The demand for excellent craft beer in the city is constantly on the rise. It feels like virtually every day a new brewhouse opens its door, beckoning you through with hoppy IPAs, creamy stouts, and honey-tinged browns. Some surprisingly good beer is being brewed right here in the city from locals Monstruo de Agua, Cru Cru, Escollo, Harlem, Interstellar, Radical OH, and 19° Norte, to name a few.
Adding to my previous list, here are a few new stops on my personal beer crawl through Mexico City:
Cru Cru – Romita #8, Colonia Roma
One of my favorite groups of brewers, the guys at Cru Cru have been brewing in the city for over a decade and make inspired creations and fantastic collaborations with other breweries. Hibiscus seltzer and the capulin gose are some of the wilder options on a solid list of favorites — IPA, American Lager, and the Tripel Mexicana. Their tiny brewery in the heart of Roma is now open from 6 to 11 on Thursday and Friday and Saturdays from 2 pm to 10 pm.
Almacen Monstruo de Agua, Amsterdam 46, Colonia Condesa
A brewery with a real heart for eco-production, Monstruo de Agua has a little paradise of a location on the edge of the Ajusco National Park. There, they have an edible garden filled with local herbs, spices, and flowers that are used in their beer, along with a massive rainwater catchment system that they use to filter the water for their beers. They opened Almacen a few years back and its a great place to have a taste of their beers, meads, and probiotic sodas as well as a few snacks in a plant-filled tap room that is as cozy as their previous location in Roma. You can also arrange a trip out to their brewery or book a tour with me to try some of their brews!
HOP, The Beer Experience – Roma 13, Colonia Juarez
Colonia Juarez is just beginning to sprout craft beer bars. HOP is a narrow outpost on Roma street whose brews are listed on the giant chalkboard wall and include a handful of hyper-local brews made right here in Mexico City. The bar is generally not overcrowded and they say that their busiest night is usually Thursday because of the theater crowd — La Juarez has been a traditional theater district in Mexico City for years and continues to have several good venues for plays.
There is a second HOP location now in Colonia Narvarte (Av. Cuauhtémoc 870) that is about twenty times as big. Its outdoor beer garden style of it makes it a great spot for watching a ball game on their massive TVs. The food is kinda meh, but the beer selection is extensive — both Mexican brands and international imports.
Beer Bros – Luz Saviñon no number, corner with Juan Sanchez Azcona, Narvarte
A tiny place that packs a punch, Beer Bros is still going strong after almost five years with a wide range of Mexican
and imported beers to choose from. With lots of outdoor tables this is mainly a pub, but pre-covid you could order food from one of the surrounding restaurants and eat it there — Quiero Pizza around the corner is a good place for that!
Simple Cervecería – Hamburgo 45b, Colonia Juarez
A new brewpub is open in Juarez with 13 beers on tap and a concise but delicious menu of small plates — shrimp pita with pickled radish, hummus with Boursin cheese and peach, and chicken tenders with mashed potatoes are a few of the best. Most of the beer on tap is made by the Simple brewery, but there are a few others of local brewers as well like Falling Piano and the Taller de Fermentos. The space is cozy, with a dozen or so bar stools and a few tables outside. It’s a great new stop in the Juarez for a good beer.
Drunkendog – Nuevo Leon 4A, Colonia Condesa
A hip little spot along the main drag in Condesa, Drunkendog is a perfect stop on a citywide pub crawl. They have over two dozen beers on tap, mostly Mexican but with a few U.S. and German brands thrown in and even some local microbreweries like Itañeñe. Then there are the dozens of other options in cans or bottles, all kinds of Mexico City breweries if you want to get a real local taste. I love that they have a section of the bar that is television-free and the new pandemic-era outdoor seating. They also have quite a substantial menu of classic Mexican snacks like tlacoyos or esquites or more U.S:-style sliders and hotdogs.
Cerveceria Metropolitana – Diagonal San Antonio 1931, Colonia Narvarte
With a high-school snack bar aesthetic and a foosball table in the back, La Metropolitana feels like an old-school hangout. There are 20 local beers on tap, a few from some very tiny Mexico City breweries. I haven’t tried the food, so place let me know what you think, but the menu includes bar snacks and sandwiches, burgers, and fries. The handful of tables on the sidewalk and the family-style picnic tables inside give this place the right vibe for an afternoon of summer drinking.
Cerveceria Xolotl – Ignacio Allende 24, Centro Historico
This tiny hole-in-the-wall brewpub is inside and upstairs a multi-purpose space in the Centro Historico, they have half a dozen or so beers on tap and lots more in bottles or cans, mainly Mexican brands. The place is dedicated to their xoloescuincle (the Mexican hairless dog) that you will sometimes find sitting on a bar stool. There is a tiny balcony from which you watch the comings and goings of the Centro Historico below.
Yeccan – Chiapas 208, Colonia Roma
Open since 2018, Yeccan has 31 different beers on tap, generally with seven or eight that they make in-house (ok not right on the premises, but in Colonia Del Valle which is pretty close). The styles run the gamut with a lot of IPAs since that seems to be the trend in Mexico these days and most breweries from in and around the city. They also have a surprisingly good food menu, although the day I was there they were out of A LOT of options… my waiter said they were working on it. My one gripe was that the beers weren’t very cold, which I know is the European and hip way to serve them, but I can’t help it – I want my beer cold. The ambiance is casually nice – it’s not a divey brewpub but a place you can show up without a reservation and without dressing up.
Lagerbar Hercules – Campeche 322, Condesa
The beer menu here is limited to about ten of the Hercules brand beers, many of which are worth a try, but I also love the German-inspired snacks on the menu — bratwurst, chicken paté, and rye bread, or homemade pickles. Of the beers I liked the Republic and Hacha, but beer is so subjective, and the menu descriptions are very thorough so you can make up your own mind. The inside of the place is outfitted like an old-fashioned diner and the outside tables (and now parklet in the street) are also a pleasant place to sit and chat.
La Roma Brewing Company – Yucatan 84, Colonia Roma
This place is a revamp of the location which used to be called Escollo. I have tried to discover the real difference between the former and the current space and the only thing I can come up with is now they have a bar on the Yucatan side of the street and one on the Queretaro side. All the beers on tap when I went recently were still the Escollo brand beers and I only really liked a small handful — the Manfred red ale, the Blonde, and the double IPA. But it is a great space for a big group of drinkers.
Want to take a Mexico City craft beer tour?
We will spend an afternoon wandering two of Mexico City’s hippest neighborhoods — Condesa and Roma — trying what is local and on tap and getting to know this part of the city and its history. I will take you to 3-4 of my favorite dives, bars, and tasting rooms, as well as make a few spots for delicious food along the way. Click here for more details about the Mexico City Streets Craft Beer tour in Mexico City.
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