Beer Guide for visiting New Mexico

This was super helpful. I'm heading that way the first week of August and this is really helping me devise a gameplan.

 

I had three craft beer experiences in Santa Fe last week. I visited Duel, Santa Fe and Violet Crown Cinema. We were on family vacation with teens in tow, so I didn't spend a whole lot of time at Duel and Santa Fe. At Duel I had "Titian" their Belgian golden strong ale (11%). The Duel tap room is small, quiet and classy with interesting artwork on the walls. Santa Fe (New Mexico's Oldest brewery) had more of a casual, yet established feel with ping pong, fuseball and darts inside and plenty of tables outside to enjoy your craft in the sun. As mentioned in an earlier post Violet Crown Cinema (yes, a movie theatre) has an impressive tap selection with all regional beers. My first beer was an Le Cumbre Elevate IPA. My second beer and favorite by far, was the Shake Chocolate Porter Nitro by Boulder Brewing. Loved it it. http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/130/101458/

 

Onovomexicano is spot on. He's trusty lol. Also at chama,Hazah, their dipa from awhile back was basically the best of what marble dipa is. Tropical flavors for days. They are onto something. They tend to try to cater to a higher priced food eating group for those out of the know. Blue cheese steak salad is awesome though.

I tend to feel there is some evolution from this original list. Musts are now la cumbre ,marble, bosque. Second tier is il vicino/canteen, Boxing bear, and chama river. I live here and rarely have time to head out of that group

Turtle mountain has great pizzas and call ones. Never been that disappointed with their brews. Great place for a family visit. Then head to Marble west side, and head down the I 25 corridor. Bosque, Chama river, canteen, and la cumbre. In general, 3 hours can yield a core list of check ins.

 

Just got a job down in Albuquerque, so I will be moving down there in the next couple weeks. This thread is marked and is definitely going to be my guide to discovering the beer scene. So, definitely, thanks for creating it! I am really looking forward to having La Cumbre and Marble become a part of my regular drinking rotation.

Quick question: What is the best saison available in NM, locally brewed or not? Looking at seekabrew, you guys get Shelton Brothers distributed products. I assume that includes Prairie's offerings?

 

No prairie in our market yet, but I've heard rumors that may be a possibility in the future. As far as saisons- La Cumbre makes an apricot saison that is great. But is only Brewed once a year, luckily stuff sits on shelves for a while here in ABQ, so you can't drink it probably 4 months out of the year. Marbles saisons have been really good lately, and they have multiple different saisons available throughout the year, most being released in the summer

 

Haha @ONovoMexicano similar minds drink alike

 

I love Marble so it's great to hear that about them, but its just as disappointing to also hear about no Prairie. I will definitely be on the lookout for the La Cumbre saison as well.

Thanks guys.

 

If I could afford to, I would. However, I don't collect/cellar beer, so I don't have any reserves, and I currently am not receiving a paycheck, so I don't have any money. Given the saison market, I might try to bring down some 4 packs of Funkwerks beers with we, but I probably won't bring much beyond that.

Besides, I imagine most of what I initially drink when first down there with be local offerings.

 

I love Prairie, personally. I'd probably put them in my Top 5 favorite breweries and their Prairie Standard in my Desert Island Six Pack.

Funkwerks also just started distributing to Texas as well. It is like they are going out of their way to avoid NM. Dry Dock and Great Divide really don't do much for me, so their presence in NM wouldn't really affect me much. The Yeti serios is great, but I am still more prone to grabbing a Tenfidy over a Yeti. Then again, there are those moments when a Chocolate Yeti just hits the spot. And while I liked the one Stillwater beer I tried, i.e. Stateside, I find their stuff sits and sits and sits and sits, which prevent me from trying more of their stuff. If NM breaks that pattern, I would be happy to give them some more chances.

 

That has my attention.

 

Is this the only worthwhile liquor store for buying beer in Albuquerque?