in the Cucapá Honey but nowhere near enough to say it tastes like honey.

I'd recommend this beer to anyone looking for a change, branching out to more flavorful beers. There is plenty in this beer to like, it's worth the time it takes to drink a glass of it.