Corona (beer)
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| Corona Extra | |
|---|---|
  Mexico La Cerveza Mas Fina |
|
| Brewery | Grupo Modelo |
| Style | Light beer |
| First Brewed | 1925 |
| Alc. vol. | 4.6 % |
Corona (labeled Corona Extra, but seldom referred to as such) is a lager brewed in Mexico by Grupo Modelo. It is the top-selling beer in Mexico and is one of the top selling beers worldwide.[1] Corona beer is available in over 150 countries.[2]
In the United States, Corona is the top selling imported beer.[citation needed] Corona is often served with a wedge of lime or lemon, and a dash of salt inserted into the neck of the bottle.[3]
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[edit] The lime
It is common in Europe, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Latin America for Corona to be served with a slice of lime in the neck. The reason for the lime is that hop compounds degrade when they come into contact with light. This reaction results in lightstruck beer that is particularly common in clear bottles, such as Corona's, that do not easily reflect light. This causes beer to smell 'skunky,' and the lime is used to mask this aroma. [4]
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Common myths surrounding the origin of the lime include:
- The lime was originally to plug the neck of the bottle up to keep flies and other insects out of the beer[citation needed]
- The lime was used to clean the top of the bottle to ensure it was sanitary before drinkers would put their lips to the glass.[citation needed] The acidity of the lime juice was believed to kill anything that could be harmful to tourists (actually, not very likely)[citation needed]. Over time tourists began to push the lime into the bottle, which brings us to today's common occurrence of adding lime to Corona.[citation needed]
- The lime was used to clean the neck of the bottle from the rusty remains of the bottle cap. In the early days the bottle caps were made very simply and often left rust stains on the bottle neck, leading to a rather bad taste.[citation needed]
In Australia, either a slice of lemon or a slice of lime is used, and, depending on what the bar has, patrons are often given a choice of either lemon or lime with lemon being more popular in most bars.[citation needed] In Korea, slices of lemon are widely used in place of lime slices because limes are not widely available and are quite expensive in East Asia.[citation needed] In the Philippines, half a calamansi is used in place of lime. The calamansi is a close relative of the lime native to the Philippines which is similar in appearance and taste.
In 1998, Eurocermex began trying to register the image of a clear bottle with a slice of lime in the neck as a community trade mark, but on June 30, 2005, the European Court of Justice rejected it as insufficiently distinct. The outline of a bottle with a slice of lime can be seen in Corona POS Merchandise, as well as the European Corona website. Interestingly, there are no images of bottles with limes on the Mexican Corona website.
The traditional lime is being replaced or supplemented with a shot of grenadine among the hip-hop community.[citation needed] This is known as a "Candy Corona" or a "Red Corona" and is particularly popular in Indiana.[citation needed] The lime can also be replaced with a shot of Bacardi Limon, which is known as a "Diver Down."
[edit] Packaging
Corona beer is available in a variety of bottled presentations, ranging from the 250-ml ampolleta (labeled Coronita and just referred as the cuartito) up to the 940-ml Corona Familiar (known as the caguama or ballena). A draught version also exists, as does canned Corona in some markets. While "Corona Light" also exists, it does not sell much outside Mexico's larger metropolitan areas. Corona bottles can be rejected by recyclers due to the paint that is used on the bottle labels. [5]
