Fiebre de Malta
Fiebre de Malta is a craft beer bar in the San Rafael neighborhood, three blocks northwest of Sullivan Park, running 20 rotating taps of Mexican microbrews plus a small imported selection. The space has a industrial-chic feel: polished concrete floors, exposed ducting, wood-plank tables, chalkboard menus listing the current tap lineup with ABV, IBU, and brewery origin. Capacity is about 60 seated. The kitchen runs a short menu of bar-food pairings (pretzels, sausage plates, pulled-pork sandwiches, chicken wings) that work with the beer program. The bar is a legitimate supporter of the Mexican craft scene, often first to pour new releases from Insurgente (Tijuana), Colmena (Ensenada), Cru Cru (Mexico City), Primus (Mexico City), and smaller nano-brews from Puebla and Oaxaca.
Where to stay near Fiebre de Malta
Hotels and rentals within walking distance.
What to Expect
Entry is through a glass door on a quiet side street. Inside is brighter than most neighborhood bars, with overhead Edison bulbs and chalkboards that legitimately update each week. The stereo plays indie rock and Mexican indie (Carla Morrison, Caloncho, Zoé) at conversation-friendly volume. The bartenders wear aprons and know the taps.
Conversational, engaged. A bar for drinkers who want to talk about what they're drinking without the Roma Norte hipster overlay.
Mexican indie, alternative rock, occasional jazz-hop, dub reggae. Moderate volume, not a nightclub setup.
Casual to smart-casual. Jeans, t-shirts, sneakers all fine. The crowd skews slightly more polished than the neighborhood dive bars but no one is dressed up.
Craft beer fans wanting to sample the Mexican scene in one sitting rather than chasing breweries across the country
Cards widely accepted. Cash also fine. American Express sometimes declines.
Price Range
Draft 0.33L 75-130 MXN (depends on ABV and rarity), draft 0.5L 110-180 MXN, flight of four 4oz 180 MXN, bottle imports 140-280 MXN, food plates 130-260 MXN
Draft 0.33L ~$4-7, draft 0.5L ~$5.90-9.70, flight ~$9.70, imports ~$7.50-15, food ~$7-14
Hours
Mon-Thu 17:00-01:00, Fri 15:00-02:00, Sat 13:00-02:00, Sun 13:00-22:00
Insider Tip
The flight is the move if you're new to Mexican craft; pick four styles (a lager, a saison or pale, an IPA or double IPA, a stout) for range. Ask what's kegged but not on the chalkboard yet, there's usually one or two gravity pours that haven't made the menu. Wednesday is a slower night and often has brewery-rep events with extra tasters.
Full Review
Fiebre de Malta has been a reliable stop for the Mexican craft-beer scene for about seven years and has gotten better as the scene has matured. When it opened, roughly half the taps were imports because the domestic supply wasn't there. Now eighteen to twenty of the twenty taps are Mexican on any given night, reflecting how much the country's small-brewery landscape has grown. The bartenders can tell you the ABV, IBU, hop bill, and brewery location of every pour without checking the chalkboard, which is a low bar but one most craft-adjacent bars in Mexico don't clear.
The tap list on a recent visit included a Ensenada-brewed West Coast IPA (Colmena), a Tijuana double IPA (Insurgente XX), two saisons from Cru Cru, a chocolate stout from a Puebla nanobrew, a Berliner weisse from a Mexico City operation, a Mexican lager that was genuinely clean rather than hollow (Primus), and a rotating sour that was a passion-fruit gose that night. The flight format lets you try a spread without committing to full pints, which matters because Mexican IPAs are often 7-8% and drinking three of them in a row is a mistake.
Food is an honest match for the beer rather than an afterthought. The pretzel-and-beer-cheese combo pairs with the stouts and porters; the pulled-pork sandwich works with the IPAs; the wings are decently sized and come with a house sauce that isn't overwhelming. Portions are bar-food sized, not full-meal sized, which suits the drinking-forward rhythm.
Compared to other Mexico City craft beer spots (El Depósito chains, Cervecería Crisanta, Cyprès) Fiebre de Malta's advantages are: better tap rotation, better knowledge on staff, and less of the flagship-beer-only problem that chains have. Disadvantages: smaller kitchen and less parking than the bigger spots. For a one-stop introduction to Mexican craft beer, this is the recommended stop in central Mexico City.
The Neighborhood
San Rafael has quietly become one of the better Mexico City neighborhoods for drinking of any sort, with Fiebre de Malta covering craft beer, Pulqueria Insurgentes and La Hija de los Apaches covering pulque, Tío Pepe and similar cantinas covering traditional, and La Bipo covering the dive end. All are walkable from each other within 10-15 minutes. Plaza de la República with the Monumento a la Revolución is the main landmark.
Getting There
Metro San Cosme Line 2 (blue), then seven-minute walk southwest. Metrobús Insurgentes Line 1 to Plaza de la República, walk six minutes. Uber from Roma Norte is 60-100 MXN and 10-15 minutes. Parking on the street is possible but tight.
Address
Calle Sadi Carnot 41, Col. San Rafael
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Bar Milán
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Pulqueria Insurgentes
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