Negra Modelo

Dec 13, 2004 5 Replies
C

Negra Modelo "An average example of the Dark American Lager style. No more, no less. An excellent compliment to any Mexican meal."



Now the last time I drank a Negra Modelo, it was a really good example of a Bavarian Maerzen style and that's what the Modelo web site says it's supposed to be. But with AB taking over controlling interest, I was interested if anyone who's had one recently can comment on this. Has AB dumbed down Negra Modelo from a fine maerzen to a dark american lager, or is the liquor store's description as screwed up as the one they have for Bohemia - a Vienna-Style Lager (whatever that means)?



CB



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S

Haven't had a Negra Modelo for a few months, but it was still as good as it ever was at that point. It sounds like whoever's writing the liquor store's copy doesn't know what they're talking about.

Incidentally, in an exercise that's a bit like arguing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, it seems that people who get into classifying beers put NM more in the Vienna style than Bavarian Märzen. It's too small a beer, really, to fit into that style, IMO, and has a different malt character. Vienna-style lagers were similar, but they strike me as a bit dryer and have a slightly different toasted malt character (from the use of Vienna malt) than their Märzen cousins, which typically use Munich malt.

-Steve

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C

I understand what you're saying.

It's interesting to see that the only commercial examples the BJCP guidelines can come up with are American (either Mexico or US). It seems to me that this is a made up style for beer competitions that doesn't exist in the wild or are they claiming that the style was exiled from Wien with Maximiliiano y Carlota?

CB

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R

I think it's a bit too light for a Märzen, and the adjunct taste takes away from any German roots it may have IMO.

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S

Actually, there is historical precedent for the style. It was carried over during the wave of German and Austrian immigration to the Americas in the

19th century. The style died off in Europe. It may or may not have been maintained through some of the Mexican beers. Assuming that Negra Modelo fits the profile of the Vienna beers is a big assumption, just as assuming that Anchor's rendition of steam beer is like the historical beers.

-Steve

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C

I was just reading about how a Hapsburg Emperor sent a Bohemian brew master to Mexico to teach them how to brew beer. The reference was in a paragraph related to the 30 years war, 16th century, but it wasn't specific as to when this technology transfer occurred. I think it's more likely that Emperor Franz Josef sent the brew master from Bohemia to his brother Maxamiliano in the mid 19th century. That would be about the time the Pilsner style was developed and would account for popularity of the Wiener style in Mexican beer (if you believe Michael Jackson, the brew master at Moctezuma is 72 years old he might remember what a real Vienna tastes like - Indio and XX Amber).

CB

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