In 1897, German immigrant, William Hasse, began to sell Dos Equis from his Moctezuma Brewery, located in his adopted city of Vera Cruz, Mexico. This beer, XX, was named for "Twenty" in honor of the approaching 20th Century. Unfortunately, most consumers did not understand the connection, so they simply called it "Two X's", and later on, after realizing the fruitlessness of trying to continually correct the public on the correct use of the beer's name, the brewery officially adopted the nickname as the actual name.
Dos Equis has, like so many other beer brands, been passed around to numerous owners, and Heineken International is the newest brand holder, acquiring the company in 2010. Dos Equis has been imported into the USA since 1973, and in 1984, Dos Equis Especial (4.3% alcohol) was introduced. The Especial has actually become the flagship brand of the line, and the original Dos Equis, now called Dos Equis Ambar (4.7% abv), is a lower-volume companion. Many do not realized that the original Dos Equis was a Vienna Lager and not the more well-known pale lager. Also, during the Christmas season, a special, called Noche Buena is sold, but in very limited quantities.
The consumer will find that Dos Equis Especial is widely available in varying bottle sizes, on tap, and in cans. One will also sporadically find the Ambar, almost always in bottles, although canned versions of it are sold. This writer has tried both the original and the Especial, and I must say that both are smooth, pleasant beers, that can strongly compete with all of the other mainline Mexican lagers.
There is no doubt that the heavy advertising attention given to the Dos Equis line has made it such a common and popular beer offering.
RJT
