Santiago Graf (October 16, 1845 – August 31, 1904) was a Swiss born brewer, businessman, and director and manager of Compania Cervecera Toluca y Mexico.
[4] The problems with temperature control during wort production and fermentation in Mexico's hot climate forced him to continue brewing ale until the opening of an international railroad link with the United States enabled him to import the first large ice producing absorption machines from Germany in 1882.
[2] Graf brewed various types of light colored ambers but seemed uninterested in pale beers like the popular Pilsener style.
[8] The popularity of the Toluca y Mexico beers was such that Graf frequently had difficulty filling orders and was forced to seek outside investors to rapidly increase production.
[9] Graf died near Xalapa on August 31, 1904, from endocarditis vegetations as a complication of an ongoing infection,[10] and is buried in Toluca, Mexico.