Beer Guide for visiting New Mexico

I also go to Kelly's liquors on Juan Tabo. Both stores have similar selections and prices, and both stores have knowledgeable and friendly staff. There are a few other stores in town that I will frequent occasionally, if i need something specific - like a 6 month old La Cumbre bottle that will still be sitting on the shelf, which has most likely sold out at jubies or Juan Tabo kelly's.

 

Nice, will be sure to check them out as well. Thanks.

 

RE: Beer stores in ABQ.

Total Wine will be totalwine, if you know what I mean.

Jubilation is where it's at. I don't think our area gets "rare" beer to begin with. But just check out Jubilation's FB page to see what sort of stuff we get. They were the first to get BP, and the 12% cache of beers. Seekabrew is somewhat up to date. We now get Upslope, BP, and soon Founders.

Our area seems to thrive on La Cumbre package, Santa Fe package, Marble package, and draft offerings by other local breweries at breweries/pubs. If not for that, many go for the Odell, Deschutes, Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, New Belgium, or Sam Adams like staples. I want to say we're a refined bunch. But the majority still like the larger standard craft offerings. Nothing wrong with that I suppose.

I believe each Kelly's location is managed and inventoried by their own people. So each one will be different. I've seen 5 month old Project Dank at some. 3 year old Marble Imperial Stouts at others. Orval and NC Old Stock sitting at 2 years old. La Cumbre Tres Padres from this past December still available at one. The location on Coors and Irving has bombers that are all refrigerated. Other locations not so much .You may find some gems in there. *relative gems to our area. ie 1 year old Stone IRS. I saw Flying Dog at one. We dont even get that here. Not sure how it ended up in a store in NM.

Various gas stations and grocery stores are expanding their selection too. Four Winds by the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center now has a growler fill station. I believe this to be some sort of tribal land issue. But it falls in our favor here as they are the only ones in the City to have one. They have an expanded craft selection, given its locale. Smith's is trying. They were slow to start. John Brooks is trying. Both above have BP, so no trouble ever not finding a beer. Albertson's has never impressed me. Whole Foods and Sprouts sometimes get "limited" bombers.

Might as well jump into restaurants. Restaurants are a whole other story. Local places tend to want to support local. Golden Crown Panderia in Old Town has a solid Marble/La Cumbre tap listing, given the size of the place. Old Town Pizza, a couple local beers. Check out their Monday specials. Range Cafe in its various locations has some Marble and La Cumbre offerings, As you move towards more national chains, you'll see less local. Texas L&C next to Chama River, the last time I visited, had just Marble Red on tap along with some other larger craft beers. Cheddar's next to them has zero local options. I think they have just two tap options to begin with. Bubbas 33, as I remember my last visit, may have had two local options among 30 taps. Hooters and the likes of BWW have a few Marble/LC offerings I believe. Matanza, a new craft centric bar along nob hill touts 100 taps. So far, Ive been impressed with some of the beers they are already providing

-------------------------
Onto some brewery news.
As mentioned by @ONovoMexicano in his first post, there are quite a few breweries that were too new to mention. But now I think they are worth mentioning.

Ponderosa has been through a few bar managers, and now a second head brewer, so they are still in flux, at about a year old. Location is nice, with a decent happy hour food menu. So that tends to gather some crowds. Beer wise, I always tend to find one that is acceptable for a pint. So that's a good thing I suppose. They are worth one visit. But if its your only visit to ABQ, I say don't bother. They are sorta teetering on Tractor's quality/consistency imho.

Red Door- Been around about a year now. Just like Ponderosa, I tend to find one that I may like. They haven't quite expanded their beer menu just yet. Still at around 5-6 beers, including a hard cider. I personally haven't really found a beer I love there. I'd rather drive up to LC or Canteen. But that's just me. It may be worth a visit as their review presence online is super low. In fact, explore around, as the review presence for pretty much everything is at a bare minimum. Be the one to pave your own roads.

Good luck out there


p.s.
In fairness, I won't mention the extremely new breweries in town. They are doing okay beers. But I'll give them some time. They are near Marble downtown, and one's near Tractor 4th street, so one could, in theory, go to about 5 with no real thought about scheduling.

 

That is all great info to have, so thanks @Oktoberfiesta!

Given that Odell is my personal favorite brewery, how easy is it to find fresh bottles of their stuff, particularly Myrcenary?

 

Very easy to get mercenary, but define fresh. I've never payed much attention to dates on mercenary specifically but i'm sure anything on the shelf is never too old, if you go to a decent liquor store

 

Jubilation has sat on nearly expired Odell IPA, So its definitely IFFY. But overall, I feel one needs to catch some of these beers right as they release. One recent example of Myrcenary and Odell IPA is their best by dated beer of 11/25. It hit ABQ shelves mid to late August, about 1 month since it was bottled. I found some of both and was super excited. Finally some freshish Odell. That seemed about as fresh as I could find. Yet you will still find that same dated beer on the shelves today. Give it another month, and they may still be sitting on their same cache of 10-20 cases of that beer. They either bought too much, or sales just weren't there. But now we are seeing about 2 month old Odell IPA/DIPAs TODAY. One may need to find a place that orders or buys less, and go from there. Or just hope for the best as you search dates at various places.

 

6 weeks or less, preferably.

Based on @Oktoberfiesta's comments, sounds like it is all about timing but possible on occasion. I guess I will take it.

 

Another question:

What are the growler rules with breweries? Will they fill up any growler or are they jerks and require you to buy and utilizer their own?

 

This thread is great, I wish every state had one of these, in a similar format. I will be driving through NM twice around Thanksgiving. Too bad you can't edit / update the OP with the way the forum is currently configured.

 

When they say any, they mean it. I have seen some stuff attempted to be filled, and it ultimately gets filled. Ceramic moonshine looking jugs, to your standard 1 gallon glass apple juice jugs.. Unless I am outting a local brewery for doing something illegal, I have almost never seen a place turn away anyone with a "growler" ready to be filled.

And @ONovoMexicano was spot on with Bosque back in May. I sorta cosigned his post back then, But I think with their GABF gold they have officially become a MUST STOP place. 2-3 varieties of killer IPAs. Oatmeal stout or other varieties on nitro. Bosque lager should be that type of beer that replaces Bud Light in every local establishment. But you know how that goes.
----------------
I was thinking of mapping out a beer guide for people but pretty much every address I have seen for breweries in town are accurate. I want to reemphasize, because its pretty much what I do once a month, is that the I-25 corridor is where you should be if you are traveling and looking for breweries.

Here is my fool proof 6 Hour Brewery Tour. In my initial post here, I had a much shorter set of recommendations. But this goes a little bit more in depth.
11:00am - Start at Nexus. Here is where you will want to get a full meals worth and prepare yourself for the day ahead. Their Cream Ale is quite light in flavor but just enough of that cream ale sweetness. They have an expanded space now, but any time before noon is ideal imho.
11:45am- Drive up I-25 to Bosque. With them opening up at 11am (most every other brewery in town seems to open at noon). They also have light pub food. Pretzels are always nice and fresh. Sample any of their award winning IPAs, or throw down some pints. But prepare yourself
1:00pm- Jump back on I-25 and get off at Griegos/Comanche. Your goal now is to find La Cumbre. I tend to do the bulk of my pint drinking at this location.
2:30pm- A slight detour, or one before the other can happen as Cantenn/Il Vicino is right near La Cumbre. Worth a short visit for sure.
3:00pm- Take Candelaria west to Edith and locate Marble. Again, this may be a place you want to do the bulk of your pints. Really solid selection. By 3pm, it might be a touch busy but it's worth it.

There are quite a few detours that you can take that may extend your day into the 10-12 hour zone. But at that point, you may be better off going into a second day. Some detours may include, Albuquerque Brewing Company (they have had some hour and beer selection issues as of late) is right near Bosque. It's an iffy detour imho. Going from Bosque back towards La Cumbre, you are right near Chama River Brewing Company. Solid , somewhat expensive food selection. It's definitely worth a try. From La Cumbre down Candelaria, you are passing right by Red Door Brewing. Some feel it is worth a visit... And once you are near Marble brewing, one can go south towards downtown to locate Boese Brothers Brewing, or head north to find Tractor brewing *and the latest Rio Bravo Brewing..

The six hour tour is that straight path to happiness imho. Anything else may require a bit of walking or your own body giving out on you.

Best of luck

 

Finally made the move down to Albuquerque. Had to make my first tough decision earlier with dinner: La Cumbre Elevated or Marble Oatmeal Stout. Went Elevated...going to love having easy access to that.

 

So...so far been devouring all things La Cumbre and Marble and have hit up both taprooms. Loving both. Quick question about a brewery that has not been discussed in any detail yet in this thread and does not have any reviews posted here, about their beer or taproom: Boese Brothers.

I live about a block a way from these guys so they are super convenient, curious what the deal is with their quality. I believe they are brand new? One thing I learned from previous experiences is that it usually takes about a year for the new guys to get in a rhythm and capable of brewing consistent, quality beers. (The exception to this rule seems to be when a brewery is started by veteran brewers, those with significant professional brewing history.) While I realize supporting these new guys can be seen as an investment in them, helping them to be able to reach their point of maturity, I generally try to avoid them. There is just too much good beer out there that when I try bad quality beer, regardless the reason, I tend to push that brewery to the side and move on. I might give them another shot in the future, but I also might not. Therefore, I want my first impression of a brewery to be a positive one and I am willing wait out their growing pains to allow for such an opportunity. Given the convenience of Boese Brothers to me, I am tempted to make an exception for them and try them sooner than later, but would love some background info on them so that my expectations are practical. Thanks.

 

I am sure sooner or later I will make my way there. Will report back once I do.

 

Will be driving to TX from CA on Tuesday and will be stopping by Albuquerque on the way. Any special bottle releases going on around that time this week? Looking forward to seeing the city. Will probably go to Jubilation and Marble or La Cumbre

 

I really enjoyed La Cumbre's Baltic Porter. I have not had a ton of baltic porters but that one was probably at the top of my list of those that I have tried. Definitely recommended.

I checked out Nitro Seduction at Marble last night, which I believe is a low abv (5.5% or something) Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout on Nitro. It does kind of fall into the trappings of being a low abv barrel aged stout AND being on nitro, in that those non-beer variables can mask the beer a little, but let give it about 10-15 minutes and it does open up some and was pretty nice. I think I would prefer that one not on nitro, personally, or maybe a 50/50 blend of NO2/CO2, but I would definitely order it again.