New Mexico Beer Guide 2016 updated

My search for saisons just struck gold. Not locally brewed but Jubilation just got a shipment of Blackberry Farm beers, 3 different saisons. Drinking their Classic Saison right now and it is fantastic. Everything I love about the style is here and they pretty much nailed it (its a touch sweeter than I might need from the style). Not a fan of the format (750 ml) or the price ~$15, but considering the dearth of alternatives on the shelves around here I will definitely continue buying this one.

Also, hit up Marble on Friday. That barrel aged pilsner with some brett was gross, IMO, but their Bark Pilsner was really good, their Apricot Sour was really good, and I finally got around to trying their Imperial Red and thought it was great. Also hit up La Cumbre and tried the Father Nelson but wasn't a fan, too much heat for me (I don't generally like hoppy beers to show their alcohol).

Next stop will be Bosque (not today) to try that Beermosa....haven't been a fan of fruit infused pale ales but certainly willing to give Bosque's attempt a try.

 

A double IPA just released on tap at Bosque's 2 ABQ taprooms. I wonder if it's any good?

/sarcasm.

 

Bosque's DIPA, Double Ditch was good. But I found their Mosaic SMASH to be phenomenal.

 

@ONovoMexicano Thought you might be interested to know Chama River just tapped a Gose. #notadaygoseby2016

 

@ONovoMexicano YES! Shoulda made a post. Was over there on Saturday afternoon. Frickin great. I think I had 3 pints of that. It SHOULD be what happy camper is. Kind of a citrus dank vibe all around. Surprised to see UT so lowly checked in. What a gem! I can close my eyes and feel a Marble/La Cumbre/Bosque IPA vibe, but definitely NEVER a SFBC. It's a great step imho. Not that I want every IPA to taste like Elevated or Marble IPA. But there is a certain freshness and brightness aspect that was to die for. When and IF SFBC comes with seasonal IPAs in cans or whatnot, that'll change the competitive landscape forever.

Looking online at various sources, the way beer Mosa is made is pretty much how GF Sculpin is made. I think the name is kind of hinting at "NON BEER ICKY" sources.

 

Mind blown.

GOLD is $9/sixer for what feels like a cheap cream ale/golden ale. But it fails so so bad on a crispness level for me and my fathers taste buds. My dad is old school with the "craft" beers" Boston lager, shiner bock. I'll surirprise him with a marble pils, or SF freestyle. Even your Weihenstephaner Original and Pils get some action. GOLD was literally never talked about or bought again after the first try last summer. I can't believe people are buying that. Are people buying craft for the sake of "craft"? I would rather have a coors light or miller lite on a quality crispness front compared to the flavor profile of SF Gold. It's not just about ABV. I buy AVBC Blood Orange Gose without issues for $10/sixer. But there is something unsettling about SF Gold.

That sucks about Western Bloc. They have the resources to dominate the landscape. Stuck in their ugly AVERAGE WAYS I see. Maybe it was a younger me talking bout Freestyle Pils used to be released way later than early April, and it seemed to have a better flavor and bite. Past two years have been a downer. It used to compete with Marble Pils for those "daily drinker" calories. SF oktoberfest was one I wanted 3 cases of. Lately, its just not the same.

Without getting into too much details (after all, I merely searched online for a couple hours), for a GF sculpin clone, you are probably correct in that it may just be a true GF zest (not the fruit itself). So this may be that sort of GF sculpin in its purest form. Others have claimed a GF flavor oil additive could be a source of flavor as well. And even more seem to say they use GF Juice as a source of post fermentation flavors... It's confusing out there.

 

From Bosque's Facebook page, they use grapefruit and blood orange puree in Beermosa.

I have been meaning to check out a Sante Fe taproom and sounds like this new IPA should give me an excuse. I also need to try their Pilsner.

 

Thursday seems to mark the opening of the new Bosque expansion @ the San Mateo taproom, with a special dinner event that evening. Just a heads up. I would assume that it would be open to the public this coming Friday. Between exodus in cans, marble double white in cans, and father nelson, I have not really stopped at any other brewery. I hope these places are doing alright. I'm pretty much confined to 2 brewery visits a week and it usually leads itself to LA cumbre. Vmo #2 is a stellar German Vmo offering. I know there's more out there but I will repeat that LA cumbre core offering is an afternoon in and of itself.

I'm impressed with Santa fes overall lineup of tap offerings at their abq location. Prices for most are well under the city average. Cool little green jeans spot. Freestyle is a higher abv German Pils than some are used to. Some days, I feel it being crisp and thrist quenching. Other days, it feels tough and hard to handle. Not always a crisp edge IMHO. Even happy camper feels much better on draft. So it'd a solid stop

 

Just wanted to add/ask peoples opinions.

I have looked towards Yelp for a lot of food recommendations over the years. I realize they have a brewery interface. I looked over it, and am very surprised at the results. It feels like the average beer fans haven for "beer spots" by and large. I think La Cumbre and Marble had such momentum going their way from a beer front initially that that there's no stopping them. But beyond that, Red Door is slightly above average with no more than 6 beers available at any given time.. Side Track is seeing glowing reviews. UT shows another story entirely. Bosque sitting below Bow & Arrow makes me want to forever forget about yelp, even for food, and just try to enjoy what's out there. Any brewery open 4 years or less, Yelp seems useless.

For any travelers, please be advised, I don't think the vast majority of true beer advocates trust what Yelp says, or what others have reviewed the beers as. Take that list with a big word of caution.

 

Not much of a Marzen/Oktoberfest fan at all, but really liked this one too. Enough to have gone home with a growler fill of it.

As for Yelp, I have never used it for breweries. I don't tend to to put much stock in itss food reviews either, as I tend to think the food reviews are as reliable as you have found the beer reviews.

 

Fuck yelp

 

Tried both last night. As someone who isn't all that into Mosaic hops I did still prefer the Mosaic Smash to the Double Ditch. If Double Ditch had a lower abv I would be singing a different tune, as I enjoyed the hop profile to that one a good deal, but I found there to be a little heat to it which I didn't care for.

 

What's the story with the Boxing Bear DIPA I am seeing on shelves in bombers? Any good?

 

I found it to be average. I had it on tap. I'm not sure if the bottles are dated but I believe those bottles you're seeing around are at least two months old and possibly older.

 

They are on the shelves now at Susan's up in Santa Fe. I had a feeling they are oldish.