21/100) Dia de los Muertos

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Pay the Ferryman, Immortal Beloved, Death Becomes You,
Queen of the Night, Hop on or Die, Death Rides a Pale Horse

Welcome to the night of nightmares, costumes and all manner of candy. However you celebrate it, or don't, All Hallow's eve has come again. What is more fitting than to celebrate with beers thematically appropriate? This week I tried all six Cervezas de Los Muertos (Beers of the Dead).

Yes there are just six in America. Determining how many existed was a bit of a challenge. The internet is rampant with confusion about them. Many websites erroneously classified these beers as produced by Los Muertos Brewing Co. They are not. Instead, Cerveceria Mexicana in Tecate, Mexico brewed them. The easiest way to actually find out more about these beers is to search for "the beers of the dead."

To the undiscerning eye, I understand how these two companies can be confused. Los Muertos' "Agave Maria" smacks of the same fun naming style of these beers. A shorthand way to remember the difference is to note that Cerveceria's beers are themed around the Day of the Dead art style while Los Muertos beers focus on inserting skeletons into their art. Onto the beers!

Pay the Ferryman) This porter is one degree from coffee. I can only presume that Styx's main turnpike guard must take his coffee like this porter, black with just a touch of sugar. A rather solid roasted coffee porter. I tend to prefer mine to have less coffee flavor, but I did enjoy this one. ☆☆☆

Immortal Beloved) This hefeweizen is light and citrusy, but not enough to come across as sour or tart. The good smooth mouthfeel and the refreshing finish both entice you to drink more. Unexpectedly, it had more flavor than the smell revealed. ☆☆☆☆

Death Becomes You) Aside from having a title that sounds like a zombie pick-up line, this amber ale finished a bit bitter. Before that part though, this semi-malty ale did have a nice sweet and roasted middle. Not my favorite of the bunch, but good. ☆☆☆

Queen of the Night) This pale ale spares you from a strong bitter finish. Instead it has tantalizing mix of robust flavors mixed with just the right kind of bitterness. In short, this Queen has all the pluses of a pale ale without any of what I see as drawbacks. ☆☆☆☆

Hop on or Die) This IPA sadly seems to encourage some sort of Day of the Dead driving antics. Or I suppose it could imply that you should get on the bandwagon with hops. Either are hard for me to endorse. Like most IPAs this one has a smooth clean initial. Then the pine hops hit followed by a small burst of bitter on the finish. Not sure I really want to have again, but it's a decent IPA. ☆☆

Death Rides a Pale Horse) I never really thought of death riding a horse. Perhaps he's actually a dullahan which is a sort of Irish headless horseman harbinger of doom. Anyway, this blonde ale was malty. The flavor depth to this step-above-a-lager beer caught me pleasantly off guard. ☆☆☆

Honestly, I was surprised. I was afraid these beers would be mostly marketing and only partially flavor. However, you can't go wrong with any of these six. They are solid baselines for the type of beer that they are. There isn't too much adventure or craziness with them. They are stably solid, and that can go a long way in making a beer a staple.