Review: Cerveza Cucapá Chupacabras American Pale Ale

My parents were on a vacation in Mexico a few months ago and brought back a bunch of Mexican craft beers back with them. One of the ones I was intrigued to try was Cerveza Cucapa's Chupacabras American Pale Ale. I've never had an American Pale Ale out of Mexico so I'm incredibly intrigued to try it out. I quickly looked into this Mexican craft brewery and turns out it's owned by AB InBev, so it's not really a craft brewery unfortunately but I'll still review this beer.

From the website (translated): "Intense bitterness balanced with the sweetness of its malt.

Chupacabra, a mythical extraterrestrial that according to legend inhabits both parts of the American continent. The name reflects the activity that this animal did so eagerly. Drink to believe.

Appearance: Pours a cloudy amber ale with a good deal of carbonation in the body. The head is a whole finger and a half thickness of a very creamy yellowish beige head on top. As the beer gets savoured, there's a light amount of foam retention on the side of the glass.

Aroma: Notes of caramel malt for sweetness, a bit of a graininess, and a moderate hop presence that has a bit of a floral and bitterness to it.. but fairly light otherwise. The hoppiness has a bit of a perfume-like scent to it at the end.

Taste: A sweet, malt forward Pale Ale with notes of caramel, bit of a toasted grain presence and of course, hops. The hops are pretty much what we just experienced in the aroma, it's a floral, leafy hop presence, with a bit of pine bitterness at the end. Fairly standard for an American Pale Ale. Aftertaste is caramel and a light hop bitterness.

Overall Thoughts: I never really expected to see an American Pale Ale to come out of Mexico but the craft/crafty beer industry is popping up just about everywhere now days so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise. This is a malt-forward Pale Ale with a moderate hop presence to it, quite sweet, a bit floral and bitter. Not bad, definitely glad I got to try this.

https://www.cucapa.com/cervezas/chupacabras/