Food: Negra Modelo

I've been accused of being a beer snob, but that's not really true. I'm just not a fan of the pale or light lager, and that tends to make up the majority of the beer market these days, American and otherwise. For every time I get to have Guinness on draft (which can be quite refreshing), there's ten times I see only Budweiser or Miller Lite on draft. I don't mind the occasional pilsner after a long game of tennis or after some nasty yardwork, but I can't understand how a beer expressly made to be consumed after sweaty work can be consumed at a meal where you aren't tired at all.

The most egregious offender is Corona. There's nothing quite like the conceit of shipping the beer in clear bottles and then marketing lime juice as a way to cover up the resulting skunkiness of the aroma. Yeah, it might look good in ads, but lime juice is for guacamole, not beer. Mexican restaurants always seem to have Corona ready.

So, that's why for this year's Cinco de Mayo at a Tex-Mex joint, I bought some Negra Modelo. A sort of historical oddity, it's a Munich style dark lager that comes from Mexico. Predictably, it comes from the same company that makes Coronoa. I'm not crazy about this beer, and it's a far cry from Old Rasputin or Smuttynose, but beggars can't be choosers. ;-)