Chama River Brewing Co. Closes its doors

Jeff, I will give you that Chama River's beers were good... the few times over the past five years that I've bothered to go in, but there were so many deterrents to going there that I don't think one could look past. The food was bland as all hell and priced at twice the price of many other much better restaurants in Albuquerque. The service could kind of stink. The crowd and ambiance was an odd mixture and the place itself couldn't seem to decide whether it wanted to cater to the blue collar beer drinkers or the wealthy set. It was in the I-25 corridor alongside swaths of other chains and always had that same, (to me) unappealing chain feel that is heavy on impersonal interactions and sterile feeling everything.

Add to all this that you, Bosque, Marble, Canteen, essentially the spawns of this place, all were outdoing it in every single way--- from beer to ambiance to service to entertainment---- and it never adapted. Chama River was like the chess teacher whose skills eventually surpassed its own.

I do respect its place in NM history but I feel very little effect from its closure. Plus, I suspect it will return soon in some other form, don't you? All the wealth of that Peters family and all that expensive and fancy brewing equipment just going to go up for auction? I can't believe it but it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong.

 

It's saturated next to big box chains. The fight is too real. I know some people at Red Robin right down the street who said they would be dropping their local options after their recent kegs kicked. Cheddars has two taps, both non local. I want to say bubbas has 2 local beers in amazing frosted mugs.

Maybe our population base has reached a saturation point of enthusiasm for local beers?

It's a saturated market and then it's not. If that makes any sense. If 2 of the 10 area businesses have local taps fighting for space of course it feels saturated as business A only wants one IPA. But then the other 8 places with nothing local, it comes off more as a false perception of a saturated market imho.

I'm not sure if we can fight that though. Steel bender is hitting the distribution scene hard. Boxing near is gaining some traction. I will agree. There aren't enough taps for what these breweries want to do, distribution wise. Losing chama river hurts deeply for that area imho.

 

Never tried Charma so can't comment on them. Never got the sense that they were making anything worthwhile and that their claim to fame was their history of being a launchpad for training brewers.

The state of our craft scene is an interesting conversation. Is the problem saturation? Is the problem more of it being a matter of people no longer supporting a brewery just for being a brewery, does quality of the beer/experience now matter? Something else? A little bit of both?

I will say that I do think the Albuquerque beer scene's reputation exceeds the actual quality of the scene, IMO. Marble & La Cumbre are world class and we are privileged to have them, something many other markets are lacking. If this was 2016 I would included Bosque into the mix, but Bosque has been a huge disappointment this year, at least for me. Their Lager is tasting great on tap (and remains one of the gems coming from this city...and one of my very favorite beers, period), but this year they really haven't been coming out with many interesting pilot beers or bottle releases. Citra Lager was great, Scaletipper was good, but beyond that? Last year was loaded with some amazing offerings like Red Lightning, Coffee Brown and BA Coffee Brown, Simcoe Pils, The Usual PA, etc. If the rest of their pilot lineup, beyond the Lager, was really good that wouldn't be a huge issue, but their flagships are generally underwhelming to me. Boxing Bear deserves a mention here as well as a positive to our scene, but I am not too familiar with them as they haven't impressed me enough to motivate me to make the trek out there enough to really know what they are all about.

But everything else? The best I think you could say for most of them is that they might offer a quality beer or two. Canteen brews one of my favorite beers, Exodus IPA, but outside of that I haven't been too impressed. Bow & Arrow, I like but I fully acknowledge that I am an outlier and at best I think they are decent and enjoyable. Quarter Celtic, I live less than a mile from and don't bother with despite multiple attempts to like. Tractor, meh. Rio Bravo, I know @ONovoMexicano is a huge fan , but meh. Nexus, definitely no. Etc. We have lots of breweries, yes. We have only a couple ones, however, that are worth a damn, IMO.

On top of all that, it just feels like every brewery is doing the same damn thing. Not that having a core lineup of pilsners, IPA's, ambers, stouts is a bad thing on its surface.....but who needs a city full of only that? Especially when that is not done greatly by most? I do think we would benefit from having some specialty/niche breweries. The one new brewery who is bringing something unique to our scene is Dialogue. They seem to have a nice emphasis on low abv sessionable beers (which is right up my alley) and kettle sours (which I am neutral towards, but appreciate that they are offering something different). I still think they are more potential than good at this point, but they have been brewing some good stuff of late, I was a big fan of their zwickelbier, I think their coffee lager is good, I enjoyed their graf lager.....and all were under 5% abv. These guys have overtaken Bow & Arrow as my up&comer I am keeping my eye on.

Also worth noting is the lack of any quality craft bar in Albuquerque. I don't know where the issue lies here - is it us consumers who are unwilling to support such an establishment, local breweries who don't have the capacity/willingness to keep bars stocked with an interesting rotation of beers, bar owners/managers lacking the vision to properly run such an operation - but whatever the source, or sourceS, of the issue, I think it is a huge deterrent. I think craft bars that emphasize local are a powerful way to showcase the local scene's beers. The closest I have seen here in Albuquerque is Matanza Gastropub, but all they really do is showcase local brewery flagship offerings. Not really going to draw someone in who is already familiar with the local breweries and looking to discover something new and exciting. Nob Hill Bar & Grill seemed like it could be that bar, but on a good day it seems like they might have 2 taps dedicated to local and the rest seem tied down to the following breweries at all times:Ballast Point, Deschutes, Firestone Walker, Founders, Odell, Sierra Nevada, Stone, Upslope (nothing wrong with those breweries on their own.). In all honestly, the one bar whose taplist I have enjoyed the most seems to be Sister Bar...though it frustrates me to no end that in a cit with 3 amazing lagers, they cant find a way to get even one of them on tap when I am there. If Albuquerque could get a craft bar that knew how to do it right (like Falling Rock in Denver, Tap n Handle in Fort Collins, even Rowley in Santa Fe), I think that would be a huge thing for the city. I guess the question becomes, can Albuquerque support that?

 

That is sad. We stopped there last April, and I enjoyed the beers I sampled.

 

I disagree @denver10. All of their beers were solid, yet at the same time, forgettable.

Despite going through numerous brewers, the beers stayed consistent and of solid quality. Would I go out of my way to drink there? No. But when I did, I was never disappointed. They had an award winning lager that could hang with anyone in the state, and a solid core lineup. As others have mentioned on FB and such, I think they had an identity problem and couldnt quite get things done on a food front. The beer was never disappointing imho.

For a couple years, they had what looked like very unique and inviting 5 course beer dinners. But I will agree with your second to last and third to last paragraphs. They were top 10 among quality breweries, but they were doing what everyone else was. I'll say it again, but they are sadly very forgettable despite being top notch.

I know there is that blue grasshopper place on the west side that touts dozens of local taps. But I think for the most part, they are flagship offerings. I would love if a place like NH B&G could get multiple breweries more unique offerings. I do agree that they have a big love affair with a select few non local breweries. We need another place to get the others involved local or non local. Just more unique beer. Rowley, open up shop in ABQ plz. That taplist is solid!.

Fox and Hound got rebranded as Craft Republic last month. They have a lot more local draft options than other chains. I think that may be as far as we get with a true craft bar vibe.

 

@erway, just keep doing what you're doing. I might have complained about a city full of standard/repetitive core beers but I also followed that up with the remarks that most aren't doing them greatly. You guys and Marble nail them. I have no issues when someone does something great. That is welcome. My issue is that most aren't great and there is an abundance of that. (I didn't mention Bow and Arrow initially as an exception to the rule, and I know they aren't that great, but like Dialogue, at least IMO, they are going down their own path...their core beers (which aren't any good, imo) include some different styles like a saison, a mild, a scotch ale and they have a line of sours going, tand recently released a brett. I dont think they always succeed with their attempts (though i think they pull stuff off more than others here do), but I respect their efforts and do try to support them as they grow.)

And I should add that while both your and Marble's lineups do reflect a more standard/typical ensemble of beers/styles (which is in no way a complaint), you both do a great job offering variety...especially Marble, thanks to the new facility in the NE Heights - which is probably the best thing to hit our scene during my short time here in Albuquerque). With you guys specifically, I think you have established a bit of a niche with German styled beers, which I love.

FWIW, The only thing you guys do that hasn't won me over is saisons, personally....much of that having to do with the recipe (and my personal tastes) moreso than execution. I tried your most recent table farmhouse beer but dont care for farmhouse beers dominated by orchard fruit like pears & apples, which I found to be the case with that. I don't care much for kettle soured saisons (to me i only get the sour from them, not the saison), and I dont need fruited saisons...that there have been the 3 styles of saisons I have tried from you. I would love to see you guys attemp to the likes of a Saison Dupont or Funkwerks Saison...perhaps with your own twist, perhaps slightly hoppier.

Interesting notes about bars and distribution...im about to board a plane so cant comment now. Will follow up later.

 

Having not been around when you, @erway, previously addressed the bars and distribution,, thanks for the rehash. Very interesting.

When I moved down here a back in '15, I was always told ABQ has a happening beer scene. No scene can grow and remain exciting when you have a bunch of beer drinkers who are not interested in branching out beyond the standard styles and unwilling to financially support the brewers when they make more costly but "special" releases. I guess if all the breweries around were pumping out great examples of those standard styles, and doing so with their own stamp on their beers, that wouldn't be much of an issue. But they aren't, too much mediocre beer or worse going around. So hopefully this is a fluid situation and while Albuquerque might have been slow to change, it doesn't mean they resist it.

I might have complained that the city is dominated by breweries focusing on core styles but there are little pockets here and there where you can find some other stuff, its usually in the form of one off releases. Marble has been the kings of this since their pilot program launched last year; this year has definitely been the summer of the gose for them, they have randomly been releasing (tap only) a bunch of really good barrel aged offerings (to go along with their bottled barrel offerings like their stout, Brett IPA, upcoming Couvee Rouge, etc), they have a tart petit sour ale on tap, etc. You guys have your line of rotating German styled beers along with a sprinkling of special styled beers released throughout the year (like your sour saison, BA stout, etc.). Dialogue is putting a lot of focus on low abv and kettle soured beers. Bow & Arrow has a line of kettle sours, is working on a barrel program, actually released a brett saison. So there is some growth and hopefully that growth and added exposure pumps some interest into scene, so that they begin to better support the breweries making the efforts.

That said, that drinking and purchasing pattern would seem (at least to me) to be more of a guiding factor in how one would need to build a craft bar, not prevent one from being built. And I do think there is a market for the more experimental/less standard type releases. Every time I am at Marble, those goses seem to be a hot item, your Persica Quercus seemed to sell rather quickly, etc. From what I see....and you obviously have a MUCH more educated/informed understanding of this than me so correct me if my assumptions are totally off base here...people are buying those products, people are spending the extra $$$ for them....perhaps not as many/as fast as in other markets or perhaps for only select products? Then again, I don't know if it is that different in other markets though. I can usually go to the big stores in Denver and find plenty of shelf aged products as well; yes, certain products fly off the shelves, many also don't. Plenty of old Crooked Stave, Avery special releases, etc. hanging around up there. Perhaps a craft bar here needs to ensure enough dedicated lines to more standard offerings, but if they could mix in some more experimental/unique offerings with all that...I think it could be a success. And those more standard styled offerings don't have to be only flagships (though it sounds like some will need to be to attract many locals).

But if a brewery is going to force a bar to buy their core lineup to even have a chance at a seasonal, let alone a special beer, then such a model will never work. And I think that approach is very likely a key reason why our scene is so slow to adapting to these newer, less standard styles. If one is unwilling to hit up the actual brewery, then whenever they are out and drinking local all that is being offered to them is primarily these core styles. There really isn't an opportunity to grow.

I could be totally off here, I acknowledge. I am going off nothing but assumptions and unreliable personal observation. And I have noticed the few time I hit up Nob Hill Bar & Grill that some of the special kegs do tend to stick around longer than I would expect, like Firestone Walker's Parabola, Goose Island's BCBS. I wouldn't expect those beers to last a weekend and they have. So that could certainly be a practical indicator that I have no idea what I am talking about here.


Lastly, that last point you make is sad to read about. If you can get away with Pay to Play in a market like Boston, not surprising it passes here in Albuquerque. And I work with an administrator who continuously follows that ridiculously stupid, short sighted approach that spending less for something is the way to go when it always ends up costing more in the long run....so hearing that goes on in the beer industry is no shocker.

Cheers.

 

I get the strategy and loyalty component from your perspective. I think that happy medium you mention probably can lie with a bar having a steady supply of beer from a said brewery without having to rely on core beers. Those non-core beers don't have to necessarily be super special and crazy, just something new/rotating.