Brewery
LaBru
—
Morelia’s Craft Brewery
By Christopher Lewis
N
estled in the Sierra Madre
Mountains of Central
Mexico sits the picturesque
colonial city of Morelia in
the state of Michoacán. Designated
an UNESCO World Heritage Site, the
city was founded in 1541 and is known
for the beautiful Spanish colonial
buildings built from pink stone mined
from the surrounding mountains.
Here you’ll find LaBru — ever
growing in popularity. This craft
brewery is owned and operated by two
Americans who brought their talents and
knowledge of beer making to México.
The owners, Matthew Hikory and
Jeffrey Shults, shared their story of how
two gringos accomplished what seemed
impossible. Brewing beer in a country that
is already dominated by huge breweries,
LaBru started in 2006 when Jeffrey met
Daron White and Rodrigo Cervantes.
Jeffrey, who is the LaBru’s Master Brewer,
is originally from Rochester, New York;
he was in Michoacán rock climbing
when he met his wife who is native to
Morelia. Together Jeffrey, Daron and
Rodrigo pooled their money together to
get LaBru off the ground looking to keep
costs down. For example, the 1st brew
kettle and hot liquor tank were modified
500 liters pots found in Celaya, 1.5 hours
north of Morelia, where they were used
in the cajeta production (a Mexican style
caramel made from goat’s milk). Using
home brewing equipment, the process
was slow but over time a following began
in many restaurants in Morelia. In 2012,
just as things began to speed up, both
Daron and Rodrigo left México; thus
Matthew Hikory entered into the picture.
Matthew, originally from Vermont, was
backpacking through México and met a
girl from Morelia, got married, and now
has a beautiful family with 3 children.
Still, those years in-between saw
huge obstacles that Jeffrey wasn’t sure
could be overcome. México lacked
the infrastructure to really support craft
brewing. In comparison, craft brewing
in the USA makes up about 6% of beer
production versus only about 0.1% in
México. In the beginning, Jeffrey brought
a loaded down truck full of grains, hops
and whatever else he thought might
come in handy. Jeffrey recalls “that’s quite
a story.” Soon the grain ran out and the
only modified grain used by the large
commercial brewers was available, which
was not ideal. The minimum order was a
ton and suppliers often would not sell to
them; they would go 2–3 months without
producing any beer. Finally in 2009, a
supplier opened in Chihuahua importing
high quality grains and hops
from the USA, Germany and
the UK, which has allowed
German malt used to make
Porter and Stout styles
Jeff stirring the mash
Jeff adding the hops to
a IIPA (Double IPA) style
46 Food Mexico and Me Special Edition 2015
German malt used
for lighter styles
www.mexico.is