At the wonderful CaCao "Mexicatessen" in Eagle Rock, near Occidental College where my wife and I are based this week, I have my first experience tonight with the products of Cucapá Beer, from Baja. What gets my attention, apart from the idea of this kind of craft beer coming from Mexico, is the label on their impressive "Runaway IPA":
To spell out the joke, here is the famous "caution: illegal immigrants crossing" sign on I-5 just north of San Diego. I didn't take this picture, but I've seen the sign often enough to know that it is real.
[Update: a number of readers have pointed out that the sign isn't there any more. I haven't driven that road in a few years so haven't seen it myself recently, so I'm willing to believe that it's been taken down. It lives on in memory and iconography.]
I admire Cucapá's panache in presenting this beer. Also from their product line: a stout called La Migra.
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James Fallows is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and has written for the magazine since the late 1970s. He has reported extensively from outside the United States and once worked as President Carter's chief speechwriter. He and his wife, Deborah Fallows, are the authors of the new book Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America, which has been a New York Times best-seller and is the basis of a forthcoming HBO documentary.
