New Mexico Beer Guide 2016 updated

@ONovoMexicano Appreciate the info on bearfest. I saw some other beer lists. I'm enticed by Second Streets Trebuchet, some Chama River beers, most of what Bathtub row has done (only had one of their beers. They're going through some brewery growing pains. I guess they didnt like the vast variety that initially happened. People wanted mainstays/cores. But thats for another day lol.).Starr is worth a try. But can I actually sample stuff?

Overall I am mixed. $30 bucks for what amounts to 2 pints and they say "it's up to the brewery if they want to provide samples". It's looking like a $50 day if I'm also buying pints. I' dont exactly expect/want to get drunk or go crazy. But I just don't know. Call me a party pooper.

I see all these releases (marble Saison, the SFBC collab, and what not). I'm not exactly enticed to move away from my casa to endure these events. Maybe I head to marble DT on Sunday and stock up on growlers as everyone else is doing these fests.

@ucsbmullet
I want to call Chama River worth a beer visit (food is quite pricey and can be a touch hit or miss on "worthiness"). My last visit I had a nice DIPA. I am not sure what their seasonal IPA/APA lineup is like. But it's worth a visit IMHO. If not for them, try Draft Station. They have owners affiliated with the SF Dining Group (Chama, Blue Corn etc..) so you will see some Santa Fe Blue Corn beers in town (and no where else pretty much), along with some Marble, and La Cumbre mainstays. They are pricey and don't include tax in their prices (99% of other breweries DO include tax). Worth a look if you are around Old Town.

beyond that, Please be our guinea pig and give us fresh impressions of places you may have heard are good, or places you wandered into. I personally haven't visited most of our "new" local breweries (still never been to Sandia Grill near Wyoming, ABC, or Lizard Tail). I have 5 personal mainstays. But please don't let the internet ruin what could be great times at some of these other places. I'm sorta waiting on good word that most of them are much better than home brew trials.

 

Actually I have a 15% plus ABV imperial stout in a rum barrel right now that I was planning on putting about 1000 dollars worth of vanilla beans into if it rounds out nicely. It's a bit hot right now, but I'm waiting to see how it goes.

We actually are planning a once a year imperial stout that will be sat in barrels and given special treatments. The plan is to rent a whole other building just to do this. Don't expect much chile though. Perhaps a Mexican treatment at some point with cocoa, cinnamon, vanilla and chiles, but any chile treatments will be subtle. I won't release a beer that causes burns on the way out. Heat needs to be subtle, not overt.

This said, these beers take time so don't expect them anytime soon. But this is in the panning stages. I have a lot of great stout recipes and I really enjoy a big stout in the winter personally. I'm not really into sour stouts, although some like Funk Metal and the ToD on cherries and vanilla are acceptable. I probably won't be doing one unless I have a lot of interest...

 

Most spirit barrels are around 53 gallons. Cost would be around 40 a bottle for a 750 mL if I had to guess. It's an expensive beer to brew and house while it it maturing, not to mention the cost of vanilla beans or other adjuncts. Still that's pretty affordable if you ask me. Just skip 5-6 or so pints out and you have a bottle.

You'd probably get about 200-250 bottles from a single barrel if all things went well.

 

This needs to be in the "ABQ Beer Week Sucks" thread. But seriously although I do not disagree with your thoughts on Albuquerque beer week (I think 'random events cobbled together' is a perfect description), I don't think ABQ Beer Week can really be taken serious. It's a made up celebration by a for profit event company (Feel Good Events). I think the NM Brewers Guild or some kind of partnership between ABQ breweries would need to take control of organizing ABQ beer week before it can be what us beer evangelists expect from such an event.

 

Fyi, TW had 111 farmhouse for $13. LC strawberry gose $8.99.

TW still has marble imperial stout, reserve, and Brett ipa.
Azacca smash by Bosque being had right now. Impressions to follow

 

Azacca was a touch of a let down. Not as dynamically smelling or tasting as mosaic. Kind of subtle and a touch more bitterness. Reminds me of their Riverwalk in a way.

505 2016 colab is tapping all over. It's pretty much just a hoppy Keller bier, with hints of hefe yeast flavors, some crispness. Very drinkable but a tough one to get excited about. May go toe to toe with the 1516 weihenstephaner, which is a compliment. But not something I'd buy again.

 

Awesome timing with that up dste regarding TW and 111 Farmhouse, eating some lunch I n that area as I type and will definitely be making a stop there afterwards.

Looking forward to trying the Bosque Azacca Smash too. Let us know how it is.

 

Bosque azacca smash is good IMO but definitely not on the mosaic smash level. But I think that's more on the hop than the brewery. I have not been wowed by any beer that utilized azacca as the main focused hop. But thats just me.

 

Tried the Azacca on my way home today and agree with the rest of you, unimpressive. Seemed underhopped to me, though perhaps that is just the nature of the hop?

My ranking of the the different SMASH releases from Bosque so far.

1. Citra Smash
2. Equinix Smash
3. Mosaic Smash (admittedly, I am not much of a Mosaic fan)






4. Azacca Smash


Also, stopped by TW and did grab a couple bottles of the 111 Farmhouse from Marble. Thanks again for the heads up on that one, @Oktoberfiesta. Also grabbed a bomber of the Stout Americano, going to give that another try. Maybe I will like it more when not nitrogenized.

 

We will also need a guinea pig for Tractor's upcoming barrel aged release.

 

$40 for a 750 ml bottle and affordable do no belong in the same sentence, IMO.

 

The only Dortmunder I have tried before is the Great Lakes one, which I did not care for. I generally don't care for Great Lakes products, though, so I could not say if I disliked the beer or the style. I will definitely give the La Cumbre one a shot.

As a side note, I had some La Cumbre Mind Phoq the other night with my dinner at Matanza and it is still tasting damn good. Coffee is still right there.

 

They released to members only yesterday but will release to the public on June 4th.