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Which beers sold as foreign are brewed in Britain, and what to buy instead

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Where is Sol brewed?

By Mark Porter Last checked 9 September 2026 How we check

Sold as foreign, brewed in Britain

Sol is sold as a beer from Mexico. It is brewed in Britain.

What to drink instead 6 beers on the same shelves that are what they say

Listed by Tesco, Asda and Morrisons when last checked. The product pages are among the sources below.

UK strength by format
FormatUK strengthUnitsAt home
15 x 330ml bottle3.4%1.1 units a bottle4.2%
24 x 330ml bottle3.4%1.1 units a bottle4.2%

Every beer on the shelf by strength · How the units are worked out

Brewed for the UK in
Brewed in Britain; the brewery is not named
Brewed in Britain
Sold as a beer from
Mexico
Mexican name and sun logo, 'Cerveza' pack copy, Mexican beer positioning, founded Mexico City 1899
Brewed in (country)
United Kingdom
Brand owner
Heineken N.V. (Heineken Mexico / Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma)
HQ: Amsterdam, Netherlands
UK strength
3.4%
1.9 units a pint
Strength at home (Mexico)
4.2%
2.4 units a pint. UK Sol is 3.4% ABV; Heineken Mexico's own brand page lists Sol at 4.2% Alc. Vol. in its home market (re-read 8 September 2026). A 4.5% figure appears in some third-party listings and is not what the brewer publishes for Mexico. The UK figure sits a tenth under the 3.5% duty threshold.
What the UK label says
“Brewed in the UK; brewed by Heineken UK Limited”
Source: www.tesco.com
More about the brand: rights, style, when it was created, where it is brewed at home
UK rights held by
Heineken UK Limited (owned)
Style
Lager
Brand created
1899, Mexico
Brewed at home in
Mexico (Heineken Mexico)

What we have not confirmed

The UK strength, the UK origin wording and the Mexican strength are all sourced. The brewery is not published, and Sol is not among the Manchester brands named in the Guild of Beer Writers piece.

Every current supermarket listing we have read (Tesco; Morrisons 15 x 330ml and 24 x 330ml; Asda 15 x 330ml) gives the United Kingdom as the country of origin and 'Brewed by: Heineken UK Limited', and Heineken UK's own beer page lists Sol as 'Brewed in the UK'. Against that, when the strength was cut to 3.4% in February 2025, The Drinks Business wrote that it 'is now produced in Zoeterwoude in the Netherlands' and Somerset Live that it would be 'shipped from the factory in the Netherlands', and the 24 x 330ml pack gives a Heineken Amsterdam address alongside Edinburgh. In 2020 Heineken UK's brand director placed Sol at Tadcaster. The packs say Britain and the trade press says the Netherlands; we have gone with the packs, and name no brewery until we read a bottle ourselves or Heineken UK says where the 3.4% beer is brewed. We did not find Sol cans at any chain.

If you have a can or bottle to hand, the producer's name and address in the small print would settle it.

In short

On the shelf, Sol presents as Mexican: Mexican name and sun logo, 'Cerveza' pack copy, Mexican beer positioning, founded Mexico City 1899. The beer in UK shops is brewed in Britain by Heineken UK; we have not confirmed which brewery. In Mexico the same beer is 4.2%. Here it is 3.4%, which is 0.8 percentage points weaker. That puts it a tenth of a percent under the 3.5% threshold at which UK alcohol duty drops sharply. The brand belongs to Heineken N.V. (Heineken Mexico / Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma). On the recipe: Sold in Britain as a Mexican beer but brewed here and at a lower strength than the Mexican original. The label says: "Brewed in the UK; brewed by Heineken UK Limited."

Formats on record

Every pack format read so far says the same thing. This is what each one says, so you can check the one in your hand against it.

FormatSupplyLabel text
15 x 330ml bottleBrewed in BritainCountry of origin: United Kingdom. Brewed by: Heineken UK Limited, 6 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2BD.
24 x 330ml bottleBrewed in BritainCountry of origin: United Kingdom. Brewed by: Heineken UK Limited, 6 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2BD. HBBV, Tweede Weteringplantsoen 21, 1017 ZD Amsterdam, NL. Under Supervision of Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, S.A. de C.V., Monterrey, Mexico.

Who has brewed it here

YearsBrewerSiteSource
2010 to nowHeineken UK (Heineken acquired the FEMSA beer business, including Sol, in 2010)Not confirmedtesco.com

Questions people ask

Where is Sol brewed?

The beer sold in the UK is brewed in Britain by Heineken UK; the site is not named in the sources.

Is Sol brewed in the UK?

Yes, according to the sources on this page; the site is not named.

Is Sol really Mexican?

The branding is Mexican, but the beer sold in Britain is brewed in the UK.

Who owns Sol?

Sol is owned by Heineken N.V. (Heineken Mexico / Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma), headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In the UK the brand is handled by Heineken UK Limited.

What strength is Sol in the UK?

Sol is 3.4% ABV in the UK. In Mexico it is 4.2%. A UK pint is 1.9 units.

Is Sol weaker in the UK than in Mexico?

Yes. The UK version is 3.4% against 4.2% in Mexico, 0.8 percentage points weaker.

See also

Corona Cero
Magor · 0.0% · sold as Mexican
Brewed here
Corona Extra
Magor · 4.5% · sold as Mexican
Brewed here
Desperados
Mixed supply · 5.9% · sold as Mexican
Modelo Especial
Mixed supply · 4.5% · sold as Mexican

Side by side with Corona Extra.

Every beer sold as Mexico · Every brand owned by Heineken N.V.

Last checked 9 September 2026. How we check.

Sources

  1. Tesco (tesco.com), 5 September 2026: 3.4% vol, 'Brewed in the UK', brewed by Heineken UK Limited
  2. Heineken Mexico (heinekenmexico.com), 8 September 2026: Sol in Mexico is '4.2% Alc. Vol.' on Heineken Mexico's own brand page (re-read 8 September 2026; Sol Chelada 3.5%, Sol Clamato 2.5%).
  3. petebrown.net
  4. Tesco (tesco.com)
  5. Drinks Retailing (drinksretailingnews.co.uk)
  6. sol.com
  7. The Drinks Business (thedrinksbusiness.com), 24 February 2025: On the cut of Sol to 3.4%, as quoted second-hand: the beer 'is now produced in Zoeerwoude [Zoeterwoude] in the Netherlands'. The page itself could not be read directly (access refused).
  8. Somerset Live (somersetlive.co.uk), February 2025: Regional press on the Sol cut, as quoted second-hand: 'Production of the lower-strength beer will start on Tuesday, and it will then be shipped from the factory in the Netherlands to pubs and shops in the UK.' The page itself could not be read directly.
  9. Talking Retail (talkingretail.com), 12 November 2020: Heineken UK brand director quoted: the brand 'is now brewed with solar energy following the installation of 4,000 solar panels at its brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire'.
  10. Morrisons (groceries.morrisons.com), 9 September 2026: 15 x 330ml bottle, read on 9 September 2026: 3.4%; Country of origin United Kingdom; 'Brewed by: Heineken UK Limited, 6 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2BD.'
  11. Morrisons (groceries.morrisons.com), 9 September 2026: 24 x 330ml bottle, read on 9 September 2026: 3.4%; Country of origin United Kingdom; 'Brewed by: Heineken UK Limited, 6 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2BD. HBBV, Tweede Weteringplantsoen 21, 1017 ZD Amsterdam, NL.'; 'Under Supervision of Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, Monterrey, Mexico'.
  12. Asda (asda.com), 9 September 2026: 15 x 330ml bottle, read on 9 September 2026: 3.4%; Country of Origin United Kingdom; 'Brewed by: Heineken UK Limited, 6 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2BD.'

Spotted an error?Tell us what the pack says and we will check it. mark@pretendpint.com