Springtime in January

While the calendar declares that it is still the middle of January, the South Texas day here is shouting "Springtime!"  The clearest of blue skies, the brightest of sunlight, the balmiest of temperatures, and even some of the local flora seem to be expecting an earlier than usual vernal equinox. On the table before me is a small copy of Antonio Canova's sculpture of the "Three Graces." Their attire seems to indicate the nearness of spring, not the depths of winter.

This turned out to be the perfect occasion to taste the first edition of yet another offering of MG Ragtop. This current incarnation was promoted to me as "an experiment" that has not yet had the dust settle on its recipe. One of the group's founders, Sam Antonio, explained to me that they were attempting to capture within a single brew the spirit and "flavor" (in the deepest sense) of a Mexican "mechelada."

The mechelada has its origins in the home garden. As Wikipedia explains, the concoction is "...a Mexican cerveza preparada made with beer, lime juice, and assorted sauces, spices, and peppers..."  Basically, you take a bottled beer, go out to your garden, pick whatever you can find, and then raid your refrigerator and pantry, combining it all to produce something that is beer-like, yet filled with a smorgasbord (what's the Mexican equivalent of a smorgasbord?) of gardeny-goodness. This was the inspiration for MG's efforts. 

Upon opening and pouring the product, I was surprised to see the richness of its color. I had thought that this would be a fairly light-colored liquid. Instead, I was greeted with an amber that is much deeper in color than what is usually referred to as amber. This amber was not the color of the middle "caution" light of a traffic signal, but the deeper, almost orange, of geological amber– the petrified sap or resin of trees dead and gone, long ago. I half expected to see the petrified remains of a million-year-old ant or wasp captured in its interior.

The head made its generous appearance as I poured. It displayed a color almost identical to that of fresh cream. The head had good persistence but did not remain longer than desirable.

Then came the first taste. I was quite surprised that a brew this visually dark had such a non-dark flavor. Immediately, came the sensation of gardens in general. It was light, bright, fresh, appealing, and reminiscent of warm, bright days spent spent tending the garden and getting dirt under my fingernails. I reach over, pluck a perfect snow-pea from its vine, snap it in half and enjoy the green nectar and crunch within.

The gardeny freshness of the brew was a general impression, but the specific flavors coming to mind were, believe it or not, a clear initial burst of cucumber! and then a somewhat more subtle finish that included fresh chiles. A veritable green garden in a bottle! Well done, MG.  And when you think about tinkering with this formula in the future, please don't tinker with it too much!