One Evening/Night in Santa Fe

Was in Santa Fe a year ago. I liked Nuckolls Brewing . It is in the Railyard area and within walking distance to Second Street Brewery. Both have restaurants on premise with house and guest taps . Parking is a premium so nice to hit 2 places . Other brewers that i liked. Were

Rowley Farmhouse Ales & Tumbleroot Brewing

Susan’s Fine Wine & Spirit's for retail beer if you have time.

 

New Mexico used to be in the Mountain Group. I think Santa Fe got a little more love back then since it's a pretty popular weekend trip for CO folks. I just got back from there yesterday, so I can assist.

Anyway, Santa Fe's most popular destination is the Plaza area. The only brewery right in the Plaza is Desert Dogs. It's decent (their ciders are better than beers, IMO), but skippable. There are several bars with good taps, though. In particular, the Burger Stand is phenomenal. Thunderbird and the San Francisco St. Bar are solid, too. If you like champagne, there's a tasting room for Gruet just off the Plaza, too. It's top notch IMO. There's a place called Paxton's attached to the Eldorado, but their hours are all over the place. They tend to close on a whim, so just be aware that their posted hours don't mean anything. Some days they don't open at all in spite of their hours. I guess I should probably mention that's a Santa Fe thing in general. Operating hours are only a VERY loose guideline in that town and almost everything closes no later than 9pm.

A few blocks east of the Plaza (off Guadalupe St.) you'll find Chile Line Brewing. They do some interesting things including red and green chile rauchbiers. You won't find anything like them anywhere else, and the beers are solid to good. A little further south down Guadalupe you'll find the railyard area. That's where Second Street, Nuckolls, and a Bosque satellite tasting room inside Restoration Pizza can be found. Second Street's the best brewery in town IMO. Nockolls is still pretty new and = mainly pouring guest taps at the moment. Their selection is good, though. A few blocks west and you'll find the Santa Fe Brewing taproom called the Brakeroom. They're old school, but they do everything really well. Their java porter is still one of the best I've ever had, too.

If you don't mind driving a little, Rowley and Tumbleroot have locations you can drive to in 10-15 minutes east of the Plaza area. Rowley's taplist is the best around and they make a lot of fun beers that involve barrel aging and unusual yeasts. Their food is phenomenal, too. They're on par with Second Street for quality, but a bit less convenient. They recently added a taproom near the Plaza, but the hours are still pretty limited. It's in the Hotel Modern, just a block or two off the plaza near the library. I peered in and it looked like they had 4 Rowley taps. Tumbleroot has a pottery pub near there, too, but I've never been in.

 

Oh yeah - if you make it to Rowley's, there's a Total Wine near there. Their selection is absolutely massive, but they do the warm shelf/old stock thing that most of their locations are infamous for. If you check the dates and mostly buy from their coolers then you'll probably be safe. I've gotten at least one 4/6-pack that tasted off on every trip, though.
Susan's doesn't have their selection, but it's more curated and better cared for. You'll find the big names (Marble, La Cumbre, Santa Fe, Ex Novo, Canteen, Bosque, Boxing Bear, etc. etc.) most anywhere you go. Most bars will carry at least a few items from La Cumbre and Santa Fe with Ex Novo also showing up a bit more.