Basics Brewery Information
- Name of Brewery: Monzón Brewing Co.
- Location: Venustiano Carranza #239, Col. Emiliano Zapata, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, 48380
- Hours of Operation: 12-12 (but subject to change due to Covid Restrictions)
- Owners: Miranda and Reid Mortimer
- Brewers: Rafa Morfin, Angel Terrez and Reid Mortimer
- Year Established: 2017
- Typical Number of Beers on Tap: 6-10, always rotating
- Most Popular Beer Served: Any IPA
Your Story:
It all started back in 2012 when we were two Seattle natives looking for a vacation spot to enjoy some tequila and sand. This was back in the days when Miranda was still legally a MacLaren and Reid’s facial hair was barely longer than stubble. Wandering the streets of Puerto Vallarta, enjoying the delicious food and befriending anyone we met, we fell in love with this wonderful city. We would dream about the idea of someday living in this tropical corner of the world, a dream that we would carry and build on for years to come.
Life has a funny way of twisting and turning and in 2014 we embraced the unknown and took an opportunity to move abroad to sunny, humid, beautiful, bustling… Mumbai, India. While it wasn’t Puerto Vallarta we deeply enjoyed our two years there. Bombay is where Reid’s love of beer grew from a spark to a full brewing flame as he began working at Mumbai’s first craft brewery. We took every opportunity we could afford to travel, visiting dozens of cities and many countries in India, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. In every city we noticed a trend: No matter where we were, beer had the power to unite people together in brewed happiness. It became our mission to find and visit local breweries. Sadly, most cities did not have craft beer but instead people were drinking mass produced, bland, watered down and cheaply made lagers.
When it was time to move away from India we were not quite ready to move back to Seattle. Don’t get us wrong, we love the Northwest and our hometown, but we wanted more from life than working a nine to five for corporations that care mainly about lining their wallets or affording their CEO a shiny new boat. It was the perfect time to return to our fantasy of living in Puerto Vallarta to follow a new dream: create a company that makes delicious and unique beers, from interesting and fresh ingredients, brewed in an atmosphere that allows our customers to enjoy beer that is about more than just drinking. When you’re at Monzón you can drink interesting beers that will take you away from the blandness of mass produced beers, knowing every sip supports local non profits, recycling, community partners, and the farmers in the area. We hope you enjoy our beer as much as we enjoy making it. Salud!
What inspired you to brew beer?
It’s art, science and humanity all rolled into one. I don’t know of any other business that can claim that.
What has been your biggest challenge you found brewing beer in Mexico?
Ingredient costs. We pay more than American breweries and sell our beer for less than our North American counterparts. It’s a hard balancing act but we can’t complain too much, we get to brew in paradise.
What is your favorite thing about brewing beer in Mexico?
The people. We meet some of the most interesting and passionate people in our taproom who come from all over the world.
If you had to explain your brewing style or brewing motto in one or two sentences, what would it be?
Equal parts process and “let’s see what happens”. We are constantly experimenting and love experimenting with local ingredients in new ways.
What is your personal favorite beer that you have ever brewed?
? In our 3 years we have brewed over 50 different beers across almost every style. It’s almost impossible to choose a favorite because day to day it depends on our mood, the weather and the ABV we’re looking for. Our go-to beers tend to be under 5% ABV but one of the beers we were the most proud of was our Imperial Raspberry Truffle Stout. We released it at the wrong time (summer-it was very hot to drink an imperial stout) but it was killer.
Aside from your own, what is your all-time favorite beer you tried?
We love the return to traditional European lagers by craft breweries in North America. They remind us of a simpler time drinking Pilsners on the streets of Prague.
Do you have one funny story to share from your experiences creating a brewery in Vallarta?
Nothing is easy when it comes to starting a brewery, no matter where you do it, but when our tanks arrived almost two weeks early our floors weren’t done yet, the fork lift that was supposed to help us unload wasn’t available because the delivery was early and the driver didn’t even have the key to open the trailer. We had to use a hacksaw and sledge hammer to liberate our tanks and then hire a crew of 7 to help us unload them, mostly by hand!