New Mexico Beer Guide 2016 updated

So 111 is unique as hell. Brett on the nose. It has this sweet yet dry blend with definite wine characteristics with a touch of funk thrown in. I drank my bottle way too fast. I will admit, as it warmed, and on the second glass, I did not seem to want more. Maybe the flavors were clashing. Price Point, I think they are off with the $20. But I would gladly pay $13 for 1 or 2 more tries without hesitation.

Strawberry Gose by La Cumbre on the other hand. @ONovoMexicano. Spot on with the tartness aspect. Definitely no longer of that milkshake creamy variety. Definitely as tart as many other Goses. Strawberry is actually quite subtle/not so sweet, which was a nice change of pace. I'm actually craving more right now.

 

So more info on the Tractor barrel aged releases. They actually released 3 different barrel aged and bottled beers. Their RIS Luna De Los Muertos, a Barleywine, and their chocolate scotch ale Scotcholate. This is finally something to get excited about at Tractor. I know they don't have a ton of fans based on beer alone but I happen to like both the Luna De Los Muertos and the Scotcholate. The Barleywine is decent as well. It's a step in the right direction regardless.

 

Yes

 

I might be willing to be the guinea pig for that saison. Heck, for $2.79 a bottle, ill try that stout too.

 

I'm gonna try to be more active about restaurant lineups that I come across.

Sadie's on 4th street finally moved into the current decade. They appear to have double or tripled their tap lineup.

Of the locals I saw:
2 from Rio Bravo (how this happened. who the hell knows. Didnt see the styles)
2 from SFBC: Pale Ale and Nut Brown
1 from Bosque: Riverwalk IPA
1 from LC: Slice of Hefen
1 from Tractor: Mustachio Milk Stout

(In the past, I think they had 2 locals on tap, so this is quite the jump).


I totally missed every Beer Week event. No regrets. Did I miss anything memorable?

 

@ONovoMexicano Tractor beers aren't released to non-members until tomorrow. I did try Ponderosa Saison Petite Sour and enjoyed it. $3.50 pour at happy hour is the way to go. Bottles are $14.

 

@ONovoMexicano I have family who likes it and we never get to go on weekdays (decent lunch specials), so Monday, that's what we did. Decent beer specials too. $3.25 for some NB Citradelic. For real New Mexican, I definitely have some favorites. NM Beef Jerky on 4th and Bellamah (basically within the foot print of Tractor, Bow&Arrow, and Rio Bravo), get their Chiccarrone burrito . Barela's has some great red chile as well. El Model tamales. but that's getting into another topic all together. And I stopped trusting yelp after having sub par burgers from many on the top 10 list.

Sadie's has always had one or two locals on tap for years. But now they have really ramped it up. Thanks for the artichoke mention. I need to find more places that cater to both beer and food equally. We went to this italian place in the NE heights awhile back and their draft selection ran 3 deep. One of them was a Sam Adams seasonal. This was September 28th, so we assumed Oktoberfest.. Nope, Summer ale. Ofest was sitting waiting for Summer Ale to kick. I think they may be tapping Oktoberfest right about now. I hear about saturation of breweries and local beers, and that evening reminded me that we aren't even close to being a saturated beer town.

Holy Cow has solid burgers ( a buddy swears by them) with solid local draft choices. Range Cafe has a few local mainstays. Those 4-5 local draft choices seem like a great common occurrence now.

A place that surprised me was Golden Crown Panaderia. At the time, they had about 7 draft choices in their little place. Mostly Marble and LC (including draft Dank, which I never see out of the taphouse). I got an eamil recently saying they will be the unofficial taproom of Boxing Bear (seasonals and all), so take it or leave it, no more LC/Marble etc. variety. All BB.


back on topic.
Anyone try that Beer Premiere last night? What about the latest Project Dank, an IPL (first India Pale LAGER for the series). How was bearfest, or blues n brews.

I've been keeping it real low key this week. Trying to turn myself into only a weekend drinker lol.

 

Haven't tried it but absolutely will first chance I get.

Hit up Ponderosa for my first time last weekend. Can't say I was sold on the place, seemed decent but unspectacular to me. Their Ghost Train IPA kinda reminded me of Odell's IPA, albeit not as good. As a huge Odell IPA fan, the comparison is a positive. Overall, they did enough to where I am open to giving them another try or two but if I never went back, I wouldn't fret over it. As a huge saison fan, seems like this Sour Saison is as good a reason as any to give them another shot. I imagine I will be back there in the next week or two to try them out again and the saison.

Also hit up Side Track. Given that I stopped in after a visit to Quarter Celtic, it was short and I only got one pour. Tried the Pub Ale. My opinion to them is pretty similar to my opinion of Quarter Celter, they seem to be putting out some decent beers from the get go. Hopefully they continue to grow and improve with time/experience, both places offer the potential to be solid spots.

Also, it looks like I have to give Bosque's Red C's another shot, as my rating of it was far lower than the others. I love a good hoppy red so would love to realize I just tried it when the mood wasn't right for it.


As for food.....Artichoke's has always been on my radar, but I have yet to make it out there.

 

It's been months. Time just flies by. But Ponderosa had (could still have) a killer happy hour menu including weekends from 3pm to 6pm. Not sure if that's still active. That includes a special HH food menu and cheap pints on everything. The food has always been very solid. Beers as well. They had a breakfast stout that felt like a baby FBS. not sure why these guys don't try to focus on their best seasonals, instead just pumping out non stop one offs. Or at least schedule it out so I know baby FBS will be around every 9-12 months I'd go there every week for a baby fbs. But I digress. I guess thats the ultimate conumdrum for breweries. I like stable lineups, but also trying new things.

It's competitive as hell out there. I haven't been to marble in 3 months, and just once 3 months prior. Totally wasted my mug club this year. I guess even if places are good, the vibe, the staff, or other unknowns can hinder a places appeal. I live two miles from Ponderosa but I have very little incentive to really ever go (same with Sidetrack and a repeat of other places.) Even QC, I drive near there everyday. I need to get back into gear and check out these places. I guess we'll see where today leads. Happy beer drinking/hunting all.

It looks like Bosques SM expansion is nearly complete, along with Marbles rooftop patio. The way they serve or overserve some patrons, I hope they had padding on the railing.

 

It's funny giving a 4.25 a bust rating but for project dank, and myself, that's on the lower end of greatness. IPL tried this afternoon. I'd honestly have to have a normal dank next to me to tell any huge difference. Didn't seem any crisper. Didn't seem any clearer. Flavor wise, it was of that abrasive piney dank nature with light tropics, which is on the lower end of what I like about project dank.

Canteen visit today too. Seasonal list seems to be shrinking. But I'm totally okay with Panama Joe returning for a slight visit.

Nitro, which I can't stand but those coffee notes make it top of the class IMHO.

Sampled their cherry gose. Impressed as it hit all the notes right but in a slighter sense. Slightly salty, slight tart, slight funk, and slight sweet notes blended perfectly. Very safe otra vez like flavors.

Sampled their grapefruit ipa. Huge miss. Something in the backend in regards to the gf sweetness hit me the wrong way. Im talking worse than what rebel gf ipa from sam adams brings to the table. I needed a normal exodus to hit the spot. And it did. Huge citrus elements. It truly outdid project dank for me today.

Canteen on the total upswing IMHO.

 

So...discovering that Project Dank was lagered this go around forced me to re-prioritize things and I also hit up La Cumbre today (instead of Ponderosa). When I asked about PD being a lager this time, instead of confirming that, the bartender simply responded they used a lager yeast...which I assume to mean it was still top fermented. An assumption so take that with a grain of salt.*

I liked it but the highlight for me was that dortmunder @ONovoMexicano previously recommended. I though that beer was great, especially on this sunny, hot New Mexico day after a hot hike. This was the beer I hoped BEER! would be. If they canned this, it would definitely steal refrigerator space from Marble's Pilsner.


*Just hit up La Cumbre's face book page, which straight up states its a lager. So there you go.

 

Back to my old stomping grounds. Marble dowtown.

Low key vibe. Back to what I am sorta used to before the crowds take over..

El Dorado pale ale hit the taps. Very subtle sweet hop aromatics, if any imho. Flavor was a crisp light ride. Backend was a unique malt profile I can't put my finger on. With marble Pils sold out, this fit a nice session bill if I saw one. I'm spoiled with Bosque. Dry hopping seemed way under here. Subtle all around. Worth a pint.

Double white. Never have it on tap enough. Felt extra crisp/carbonated today.scary drinkable.

Sampled saison #1. At 7%, it felt very Belgian ale sweet. Not for me at the moment.

Finished with a latest tapping of their DIPA. abrasive, some light pine. Mostly citrus. Refreshing. Didn't feel it's abv at all. True compliment to them. Light tropical fruits ,if any. Old school west coast. Definitely some fresh hop vibes here. Great aromatics.

I'm torn. Food trucks were great. Beer was great but I'm out some $40. I guess I need to renew my mug club and make it worth my time. Or simply grab a growler and run. Maybe I'm too cheap for draft beer anymore.

I've also spent way more and felt truly ripped off on a crappy beer front, so I should just count my blessings.

 

Got out of work on time today so used that as an opportunity to hit up Ponderso and try their Saison Petit Souris. I liked it, definitely the best offering from them I have tried. Would happily get again, though wasn't about to spend $14 for a bottle of it....not when I can hit up TW and get a Marble 111 Farmhouse for $13.


Then hit up Marble. Thanks for the heads up, @Oktoberfiesta, about Saison #1's sweetness. Preparing myself for that helped and I really liked it. To me, it drank a bit like a fusion between a Belgian Saison and a Belgian Pale Ale. Whatever it is, I was a fan. As a heads up, I think Saison #1 kicked while I was there.

 

By "top fermentation" you are implying that it was an ale. They were stating that it was a lager by stating that it was fermented with a lager yeast. The word "lager" in German, means "to store", and this beer was 5 weeks grain to glass, so yes it is a lager (adj) by definition as it was brewed with lager yeast, and it was layered (v) as it was stored cold well past the time that it reached terminal gravity.

In short, any beer can be lagered, but it takes lager yeast to make a lager beer... Sounds like there was a breakdown in communication.

 

Probably was not a breakdown in communication, more me not understanding. Can not any beer be brewed like in an ale in the same way any beer can be lagered? I think that is where my confusion is (at least now) stemming from, as that is what I incorrectly assumed was done.