Going to La Cumbre to pick up some fresh beers is it worth it to stop at Marble to get beer or is most of what they produce available in a store. Time is short as just passing through. Also any good bottle shops near La Cumbre and any beers in general I should be looking for that would be somewhat easily found. I am from Nevada so looking for beers new to me. Thanks for any help and all suggestions are appreciated.
This should help you: http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...-for-visiting-new-mexico.219169/#post-3443871 And this shows Marble's current drafts, many which won't be in bottles: http://www.marblebrewery.com/draft/ Go to Jubilation when near La Cumbre and easily doable before or after Marble if you do both. You really should visit Bosque in Nob Hill if time permits too. Might even be more worthwhile than Marble. At Jubilation, if you find Bosque's Imperial Coffee Brown consider that a score. Also, Boxing Bear is way out on the West Side but makes solid beers. You may find their DIPA, Sucker Punch, and their Chocolate Milk Stout (GABF winner) in bottles.
Definitely worth visiting Marble's taproom. If you live locally, their taproom really isn't worth more than a once in a while visit, IMO. Honestly, I have never been more let down with tap list from a brewery as I have been with Marble. That said, they are my favorite NM brewery. I think their beer is cross the board really good to great. So if you are an out of towner who does not have access to their stuff otherwise, making a trip to their taproom is definitely worthwhile. Everything on tap will be new to you, allowing you a lot of great choices to choose between. Bosque is probably my favorite taproom to hit up as I enjoy their wide variety of offerings, I like the vibe, and am overall pleased with the quality. That said, I'd rank their beer, overall, third between them, La Cumbre, and Marble. Ultimately, I don't think they are as consistent as the other two. They have some great ones (like the aforementioned Imperial Coffee Brown Ale), they have some duds (like Riverwalker), and they have plenty in between. If you don't order correctly there you can definitely leave underwhelmed, IMO. I almost wrote these guys off because my initial experience with them involved ordering the wrongs beers.
In the midst of an expansion, Marbles in house tap lineup is as limited as I have ever seen it. It appears their packaged beers are also somewhat limited (in variety). Their hoppier offerings, Marble Red and Marble IPA (worth mentioning is their DIPA is on draft occassionally, and appears to be there now) are always worth a try more so on draft than in bottles/cans. Their 7% witbier is a fan favorite, called Double White. It'll be in cans sometime this year. But not currently so.. Their GABF/WBC award winning German Pilsner has seen a major decline in available can offerings, so that may be suited for a taproom try. Even their oatmeal stout comes and goes on a packaged availability front. I love that one. It's tough to say what Marble sells in package form with 100% certainty at any given time. They partnered with a distributor recently so finding their beer should and is a bit easier. But it's not every beer, everywhere. Their lineup used to be Marble IPA, Marble Red, Marble Amber, Marble Wildflower Wheat, Marble Oatmeal stout, Marble Pilsner, and then your seasonal special release bombers. Many stores only stock the Wildflower wheat and IPA. Oatmeal stout isnt everywhere. With that said, I would personally visit La Cumbre, head over to Jubilation (maybe for some fresh marble red/ipa/pilsner cans), and then hit up Bosque (nob hill) all in a good 2.5 hour span. And call it a day. With construction and major parking issues, and seemingly over crowdedness, Marble has sorta lost its vibe with me. From who works there, to who drinks there. It may vibe with you though. I feel @denver10 is right. For locals, it may be a once in awhile visit because we know what's available and can shop around. The brewery itself is a great shot to get all of them in at once in a sampling. Now if you are doing this doing the early afternoon, Marble is definitely doable before the 5pm rush comes (la cumbres rush seems much more manageble for me to deal with).
As do I. Oatmeal Stout is my favorite style dark beer, and one of my very favorite styles in general, and Marble Oatmeal Stout is easily in the running for my favorite (non-imperial) Oatmeal Stout. Great stuff, IMO.
