 |
Grupo Modelo is a large brewery in Mexico. It maintains a large part of the Mexican beer export market and produces top-selling imported beer in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada. Its six export brands include Corona Extra, Corona Light, Negra Modelo, Modelo Especial, Model Light, and Pacífico.[1] Grupo Modelo also brews brands intended solely for the domestic Mexican market, including Victoria (a recent advertising campaign for this brand was centered on the fact that it is unavailable abroad); Estrella (a local beer found only in western Mexico); and León and Montejo (originally local to Yucatán but now available nationwide). Grupo Modelo has marketshare of 56% in Mexico[1] Grupo Modelo is 50 percent owned by Anheuser-Busch(as of July 2006) but control of the company remains with the Mexican Partners (direct descendants of the founders of the company) of Grupo Modelo. Grupo Modelo has exclusive rights in Mexico for the import and distribution of beer produced by Anheuser-Busch.[1]
Corona
Corona (labeled Corona Extra, but seldom referred to as such) is the top-selling beer in Mexico and is one of the top-selling beers worldwide. Available in over 150 countries, it is also Mexico’s leading export brand. It was first brewed in 1925 by Cerveceria Modelo on the tenth anniversary of the brewery, and is a pilsner. In 1926 the brewery decided to bottle the beer in quarter bottles and decided to go with clear instead of dark bottles. In 1997, Corona Extra became the top-selling imported beer in the United States, surpassing Heineken. Corona Extra and Corona Light are both popular in the United States with younger college aged students, most likely due to the “Spring Break” image associated with the beer. [1]
Corona beer is available in a variety of bottled presentations, ranging from the 250-mL ampolleta (labeled Coronita and just referred as the cuartito) up to the 940-mL Corona Familiar (known as the caguama or ballena). A draught version also exists, as does canned Corona in some markets. According to the Gambrinus Company (the current importer of Grupo Modelo products in the Eastern United States), Corona Light is the top-selling, imported “light” beer in the United States.[citation needed]
Unlike many beers, Corona is bottled in a clear bottle, increasing the opportunity for spoilage. Exposure to sunlight significantly damages the taste of beer, yielding a taste that is often described as “skunky”. This is the result of the essential hop oils spoiling due to UV exposure. However, during distribution, Corona is not typically stored in direct sunlight. Grupo Modelo, brewers of Corona, have most available quality certifications including ISO 9001 and 14001.
Corona beers are straw colored and have a very mild flavor with little if any hop bitterness. Corona contains 4.6% alcohol by volume, 148 calories, while Corona Light has 3.7% alcohol by volume, 105 calories.
The lime
It is common in Europe, the United States, Australia and Canada for Corona to be served with a slice of lime in the neck. This practice is less common in Mexico itself, outside of areas frequented by tourists[citation needed]. Corona’s heavy media presence in the United States may be the reason for the disparity in the two beer cultures. Beer-lime combinations such as the Chelada and the Michelada are however, popular in Mexico[citation needed].
The reason for the lime is that hop compounds degrade when they come into contact with light. This causes beer in clear bottles to turn ’skunky.’ The lime is used to mask this aroma. [2]
Common myths surrounding the origin of the lime include:
1. The lime was originally to plug the neck of the bottle up to keep flies and other insects out of the beer.
2. The lime was used to clean the top of the bottle to ensure it was sanitary before drinkers would put their lips to the glass. The acidity of the lime juice was believed to kill anything that could be harmful to tourists (actually, not very likely). Over time tourists began to push the lime into the bottle, which brings us to today’s common occurrence of adding lime to Corona.
3. The lime was used to clean the neck of the bottle from the rusty remains of the bottle cap. In the early days the bottle caps where made very simply and often left rust stains on the bottle neck, leading to a rather bad taste.
In Korea, slices of lemon are widely used in place of lime slices because limes are not widely available and are quite expensive in East Asia [citation needed].
In the Philippines, half a calamansi is used in place of lime. The calamansi is a citrus fruit native to the Philippines that is closely related to the lime. The calamansi looks and tastes like a lime.
In Australia, either a slice of lemon or a slice of lime is used, and, depending on what the bar has, patrons are often given a choice of either lemon or lime with lemon being more popular in most bars.[citation needed].
In 1998, Eurocermex began trying to register the image of a clear bottle with a slice of lime in the neck as a community trade mark, but on June 30, 2005, the European Court of Justice rejected it as indistinctive.
The outline of a bottle with a slice of lime can be seen in Corona POS Merchandise, as well as the European Corona website. Interestingly, there are no images of bottles with limes on the Mexican Corona website.
The traditional lime is being replaced with a shot of grenadine among the hip-hop community. – Wikipedia