Corona Extra is marketed as the flagship brand for the Grupo Modelo brewery of Mexico. Corona has held the position of the number-one selling beer in Mexico for many years. Corona's popularity in the United States has grown annually and in 1998 sales grew over 37% to over 54 million cases making it the number one import beer in the country. All of Grupo Modelo's five imports brands sold over one million cases and are ranked in the top twenty-five imports.
Grupo Modelo is the eighth largest brewery in the world and since 1997 has increase Corona's distribution to include 143 countries and rocketed the beer to fifth place on the worldwide market. In 1998 Modelo's exports totaled 85% of the Mexican beer export market.
These company profile and mission statements were published on the companies web site at, http://www.corona.com/annualreport/index.html.
Company Profile:
Grupo Modelo, founded in 1925, is the leader in the production and marketing of beer in Mexico with more than 58% of the domestic and export market share. It has eight brewing plants in the country, with a total annual installed capacity of 39.5 million hectoliters. Currently, it brews and distributes ten brands; Corona Extra, the number one Mexican beer sold in the world, Modelo Especial, Victoria, Pacifico, Negra Modelo and other regional brands. It exports five brands with presence in more than 140 countries and is the exclusive importer of Anheuser-Busch's products in Mexico, including the brands Budweiser and Bud Light. Grupo Modelo trades in the Mexican Stock Exchange since 1994 with the ticker symbol GMODELOC.
Mission: "To produce, distribute and sell quality beer, at a competitive price, optimizing resources and surpassing customer expectation, in order to contribute to the economic and social development of Mexico".
Corona Extra is a light golden colored beer contained in a clear glass bottle. The two color painted label is not overly attractive and in my opinion does nothing to promote the product. The combination of it's light color and lack of apparent body has me wondering what I will find when I open this bottle. Corona is packaged in 12 ounce bottles, has 4.6% alcohol by volume and 148 calories. The beer is made from all natural ingredients, water, barley, hops and yeast. I don't know that the ALL-NATURAL ingredients are much of a sales point, all beers are produced from natural products. Modelo does put its water through a purification process to meet international standards. Based upon the reputation of Mexican water this may be a good sales point.
My Tasting:
Once again I have been forced to find my bottle opener. A non-twist cap has no reflection on a beer's quality but I am always surprised when I find one. In this day and age of fast consumption at least it takes a few extra moments to open to this beer.
As I opened the bottle a small amount of carbonation escaped. My first smell of a Corona offered an aroma of hops and reminded me of aromas I associate with many other mass-produced bottle beers. The familiar, pleasant aroma urged me on. Pouring the beer into a tall glass it produced a small head of very course bubbles. The loud sparkling sound reminded of an Alka Seltzer and the head was about the same consistency.
Ok, so I'm trying this beer without the traditional lime. I wanted to taste the beer for what it is not some lime flavored malt beverage. Well maybe that was my problem. This beer had a flavor that I am still having a hard time describing. There were hints of hops and barley but overall I found it bland with bitter after tastes.
Disappointment set in as I headed back to the refrigerator in search of a lime. Maybe there is a reason why these are consumed with the citrus additive. I was in luck, I found the party's leftover lime. As I squeezed the lime and dropped it in the glass any remaining head immediately disappeared and I was left with what looked like a glass of carbonated golden lemonade.
I can honestly say that the beer needed its lime. The citrus masked the bitterness of the beer but had eliminated any remaining carbonation and left a watery lime flavored beverage. I forced myself to finish the bottle, now I can say I have drunk one of the world's fifth leading brews. I can also say that it will most likely say it will be my last. This brew is just not my cup of tea nor my glass of lime flavored beer.
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