New Mexico Beer Guide 2016 updated

I was there on Monday and it was on tap, so they just must have been between kegs.

 

It’s coming bro.

 

Keep your eyes and wallets ready for the 17th of November. It appears that will be the tap and can release of La Cumbres/Modern Times Collab of Postcards from Hell. Postcards had a soft launch at Falling Rock during GABF. And in NM, it was labeled as Prelude to Hell. Tucson AZ is already marking some dates for the 16th as far as a launch/release, so it will likely appear in all of MT's foot print (likely before us New Mexicans can taste it fresh in ABQ). But that is more logistics than anything.


Panama Joe from Canteen released last week. Such a stud of a beer. I just got back from a short trip to SD, where Modern Times stunned me with so much greatness. So it is such a cool thing to see a collab come about so soon. I'm catching the same vibes from both places after visiting their point loma location. I truly felt at home. I hope this collab is a launching point for La Cumbre. MT is pushing out 2 new IPAs a week it seems like. Truly great stuff. I'm sure LC is happy where they are in the core beer lineup market. But there is something to be said to seeing 4-6 IPAs in tap and all of them tasting great. I hate seeing just elevated and Dank 99% of the time. But that fight is for a different day I suppose

 

We're pretty excited about this release too, and yes, there's a good reason I invited Jacob and Andrew to do a collaboration with us. Modern Times is truly killing it on all fronts. They seem to be releasing 1 new IPA a week and they are coming out in cans the majority of the time. This requires at least 2 if not 3 FVs dedicated to doing that alone. It takes an enormous effort on so many fronts and it is awe-inspiring. Marketing, hop purchasing, yeast management... and let's not forget the creativity on the part of the brewers. It also requires a local robust craft beer market with consumers that are willing to spend the kind of money that makes this logistical pain worthwhile.. It's their thing and it's impressive as hell.

It's not our thing. Our tank space and square footage wouldn't allow for it even if I wanted to. I also love brewing other styles too much. When we began trying to keep 2 IPAs on tap at all times, that was a real stretch for us.

What I can promise is quite a bit more monthly releases of lagers, IPAs, DIPAs, sours, Belgian-styles... and we will be canning many of them. Some of these will be line-priced with our core beers and others will be not.

One thing that I truly appreciate about this thread is that, rated or not, I will get some pretty quick and fair feedback about each one of them. Keep it coming. Cheers!

 

I tried Prelude to Hell/Postcards From Hell when it made a quick appearance at the taproom and thought it was really good, so looking forward to its return.

 

Hey guys, New Englander here who spent some time in ABQ a couple years back. Loved going to Marble and La Cumbre. I'm hoping to get a taste of the upcoming Reserve Ale and Postcards from Hell. Haven't gotten any hits on the trade forum here or on Reddit. Wondering where I might be able to find some ABQ traders who can hook me up. Have regular access to MA/CT/NY breweries (tree house, counterweight, NEBCO, equilibrium, other half, suarez, etc.).

 

Hey, I sent you a message on reddit, I'll send one on here too!

 

It's an awesome thing that you guys are collaborating on this! Can't wait to try it...see you Saturday!

 

Thanks for the responses Southwest crew! Can't wait to try the Reserve and the Cumbre/MT collab!

 

Looks like Albuquerque/New Mexico had its first hyped release with Postcards from Hell. Looks like LC sold out in a couple of hours. I stopped by a little before 1, saw the line out the door, and turned around and headed back home....so wasn't surprised to see their FB post that cans were all gone shortly after, though was hoping this could have lasted throughout the weekend. I also reads some of the posts in response to it selling out, lot of disappointed folks out there.

 

Some quick thoughts.

-I made it there right at noon. parking was already deep into the new lot (which I dont see until happy hour on weekdays)
-doors did open right at noon (no special preferences).
-I was about 30 deep right at noon (not sure how long the others were waiting).
-Got what I needed from right outside the patio to inside within 30 minutes. So yeah, lines were long and slow.
-They basically had two points of sales open for both cans and draft offerings
-Not sure if they expected this rush. But this was the first time I have had to wait in a line vs. getting a seat at the brewery and just walking up to the bar casually. I'm not sure if there was a better way. The brewery had more people in lines vs. those drinking inside. So for the most part, people got their cans and left. For the most part, for that first hour, it was a can release only.
-I saw no one exceed one case. But it's also easy to see how they sold out after only 90 minutes. 20-30 did get a case. It is what it is.
-I know there was no limit and that irked some people, But I did not see anyone have mules or buy 3 plus cases as an individual.
-Price point better than I expected at $17.25. Far too many subpar beers (compared to this beer) are going for $20 from far less established breweries.
-By about 1:15 or so, the line had gone down quite a bit, to almost inside the building. This was nearing when they sold out.
-IMHO, those that showed up early or within an hour and 25 minutes got what they expected to get.
-Line probably peaked right around 12:45 from my estimate, going back to their new facility going north.
-Draft had about 2 bbl available. Looking at UT, people were still checking it in around 430pm. Those were good for about 300 13 oz pours, per my math.

@denver10 terrible timing man. Had you just waited until around 1:15, things let up (maybe there was no more parking lol). Things let up until it just vanished. In some sense of the word, it was a perfect release. Those that missed out or worked all day will say otherwise.

Some other thoughts that may be helpful for improvement : Maybe have everyone get into the building sitting down in a seat and then go one by one with what they want. We basically waited in a walmart line without any true idea for a good 20 minutes that they had this available on draft too. I know alchemist has a line counter and knows how much is sold and when to thin the limits. Maybe that last 20 minutes could have spread further with a 4 can limit. But really, we are only talking 20-30 extra people. This was not a large production (even though they say 30bbl was their baseline).

As far as the beer itself, right on par with El Jugo and the Prelude to Hell. Nothing other worldly about this one, if that is any consolation to those that missed it. Very frickin good. but no better than the El Jugos.

I hope everyone can learn from this. LC goes from 37 cases in a day for a release, to 80 in 90 minutes. So yeah. I'm not sure if its the Modern Times backing, or the hazy culture finally catching on. El Jugo sold pretty well in smaller formats. So I feel they could have sort of seen this coming. But the last few el jugos didnt seem to spark too much interest. So finding the perfect YIELD amount to brew is pretty damn tricky.

 

Yep. A lot to learn today. We did expect a rush, but not that kind of rush. I don't know how our team could have served faster. I think the line was the only way to go as most of the people to start the day wanted cans and to leave. As far as limits, I wish we had limited it to 3 or 4x 4 packs. Live and learn. I will disagree about this vs. El Jugo. I feel that the body and aromatics of this beer were superior to what we were able to do with El Jugo. The experience will certainly improve El Jugo this next year, that I am sure of.

7 Luminarias, our 7th anniversary will come out in a couple of weeks. Similar idea; 9.3% ABV, both PCH london yeast as well as Leuven Ale yeast, fermented like a belgian tripel with 3 volumes of CO2, bottle conditioned, huge dry hop. This will be followed one week later by the first of our single/double series, Big Door Prize. All mosaic DIPA brewed in a similar way to PCH, but with pale malt instead of pils, with dextrose... and just one hop.

I will continue to look forward to all of your feedback. Cheers.

 

@erway, I would agre that Postcards was much different and superior to El Jugo, which is very tasty. I hope El Jugo turns out more like Postcards for future batches. As for access to the beer, that kind of sucked, though you snooze and you lose. I was lucky enough that a buddy of mine bought a bunch and he got me a 4 pack.

 

Beautiful thing is that everyone is slightly different. I had a smash beer from them awhile back that felt more juicy and lively than El jugo and this beer here. I think it was mentioned that they had no intention to be ultra juicy. Perceptions on different hops and how they click or don't click for us is a great thing. We can like a limited product or one that no one knows about. At least most of us can be that unbiased.

Over the years, some random dank batches have felt superior ( at that time) to what i have tried today with PC from hell. But access to that juicy type of beer is ever growing. I was just at MT two weekends back. So this feels on par with that, which isnt a bad thing at all. I'd drink 4 rated ipas all day everyday without hesitation. It's crazy that that has become the norm. 4feels average in some markets. That's just how I rate things

Postcards so far in cans > draft offering easily. I think this will age nicely up through to the new year if you let it.

 

For sure. Batches differ and tastes change. I’m pretty sure I ranked a previous batch of Dank as 5.0 on this website and I wouldn’t rank Postcards as a 5. I used to love three legged dog and was sad when it was d/c’d. Would I like it now, maybe not as I recall it was a little sweet.

 

I'll try it out of the can today... Haven't had an opportunity yet. Like many I acted a little late and had to get one from a friend. Funny thing is that I am seeing some "green" comments. This beer was in the tank more than twice as long as Full Nelson and nearly 3 times as long as Elevated.

Overall I am happy with the beer. I think Big Door Prize, In the Money and Go For Broke could very well be better as I think the hops that we will be using may be more impactful than Southern Passion was... That, and we just get to know this yeast more and more with each beer we brew with it. I'll look forward to all of your feedback on it.

 

Quarter Celtic has a Dortmunder on tap that is bordering on awesome, if not there. Don't sleep on it.