New Mexico Beer Talk

No sir...checking out now.

 

Just some evening ramblings:

- Il Vicino is so underrated it seems (it gets national acclaim. But the buzz or review #s dont back it up or help boost it up). Panama Joe Coffee Stout is quite amazing. It was on tap as of last week, along with Exodus, a past NM state IPA Challenge winner.. That's a stout lineup with just those two. I realize a lot of talk is geared around beers that are distributed and available for many to try. But that underratedness continues.

- Bosque.. I was here a couple weeks back on what would be my third overall visit. They won this years NM IPA challenge. They are one brewery I see getting better by the visit. A bit par for the course, if you will. But they are one big great beer or medal away from something special.

-Ponderosa (out of PNM Pints ownership), Boxing Bear, and other newer breweries.. Ponderosa just opened up this past week. Six beers available. All seem rather par for the course. Nothing terrible, But it's a lot like Boxing Bear and Stumbling Steer... Lots of above average stuff muddling the scene... It truly makes the beers of Marble and La Cumbre stand out in my opinion.

Do you all travel around to different local breweries? I give most places at least one chance.

Has anyone found any true gems that seem to taste on par or better than the traditional "above average" American craft beer, like a SA Boston Lager, or NB Fat Tire? Santa Fe's seasonal offerings of Freestyle Pilsner and Oktoberfest, for me at least, are two that fit the bill.

For the most part, BA scores just do not translate to the vast majority of beers in NM because of that lack of rating presence.. Turtle Mountain makes alright beers. But their ratings #s are in the teens. I know our IPA scene is talented (project dank finished 5th in this years IPA challenge). I just wonder if I am missing anything off the beaten path..I feel we underrate ourselves for the most part. But then many of these new breweries tend to bring that aura of above average beers to a wider audience. We really need to hype up whats great other than the 4 headed beast of La Cumbre IPAs.

I feel we're gaining more above average beers than the GREAT beers. I'm trying to seek out that next elevated, if you will. They gotta be somewhere.

 

If we are to agree that La Cumbre Brewing is the best brewery in NM... and sure, I'll be so presumptuous, especially publicly, then Bosque is or will be second in the upcoming years. Don't get me wrong. There are many great breweries in the area, without a doubt. That being said, no other brewery has both a brewer with that much talent, and owners dead set on making their brewery exceptional, cost be damned.

Some breweries have one or even both, but no others have both to the extent that Bosque does. This is why we at La Cumbre are able to do what we do. We have a team of really talented brewers and an owner (me) that would rather make no money than make bad beer. Turtle Mountain is coming around for sure. Boxing Bear is new and untested, but there is a lot of potential.

At the risk of being captain obvious, both owner and brewer (and they can certainly be the same person) have to be of one mind on beer quality for them to rise to the top of the game. Bosque has that and I believe they will become one of the great breweries in the country. I only spent one month working with John Bullard, but I am elated at what he has been able to accomplish in his incredibly short career.

 

I'm saddened to say I do not frequent breweries here...although I buy some of them from Total Wine/Kellys.
Maybe we can do a meet up somewhere...I want to go to La Cumbre and have a few samples of things I haven't bought in store.

So I got Untappd...do you add users or only check-in at places?

Anyone going to GABF in Denver this year?

 

Imperial Pils is not a great combination in my mind. Many have tried (DFH, Rogue, Boulevard come to mind but I bet there are many more local-ish brewpub examples), most have failed. They tend to end up being overly sweet and a bit underattenuated. I imagine Jeff and his crew will give it a good run though and will dry it out. It needs to be under 1.012 in my opinion.

I bet if you keep it to around 8% ABV, dry it out right and hop it firmly, it can be a nice beer. God only knows a kickass pilsner is an amazing thing.

 

I like the Santa Fe Freestyle pilsner for what it is. At 5.5%, I like the sweetness to crispness ratio.. An IPL seems rather challenging. Quite a few Pilsners sit in mid 4% range. I like the German line of thinking with their munich helles lager in the 5.3%- 5.7% range.. If they can amp a pilsner to near 8%, it may be worth a try.

Do all of you guys revisit places you may have tried once or twice? I've tried Broken Bottle once, Kaktus once, Stumbling Steer once, Boxing Bear once.. I've been to Ponderosa, spent a gripe, and felt a bit let down. Today I went to Red Door and felt half the beers were solid. This may be nerdish or cocky of me to say, but when I homebrew and all the steps work out perfect (most of the time this is the case), I feel I have something pretty awesome.. Only a select few in the state seem to make stuff that I can't replicate because its just well thought out and they are professionals.. A lot of stuff seems amateurish.. Good but amateurish. I feel bad for paying $4.50 on pints. My incentive to return is diminishing big time.

I may stick with packaged/growler fills for awhile of known favorites. I'm kind of burnt out of mediocrity. I have revisited Bosque, as noted above, and feel they are taking it to another level. I'm really just wondering if the other tier of breweries are staying open and doing okay? My beer budget is usually 70% La Cumbre, 10% Marble, 10% Il Vicino, and 10% to all of the other guys.

 

@quadhog Welcome man. So few of us New Mexicans in here. Always nice to have another member.

 

Here are my two cents on some of the above comments:

First, so little love for Marble. How is that possible? That's the one brewery that consistently offers a variety of great, unique beers. Saison with plums? Sours? The perfect barleywine? Reserve? Imperial Stout? The pumpkin beers? I'm not sure what else Marble's gotta do to get some love in Albuquerque. Oh wait, I guess I do. They have to win an award for an IPA and have the IPA-crazed USA selling kidneys to get their latest hopnami. Then they'll get more respect I guess.

Second, Duel almost got no mention above either. @Oktoberfiesta mentioned the great number of breweries opening up and the middle-of-the-road beers they're producing. I'm not writing any of the breweries off based on the quality and taste of the beers they're producing, I think most will improve. I am tempted to write them off, however, based on the choices in beers they're offering. Which one of these newbies is going to produce a better IPA than La Cumbre (besides Bosque, which is already giving them a run for their money)? Which brewery's gonna have a better core lineup than Marble? And most importantly, which brewery is gonna offer constant seasonals and different style after different style the way Il Vicino and Marble do?

A few encouraging signs: Lizard Tail offering a Black IPA, Berliner Weisse and a Belgian. Ponderosa offering a kolsch and a helles and eventually offering a schwarzbier (German beers are so neglected here, and I say that fully aware that La Cumbre does a noble effort to brew German beers from time to time).

Finally, I spend very little money on local beer in the liquor stores. If I'm drinking local stuff, I'm drinking from the source. I do a good job of making the rounds, but I'd say the breakdown is something like:

40% Marble, 40% La Cumbre, 10% IVC, 5% Bosque, 1% each Stumbling, Nexus, and other breweries(I am a big proponent of Stumbling's Imperial Stout).

In Santa Fe, I'd say I'm about 50% Duel, 30% Second Street, 10% Blue Corn, and 10% SFBC.

The rest of my money goes out of state to the breweries doing things that I wish New Mexico's breweries would.

Finally, to @Irrenarzt 's point, I agree that Imperial Pilsner rarely work well. DFH's wasn't bad, but not great. I'd say Odell did it well, but even this beer was at best a 4/5.

 

How did I miss a mention of SFBC. I guess that defeats the purpose of my post when I forget to add very solid breweries to my beer budget list ( I've gone through two cases of Oktoberfest since August 1st).

Our brewery list is definitely expanding for sure. I guess what I'm missing personally is that wow factor. I visited Mother Road in Flagstaff a couple months back and had a sense of WOW. It was new to me (not sure how old it is as a brewery. It may be that flagship "Marble" like place in town). But I just really havent been wowed yet with much of the new breweries offerings.

The Marbles or La Cumbres have kind of created that core lineup and mastered it to some degree. They have a loyal, BMC like following. Not sure what happened at Marble recently but they have stepped it up all around since the rebranding. What are these new places offering that I can't get between those two? I guess thats a question for someone to answer who may live in a state or area with many more breweries (San Diego, Denver, Portland people). Are some places okay being "average"? Our new "mean" or average is definitely higher than it was years ago. So I will give these new places that much.

Tractor tries with their variety. I'm not in Santa Fe enough to really try Duel regularly. I did enjoy it the one time I went. I guess my post was so full of the one time mediocre visits, I forget to add some good ones. Forgive me. One of the only places that didnt seem "run of the mill" on my first visit.

Marble is one place you almost don't have to talk about. I guess its a given. But does deserve its due. It's Pilsner won 2nd place at the San Juan Brewfest a few weeks back. It has some GABF and WBC medals as well. It may well be the most decorated beer we have in this state (that is distributed).

Cream has definitely risen to the top so far (with the likes of Marble and LC looking better than they may be) with a few places that are just "there".. If they want to just be "there" as a second or 5th option for a night drinking, it may be alright. This new competition should breed some new life into the places that are just "there".

 

@The_Brewqueno Welcome to BA and to our NM beer talk thread set up by @miggs3030 . Hope you can join us for a bottle share sometime soon, homie. Now can we get Brews Banner on BA?

 

Don't forget to like their page at Facebook.com/santafeopen as well. That's where all the updates for the Santa Fe Open are being posted. Thanks for pointing that out Miggs.

This comp will be the best funded competition in New Mexico and the first to have a real purse with prizes for all medalists and a take home traveling staff for the BOS winner. Also the pros are getting a kickass trophy they get to take back to their tap room for a year.

 

Hallo New Mexicans -

I'm an ABQ, NM native who got the chance to live in Southern Germany for a few years. So far I am 18 months into what could be a 5 year long stay. It is pretty cool to be able to sample German & Belgian beers right at their tap - so to speak. I admit, that I was not a huge German beer fan before I got here. I'd only sampled a few US brewed styles of German beer - starting with Löwenbräu back in the late 70's when a teen could, on occasion, successfully purchase beer at a drive-thru. I did have a chance to sample La Cumbre's offerings (I still think Jeff's hefeweizen is one of the best I've had anywhere) and I have to say LC does German beer styles justice. I do look forward to a time after we move back when I can sit in LC and reevaluate now that I know what the "standard" is.

I also am looking forward to visiting Duel and Bosque. Both of these places were just starting up when I moved to Europe and we didn't get a chance to try them out before we left.

If any of you have questions about German beers, visit the Germany section of this forum and those of use who are here will try to answer your questions.

Hasta!
-N8

 

I do recall two failed Texican attempts to invade NM, both failed miserably.