Albuquerque Beer Guide - 2018

Great experience at Cumbre last night, as usual. Tried the sweep of big hops - El Jugo, then Citra Smash, and then P. Dank because well... it was there and so was I. Out of the three, I'm with some earlier comments here that Citra Smash stands out in its 'difference' but I enjoyed El Jugo more than I thought I would. Really well made... across the board.

Still, in the end, what I walked out with were a couple of bombers of La Negra Russian imperial. Had a taste...fantastic. Cheers all. The ABQ brewing scene is kickin'... but La Cumbre is still KING.

 

I haven't tried this year's La Negra, but I'm experiencing a bit of FOMO as all my pals are saying they love this year's version. I always had a thing for that beer, so I can only imagine how tasty it is.

 

Spent 10 days exploring NM, parts new to me, and some favorites. The beers from Bosque, Le Cumbre, Marble, and Santa Fe Brewing were all great. NM has much to offer as far as beer goes.

Stopped at the Very Large Array, which made the engineer in me geek out. Recommended as a non- beer activity.

 

I don’t know man. Never been fond of it since the beginning. One of their least favorable offerings ever. But yeah, now that I’m hearing good things, I may go for a pour. $16/ bomber is tough though.

 

The B&A double IPA mentioned above was very tasty, I thought.
Also got a chance to try a Bosque DIPA (Spoondriver, or something like that) and their Open Space Hazy last night on tap in S.Fe (Fire & Hops). Both were good, but the DIPA was fantastic.
Just split another La Negra with the wife last night, with some coq au vin, and it's still just great. No issues there.
There aren't a lot of breweries in NM, but the quality is pretty high.
Even Santa Fe Brewing has upped their game, objectively, over the last 5 years. The only one I really liked in the past was the Java Stout, but the 7K IPA, their Merky DIPA, their Nut Brown... were all on point the other night. It's a much more interesting place to stop in and visit these days and I like the new taproom ("Brakeroom") on Galisteo in downtown Santa Fe, considering the brewery is out on a frontage road and a pretty long drive (or Lyft, *cough* I should say).
Cheers, NuevoMexicanos! You've got good beer. I love this state...

 

Did you make it as far south as TorC? I enjoyed their brewery (forget the name) when I last passed through. But it's particularly nice to go for a soak at the nearby hot tubs (springs) and then walk over to grab a few brews to continue my kind of small town relaxation vacation.

 

Didn't stop there, as we needed to get down to Las Cruces that day. Then Silver City, then Santa Fe. Thanks for the tip on the brewery and hot springs.

 

You're in Michigan but made it to Silver? Amazing. I used to live in Michigan, where I met my gf, and she's from Silver. Do I know you? Did you make it by Little Toad? There have a few beers I like, too.

 

I think the brewery you are talking about is called TorC brewing, actually. I noticed they had six bottles for release last week, which surprised the hell out of me. No idea if any of the beers are good and I honestly am not convinced TorC can support a local brewery (even if it were good...unless it became a destination brewery or something) but time will tell.

 

I don't think we know each other, but if you are a home brewer, maybe.

Little Toad's beers had an off house flavor in the finish, maybe the water, maybe something else. We stayed at the Palace Hotel, so happy hour at little Toad tempted us. A friend's wife has relatives, she loves Silver City, and said we would like it, and we did. Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument was a bonus day trip there.

 

A bit of both. The malt bill is the same as Red Ryeot, but we have updated and increased the finishing hops. We wanted to try some new branding out. The release will be a little later in the week as of now. Beer needs a bit more time.

 

There's a lot of beer-lover types passing through TorC with the hot springs. And there's almost nowhere good for the locals to drink. So I think it might do OK. But I'm no expert on brewery economics.

 

If you think their beer has off-flavor, stay away from the liquor. It's real bad. It was the same at their old location, so I don't think it's water. But I also haven't tried it lately, so maybe they've cleaned that up some as they've really expanded lately.

 

Update, it's in cans today. Going to go have one now.

Oh, and as far as TorC, I really enjoyed the 2 beers I had there including a lite lager that I know from brewing them, really shows off a brewers attention to detail. Nice relaxed atmosphere too. I will definitely stop in anytime I can.

 

Is this still barrel aged? Is it implied? You think it would be on the labels a bit More prominently. Used to love getting older bottles of this at Kelly’s Wyoming. It sat for a good 2-3 year time frame. Then they became vague about if the barrels were used or fresh. Recently saw some best by 8/30 marble pils cans sitting at a local grocery store. Sad because I love that stuff. Defnitely don’t agree with the best by vagueness marble and Santa Fe use. Is it 90 days out, 120, or some places use 6 months. I always check dates and 80% of the time, put them back. I do love price per ounce with the cans now.

Saw boxing bear put out albu-murky in bombers. Price was $12. Absolute joke considering a growler fill had a slight upcharge of $12-$18.

Steel bender can’t seem to keep their shelf stocked at area stores for their core offerings. Boxing bear really needs to get past this bomber crap.

We may have a ton of breweries but so many still not quite charging the correct price. Or it’s the distributor/restaurants that think we’re suckers.

Just saw Boese has a new taproom at paseo and tramway. Good for them. Real surprised this model works for so many breweries who never look busy. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a boese bomber worth a purchase. Now a some single cans or a sixer, maybe worth a try.

Re: la negra in bombers. Modern times has some of their bigger beers sold in 2 packs or 4 packs of 12 oz cans. It’s possible to split cans up. A single 16 oz can for $8 seems a lot better than 22oz for $16. But if it sells, that’s capitalism