Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

What to do when they stop making Heineken and Modelo

Luis Reyes sells beer on a motorcycle

Luis Reyes.The motorbike carries a jockey box filled with three small kegs of five liters each.
Luis Reyes.The motorbike carries a jockey box filled with three small kegs of five liters each.

As soon as the news hit, we received ten orders,” says Carlos Macklis owner of Norte Brewing Co. “We stopped producing but we are still selling our beer. I’m acting as the delivery boy driving around in my white truck.”

The news Mr. Macklis was referring to is that Heineken Mexico and Grupo Modelo are stopping the production and distribution due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Madueno hazy beers. “Heineken closing might help the local craft brewing scene."

Details about the lockdown in Mexico and what is considered non-essential is not clear. The news of the two major beer producers in the country shutting down caused panic beer shopping, most notoriously in the city of Monterrey where the governor of the state declared ley seca (dry law). Just as they did with toilet paper, Tijuana saw beer panic shopping and started to limit the number of beers per customer to three six-packs.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Heineken closing might help the local craft brewing scene, especially those who are or will be doing deliveries,” says Alfredo Santaolalla of Madueño Brewing. “We closed our doors today (April 1). We are looking at what options we have available.”

Reyes sprays the taps with disinfectant.

Madueño Brewing opened the doors to its new taproom on Calle Sexta (6th Street) in downtown Tijuana at the beginning of the year and closed the doors to its original taproom in Plaza Fiesta. Most craft beer places abandoned Plaza Fiesta in 2019 and migrated to downtown Tijuana or other areas of the city.

Brewers were not only ready for a spring filled with tourists and thirsty beer enthusiasts, but they were ready for the Ensenada Beer Fest, which was canceled. With their taprooms closed and a surplus of beer, they had to come up with creative ways to get their products to their clients.

“Ideally, I would come inside the home and sell my product,” says Luis Reyes, the brewer of Cerveceria Los Reyes who is acting as a delivery boy. “But at the end of the day, it’s a private service and there is no law saying I can’t sell my beer.”

“Sometimes in traffic, they ask me what am I doing."

Luis Reyes drives around the city of Tijuana on his motorcycle that was modified to function as a taproom. The motorbike carries a jockey box filled with three small kegs of 5 liters each and a small tank of CO2. Cervecería Los Reyes is located in Rosarito, but most of his clients are in Tijuana. Luis delivers beer anywhere in the city.

“It was after a couple of days of being locked down that we had the idea,” continues Luis as he pours their hefeweizen beer into my glass growler. “We figured out we had all the equipment, I had the bike, we already had the box, we had the small kegs for presentations, we just had to do some modifications, and we landed in what is our mobile taproom on a bike. It only took us two days, the hardest part was the wooden base so the kegs won’t move.”

I messaged Reyes through WhatsApp for the beer delivery. They informed me that they currently serve three styles of beer: pale ale, hefeweizen, and stout for 100 pesos per liter and they will fill any type of container. Other breweries are working in a similar fashion selling their beer through social media at a discounted price.

“Sometimes in traffic, they ask me what am I doing, and I tell them to look the brewery up on Facebook. Back at the plant, I see that I have a new like and a message saying, hey, I saw you on the street, can you bring me beer or what?”

Luis Reyes sprayed the taps with disinfectant, closed the jockey box, put his helmet on, and left on his next beer delivery.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Bringing Order to the Christmas Chaos

There is a sense of grandeur in Messiah that period performance mavens miss.
Next Article

San Diego beaches not that nice to dogs

Bacteria and seawater itself not that great
Luis Reyes.The motorbike carries a jockey box filled with three small kegs of five liters each.
Luis Reyes.The motorbike carries a jockey box filled with three small kegs of five liters each.

As soon as the news hit, we received ten orders,” says Carlos Macklis owner of Norte Brewing Co. “We stopped producing but we are still selling our beer. I’m acting as the delivery boy driving around in my white truck.”

The news Mr. Macklis was referring to is that Heineken Mexico and Grupo Modelo are stopping the production and distribution due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Madueno hazy beers. “Heineken closing might help the local craft brewing scene."

Details about the lockdown in Mexico and what is considered non-essential is not clear. The news of the two major beer producers in the country shutting down caused panic beer shopping, most notoriously in the city of Monterrey where the governor of the state declared ley seca (dry law). Just as they did with toilet paper, Tijuana saw beer panic shopping and started to limit the number of beers per customer to three six-packs.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Heineken closing might help the local craft brewing scene, especially those who are or will be doing deliveries,” says Alfredo Santaolalla of Madueño Brewing. “We closed our doors today (April 1). We are looking at what options we have available.”

Reyes sprays the taps with disinfectant.

Madueño Brewing opened the doors to its new taproom on Calle Sexta (6th Street) in downtown Tijuana at the beginning of the year and closed the doors to its original taproom in Plaza Fiesta. Most craft beer places abandoned Plaza Fiesta in 2019 and migrated to downtown Tijuana or other areas of the city.

Brewers were not only ready for a spring filled with tourists and thirsty beer enthusiasts, but they were ready for the Ensenada Beer Fest, which was canceled. With their taprooms closed and a surplus of beer, they had to come up with creative ways to get their products to their clients.

“Ideally, I would come inside the home and sell my product,” says Luis Reyes, the brewer of Cerveceria Los Reyes who is acting as a delivery boy. “But at the end of the day, it’s a private service and there is no law saying I can’t sell my beer.”

“Sometimes in traffic, they ask me what am I doing."

Luis Reyes drives around the city of Tijuana on his motorcycle that was modified to function as a taproom. The motorbike carries a jockey box filled with three small kegs of 5 liters each and a small tank of CO2. Cervecería Los Reyes is located in Rosarito, but most of his clients are in Tijuana. Luis delivers beer anywhere in the city.

“It was after a couple of days of being locked down that we had the idea,” continues Luis as he pours their hefeweizen beer into my glass growler. “We figured out we had all the equipment, I had the bike, we already had the box, we had the small kegs for presentations, we just had to do some modifications, and we landed in what is our mobile taproom on a bike. It only took us two days, the hardest part was the wooden base so the kegs won’t move.”

I messaged Reyes through WhatsApp for the beer delivery. They informed me that they currently serve three styles of beer: pale ale, hefeweizen, and stout for 100 pesos per liter and they will fill any type of container. Other breweries are working in a similar fashion selling their beer through social media at a discounted price.

“Sometimes in traffic, they ask me what am I doing, and I tell them to look the brewery up on Facebook. Back at the plant, I see that I have a new like and a message saying, hey, I saw you on the street, can you bring me beer or what?”

Luis Reyes sprayed the taps with disinfectant, closed the jockey box, put his helmet on, and left on his next beer delivery.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Bringing Order to the Christmas Chaos

There is a sense of grandeur in Messiah that period performance mavens miss.
Next Article

Houston ex-mayor donates to Toni Atkins governor fund

LGBT fights in common
Comments
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
April 6, 2020
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
April 7, 2020
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader