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The idea of bringing brewers from Japan and Oregon together to create collaborative beers, and then showcase them at a multicultural event, may have seemed far-fetched once upon a time. But Fuji to Hood has proven to be a major success by beer festival standards. The interest in the event, which alternates between Tokyo and Portland each year with last year’s edition selling out, has led the organizers to set their sights on other countries that might be a good fit. On Saturday, July 19, the first-ever MXPDX finds 13 breweries and cideries from Central Mexico teaming up with 13 from Oregon at The Redd to create original collaborations drawing inspiration from both places.
“After the success of Japan-Oregon festivals Fuji to Hood, we were thinking about other countries and cultures that we would like to share and explore ourselves,” says Ezra Johnson-Greenough, a WW contributor and an organizer for Beer Friends. The nonprofit organization promotes “education, commerce, and cross-cultural exchange with craft beer, cider, food, arts, and culture,” according to its mission statement. “We didn’t want it to be a European country or one that already exports a lot of beer into our market, we wanted somewhere that was both familiar and new and fresh.”
During a trip to explore the craft beer scene in Mexico City and beyond last year, Johnson-Greenough and his co-organizers connected with Diego Lara, who co-owns Mexico City’s acclaimed Falling Piano Brewing. On their beer-fueled exploration, the Beer Friends team and its host brewers decided that the idea of bringing together brewers from Mexico and Oregon could work.
“In Mexico, craft beer is hard to find at restaurants and bars, but I was blown away by how many little beer bars and taprooms are all over Mexico City serving locally made stuff and really getting into Belgian, German and U.S. imports,” Johnson-Greenough says. “I think it is the DIY energy and optimism for the future that Mexican craft brewers have now that once existed in the U.S. in the ’90s and early aughts.”
For the organizers, including Lara, the event offers an opportunity to showcase Mexico’s dynamic up-and-coming craft beer scene that stretches well beyond the industrial lagers like Corona and Modelo that dominate the U.S. market.
“In recent years, craft beer has gained greater market share, with new points of sale opening all the time, greater recognition in international competitions, and the use of the diverse flavors of Mexican cuisine in beer making,” Lara says. “Corona is an excellent brand of industrial beer. However, Mexican craft beer brings new profiles and flavors, very much in line with American styles, but with the added benefit of using typical Mexican flavors, such as worm salt, Mexican fruits or typical sweets.”
For MXPDX, brewers are encouraged to incorporate Mexican-inspired ingredients into beer made specially for the event. Adding to the excitement is the fact that most if not all of the breweries you’ll find at MXPDX have not poured their beer in the U.S. until now.
“I don’t think we’ll be pouring a single light Mexican-style lager, which was not necessarily by design, but simply by allowing the brewers to express themselves,” Johnson-Greenough says.
This means breweries like Cerveceria Hercules teaming with pFriem Family Brewers to make blends like a strong export lager with blue corn, a Mezcalita-inspired gose with worm salt, a dark lager with smoked masa and dark Mexican honey, a Kölsch with guava, and a grisette with epazote, to name just a handful. Other beers will come directly from Mexico, like Interstellar Brewery’s hazy IPA with Tarrito Lollipops, Monstruo de Agua’s white IPA with agave, Cuatro Palos’ gose with mango and maracuya, and more.
“It’s been a very fun process coordinating all the collaborations with Mexican breweries,” Lara says. “We always enjoy learning and contributing to the creation of a new recipe.”
For festival organizers, MXPDX is an opportunity to showcase the heart of Mexican culture and diversity. “Mexico is a huge country, but too often us foreigners focus on the beaches and vacation spots. That’s why we chose virtually all of our collaboration partners from the central Mexico region,” Johnson-Greenough says, adding, “I don’t know of another beer festival that has all international collaborations and the brewers in attendance as well as importing these Mexican craft beers for the first time ever.”
Beyond the cerveza, there will also be an array of tasty options, from food trucks and street food to high-end culinary delights, handmade tortillas, Mexican cheese, coffee, desserts, baked goods, and agua fresca. Nonbeer drinkers can even indulge in a Mexican-inspired cocktail bar, as well as wines by local Mexican-owned winery Alumbra Cellars. The event will feature a pop-up mercado with more than 16 artisanal Mexican vendors with everything from traditional woven blankets and bags, to leatherworking, pottery, beads, custom shirts, hats and paintings. Local Mexican DJs, traditional Mexican Aztec dance and drums, and luchador wrestling will take place throughout the day.
In light of recent political turmoil around immigration, MXPDX is a reminder of the bonds we share with our neighbors to the south and the absurdity of creating division. Lara sums up this sentiment while also providing an encouraging look at what you can expect to find at the inaugural MXPDX.
“Beer and food can be a great bridge of unity between both countries at this time,” he says. “Beyond any political ideology, in Mexico, we firmly believe it’s better to create bonds of friendship between both countries, and what better way to do so than around a table, surrounded by friends with a good beer in hand.”
SEE IT: MXPDX at The Redd on Salmon Street, 831 SE Salmon St., 503-227-6225, mx-pdx.com. 1–8 pm Saturday, July 19. $35–$50, free for minors and nondrinkers.
