New Mexico Beer Guide 2016 updated

Boxing bear is worth a visit too IMO

 

I need to pay more attention to these guys. Everyone is just so much closer/more convenient for me its hard to make the trip out there to the West side.

 

Gave Batch #2 of Clark a try and thought it was a definite improvement from their first attempt. Enjoyed it this go round and agree with the Pale Ale label for it. I would definitely drink it again.

Also tried Oi. Thought it was decent but I thought it was missing something. I didn't get much beyond some nice hops from it. Seemed almost like a SMASH IPL to me, personally. It was crisp and clean like I like my lagers, but I couldn't notice anything coming from the malt or yeast. Now that I am in the neighborhood I am sure I will re-visit it though and see how if my initial opinion holds up.

 

Read thru the thread and found some useful info. Will be in Albuquerque next week and looking forward to using what I found.
La cumbre, marble, bosque and nexus are high on my list.

Didn't notice anything relating to days open though. I am there Monday thru Thursday morning.
Is everything open everyday?
Any really good food I shouldn't miss out on while in town?

 

Skip Nexus, IMO.

Objective response: hit up Boxing Bear instead

Subjective response: Don't bother with the trek westside to Boxing Bear and hit up Bow and Arrow instead. They had some issues when they first opened, but they are now brewing some good shit. Land of Manana, a hoppy farmhouse ale, is awesome and one of my favorite things on tap right now in Albuquerque. They just released a new IPA, Radical Aim, which is really good. They also have a nice vanilla bean oatmeal stout, Storm & Hearth on tap which is quite solid, IMO. And they are more convenient than Boxing Bear.

Everything is open daily....except for Bow and Arrow being closed Monday.

 

So I hit up Palmer over the weekend. Sort of par for the course. Malt with Attitude definitely had a corn vibe ,like a better malt liquor ,if thats a thing. Some say the same about La Cumbres BEER. For many it reminds them too much of the macro lights. The ABV on MWA definitely hit you.. The Coffee Pale Ale I believe was a cold pressed coffee so it seemed to actually hit more on the bitter end . They only had 4-5 beers available so it was tough to get a true idea. I wasn't turned off so I would likely try some new creations once in awhile.

For my past three trips to La Cumbre, Elevated is tasting fresher and more vibrant than ever before. I still buy and drink in the cans and find those sort or hit or miss on flavor changes. But the flavor brightness seen from Elevated has been a nice re discovery

 

Got to give some more props to Bow & Arrow's Radical Aim IPA. On my third growler of it and sure I'll be getting at least one more. Loving this one, personally. Super bitter and resinous from the Simcoe hops (i am a huge Simcoe fan) with some nice fruitiness from the Mosaic hops. They really need to make this their flagship IPA and dump Hoka Hey.

On a sad note, their Land of Manana Farmhouse ipa kicked. They do have a nice doppelbock on tap now though.

And for fans of a nice milk stout, Bosque has a good one on tap right now. Good enough they should dump Driftwood and replace it with this.

 

Also, Scale Tipper on tap @ Bosque right now.

 

Marble has their first attempt of a Northeastern IPA on tap at their northeast heights location, Northeast By Northeast. They also have Rye IPA with Centennial Hops going, which I enjoyed more, personally.

 

I agree about the Bosque Milk Stout @denver10. I never tend to want driftwood but their seasonal Milk Stout was delicious. Is Scale Tipper still available? Apparently they were having some issues when I was there last weekend, so I sort of missed out. I found this latest batch not as aromatic and potent as it usually is, just a step above bosque IPA imho. Maybe a retry is in order today. It's hard to tell which location has what, neither being too close to me, and not wanting to call, its not quite convenient. I guess thats more my own issues than theirs

La Cumbre released a small batch of their NE hazy pale ale called "el jugo" (The juice), sitting in at 25IBU and 5.5%. It kicked after 4 days. So this is more of an after thought post.

I gave it a 4.5/5 on a flavor front alone. Aromas seemed lacking. There was a normal sort of co2 bite, so not exactly soft or creamy. But there was this orange juice like subtleness that made it quite amazing. They need to bring that back ASAP. Sort of a clean mimosa vibe if that even makes sense.

 

I'd imagine its still on tap. They posted another batch of Scaletipper will be out in March, bottles also available.

I found this latest batch to be a little more subdued as well...i think that might be why I liked it a little more than usual.

 

El jugo was fantastic and thanks to @erway and the crew at LaC for brewing this. I hope it's a style they do frequently.

 

Thanks @kingjohnh. As I haven't tried more than a handful of these, I wasn't quite sure I could pull it off. We'll be brewing another 3 bbl batch followed by a 15 bbl batch in the upcoming month or two.

 

Awesome news that this will be brewed again so soon and see you at Huna day!

 

Cory and I will be there.

 

Latest batch of Project Dank (3/6/17) is awesome.

 

Scale Tipper returns in bombers/draft on Thursday (for Bosque insiders at 5pm). Everyone else likely Friday.

I was there today at the San Mateo location. Only one hoppy beer available. I guess all the hops went to Scale Tipper? I missed Moon Cannon, their DIPA.

Their house IPA is nothing like it is in cans. Its a baby scale tipper on draft, which is easily becoming one of my favorite core lineup IPAS in town.
I also had their Belgian tropics ALe with mango and passionfruit. Its basically their Pink elephants. Easy drinking, slight tartness. Their coconut/chocolate imperial brown was a nice surprise. Not a dud in their seasonal bunch.


I thought I posted about it but I guess not. I was at Bow & Arrow last weekend. Their beers are finally coming together to be nearly on par with other places with "across the board very solid offerings" in everything they have. It took them a year and I heard their head brewer is going elsewhere. I had their "NE" Ipa, which was solid (4/5 ish). had they started off with that, I'd be more excited.

I also hit up Canteen for their two "NE" juicy or what have you IPAs. Hop Baller and Tuttle. Again very very solid stuff. Not really close to that style at all. But for what they are, they are really good. Exous IPA status (when that one was winning awards ).


I was at the La Cumbre Cask Ale fest last weekend. The one I liked the best was the Bosque IPA with Mosaic lupulin powder. It created quite the haze. I hope that one returns asap. Any cask IPA with hops in the serving vessel are usually very aromatic. I love when Dank or eveated are in the firkin.

 

I really really really liked that hazy IPA from Bow & Arrow. I would not have pegged it for a NE style IPA myself, but that I guess could be due to my limited familiarity with the style. I did buy another growler of it this past weekend and did notice that it is starting to fade . Still good but those simcoe and mosaic hops weren't shining quite as vibrantly as they once were, IMO.

I have revisited a couple of their flagships recently. Still do not care for Sun Dagger Saison, less so Jimez Fields Lagers. Hoka Hey IPA is fair but should be about 2% lower in abv for what it provides. Their most recent seasonals, though, are definitely solid and promising. Crazy to hear that just as they begin to show their potential they lose their head brewer.

 

That's unfortunate news. Where is he/she going?

 

That's a question for @Oktoberfiesta. I was responding to his post which brought that up.