Micro Brewery In San MIguel de Allende Wins Gold Again

San Miguel's best kept secret, an award winning craft brewery.

Unless you're into the craft beer scene in Mexico you probably haven't heard of Cerveceria Dos Aves.
Located in Colonia La Lejona this discrete micro-brewery has been making waves in the burgeoning Mexican craft beer scene by producing small batches of award winning ales here in San Miguel de Allende since 2012, distinguishing themselves as San Miguel's first commercial micro-brewery.

What initially made it possible for Cerveceria Dos Aves and other craft breweries to grow in Mexico was ironically, a lawsuit filed by U.S. beer giant Miller who wanted to import their brand into the Mexican market. This suit convinced the Mexican congress to re-write the laws regarding the two Mexican beer monopolies of Modelo (read corona/victoria) and Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma (with the indio brand), limiting their dominance on the grocery store shelves to 25% thus allowing Miller and other breweries like Cerveceria Dos Aves to fill that void. This new law also prohibited Modelo from restricting restaurants who sold the Modelo brand from providing the consumers with more options while they dined.

Using traditional methods to produce classic styles of beer, Cerveceria Dos Aves has been recognized as brewing some of the best beers in Mexico. Their humble beginnings started in a single car garage on Refujio street in Colonia San Antonio. There they began brewing four types of ales and convinced some of the better local restaurants to take a chance selling artisanal beer. They soon found themselves part of the growing craft beer movement in Mexico and have been expanding rapidly. They currently have the capacity to produce over 1,000 cases of beer per month out of their La Lejona facility and have tentative plans to expand to include a tasting room with occasional brewery tours .

During it's first year in business, Dos Aves won awards at the COPA Mexico, the largest and most important national brewers competition. The biggest brewers organization in Mexico, Acermex, sponsors this national competition which receives submissions from all professional breweries nation wide. From this pool of craft and independent brewers Cerveceria Dos Aves garnered a first place gold medal for their American pale ale, gold medal for their Barley wine and gold for their Russian imperial stout. In year two they receive a third place bronze medal for their Belgian style tripel ale. And this year, up against over 50 other submissions for the category, they receive another first place gold medal for American pale ale and a second place silver medal for their Imperial India pale ale. According to owners of Cerveceria Dos Aves Mark Taylor and Francisco Kameko "these awards are the validation that motivate us to continue to produce beers of excellent quality. We know we're on the right track and appreciate the recognition from our peers."

You can find beers brewed by Cerveceria Dos Aves in many of San Miguel's better restaurants and to take away in retail outlets like Via Organica and Luna de Queso.