New Mexico Beer Guide 2016 updated

Laginitas High Westified Rye Whiskey BA Stout has hit the local shelves. $10.99 a 6 pack @ Jubilation. Not sure I could have picked it out as a coffee stout, but its certainly a nice BA stout.

 

Will do. Will post again as things get closer. Thinking the 27th or 28th will be in ABQ.

 

I actually had a really enjoyable beer at Bow & Arrow the other night. Land of Manana, a hopped up saison with some oaked chips in there as well, was surprisingly really good. I really hope they let that one slip into their regular rotation and not just have it as a seasonal (or, worse, a one-off).

Also, La Cumbre has a fantastic helles on tap right now. As great as their IPA's are, its their lagers (minus BEER) that I enjoy most from these guys. They also released a wine barrel aged farmhouse ale. Grabbed a bottle but have not tried it yet.

 

How does the Marble Imperial Stout bottle release work? I'm in town visiting and would like to take a bottle back to GA.

Can I stop by any location tomorrow and grab a bottle?

 

Yeah, bottles go on sale when they open at 12. They will have plenty whenever you get there.

 

This year's batch of Marble's Imperial Stout is great.

 

Of the newer Albuquerque Breweries:

Bow & Arrow is starting to show promise.

-Land of Manana, a farmhouse IPA (though I'd just call it a farmhouse ale with Mosaic Hops) is a legitimately really good to great beer. Honestly, this is probably the best saison I have tried brewed in New Mexico. They need to make this a flagship and make it available year round. This beer alone almost makes these guys legit, IMO.

-I also tried their Storm & Hearth Oatmeal Stout, which uses vanilla beans aged in bourbon barrels. Honestly, no matter how hard I tried I found absolutely no hints of bourbon influence in it but as a Vanilla Bean Oatmeal Stout I thought it was pretty solid....and I would say I dislike 98% of all vanilla type bears.

-Their Hoka Hey IPA....not sure what they are doing with that one after trying a couple tasters of it over a couple visits...seems like a decently constructed beer but the flavor profile just seems so out of tune with what the market likes these days. Spicey, herbal, floral in its hop profile if I recall. I still need to give it a shot with a full pour to see if it might grow on me but just seems like an odd one to make as your flagship IPA in 2016 when citric, juicy, dank, tropical all seem to be the rage. Hoka Hey didn't seem to have any of that (but, then again, I only tried sample pours).

Dialogue Brewing:

I really have been enjoying their low abv sessionable beers. Their higher ABV beers have all been misses for me though.

-Saison.....at 4.2% this one drank really nicely and I drank a ton of it before it finally kicked. Another one I wish was around full time. Though that place does not appear to have the size/production capacity to brew flagship beers without sacrificing their ability to provide a rotating selection of pilot/seasonal beers, which appears to be their plan. I wish I could have that Saison whenever I want, I like taprooms providing a rotation selection of beers at all times. Damned if they do on this one, damned if they don't. Ha.

-Coffee Lager.....a new one, another sessionable beer. Surprisingly not as coffee dominant as I expected for a sub 5% abv beer, there was nice balance. A couple tweaks could definitely make this beer great, but right now its still quite enjoyable. Super easy to put down a couple of these in a session.

-Higher ABV Beers.....yeah, what I have come to expect from new breweries. Their Centennial IPA seemed like a weak APA at too high a ABV and too heavy on the malt. Their porter just didn't seem to come together. Their raspberry sour didn't do much for me but was the best of the higher abv bunch I tried.

 

I recently visited Rowley Farmhouse Ales and was surprised to see Cantillon and Tilquin on the bottle list.

Is there anywhere in Albuquerque or Santa Fe where you can buy Lambic off the shelf?

 

Might be worth calling Kelly's liquors on Juan Tabo to see if they still have any Tilquin on shelves. I'm pretty sure Jubilation sold out quickly. The only shop in the state that got Cantillon was in Santa Fe.

 

Thanks for the reply, I gave Kelly's on Juan Tabo a call.

The person that answered the phone said he had never heard of Tilquin ):

 

Well so much for that. Sorry for the bad news

 

New batch of Clark, Quarter Celtic's attempt at the New England style IPA, is on tap. Good effort. Looks the part. Smells really good. Taste is a bit mild though. New England style Pale Ale is more like it.
The big surprise was Oi, a hopped-up Kellerbier. Citra hop dominant, if I'm not mistaken. I'd go back for that one again.

 

Interesting...and good to hear. I was underwhelmed with their first attempt; it smelt ok but just tasted, looked, felt watered down/diluted and under hopped to me. I am moving in a couple weeks to a house where QC is going to be the closest/most convenient brewery to me, so I hopefully both those beers will still be on tap then. I'll give them another shot....because after my last visit with them, where I checked out Batch #1 of Clark, I wrote them off much like @ONovoMexicano.

 

Totally forgot that I had posted in here earlier until now. Visited La Cumbre on Friday and had a great time. Beers were delicious and bartender was awesome. Chatted about Jester King for a bit and dropped off a Live Oak Hefe with him. The Elevated on cask with ginger was especially delicious.

Also visited Jubilation and grabbed some beers to take home. Had to grab a Fantome de Noel as I've never seen a Tome of the shelf in Texas. Also grabbed copious amounts of Elevated IPA...

 

So I had been sick for about a week prior to a recent visit to Canteen for their solstice sampler (and then walk to La Cumbre). So I'm not sure it was my senses just picking up a normal beer that had some normal smells, but their Operation Black Hops was quite stunning. Bright citrus orange juice like aromas and flavors. It tripped me out because the color is black. Luckily it wasn't too roasty as I generally hate Black IPAs. I'd put aroma right up there with Bosque's best. I may need to revisit to confirm it wasnt sensory shock or something lol.

Their other beers on the sampler were all very good. Not a dud in the bunch.

Quick rundown:
Dark n lusty- standard no frills stout. Great beer to compare against
Panama Joe- GABF winner for good reason. Deep coffee flavors. Not much else. Much like a SF IJS.
Smoked beer- tasted like a campfire. Not a bad thing if you love smoked malt
Operation Black Hops IPA- Stunning aroma. SO juicy
Nitro Mexican Hot Choclate Panama Joe- maybe a touch too much cinnamon and nutmeg as those two dominated. Nitro mouthfeel not my favorite.

Then at La Cumbre, I finally got to try their Helles Bier. I would compare it mostly to a sweeter BEER. Very clean flavors. And if that wasn't surprising enough, Elevated was had for the first time (on tap in while) at the source, and it was one of the best I can remember.

 

I tried the Smoked Oat from Canteen the other day and had a completely opposite reaction to it. I thought it was flat out bad. Smokey? Yes. Bitter? Yes. Anything else? No. Seemed like a smokey, hoppy glass of water. The top layer of that beer was completely translucent, I could see my fingers through the beer. That is never a good sign from a porter/stout.

I also gave BEER from La Cumbre a second chance after that visit to Canteen. I think I might have pulled a complete 180 on that one. I definitely enjoyed it a lot this most recent go around. And I can see the comparison between it and this most recent helles....the helles shares that lightness, that crispness of BEER but provides the breadiness, the creaminess, the sweetness that comes with the Helles styles.

Marble just tapped a wilde ale aged in wine barrels, La Tart. I went in expecting something solid, got something great. Perhaps just a matter of timing but it totally hit the spot. They have also made me rethink white IPA's...a style I have hated. White Out and Rye'd Out have both been extremely enjoyable.

 

On some suggestions here I picked up some Bosque IPA on a trip to Taos. Everyone in the group (4 of us) loved it. Very worth the purchase. Also had some Elevated, which I've enjoyed before and it didn't disappoint. SF State Pen porter was a little meh, too sweet for my choice in porters, which is one of my favorite styles.

I also swung by Parcht to see what their bottle selection was like. Very limited as of last week and nothing that made me want to stay or that I couldn't get in Austin.

Thanks for the tips, was too busy skiing to do much else than grab a sixer or two.

 

Today is my last day staying in NM. I visited both Marble and La Cumbre. Any other breweries I should check out in Albuquerque? Any wineries?

 

Bosque Brewing.