Tax reform may be coming to breweries across America

Posted: October 23, 2017 by cjax33 in Beer and Government
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Cheers to the Brewers Association, not just for GABF, but for also fighting the good fight in D.C.

The Crew received some promising news from the Brewers Association late last week. No, really, good news from Washington D.C. arrived in our mailbox. The BA has been working with members of Congress to pass the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act. Now it appears that they will actually get this thing through both houses. We could ramble on, but instead, just figured you all should read the press release as well. (UPDATE: All members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation, Democrats and Republicans, have pledged their support, per the NM Brewers Guild.)

WASHINGTON, DC — Leaders of the Beer Institute, Brewers Association, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, American Craft Spirits Association, Wine Institute and WineAmerica released the following statement after Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) became the 51st member of the United States Senate to officially endorse the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (S. 236). Senator Inhofe co-sponsoring the bill means that now a majority of members from both the House of Representatives and United States Senate support this legislation.

“America’s small craft brewers are incredibly proud and appreciative of the strong bipartisan and bicameral support that we have received from the United States Congress,” said Bob Pease, President and CEO of the Brewers Association. “We are small Main Street manufacturers located in virtually every Congressional District in the country, and employing more than 130,000 Americans. We truly are an American success story built on the passion that our small brewers have for their craft and their communities. Members of Congress see that passion, determination and success, and want to foster it. That is why more than half the United States Congress has co-sponsored the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act. We are hopeful that this consensus legislation can be enacted this year.”

“Beer is bipartisan, and I want to thank the broad coalition of Senators and House members from across the country for supporting this common sense legislation that will provide critical tax relief to America’s brewers and beer importers,” said Jim McGreevy, President and CEO of the Beer Institute, which represents brewers, beer importers and supply industries. “The beer industry helps to support more than 2.2 million American jobs in every congressional district across the country. I look forward to Congress taking up the bill and moving it to President Trump for his signature so that brewers and beer importers can continue to invest in their businesses to meet consumers’ demand for beer.”

“As the distilling sector continues its growth with more than 1,200 operating distilleries nationwide, lawmakers clearly appreciate the important role these distilleries play in creating jobs, boosting tourism and supporting agriculture,” said Distilled Spirits Council President & CEO Kraig R. Naasz.  “Passing this much-needed tax reform legislation will spur further investment and job creation by reducing the excessive tax burden on distillers small and large.”

“California wine is a signature industry for our state and nation. This legislation will simplify and reduce the tax burden on our 4,700 wineries, which produce 85% of U.S. wine,” said Robert P. (Bobby) Koch, President and CEO of Wine Institute.  “As the very epitome of value-added agriculture, wine and vineyards represent a long-term commitment uniquely tied to the land, generating jobs, tax revenue, trade, tourism and international appeal.”

“Wine is truly an all-American beverage produced in all 50 states. There are now more than 10,000 wineries with grapes from over 670,000 acres preserving precious agricultural land, The American wine industry’s total economic impact of nearly $220 billion includes 1.7 million jobs and $75 billion in wages,” said Jim Trezise, President of WineAmerica, the national association of American wineries. “We are grateful that so many Senators see wine as an economic engine as well as a delightful beverage that enhances the quality of life.”

Introduced by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) in January, the bipartisan legislation creates a fair and equitable tax structure for brewers, winemakers, distillers and importers of all beverage alcohol, which will allow them to continue to invest in their businesses and grow jobs across the country.

H.R. 747, identical legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representatives Erik Paulsen (R-MN) and Ron Kind (D-WI), has also garnered 281 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle.

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After a year in which members of the New Mexico legislature tried to raise taxes on breweries, it is awfully nice to see the federal government step up to help small businesses. We will check in with our local breweries later this week to see what these bills could mean around here.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

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Broken Trail moves oh-so-close to opening its new taproom

Posted: October 19, 2017 by cjax33 in Taproom Preview
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The sign is up and things are ready to go for Broken Trail’s Uptown taproom.

UPDATE: You can all continue reading the story below, but we have now received official word that Broken Trail has received its state license and will be opening soon! Still, though, read on for details about the space and the battle they went through to get open.

* * * * *

The mini-mystery of who was opening a taproom in the old Urban Mattress space on Menaul east of Louisiana, next to Fork & Fig and Filling Philly’s, was solved a while back. Now the only mystery is when the City of Albuquerque will allow Broken Trail to actually open its doors.

I met up with Broken Trail owner/distiller/brewer/handyman Matt Simonds last Friday, which was supposed to be the last day before he held a soft opening at the location at 6902 Menaul Blvd. NE.

“We had our hearing (this) September and at this point we’ve opened up a couple of these (taprooms),” Matt said. “I feel like I know things pretty well. We had all our stuff together to the point where I’m laughing with the hearing officer walking out the door.

“An hour later I get a call and they’re like, ‘Uh, Mr. Simonds, we’re really sorry but we didn’t give you the complete neighborhood list of all the neighborhood associations. So we have to deny your license, or deny approval.’ I’m like, ‘You guys gave me a list. You gave me the wrong list. I was compliant.’ ”

As soon as allowed, this is the sign that will face out toward Menaul letting people know the taproom is open.

Oh, City of Albuquerque, you never fail to amaze. Being the good guy that he is, Matt was able to work out an agreement. Well, or so he thought.

“After much infighting and much discussion, we finally came to the conclusion that they would give me temporary approval under the assumption that I would come back in a month and take care of it,” he said. “I’m like, all right, that’s reasonable. It’s a pain in my butt, but at least it’s a solution. Send my approval to the State and it doesn’t hold me up.

“I’m talking to the State (last) week and we’re ready for our license. What’s our holdup? They said they don’t have anything from the City yet. I’m sorry what? So, I’m sitting there talking with them, they’re like oh, I’m sorry, I thought we were supposed to wait until your October hearing. Our bad! I’m like, that’s awesome, thanks guys, because when we’re not compliant the hammer is dropped down. When they are it’s we’re sorry, our bad.”

It was particularly unfortunate that Broken Trail could not open last weekend since the Sheraton hotel across the street was packed with Balloon Fiesta attendees.

“I know it doesn’t look like it, but we’re really just a good cleaning job away from being open,” Matt said. “Our plan was to have people in here, not necessarily announced, but open our doors (Saturday) and maybe start paying some of my bills.”

The taproom will be ready with a quick clean-up job, now it’s just up to the City.

The new taproom certainly looks like it will be an inviting space whenever the City allows it to open. It shares an outdoor space with the two eateries, and folks will be able to bring food across the walkway and enjoy it at Broken Trail. That alone was a huge selling point for Matt when he chose the location.

“I have no desire to operate a kitchen,” Matt said. “I’m up to my neck in beer and spirits as it is. We felt like to have some sort of growth we had to do something like this, and here we are.”

Of course, with every other place in town seemingly opening up a new off-site taproom, it behooves the question of why now for Broken Trail.

“Uh, stupidity? Delusion? Insanity?,” Matt joked when asked that question. “You know, it was a number of reasons. Obviously, Green Jeans is kind of our big off-site taproom at the moment, but we only do liquor over there, and it’s only about yay big. And so, we wanted a place that had some room for growth, a place that we could do the beer and liquor together.

“I can’t tell you the number of times that people at Santa Fe Brewing say, ‘Hey, can we bring our Pepe the Mule over?’ Or, ‘Hey, can we take the Happy Camper over?’ ‘No, sorry.’ Being able to do the two together, it’s huge.”

The old Urban Mattress sign, slightly modified, remains up as a sort of inside joke.

Choosing a location close to a hotel, plus the Coronado, Winrock, and Uptown shopping centers was not the original target, Matt said, but it should work out just fine.

“We really wanted to do far Northeast Heights,” he said. “We were just a week behind the eight ball and all of a sudden Tractor, Red Door and some named-yet-unnamed brewery at Eubank and Menaul (jumped in). We were really too late to hit that.

“I really don’t want to cross the river, yet. We really thought this (area) was an underserved market. You’ve got Alien (Brew Pub) that’s relatively close. There’s some overlap there, but not really.”

Once the realtor showed Matt the current space, he fell in love.

“The location we thought was fantastic,” he said. “Visibility was great, access was great. It has parking, which I guess is rare apparently in the brewing industry. Just a bit, right? The irony is the centrality of this location actually lends itself to the Uber crowd and (yet) we have parking.

“I think a lot of the stars aligned on the location and the timing. For us to maybe stretch our legs a little bit as a brewery … we’re going to have a handful of guest taps, (but) we’re getting our stuff out in the world alongside the spirits.”

Pardon the interruption, Mr. Contractor, but we wanted a shot of the exterior patio. That bay door will be replaced so guests can order from the bar without going inside.

The taproom will have plenty of seating inside and a small patio on the east side of the building facing the two restaurants. It will seat just under 100 people, Matt said. The bar is more to the south end of the interior, featuring plenty of unique little touches.

Matt designed a bar top with all the elements of a bike trail through a miniature dirt-and-rock course and other neat little objects covered by a thick coating of resin, similar to the table tops at Anodyne downtown.

“I feel like every brewery (or taproom) that opens up is if it’s put through the craft brewery catalogue — let’s have a chalkboard beer menu, let’s have rustic lighting,” Matt said. “We wanted to have something that really stood apart. The bar top was the first thing and that’s just I can’t think of anything that’s a better reflection of our identity and who we are.”

It’s log, log, it’s better than bad it’s good!

Customers may not notice the bar top until they are standing next to it, but they will for certain notice the unique taps behind the bar. That is because all of them are encased inside an actual log. As in from a real tree.

“Then the taps, this is really cool, the guy that owns Albuquerque Hardwood Lumber is a friend of mine,” Matt said. “I exchanged him some bourbon for this log and they quartered it off for me and I hollowed it out and put the taps in there. I thought it was so cool and so unique and it actually works.”

As Matt noted before, Broken Trail will have some guest taps, including a Copper Ale from Little Toad Creek down in Silver City. That will mark the first time LTC has a tap in Albuquerque, and it is a partnership that should continue into the future, Matt said. Tractor will have its Delicious Red Apple Cider on tap, plus others will be announced whenever Broken Trail is allowed to open its doors.

The Crew will keep on top of things as far as the opening goes. Keep monitoring the main Broken Trail Facebook page as well for any announcements. Until then, we all wish Matt the best of luck when it comes to being patient with the small-business-hating bureaucracy of the City of Albuquerque.

— Stoutmeister

The Week Ahead in Beer: ABQ breweries step up to help once again

Posted: October 18, 2017 by cjax33 in The Week Ahead in Beer
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Greetings, New Mexico craft beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with The Week Ahead in Beer. This column covers all the breweries in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, with Santa Fe’s six breweries, one in Los Alamos, and one in Moriarty also joining the party.

Stoutmeister puts on his serious face to handle The Week Ahead in Beer.

Stoutmeister puts on his serious face to handle The Week Ahead in Beer.

This week will feature a lot of our breweries giving back to the community, and not just locally. Two breweries are stepping up to help Puerto Rico with separate events. Duel ABQ will host Albuquerque for Puerto Rico on Sunday from 4 to 8 p.m., featuring live music from Keith Sanchez and the Moon Thieves, Reviva, and Jackie Zamora. There will also be live art, poetry, a raffle, and a foosball tournament. There is a suggested $5 donation, plus $1 from each pint sold will be donated. For those with a lot more money on hand, head over to Dialogue on Monday for a fundraiser at 6 p.m. Wild Belle will perform, and a slew of famous folks will be on hand. Tickets cost $50, or $100 for VIP. Check the Dialogue Facebook page for more details. Meanwhile, La Cumbre will be hosting Dogtoberfest on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m., raising money for Animal Humane. There will be a special art show during the event. Marble is also looking to help the pups with Doggy Dash and Dawdle Moby Event on Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Heights taproom, with mobile adoptions and $1 from every pint sold going to Animal Humane. Another Marble event is downtown Saturday from 2 p.m. onward, as Hops & Harvest will raise money for the Downtown Growers’ Market. There will be live music (see the Marble listing below), family fun activities from 2 to 6 p.m., raffle prizes, and more. Tractor will also take part, hosting Instruments of Change on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Wells Park, a fundraiser to help fight the good fight against ALS. Country singer Lani Nash will perform. Got all that? It’s gonna be a busy week!

On the new beer front this week, there are a few options to check out. Bombs Away has already added two new brews, Proximity Pilsner and MKDeuce Pale Ale. Bosque sticks to the season with a fresh batch of PSA (Pumpkin Spiced Ale), plus the hop monster Moon Cannon is back. Boxing Bear resurrects Iron Lung Smoked Porter, plus Coffee Chocolate Milk Stout should be on tap this weekend. Canteen will have a special batch of pumpkin-infused Social Capital kettle sour on Friday only, while also having Blackberry Exodus IPA on tap for longer. Dialogue treks into the wilderness for Pine Sap Pale Ale. La Cumbre just rolled out some Pecos Porter. Marble goes big with DIPA Especial, plus the Raspberry Nitro Stout is available at the Heights location. Nexus gets into the season with its annual Equinox, a pumpkin-spiced brown ale. Ponderosa sticks with the single-hop theme with Topaz Pale Ale. Rio Bravo has started up a Rubus Ruckus with the return of their popular raspberry sour. Sidetrack tunes up some Turntable IPA. Tractor has a fresh batch of Cascara Cider now on tap at all three locations.

Up in Santa Fe, it is all quiet this week, barring any last-minute updates.

Continue reading for all the news that is fit to blog for the week of October 16.

To break down each “capsule,” I listed the brewery (with Web page linked), its phone number and hours of operation. Under “Beers” are the new or seasonal beers on tap for this week.

Albuquerque metro area breweries

Ale Republic — (505) 281-2828

(Mon–Thurs 2–10 p.m., Fri–Sun noon–10 p.m.)

Beers: Brune, Blonde, Strong Dark and Handsome, Diablo del Oro, Single and Ready to Mingle. The most recent addition is the Single and Ready to Mingle (5.5% ABV, 30 IBU), a Belgian-style ale.

Alien Brew Pub — (505) 884-1116

(Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.–midnight, Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–2 a.m., Sunday 10 a.m.–midnight)

Beers: Call the number above for details on any small-batch beers currently available. They change frequently. The rest of the lineup is from the Sierra Blanca/Rio Grande family of beers.

Bistronomy B2B — (505) 262-2222

(Mon–Tues 4-9 p.m., Weds noon-9 p.m., Thurs–Sat noon-9:30 p.m., Sun noon-9 p.m.)

Beers: Contact the brewery for an updated list.

The Blue Grasshopper — (505) 896-8579

(Noon to 11 p.m. most days, call for more info)

Beers: El Jeffe Hefeweizen, Friars Belgian-Style Single, June Bock German Lager. Rejoice, for Blue Grasshopper is brewing again! The Friars and June Bock are the more recent additions.

Live Music: Bands perform from 6 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday through Saturday. Click the link for the schedule.

Boese Brothers Brewery — (505) 382-7060

(Hours: Mon–Thurs 3 p.m.–midnight, Fri 3 p.m.–2 a.m., Sat noon–2 a.m., Sun noon–10 p.m.)

Beers: La Onza White Ale, Dr. Strangehop XPA, Duke City Lager, Washington’s Hatchet, Sour Strangehop, Grapefruit Pale Ale, Oktoberfest. The Oktoberfest returned recently, so enjoy it while it’s still fresh.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Boese will have a happy hour from 3 to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, with $3 pints. You can also get $3 pints all day Tuesday and $6 growler fills all day Wednesday.

Bombs Away Beer Company — (505) 554-3204

(Hours: Mon–Fri 2 p.m.–close, Sat–Sun noon–close)

Beers: Short Fuse Blonde Ale, BABC IPA, Willie Pete Wit, Low Order Porter, High Speed Low Drag Lager, Wild Card Spiced Ale, Brisance Bitter, Bag Drag BPA, Arsenal English Amber, Proximity Pilsner, MKDeuce Pale Ale. Welcome to the listings, Bombs Away! The newest brewery in the Southeast Heights is now open at 9801 Acoma Road SE. The initial lineup ranges from lighter beers like Short Fuse (5.6% ABV, 25.6 IBU) and Willie Pete (5.8% ABV, 20 IBU), to dark and malty beers like Low Order (5.2% ABV, 58 IBU), and of course plenty of hop-forward ales like BABC IPA (6.1% ABV, 91.33 IBU). Head on over and try them out!

Bosque Brewing Company — (505) 750-7596 (main brewery), (505) 508-5967 (Nob Hill Public House), (575) 571-4626 (Las Cruces Taproom)

(Main brewery on San Mateo: Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.-midnight, Sun noon-8 p.m.; Nob Hill: Mon–Weds 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Thurs 11 a.m.-midnight, Fri–Sat 11 a.m.-1 a.m., Sun noon-11 p.m.; Las Cruces: Sun–Thurs noon-11 p.m., Fri–Sat noon-midnight)

Beers: Dry Acequia, Down in the Hollow, ABQ Double IPA, Rio Soleado (Fresh-Hop Blonde), PSA (Pumpkin Spiced Ale), Moon Cannon DIPA. Down in the Hollow is an English brown ale. ABQ and Moon Cannon give Bosque a pair of massive double IPAs. Both have ABVs over 9 percent and IBUs over 100.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Bosque has a happy hour running from 3-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and all day on Sunday. Look for special menu items and get $1 off your favorite pints.

Bow & Arrow Brewing — (505) 247-9800

(Mon-Weds 3–10 p.m., Thurs 3–11 p.m., Fri-Sat noon–midnight, Sun noon–9 p.m.)

Beers: Sun Dagger (Saison), True Aim (Scotch Ale), Hoka Hey (IPA), Jemez Field Notes Lager, Wayward Arrow Hefeweizen, Cosmic Arrow Brett Saison, Hoodoo Monster Imperial Red, Way Out West Sour Sumac, Black Chandelier (Belgo Stout), Desert Dynamo IPL, Fast Luck Dry-Hopped Pale Ale, Wolf Eyes (Oktoberfest), Nomadico IPA, Visionland Amber Ale. The most recent additions to the lineup are the Visionland, Nomadico, Wolf Eyes, Fast Luck, and Desert Dynamo. The sheer variety of styles on tap is quite impressive.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Bow & Arrow has happy hour every Monday through Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. Get $1 off pints.

Boxing Bear Brewing Company — (505) 897-2327

(Sun-Thurs 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m.)

Beers: Crystal Kolsch, P.U.B., Oso Otono, Black and Blue Sour, Oktobearfest, Iron Lung Smoked Porter. The most recent additions are Iron Lung, Oktobearfest, Oso Otono, a brown ale, Black and Blue Sour, and P.U.B. (Pineapple Upside-down Beer). Look for Coffee Chocolate Milk Stout to hit taps this weekend.

Weekly Events: Today (Wednesday)—Geeks Who Drink, 8-10 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Every day at lunchtime (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.), for just $10 you can get a pint and a panini of your choice.

Broken Trail Brewery & Distillery — (505) 221-6281

(Mon-Thu 3-9 p.m., Fri 3-10 p.m., Sat noon-10 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.-8 p.m.)

Beers: Otero ESB, Lone Pine Pilsner, Sancho Saison, Double Black IPA, Sancho de la Sierra, Pepe the Mule, Trailworks IPA. OK, fine, Pepe the Mule counts as a beer, even though it is basically a Moscow Mule, but it was made with beer. The Sancho de la Sierra is a rye version of the saison made in collaboration with Jubilation. The Trailworks was made in collaboration with Bikeworks, a neighboring business, with a portion of the proceeds going to trail maintenance in the metro area.

Weekly Events (main location): Today (Wednesday)—Cards Against Humanity hosted by 10 Drink Minimum, 7 p.m.; Sunday—Build-your-own Mule bar, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Tuesday—All house beers are $2 a pint

Canteen Brewhouse — (505) 881-2737 (brewery), (505) 200-2344 (taproom)

(Brewery: Sun–Thurs noon–10 p.m., Fri–Sat noon–midnight; Taproom: Open daily 3–10 p.m.)

Beers: Blackberry Exodus IPA, Canteen Kolsch, Oktoberfest, Hank ESB, North 14 Pale Ale, Grundy Thunder, Oompa Lupulin DIPA. The most recent additions are the Blackberry Exodus, North 14, Grundy Thunder (a brown porter), and the downright beastly Oopma Lupulin. This Friday, there will be on keg of Social Capital: Pumpkin on tap.

Live Music: Thursday—The Fabulous Martinitones, 6-9 p.m.; Sunday—Palm in the Cypress, 4-7 p.m.

Cazuela’s Seafood & Mexican Grill — (505) 994-9364

(Open daily 8 a.m.–10 p.m.)

Beers: Papacabra (Double IPA), Acapulco Gold (Mexican Lager), Chupacabra IPA, Piedra del Fuego Stoned Cream Ale, Beer for My Horses (Oatmeal Stout). These are the regular house beers. Call the number above for an updated seasonal list.

Dialogue Brewing — (505) 585-1501

(Open daily noon-midnight)

Beers: Belgian Citrus IPA, Berliner Weisse, Sour Raspberry, Sour Pale, Das Palabra, Oktoberfest, Dry Irish Stout, O.D.B., Pine Sap Pale Ale. The most recent additions are the Pine Sap, Das Palabra, Oktoberfest, Dry Irish Stout, and O.D.B., with the latter three added for the recent first anniversary festivities.

Live Music: Friday—Rebecca Arscott, 7-9 p.m.

Other Events: Thursday—HandCrafted with Lilah Rose (music), Sparrow Alexis Bergen (artist), and Ooey Cucuy by Brenda Baca (vendor), 6-10 p.m.; Monday—Fundraiser for Puerto Rico with Wild Belle, 6 p.m.

Weekly Events: Monday—Service Industry Night, 6 p.m.

Drafty Kilt Brewing — (505) 881-0234

(Sun 11 a.m–10 p.m., Mon 11 a.m.–8 p.m., Tues–Thu 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–midnight)

Beers: Groundskeeper Willie Cream Ale, Wee Beastie Scottish Ale, McWabbit Pale Ale, Campbell Toe IPA, Obliviscaris Oatmeal Stout, McRojo or No (Irish Red), Covfefe Hefe. Brewer/owner Mike Campbell has five of his own creations on tap at 4814 Hardware Dr. NE, including the Campbell Toe (no snickering). The Obliviscaris is a burly throwback to the stouts of old. The Covfefe Hefe is the most recent addition.

Weekly Events: Tuesday—Geeks Who Drink, 7 p.m.; Thursday—Blues Jam with the Rudy Boy Experiment, 7-10 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: $1 off pints and 20-ounce pours, Mon-Fri, 3-6 p.m.; “Just Because We Love You Club,” happy hour prices at all times for teachers, first responders, law enforcement, and military with ID; Growler Fill Days on Thu and Sun, $2 off new growlers, $1 off refills

Flix Brewhouse — (505) 445-8500

(Open daily 11 a.m.-midnight)

Beers: Tart and Soul (Guava Berliner Weisse), Tripel Whammy, Pilsner? I Barley Know’er!, January Embers Barleywine, Eater of Worlds Pale Ale, The Agitator Doppelbock. The most recent additions include the return of January Embers, while Eater of Worlds and Agitator are new.

Hops Brewery — (505) 369-1378

(Sun-Thurs noon-10 p.m., Fri-Sat noon-midnight)

Beers: Dad Joke (California Common), Tipsy Cow (Milk Stout), Warm Scottish Nights, An Irish Tan (English Bitter), Honey Wheat, Chica (Pale Ale), Hop Hill IPA. Hops has started out with these seven beers on tap, but they also have 31 more guest taps, just in case you don’t find one to your liking. The Hop Hill (7.1% ABV, 69 IBU) was the most recent addition.

Kaktus Brewing — (505) 379-5072

(Bernalillo hours Mon-Thu 2-9 p.m., Fri-Sat 11:30-10 p.m., Sun 11:30-9 p.m.)

Beers: Porter Auf Deutsch, Cucumber Ale, Bavarian Golden Ale, Ctrl-Alt-Drink, Basil Lager, Helles Lager, IPA, Walnut Cider, DjinnJar Kombucha. The most recent additions include Cucumber Ale, Basil Lager, and Helles Lager.

Weekly Events (Nob Hill): Thursday—The Desert Darlings, 7-9 p.m.

Weekly Events (Bernalillo): Sunday—Brunch, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., The Desert Darlings, 6-8 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Kaktus has several new weekday specials in Bernalillo, including $3 pints on Monday, $9 growlers on Tuesday, $6 bison nachos on Wednesday, and $8 Frito pie and beer on Thursday.

Kellys Brew Pub — (505) 262-2739

(Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.-11 p.m., Sun 8 a.m.-10 p.m.)

Beers: (house) Apricot Ale, Blonde, Farm House Ale, IPA, Red, Scotch Ale, Session IPA, Sleeping Dog Stout; (seasonal) Hefeweizen, Farmhouse Apricot, Mars DIPA, Lobo Red Ale. The recent change in ownership at Kellys has led to some seriously improved beers and food, so we decided it was high time to add it to the listings. The Lobo Red was brewed for the University of New Mexico athletic program, if you could not guess. Yes, that is Sleeping Dog Stout, formerly of Chama River, now back in all its dark glory.

Live Music: Every Wednesday 6-9 p.m. and Sunday 3-6 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Thursday Pint night $1 off pints.

La Cumbre Brewing — (505) 872-0225

(Open every day at noon)

Beers: All That I Need Kellerbier, Eldorado SMASH IPA, Ales for ALS IPA, Pecos Porter. If you can still find a bottle of the Ryeot On, get it fast. The Eldorado SMASH replaces the Simcoe version. Pecos Porter is the most recent addition.

Live Music: Saturday—The Porter Draw, 6-9 p.m.

Other Events: Saturday—Dogtoberfest with Animal Humane, noon-4 p.m.

Weekly Events: Tuesday—Trivia or Loteria (alternates by week), 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Lizard Tail Brewing — (505) 717-1301

(Mon–Weds noon-9 p.m., Thurs–Sat noon-midnight, Sun noon-7 p.m.)

Beers: Contact the brewery for an updated list.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Lizard Tail’s happy hour runs seven days a week from 3 to 6 p.m. You get $1 off food, flights, and pints.

Weekly Events: Tuesday—Geeks Who Drink, 8 p.m.; Thursday—Karaoke, 8-11 p.m.

Marble Brewery — (505) 243-2739 (downtown), (505) 508-4638 (Westside), (505) 323-4030 (Heights)

(Downtown: Mon–Sat noon–midnight, Sun noon–10:30 p.m.; Westside: Mon–Thurs noon–11 p.m., Fri–Sat noon–midnight, Sun noon–10 p.m.; Heights: Mon–Sat noon–midnight, Sun noon–10:30 p.m.)

Beers: Marble Pale Ale, Sandia Sunset Saison, Abbey Brett, Marblefest, NM State Fair Pale Ale, Gin Barrel Brett, Das Roggen Weiner, Amarillo Pale Ale, Pumpkin Noir, DIPA Especial (Downtown and Heights only), Raspberry Nitro Stout (Heights only), Jabroni Lite (Heights and Westside only), Apricot Gose (Heights and Westside only), White Out (Westside only), UnbeWeavably Marbelous (Westside only), Por Vida Pale Ale (Westside only). There are so, so many beers between the three locations. Don’t feel bad if you can’t get to them all. The DIPA Especial and Raspberry Nitro Stout are the most recent additions, but Pumpkin Noir returns at all locations today (Wednesday).

Live Music (Downtown): Today (Wednesday)—Silver Street Band, 6-9 p.m.; Thursday—Pherkad, 7-10 p.m.; Friday—Wagogo, 8-11 p.m.; Saturday—Los Radiators, 2-4 p.m., Sol de la Noche, 4-6 p.m., Pink Freud, 8-11 p.m.; Sunday—Picoso, 3-6 p.m.

Live Music (Heights): Friday—Tres Pendejos, 7-10 p.m.; Saturday—Clark Libbey, 7-10 p.m.

Live Music (Westside): Friday—Cynical Bird, 8-11 p.m.; Saturday—Eryn Bent, 8-11 p.m.

Other Events (Downtown): Saturday—Hops & Harvest, 2-6 p.m.

Other Events (Heights): Sunday—Doggie Dash & Dawdle Moby Event, 1-6 p.m.

Weekly Events (Downtown): Saturday—Brewery tours, 2 p.m.

Nexus Brewery — (505) 242-4100 (brewery), (505) 226-1055 (Silver Taproom)

(Brewery: Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.–9:30 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.–8:30 p.m.; Silver Taproom: Mon–Fri 4-10 p.m., Sat noon-10 p.m., Sun noon-9 p.m.)

Beers: Bird of Prey IPA, Imperial Pilsner, To Boldly Gose, Honey Dubbs, Equinox, Beam Me Up Scotty (Silver only). The most recent additions are Equinox, Bird of Prey, To Boldly Gose, and Honey Dubbs (Imperial Honey Chamomile Wheat).

News: Nexus Silver now has food! Rejoice and check out the menu on their main website.

Happy Hour/Discounts (Brewery): Monday–Friday, $5 appetizers, 3-5 p.m.

Weekly Events (Silver Taproom): Saturday—a live DJ will perform; Sunday—a live band will perform at 2 p.m.

Palmer Brewery and Cider House — (505) 508-0508

(Tues–Sat 3–9 p.m.)

Beers: MWA (Malt With Attitude), Guero (Belgian Wit), Poolside Pale Ale, Cockness Monster (Scotch Ale), Switch Stance Stout. Palmer shares a building with Left Turn Distilling on Girard south of Candelaria. This batch of Cockness Monster is fresh and tasty.

Ponderosa Brewing Co. — (505) 639-5941

(Sun 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Mon–Sat 11 a.m.–11 p.m.)

Beers: Ecliptic Wet Hop Ale, Topaz Pale Ale, Blueberry Stout, Dry-Hopped Saison, Oktoberfestbier. The new Topaz Pale Ale is the latest in a series of single-hop beers. The Ecliptic Wet Hop Ale was brewed the day of the solar eclipse with Neo Mexicanus hops.

News: You can now find India Pale Lager 2.0 for sale in cans, at the brewery and at local liquor stores, including Jubilation, Kelly’s, and Quarters!

Live Music: Today (Wednesday)—The Draft Sessions, 7-9 p.m.

Quarter Celtic Brewpub — (505) 503-1387

(Sun–Thurs 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.)

Beers: Bruce (Black IPA), Loch Lomas Oatmeal Stout, Clark (Hazy IPA), Fresh Hop Clark, Oktoberfest, Mangose. QC gets dark with the return of Bruce, which was brewed in the hazy New England style but still as a black IPA, and Loch Lomas. The Oktoberfest is a delightful way to welcome the start of autumn.

Red Door Brewing — (505) 633-6675 (brewery), (505) 990-3029 (downtown taproom)

(Brewery hours: Mon–Thurs 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Fri 11 a.m. to midnight, Sat 7 a.m. to midnight, Sun 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Downtown taproom hours: Mon–Thurs 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m. to midnight, Sun 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.)

Beers: Imperial Red IPA, Plum Gose, Oktoberfest, White AF IPA (downtown only). The Imperial Red IPA was the first in a series of beers to celebrate Red Door’s recent anniversary. The Plum Gose was second and Oktoberfest was third.

Weekly Events (Brewery): Monday—The Draft Sessions, 7-9 p.m.

Weekly Events (Taproom): Today (Wednesday)—Paint it Black Open Mic Comedy, 7-9 p.m.; Thursday—Art at the Bar, 5:30-8:30 p.m.; Sunday—Parents’ Day Out, noon-3 p.m.; Tuesday—Geeks Who Drink, 7-9 p.m.

Rio Bravo Brewing Company — (505) 900-3909

(Mon noon–10 p.m., Tues–Thu noon–11 p.m., Fri–Sat noon–1 a.m., Sun 11 a.m.–10 p.m.)

Beers: Rio Bravo Amber, Weizen, Randy’s Shandy, Dirty Rotten Bastard IPA, Snakebite IPA, Roadkill Red Ale, La Luz Lager, Old Town Porter (regular and barrel-aged), Vanilla Porter, NM Pinon Coffee Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Barrel-aged Belgian Strong Golden, Level 3 IPA, Imperial Russian Stout (regular and barrel-aged), Lemongrass Wit, Peach Gose, Cherry Sour, Kolsch, Hibiscus Mojito, Penguin Lager, Belgian Blonde, Cherry Wheat, Belgo IPA, Pink Boots Pale Ale, Oktoberfest, Grapefruit Launcher IPA, Schwarzbier, Rubus Ruckus. A portion of the Penguin Lager proceeds are going to the new exhibit at the ABQ Bio Park. There are now three barrel-aged beers on tap in the Porter, RIS, and Belgian Strong. The Rubus Ruckus, a raspberry sour, the most recent addition.

Live Music: Thursday—Cali Shaw, 5:30-8:30 p.m.; Friday—Seth Hoffman, 8-10 p.m.; Saturday—Melissa Rios, 8 p.m.

Other Events: Thursday—WAR: Words are Revenge Poetry Showcase, 8 p.m.; Saturday—Duke City Cornhole Club Tournament, 12:30-5 p.m.; Sunday—Armijo Family Scholarship Fund Benefit Concert ($20 cover) with Groupo Herencia, 2 p.m., Sol De La Noche, 4 p.m., Soul Divine and Hillary Smith, 6 p.m.

Weekly Events: Today (Wednesday)—Movie Night (now outside), 7 p.m. or later, weather permitting; Thursday—Girls Pint Out, all day; Friday—Headliners Comedy presents Friday Night Fools ($5 cover, event only), 9:30 p.m.; Sunday—Pints & Planks with Yoga Zo; Monday—Micro Mondays, 7 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Happy hour Monday-Friday, 2-6 p.m., $1 off pints

Sidetrack Brewing — (505) 832-7183

(Mon–Thurs 3–11 p.m., Fri 3 p.m.–midnight, Sat noon–midnight, Sun noon–10 p.m.)

Beers: Turntable IPA, Pub Ale, Bonehead Red, Dark Engine Stout, Sidetrack Pilsner, #91 Pale Ale. The most recent addition is the Turntable IPA, with #91 Pale Ale coming before that.

Cask: The Pilsner and Dark Engine are in the firkins.

Weekly Events: Tuesday—Taco Tuesday, all day

Starr Brothers Brewing — (505) 492-2752

(Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day)

Beers: Starrstruck IPA, L.A. Woman (Blonde), Red Zepplin, Lampshade Porter, Don’t Fear the RIPA, Starrphire Pilsner, Brown Chicken Brown Cow, Foggy Monocle (Oatmeal Stout), Sando Spice (Green Chile IPA), ThereWolf (Oktoberfest), Oakey Smokey. Welcome back, Foggy Monocle, the winner of the 2017 Brew Crew Stout Challenge. The most recent additions are the Don’t Fear the RIPA, Sando Spice, ThereWolf, and Oakey Smokey, which goes down in history as the last collaboration brew with Chama River.

Steel Bender Brewyard — (505) 433-3537

(Sun–Thurs 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–11 p.m.)

Beers: (house) Skull Bucket IPA, Red Iron Red, Sparkfitter Amber, Lloyd’s 3 O’Clock Kolsch, Blue Bullet Stout, The Village Wit; (seasonals/specialties) Smith Hopper Extra Pale Ale with Dr. Rudi, Plum Bob Gose, Cow Plow Brown Ale, Alewitch Pumpkin Ale, V.M.O.M.G. (Marzen), Compa NM Lager. The Alewitch and V.M.O.M.G. won’t be around for too long, so get these fall favorites while you can. The Compa is back by popular demand.

The 377 Brewery — (505) 934-0795

(Open noon-11 p.m. most days)

Beers: (house) 377 IPA, Dieterhosen Hefe, El CuCuy (DIPA), Fat Brown Guy (Porter), Red Horse NM Lager, Schwarzbier, Berliner Weisse, Naked Ale (Pale); (seasonals) Secret Squirrel (Best Bitter), Black Ops Hops, Kolsch, Full Booty Stout, Scottish Ale, Say Juan (Summer Saison), Plum Sour, Peach Wheat, Oktoberfest, Spiced Wild Red Ale, Milk Stout, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Pumpkin Porter. This inaugural batch of Oktoberfest from The 377 hits the right notes, with some malty breadiness without too much sweetness. The Spiced Wild, Milk Stout, and BBA Pumpkin Porter are the most recent additions.

Tractor Brewing Company — (505) 433-5654 (Nob Hill), (505) 243-6752 (Wells Park), (505) 243-6752 (Four Hills)

(Nob Hill: Sun–Weds noon–midnight, Thurs noon–2 a.m., Fri–Sat noon–2 a.m.; Wells Park: Mon–Thurs 3 p.m.–close, Fri–Sun 1 p.m.–midnight; Four Hills: Sun–Thurs 11 a.m.–midnight, Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–2 a.m.)

Beers: Chocolate Milk Stout, Minute-4, Berry Cider, Traktoberfest, Scout Golden Ale, Javi Lager, Cowboy Coffee (on nitro at Wells Park only), Jack the Sipper, Belgo American Pale Ale, Three-Two Amber, Cascara Cider, Flanders Red Ale (Wells Park and Four Hills only), Big Sipper IPA (Nob Hill and Four Hills only), Cucumber Gose (Four Hills only), Half Acre Hefe (Four Hills only), Delicious Golden Dry Cider (Four Hills Only), Holstein & Hops (Four Hills only). Some delicious old favorites return in the Javi Lager, Cowboy Coffee, Nitro Milk Stout, and Jack the Sipper. Recent additions to the lineup are the Belgo American and Three-Two Amber, which is the first in a series of 3.2-percent ABV beers (talk about sessionable).

Live Music (Wells Park): Friday—Jimmy Deveney of Palomino Shakedown, 5 p.m.; Saturday—Silver String Band, 8 p.m.

Live Music (Nob Hill): Today (Wednesday)—Sloan Armitage, 8:30 p.m.; Saturday—Eryn Bent, 5 p.m.

Live Music (Four Hills): Saturday—Cali Shaw, 7 p.m.

Other Events (Wells Park): Today (Wednesday)—Adult Coloring Night, 3 p.m.; Thursday—Instruments of Change: ALS Fundraiser with Lani Nash, 7 p.m.; Saturday—Burqueno Bingo, 5 p.m.

Other Events (Four Hills): Tuesday—Adult Coloring Night, 3 p.m.

Weekly Events (Wells Park): Monday—MNF Fantasy Shootout, 5 p.m.; Tuesday—Kamikaze Karaoke, 7 p.m.

Weekly Events (Nob Hill): Today (Wednesday)—Writing Wednesdays, 5 p.m.; Monday—Tractor Tune Up, 7:30 p.m.

Also, every first Monday of the month at both Tractor locations is Beer for a Better Burque night. For every pint you buy $1 can go to one of four charities that have partnered with Tractor. You can also opt to purchase a special growler with the logo of your favorite charity.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Tractor now has a late happy hour from 9 p.m. to midnight on Mondays with $2.25 classic beers and $3.25 seasonals.

Turtle Mountain Brewing Company — (505) 994-9497

(Kitchen hours: Mon–Tues 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Wed–Thurs 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Sun 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Reminder: TMBC closes early when business dictates. Please call.)

Beers: Lil’ Shelly (Pale Ale), Oktoberfest, Mr. Hoover’s Redux, SCH Scotch Lager, Pour les Abeilles, S.O.S. (Wet Hop Pale Ale). The S.O.S. and Pour les Abeilles (Honey Lemongrass Saison) are the most recent additions. An archived keg of Cocomilia Robur has been tapped for a limited time.

Cask: Tuesday—TBA

Santa Fe breweries

Blue Corn Brewery — (505) 438-1800

(Open daily 11 a.m.–10 p.m.)

Beers: Merry Prankster’s Sour Ale, Ginger Braggot, Apparition Pale Coffee Ale, La Catrina Rye IPA. The most recent addition is the La Catrina. The Ginger Braggot is back for another run, ditto the Apparition.

Chili Line Brewing — (505) 500-7903

(Mon–Sat 4–11 p.m., Sun 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m.)

Beers: El Jefe (Rauchweizen), Antonio Bandito (Dunkelweizen), Llorona Lager, La Bamba (Rauchbier), Stara Baba (Oak Smoked Polish Gratzer), Jacona Stout, P.G. (Pinche Guey) IPA. The Jacona and P.G. are the most recent additions.

Live Music: Every night at 7 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Reverse happy hour after 9 p.m. includes $1 off pints, $6 appetizers, $10 entrees and pizzas.

Duel Brewing Company — (505) 474-5301

(Brewery: Mon–Sat open at 11 a.m., Sun open at 1 p.m.; ABQ taproom: Mon–Thurs 2 p.m.–midnight; Fri–Sun noon–midnight)

Beers: Bad Amber, WWWMD (Barrel-Aged Whistler), Marcel, Fantin (Double Pale Ale), Duchamp (Sour Wit), Cezanne Magnifique, HMWWA FIACFW, Cezanne Verite. This batch of Cezanne Verite is barrel aged and it is also for sale in bombers. The WWWMD acronym stands for What Would Whistler’s Mother Do. Old favorites Fiction, Titian, and Whistler will return soon, along with the new Lourd of Funk, which will debut at the Beer Premiere at Bow & Arrow on Oct. 28.

Live Music (ABQ taproom): Thursday—Garry Blackchild, 8 p.m.

Other Events (ABQ taproom): Saturday—Burlesque!, 9 p.m.; Sunday—Albuquerque for Puerto Rico fundraiser featuring Keith Sanchez and the Moon Thieves, Reviva, Jackie Zamora, 4-8 p.m.

Weekly Events (ABQ taproom): Tuesday—Bike-In Brew, 7 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts (Brewery): Happy hour Mon–Fri, 4-6 p.m. (discounts for all draft beer), Growler Saturdays ($3 off growler fills).

Happy Hour/Discounts (ABQ taproom): Happy hour Mon–Fri, 5-7 p.m.

Rowley Farmhouse Ales — (505) 428-0719

(Open all week from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.)

Beers: Fields of Rye, Saison du Sarlacc, Agent Scully – Season One, Episode Four (IPA), Germophile (Berliner Weisse), Meier (Meyer Lemon Gose), Fruhschoppen (Hefeweizen), Little White Lies (Belgian Blonde), Conduit (Belgian IPA). The Agent Scully is a new series of IPAs which will vary by hop combinations. Episode 4 is the most recent iteration. This batch of Germophile was dry-hopped with Motueka and Simcoe.

Santa Fe Brewing Company — (505) 424-3333

(Main taproom: Mon–Sat 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Sun 2-8 p.m.; ABQ taproom: Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.–11 p.m.; Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–midnight; Sun 11 a.m.–10 p.m.)

Beers: Freestyle Pilsner, Autonomous Collective IPA, Oktoberfest, Hefe’d Up, Cucumber Saison (ECS), Secret Society of A.L.T. (ECS), Wet Hop Pale Ale (ECS). Rejoice, for Oktoberfest is back. And yes, Freestyle is still around for a limited time as well, but rumors persist it may never leave the lineup.

Happy Hour/Discounts: $1 off growler refills in the tasting room on Mondays. $2 pint Tuesdays at the Eldorado Taphouse. On Wednesday, there is a $2 pint special in the tasting room. On Thursday, there will be $1 off growler refills at the Eldorado Taphouse.

Second Street Brewery — (505) 989-3278 (Railyard), (505) 982-3030 (original location)

(Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–11 p.m., Sunday noon-9 p.m.)

Beers: Kolsch, IPA, Cream Stout, Coffee Porter, Diablo Canyon Pale Ale, XX ESB, 2920 IPA, LVL Stout, Oktoberfest, Summer Rain Sour, Latona Amber. The most recent addition is the Latona Amber. This batch of Oktoberfest is excellent, classic stuff. Hurry up and drink up some of these beers so they can make room for another batch of the GABF bronze medal-winning Rod’s Steam Bitter.

Live Music (Original location): Friday—Alex Maryol, 6-9 p.m.; Saturday—Jim Almand, 6-9 p.m.

Live Music (Railyard): Friday—The Bill Hearne Trio, 6-9 p.m.; Saturday—The Busy McCarroll Band, 6-9 p.m.

Weekly Events (Railyard): Today (Wednesday)—Geeks Who Drink, 8 p.m.

Other breweries you need to visit

Bathtub Row Brewing — (505) 500-8381

(Mon–Weds 2–10 p.m., Thurs 2–11 p.m., Fri–Sat noon–11 p.m., Sun noon–10 p.m.)

Beers: Kutthroat Kolsch, Kaboom Quad, Wit Rock, Catherine’s Historical Stout, Little Bird Blonde, Anderson Amber. Well, look at that, an updated beer list for BRB. The Wit Rock and Little Bird are old favorites, the rest are more recent recipes.

Sierra Blanca Brewing — (505) 832-2337

(Mon–Thurs 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Fri –Sat 11 a.m.–9 p.m.)

Beers: Oktoberfest, Cherry Sour, Interstella Vanilla, Cherry Wheat, Single Hop IPA. The Whiskey Stout will return in a week-and-a-half. The Cherry Sour is back for another run. Oktoberfest is now available on tap. Cherry Wheat is available in bottles and just won a gold medal at GABF.

Live Music: Saturday—The Rudy Boy Experiment, 5 p.m.

* * * *

That’s all for this week! If you have any questions or comments, leave them below or contact us on our Facebook page.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

The Crew survived to tell the tale of NM Brew Fest 8

Posted: October 17, 2017 by cjax33 in NM Brew Fest 2017
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Hello, NMBF, you were wonderful again!

While I was at work Saturday afternoon, a trio of Crew members joined a gaggle of our friends and other beer lovers at the eighth annual New Mexico Brew Fest. Held at Expo New Mexico, it moved back out to Main Street instead of being in the more cramped Villa Hispana. Here are their thoughts and a few photos from the fest I missed (at least agreeing to work Saturdays came with a raise).

AmyO: I really like this particular brew fest, and I am always sad when I can’t go because it often conflicts with a Lobo game or a trip out of town. Happily, I was able to attend this year. I love the super local feel of this one. It reminds me of some of the smaller brew fests in Portland back in the day before they began to get out-of-control crowded. Some people even wore costumes, and many of the attendees seemed pretty beer savvy.

The weather sure cooperated; although it was starting to get pretty warm in the late afternoon, there is always some shade at this venue. I appreciated the food selection this year. I ate the “special” at the barbecue food truck (Nomad’s BBQ). This was a hot link in a bun covered with a TON of pulled pork. It’s exactly the kind of food you need to soak up so much beer. And, it went really well with some of the spicier/fall-style beers. I also saw someone with a really great looking poke bowl. Very different, and a healthier option!

Raise the horns!

My overall favorite beer was probably the Raspberry Nitro Stout from Marble. First of all, having nitro at a festival always rates high for me. The beer was heavy on the raspberry, but not at all sweet. There was a cocoa powder flavor and mouthfeel that also added to the uniqueness. The Tripel Reserve from Monks’ did not disappoint, either.

The best name has to go to Canteen’s Oompa Lupulin DIPA, but it’s even harder to say after you have had some!

Surprises for me as far as beers I did not expect to enjoy as much as I did were the Das Roggen Weiner from Marble, and Palmer’s Double IPA (because there was much less sweetness to it than I thought there would be). A really great palate cleanser after multiple heavy beers was Ponderosa’s Ecliptic Wet Hop Ale.

My big disappointment was that I never got to try Blue Corn’s Imperial Stout. Blue Corn was late to arrive because sadly they had a tire blowout on the way down to Albuquerque. When they finally did get set up, they held the stout to a 4 p.m. tapping. Everyone was ready to leave by that time, so I never got to try it. I did have their oak-aged Scotch and that was lovely.

Franz Solo found his fellow vikings.

Franz Solo: What I loved best about this particular festival was just how local and friendly the whole thing was. Drinking beer under cottonwoods on the old fairgrounds with a great crowd of people and some fantastic local offerings, both beer-wise and food-wise, was simply magical. Highlights for me were Turtle Mountain’s Depravity barleywine which has aged extremely well since last winter; Canteen’s Oompa Lupulin DIPA, which was simply a hop screamer straight out of the gates of hop heaven; Monks’ Tripel Reserve, which is incredibly smooth and clear for a monster of a beer; and the pair of ludicrous offerings from Blue Corn, which brought its ’16 Scotch and ’15 Russian Imperial Stout, which were both stupendous. Having so many Oktoberfest Marzens as well was a real treat to cleanse the palate between some of the bigger brews, and on the whole they were all quite tasty. A grand event for the NM Brewers Guild and for local breweries and local food offerings alike. I look forward to returning to this wonderful NM Brew Fest.

The Crew and friends did a good job of wiping out that ’15 Imperial Stout from Blue Corn.

Brandon: The brewery list seemed smaller this year, but I can’t blame more places for not participating in this event, with just having wrapped up GABF and all. That being said, the breweries in attendance made sure to bring some standout brews, so here’s what popped for me:

  • Featherweight Session IPA, Boxing Bear: Fresh off a bronze medal at GABF. Lighter but crisp malt backing, with grassy, floral, and citrus zest notes. The low ABV made this one a good choice for the warm weather of the day. Who says session beers can’t pack a flavor punch?
  • Depravity Barleywine 2016, Turtle Mountain: Not a palate-crushing, hop-forward incarnation, like some versions of the style. Tons of caramel, burnt caramel, and toffee.  Chewy as all hell, but not a lot of alcohol warmth. A deceptively dangerous barleywine, loved it.
  • 2015 Imperial Stout, Blue Corn: “Oh what a surprise, the DSBC liked a dark beer”… if you expected less, you don’t know our lives. This beer is a beast, it has about four different types of chocolate notes present — dried fruit, oak and vanilla, and warms you to the core. We want more of this black fire in a glass!
  • V.M.O.M.G., Steel Bender: This one was released a few days prior to NM Brew Fest, but this was my first chance to taste it.  Was quite surprised.  Not that I thought it would be a bad beer, but I didn’t expect this to be THAT good. A damn fine take on a traditional seasonal style. Crisp, sweet malt, good spice from hops. Very solid.
  • Oktoberfest, La Cumbre: I’m going to be blunt here … if you missed this one, you’re f****d.  Cans are gone or close to gone, and all kegs are already gone in distribution. If you find any of this lovely beer, drink it while you can.

That is all from us. Thank you to Kevin Hopper for the tickets, and thank you to all the breweries for bringing some of their finest offerings!

Cheers!

— The Crew

Bosque revs up plans to replace its original San Mateo location

Posted: October 17, 2017 by cjax33 in Interviews, News
Tags:
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A replacement for the original Bosque location is coming in 2018.

The cat finally got out of the proverbial bag late Monday afternoon as Bosque Brewing officially announced it will be replacing its original San Mateo location in 2018. The new spot will be located along the southbound Interstate 25 frontage road along Venice Avenue, in between two existing buildings.

“We purchased a piece of land up here off of the frontage road, between Arizona Tile and the University of Phoenix,” said director of operations/co-owner Jotham Michnovicz. “It’s 1.75 acres and we are going to get rid of the strip mall struggle.”

One of the Bosque employees tipped us off about this potential move a while back, but we had to wait until the full purchase of the property was complete. The new location will be purpose-built as a brewery, housing a 15-barrel brewhouse that will be responsible for producing much of the draft-0nly beers, as well as special seasonal and specialty releases. The production facility in Bernalillo, which is also currently under construction, will handle the main packaged brands (IPA, Lager, Elephants on Parade, Scotia, 1888 Golden Ale) for mass distribution.

“Basically, what we’re going to do is build a brewery that’s more of a production facility,” Jotham said of the new site. “We’ve been wanting to do a lot of fun beers and we haven’t really had the space to do them in volume yet. So, this new building that we’re going to have is a three-story building. The third story (includes) a rooftop patio. The patio is basically a wrap-around. There’s going to be a first-, second-, and third-story patios. You’ll be able to get views of the Balloon Fiesta as well (as the Sandias).”

The first four will not feature any seating, just a standing bar and tables, with glass windows to look into the brewery, said managing director/co-owner Gabe Jensen.

“I’m just excited about the concept of open spaces,” Gabe said. “Downstairs is not going to have any seating. The restaurant (with seating) will be on the second floor. Downstairs will have an open feel so you can browse whatever those things are. We want to have a yard outside. We’re going to have a full-sized bocce ball court, which I’m excited about.”

Gabe said that adding the new project on top of Bernalillo, while having just finished the full retrofit on Las Cruces, and still working on the expansion of the Nob Hill taproom, will be quite the challenge.

“I think the biggest challenge is going to be the fact that we’re going to open Bernalillo very close to when we’re going to open here,” he said. “Even though we haven’t broken ground here, it’s a quicker build, because like you said it’s from scratch and we’re not trying to retrofit things and permitting is more linear. Submit this and you know when you can start. I’m guessing we’re about three-to-four months apart from when we open Bernalillo in February to when we’re going to open this one in April or May, hopefully.”

Getting everything done by May 1 will be key, Gabe added, because that is the end of the current lease at the San Mateo location.

The main focus of the new location, on top of being a fun place to drink beer for customers, is to create more space and improve the existing San Mateo brewery. A new 15-barrel brewhouse will be installed, which will enable the existing brewery to still operate right until the new one is ready to go.

“A big part of that is, we have someone interested in (buying) this one, but we need to install a new while this is still going,” Gabe said. “Putting ourselves three months out of commission wouldn’t be good.”

Gabe said that the goal will be to use the new brewery to be limited runs of specialty beers that can be packaged, but in cans instead of 22-ounce bombers.

“I’m pretty sure, that aside from barrel-aged stuff, bombers are going away, just in general,” he said. “There’s a use for them, but just as a preferred platform for beer, I don’t think it’s there anymore, even for specialty.”

In the end, Bosque will have more room for brewing, which is the most important thing.

“The bottom floor is the biggest footprint,” Jotham said. “The back end is where the brewery is. We’ve got about 5,000 square feet for the brewery, I think, not including the (walk-in) cooler, of course. It’s a nice yard space space for distro.”

That will include, yes, more parking.

“A huge, huge part of the reason we’re (moving),” Gabe said. “We were looking at buying this building, but you come in here Friday at 4 p.m., there’s 88 spaces out there, and 20 are taken by co-workers, another 20 by other tenants, and now you only have 48 plus our distro stuff.”

Jotham said there will be between 90 to 100 spaces just for customers at the new location, with employee and truck parking in a separate area.

Modulus Architects and Snyder Construction will break ground soon on the new facility. The San Mateo location will stay open at least through April.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

The 8th annual NM Brew Fest carries us into fall

Posted: October 12, 2017 by Brandon Daniel in NM Brew Fest 2017
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It’s time to return to Expo NM for another NM Brew Fest!

Ahh, crisp, cool weather, and all the darker beers that brings! Fall usually represents the end of the New Mexico craft beer festival season. But, one event still remains that many locals like to circle on their calendars, one which has become a personal favorite of ours (and which has now coined its own term in our Crew vocabulary). Yes, it is time for the eighth annual NM Brew Fest!

Here are the nitty gritty details.

  • What: Eighth annual NM Brew Fest
  • Where: Expo New Mexico
  • When: Saturday
  • Time: 1-6 p.m, VIP ticket entry at 11:30 a.m.
  • Price: $25 general admission, $45 VIP tickets (prices will increase $5 day of event)

NM Brew Fest brings out a group of over 20 of the state’s top breweries to showcase some of their finest beers and new seasonal releases. Aside from the obvious favorites from each brewery, NM Brew Fest allows a chance for breweries to showcase their one-off, rare, and specialty offerings. In the past this has meant everything ranging from cask tappings, to rare barrel-aged beers (that was a rough year, FYI). Here we give you a breakdown of what to expect from each brewery that has responded, and we must admit we are just a wee bit excited for some of these (those are in bold). We will update the other seven breweries once we receive their lists.

  • Abbey: Tripel Reserve, Monks’ IPA #1, Dark Ale, Golden Ale, Monks’ Ale, Blood Orange Wit
  • Blue Corn: La Catrina Rye IPA, Apparition Pale Coffee Ale, Ginger Braggot, 2016 Scotch Ale, 2015 Imperial Stout
  • Bosque: Lager, Elephants on Parade, IPA, Brewers Boot (Amber Ale), 1888 Blonde Ale, Rio Soleado (Wet-Hopped Blonde Ale), Down in the Hollow (English Brown), PSA (Pumpkin Spiced Ale)
  • Bow & Arrow: TBA
  • Boxing Bear: Featherweight Session IPA (GABF bronze medal winner), Crystal Kolsch, Black and Blue Sour, Oktobearfest, Chocolate Milk Stout, Oso Otono, Uppercut IPA, Apple Bear Cider
  • Canteen: Oktoberfest, Oompa Lupulin DIPA, Grundy Thunder Porter, North 14 Pale Ale
  • Dialogue: TBA
  • Drafty Kilt: Groundskeeper Willie Cream Ale, Covfefe Hefeweizen, CampbellToe IPA, Wee Beastie Scotch Ale
  • Enchanted Circle: Hells Bells Helles Lager, Panty Tosser Peach Wheat, Oktoberfest, Red River Red, Nice Day IPA
  • La Cumbre: TBA
  • Marble: Double White, Cuvee Rouge, Raspberry Nitro Stout, Das Roggen Wiener (Vienna Lager), Amarillo Pale Ale, Abbey Brett
  • Palmer: TBA
  • Ponderosa: Ecliptic Wet Hop Ale, Imperial Red, Crosscut Kolsch, Dry-Hopped Saison
  • Red Door: TBA
  • Rio Bravo: Schwarzbier, Grapefruit Launcher IPA, Lemongrass Wit (all draft); Pinon Coffee Porter, Road Kill Red, La Luz Lager, Snakebite IPA (all cans)
  • Santa Fe: TBA
  • Sidetrack: Pilsner, #91 Pale Ale, Bonehead Red, Pub Ale (and maybe a cask-conditioned ale)
  • Starr Brothers: Don’t Fear the RIPA, Foggy Monocle (Oatmeal Stout), Starrphire Pilsner, Sando Spice IPA
  • Steel Bender: Alewitch Pumpkin Ale, Smith Hopper XPA (Dr. Rudi), V.M.O.M.G. (Oktoberfest), Skull Bucket IPA
  • Tractor: TBA
  • Turtle Mountain: Wooden Teeth, Oktoberfest, Cosmic Yum Yum, Hopshell IPA, Depravity (Barleywine)

With great beer also comes the need for great food to soak it all up. Therefore, NM Brew Fest will feature a lineup of local food trucks such as Soo Bak, Krazy Lizard Taqueria, Nomad’s BBQ, and Street Food Institute. And, for your music and chill moments, there’s a diverse mix of artists playing with DJ Flo Fader, Zach Quintana, and Michael Moxey & the Easy Sinners. Local vendors will also be selling other arts and craft merchandise, so make sure to bring your wallet and support all aspects of the local community!

The atmosphere of Expo NM, coupled with the weather, always serve to make this event a standout in the local craft scene. So, make sure to seize the chance for one last fest before the weather turns to a bitter chill and you are forced to relax by a fire with a burly imperial stout … because that sounds so horrible …

That was sarcasm, folks.

Prost!

— Brandon Daniel

The Week Ahead in Beer: Kick back outdoors while you still can

Posted: October 11, 2017 by cjax33 in The Week Ahead in Beer
4

Greetings, New Mexico craft beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with The Week Ahead in Beer. This column covers all the breweries in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, with Santa Fe’s six breweries, one in Los Alamos, and one in Moriarty also joining the party.

Stoutmeister puts on his serious face to handle The Week Ahead in Beer.

Stoutmeister puts on his serious face to handle The Week Ahead in Beer.

Usually, this intro is reserved for one or more big events going on involving our breweries. This week, though, in the wake of GABF and the general craziness of late, we are calling for everyone to take it easy. Oh, sure, you can still attend all the local arts and music events at the breweries, but take some time to kick back and enjoy a pint on the patio of your favorite spot(s). The nights are getting colder, and it won’t be long before even during the daytime that we must take refuge indoors. So whether you’re getting up early to watch the balloons from Steel Bender’s patio (open 8 a.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. Saturday), or you would rather wait until the afternoon to head somewhere, do it while you still can. Turtle Mountain has you covered in Rio Rancho; Kaktus in Bernalillo; Boxing Bear and Marble’s taproom on the West Side; Starr Brothers and Marble’s taproom in the Heights; Canteen, La Cumbre, Nexus, and Red Door in the Brewery District; Bow & Arrow, Dialogue, Marble, Rio Bravo, and Tractor in Wells Park; Ponderosa near Old Town; Sidetrack in downtown; Quarter Celtic and the Santa Fe taproom in the Southeast Heights; Tractor and Canteen’s taprooms in the Foothills; Bosque and Tractor’s taprooms in Nob Hill; and of course the rooftop patios at Kaktus Nob Hill and Duel ABQ. Take your pick, folks. It’s good to have options.

We have added Bombs Away Beer Company to our listings below! In case anyone missed it, they are open for business in the Southeast Heights.

On the new beer front this week, there are a few options to check out. Bosque rolls out the ABQ Double IPA and Rio Soleado, a fresh-hop blonde ale. Bow & Arrow looks ahead with Visionland Amber Ale. Boxing Bear gets on the marzen train with Oktobearfest. Flix Brewhouse is feeling feisty with The Agitator Doppelbock coming out Friday. La Cumbre switches up the single hop with Eldorado SMASH IPA. Marble mixes it up with Gin Barrel Brett, Das Roggen Weiner, and Amarillo Pale Ale. Sidetrack hops aboard old #91 Pale Ale. Steel Bender has a fresh batch of Compa NM Lager. The 377 introduces three newcomers with a Milk Stout, Spiced Wild Red Ale, and Bourbon Barrel-Aged Pumpkin Porter. Tractor has Cowboy Coffee Stout back on nitro at Wells Park.

Up in Santa Fe, Blue Corn eyes La Catrina Rye IPA. Rowley Farmhouse Ales taps into Conduit, a Belgian-style IPA. Second Street has Latona Amber back on tap.

Continue reading for all the news that is fit to blog for the week of October 9.

To break down each “capsule,” I listed the brewery (with Web page linked), its phone number and hours of operation. Under “Beers” are the new or seasonal beers on tap for this week.

Albuquerque metro area breweries

Ale Republic — (505) 281-2828

(Mon–Thurs 2–10 p.m., Fri–Sun noon–10 p.m.)

Beers: Brune, Blonde, Strong Dark and Handsome, Diablo del Oro, Single and Ready to Mingle. The most recent addition is the Single and Ready to Mingle (5.5% ABV, 30 IBU), a Belgian-style ale.

Alien Brew Pub — (505) 884-1116

(Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.–midnight, Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–2 a.m., Sunday 10 a.m.–midnight)

Beers: Call the number above for details on any small-batch beers currently available. They change frequently. The rest of the lineup is from the Sierra Blanca/Rio Grande family of beers.

Bistronomy B2B — (505) 262-2222

(Mon–Tues 4-9 p.m., Weds noon-9 p.m., Thurs–Sat noon-9:30 p.m., Sun noon-9 p.m.)

Beers: Contact the brewery for an updated list.

The Blue Grasshopper — (505) 896-8579

(Noon to 11 p.m. most days, call for more info)

Beers: El Jeffe Hefeweizen, Friars Belgian-Style Single, June Bock German Lager. Rejoice, for Blue Grasshopper is brewing again! The Friars and June Bock are the more recent additions.

Live Music: Bands perform from 6 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday through Saturday. Click the link for the schedule.

Boese Brothers Brewery — (505) 382-7060

(Hours: Mon–Thurs 3 p.m.–midnight, Fri 3 p.m.–2 a.m., Sat noon–2 a.m., Sun noon–10 p.m.)

Beers: La Onza White Ale, Dr. Strangehop XPA, Duke City Lager, Washington’s Hatchet, Sour Strangehop, Grapefruit Pale Ale, Oktoberfest. The Oktoberfest returned recently, so enjoy it while it’s still fresh.

Live Music: Friday—Sloan Armitage, 9 p.m.; Saturday—Mike Weaver, 9 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Boese will have a happy hour from 3 to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, with $3 pints. You can also get $3 pints all day Tuesday and $6 growler fills all day Wednesday.

Bombs Away Beer Company — (505) 554-3204

(Hours: Mon–Fri 2 p.m.–close, Sat–Sun noon–close)

Beers: Short Fuse Blonde Ale, BABC IPA, Willie Pete Wit, Low Order Porter, High Speed Low Drag Lager, Wild Card Spiced Ale, Brisance Bitter, Bag Drag BPA, Arsenal English Amber. Welcome to the listings, Bombs Away! The newest brewery in the Southeast Heights is now open at 9801 Acoma Road SE. The initial lineup ranges from lighter beers like Short Fuse (5.6% ABV, 25.6 IBU) and Willie Pete (5.8% ABV, 20 IBU), to dark and malty beers like Low Order (5.2% ABV, 58 IBU), and of course plenty of hop-forward ales like BABC IPA (6.1% ABV, 91.33 IBU). Head on over and try them out!

Bosque Brewing Company — (505) 750-7596 (main brewery), (505) 508-5967 (Nob Hill Public House), (575) 571-4626 (Las Cruces Taproom)

(Main brewery on San Mateo: Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.-midnight, Sun noon-8 p.m.; Nob Hill: Mon–Weds 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Thurs 11 a.m.-midnight, Fri–Sat 11 a.m.-1 a.m., Sun noon-11 p.m.; Las Cruces: Sun–Thurs noon-11 p.m., Fri–Sat noon-midnight)

Beers: Acequia (Wet-Hop) IPA, Dry Acequia, Down in the Hollow, Oktoberfest, Pistol Pete’s 1888, Oh Pale No!, ABQ Double IPA, Rio Soleado (Fresh-Hop Blonde). Get some of that delicious Oktoberfest before it’s gone. The Pistol Pete’s 1888 was brewed for the New Mexico State University athletic program. Down in the Hollow is an English brown ale.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Bosque has a happy hour running from 3-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and all day on Sunday. Look for special menu items and get $1 off your favorite pints.

Bow & Arrow Brewing — (505) 247-9800

(Mon-Weds 3–10 p.m., Thurs 3–11 p.m., Fri-Sat noon–midnight, Sun noon–9 p.m.)

Beers: Sun Dagger (Saison), True Aim (Scotch Ale), Hoka Hey (IPA), Jemez Field Notes Lager, Wayward Arrow Hefeweizen, Cosmic Arrow Brett Saison, Hoodoo Monster Imperial Red, Way Out West Sour Sumac, Black Chandelier (Belgo Stout), Desert Dynamo IPL, Fast Luck Dry-Hopped Pale Ale, Wolf Eyes (Oktoberfest), Nomadico IPA, Visionland Amber Ale. The most recent additions to the lineup are the Visionland, Nomadico, Wolf Eyes, Fast Luck, and Desert Dynamo. The sheer variety of styles on tap is quite impressive.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Bow & Arrow has happy hour every Monday through Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. Get $1 off pints.

Boxing Bear Brewing Company — (505) 897-2327

(Sun-Thurs 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m.)

Beers: The Red Glove, Featherweight Session IPA, Crystal Kolsch, P.U.B., Oso Otono, Black and Blue Sour, Oktobearfest. The most recent additions are Oktobearfest, Oso Otono, a brown ale, Black and Blue Sour, and P.U.B. (Pineapple Upside-down Beer). Featherweight is nearly out, and since it won a bronze medal at GABF, that oughta finish the batch.

Weekly Events: Today (Wednesday)—Geeks Who Drink, 8-10 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Every day at lunchtime (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.), for just $10 you can get a pint and a panini of your choice.

Broken Trail Brewery & Distillery — (505) 221-6281

(Mon-Thu 3-9 p.m., Fri 3-10 p.m., Sat noon-10 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.-8 p.m.)

Beers: Otero ESB, Lone Pine Pilsner, Sancho Saison, Double Black IPA, Sancho de la Sierra, Pepe the Mule, Trailworks IPA. OK, fine, Pepe the Mule counts as a beer, even though it is basically a Moscow Mule, but it was made with beer. The Sancho de la Sierra is a rye version of the saison made in collaboration with Jubilation. The Trailworks was made in collaboration with Bikeworks, a neighboring business, with a portion of the proceeds going to trail maintenance in the metro area.

Weekly Events (main location): Today (Wednesday)—Cards Against Humanity hosted by 10 Drink Minimum, 7 p.m.; Sunday—Build-your-own Mule bar, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Tuesday—All house beers are $2 a pint

Canteen Brewhouse — (505) 881-2737 (brewery), (505) 200-2344 (taproom)

(Brewery: Sun–Thurs noon–10 p.m., Fri–Sat noon–midnight; Taproom: Open daily 3–10 p.m.)

Beers: Exodus IPA, Canteen Kolsch, Oktoberfest, Hank ESB, North 14 Pale Ale, Grundy Thunder, Oompa Lupulin DIPA. The most recent additions are the North 14, Grundy Thunder (a brown porter), and the downright beastly Oopma Lupulin.

Live Music: Thursday—Still Closed for Repairs, 6-9 p.m.; Sunday—Nathan Fox, 4-7 p.m.

Cazuela’s Seafood & Mexican Grill — (505) 994-9364

(Open daily 8 a.m.–10 p.m.)

Beers: Papacabra (Double IPA), Acapulco Gold (Mexican Lager), Chupacabra IPA, Piedra del Fuego Stoned Cream Ale, Beer for My Horses (Oatmeal Stout). These are the regular house beers. Call the number above for an updated seasonal list.

Dialogue Brewing — (505) 585-1501

(Open daily noon-midnight)

Beers: Belgian Citrus IPA, Berliner Weisse, Sour Raspberry, Boyz N Berry N the Hood, Blood Orange Berliner Weisse, Sour Pale, #40 (Citra Pale Ale), Sun Made, fe’denk lager, Marzen Oktoberfest, Dry Irish Stout, O.D.B. The most recent additions are the Marzen, Dry Irish Stout, and O.D.B., all of which were added for the recent first anniversary festivities.

Live Music: Friday—Kira Hart, 7-9 p.m.; Saturday—Da Terra Meiga, 7 p.m.

Other Events: Thursday—HandCrafted with Ad Lib (music), Adelina M. Cruz (artist), and Ooey Cucuy by Brenda Baca (vendor), 6-10 p.m.; Saturday—Babes & Bullies Calendar Release Party, 6 p.m.

Weekly Events: Monday—Service Industry Night, 6 p.m.

Drafty Kilt Brewing — (505) 881-0234

(Sun 11 a.m–10 p.m., Mon 11 a.m.–8 p.m., Tues–Thu 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–midnight)

Beers: Groundskeeper Willie Cream Ale, Wee Beastie Scottish Ale, McWabbit Pale Ale, Campbell Toe IPA, Obliviscaris Oatmeal Stout, McRojo or No (Irish Red), Covfefe Hefe. Brewer/owner Mike Campbell has five of his own creations on tap at 4814 Hardware Dr. NE, including the Campbell Toe (no snickering). The Obliviscaris is a burly throwback to the stouts of old. The Covfefe Hefe is the most recent addition.

Weekly Events: Tuesday—Geeks Who Drink, 7 p.m.; Thursday—Blues Jam with the Rudy Boy Experiment, 7-10 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: $1 off pints and 20-ounce pours, Mon-Fri, 3-6 p.m.; “Just Because We Love You Club,” happy hour prices at all times for teachers, first responders, law enforcement, and military with ID; Growler Fill Days on Thu and Sun, $2 off new growlers, $1 off refills

Flix Brewhouse — (505) 445-8500

(Open daily 11 a.m.-midnight)

Beers: Tart and Soul (Guava Berliner Weisse), Tripel Whammy, Pilsner? I Barley Know’er!, January Embers Barleywine, Das Umlaut Oktoberfest, Eater of Worlds Pale Ale. The most recent additions include the return of January Embers, while Eater of Worlds and Das Umlaut are new. The Agitator Doppelbock debuts Friday.

Hops Brewery — (505) 369-1378

(Sun-Thurs noon-10 p.m., Fri-Sat noon-midnight)

Beers: Dad Joke (California Common), Tipsy Cow (Milk Stout), Warm Scottish Nights, An Irish Tan (English Bitter), Honey Wheat, Chica (Pale Ale), Hop Hill IPA. Hops has started out with these seven beers on tap, but they also have 31 more guest taps, just in case you don’t find one to your liking. The Hop Hill (7.1% ABV, 69 IBU) was the most recent addition.

Kaktus Brewing — (505) 379-5072

(Bernalillo hours Mon-Thu 2-9 p.m., Fri-Sat 11:30-10 p.m., Sun 11:30-9 p.m.)

Beers: Porter Auf Deutsch, Cucumber Ale, Bavarian Golden Ale, Ctrl-Alt-Drink, Basil Lager, Helles Lager, IPA, Walnut Cider, DjinnJar Kombucha. The most recent additions include Cucumber Ale, Basil Lager, and Helles Lager.

Weekly Events (Nob Hill): Thursday—The Desert Darlings, 7-9 p.m.

Weekly Events (Bernalillo): Sunday—Brunch, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., The Desert Darlings, 6-8 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Kaktus has several new weekday specials in Bernalillo, including $3 pints on Monday, $9 growlers on Tuesday, $6 bison nachos on Wednesday, and $8 Frito pie and beer on Thursday.

Kellys Brew Pub — (505) 262-2739

(Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.-11 p.m., Sun 8 a.m.-10 p.m.)

Beers: (house) Apricot Ale, Blonde, Farm House Ale, IPA, Red, Scotch Ale, Session IPA, Sleeping Dog Stout; (seasonal) Hefeweizen, Farmhouse Apricot, Mars DIPA, Lobo Red Ale. The recent change in ownership at Kellys has led to some seriously improved beers and food, so we decided it was high time to add it to the listings. The Lobo Red was brewed for the University of New Mexico athletic program, if you could not guess. Yes, that is Sleeping Dog Stout, formerly of Chama River, now back in all its dark glory.

Live Music: Every Wednesday 6-9 p.m. and Sunday 3-6 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Thursday Pint night $1 off pints.

La Cumbre Brewing — (505) 872-0225

(Open every day at noon)

Beers: All That I Need Kellerbier, ‘Merica (Pale Ale), Eldorado SMASH IPA, Ales for ALS IPA, Ryeot On. If you can still find a bottle of the Ryeot On, get it fast. The Eldorado SMASH replaces the Simcoe version.

Live Music: Saturday—Moonhat, 6-9 p.m.

Weekly Events: Tuesday—Trivia or Loteria (alternates by week), 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Lizard Tail Brewing — (505) 717-1301

(Mon–Weds noon-9 p.m., Thurs–Sat noon-midnight, Sun noon-7 p.m.)

Beers: Contact the brewery for an updated list.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Lizard Tail’s happy hour runs seven days a week from 3 to 6 p.m. You get $1 off food, flights, and pints.

Weekly Events: Tuesday—Geeks Who Drink, 8 p.m.; Thursday—Karaoke, 8-11 p.m.

Marble Brewery — (505) 243-2739 (downtown), (505) 508-4638 (Westside), (505) 323-4030 (Heights)

(Downtown: Mon–Sat noon–midnight, Sun noon–10:30 p.m.; Westside: Mon–Thurs noon–11 p.m., Fri–Sat noon–midnight, Sun noon–10 p.m.; Heights: Mon–Sat noon–midnight, Sun noon–10:30 p.m.)

Beers: Apricot Gose, Marble Pale Ale, Sandia Sunset Saison, Abbey Brett, Marblefest, NM State Fair Pale Ale, Gin Barrel Brett, Das Roggen Weiner, Amarillo Pale Ale, Oaked Amber (Downtown only), Jabroni Lite (Heights and Westside only), White Out (Heights and Westside only), UnbeWeavably Marbelous (Westside only), Por Vida Pale Ale (Westside only). There are so, so many beers between the three locations. Don’t feel bad if you can’t get to them all. The Gin Barrel Brett, Das Roggen Weiner, and Amarillo Pale Ale are the most recent additions.

Live Music (Downtown): Today (Wednesday)—David Berkley Trio, 6-9 p.m.; Thursday—Cactus Tractor, 7-10 p.m.; Saturday—Rhythm Dragons, 8-11 p.m.; Sunday—Group Therapy, 3-6 p.m.

Live Music (Heights): Thursday—The Brujo Trio, 7-10 p.m.; Friday—The Bus Tapes, 7-10 p.m.; Saturday—Roger Jameson, 7-10 p.m.

Live Music (Westside): Friday—Sol De La Noche, 8-11 p.m.; Saturday—Black Smoke Blues, 8-11 p.m.

Other Events (Downtown): Friday—Marble Beer Locator App Launch Party with DJ Buddha Bass, 5-7 p.m., Hello Dollface, 8-11 p.m.

Weekly Events (Downtown): Saturday—Brewery tours, 2 p.m.

Nexus Brewery — (505) 242-4100 (brewery), (505) 226-1055 (Silver Taproom)

(Brewery: Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.–9:30 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.–8:30 p.m.; Silver Taproom: Mon–Fri 4-10 p.m., Sat noon-10 p.m., Sun noon-9 p.m.)

Beers: Bird of Prey IPA, Imperial Pilsner, Kaylynn’s Altbier, To Boldly Gose, Honey Dubbs, Beam Me Up Scotty (Silver only), Kolsch (Silver only), Double Bird of Prey (Silver only). The most recent additions were To Boldly Gose and Honey Dubbs (Imperial Honey Chamomile Wheat), until Bird of Prey IPA flew back to taps.

News: Nexus Silver now has food! Rejoice and check out the menu on their main website.

Happy Hour/Discounts (Brewery): Monday–Friday, $5 appetizers, 3-5 p.m.

Weekly Events (Silver Taproom): Saturday—a live DJ will perform; Sunday—a live band will perform at 2 p.m.

Palmer Brewery and Cider House — (505) 508-0508

(Tues–Sat 3–9 p.m.)

Beers: MWA (Malt With Attitude), Guero (Belgian Wit), Poolside Pale Ale, Cockness Monster (Scotch Ale), Switch Stance Stout. Palmer shares a building with Left Turn Distilling on Girard south of Candelaria. This batch of Cockness Monster is fresh and tasty.

Ponderosa Brewing Co. — (505) 639-5941

(Sun 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Mon–Sat 11 a.m.–11 p.m.)

Beers: Ecliptic Wet Hop Ale, D.D.U. IPA, Blueberry Stout, Dry-Hopped Saison, Oktoberfestbier. The D.D.U. stands for double down under, a reference to the recipe’s all-Australian hop bill. The Ecliptic Wet Hop Ale was brewed the day of the solar eclipse with Neo Mexicanus hops. Dry-Hopped Saison and Oktoberfestbier popped up recently.

News: You can now find India Pale Lager 2.0 for sale in cans, at the brewery and at local liquor stores, including Jubilation, Kelly’s, and Quarters!

Live Music: Today (Wednesday)—The Draft Sessions, 7-9 p.m.

Quarter Celtic Brewpub — (505) 503-1387

(Sun–Thurs 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.)

Beers: Peach Berliner Weisse, Mike’s Beer (American Pilsner), Bruce (Black IPA), Loch Lomas Oatmeal Stout, Clark (Hazy IPA), Fresh Hop Clark, Oktoberfest, Mangose. QC gets dark with the return of Bruce, which was brewed in the hazy New England style but still as a black IPA, and Loch Lomas. The Oktoberfest is a delightful way to welcome the start of autumn.

Red Door Brewing — (505) 633-6675 (brewery), (505) 990-3029 (downtown taproom)

(Brewery hours: Mon–Thurs 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Fri 11 a.m. to midnight, Sat 7 a.m. to midnight, Sun 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Downtown taproom hours: Mon–Thurs 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m. to midnight, Sun 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.)

Beers: Imperial Red IPA, Plum Gose, Oktoberfest, White AF IPA (downtown only). The Imperial Red IPA was the first in a series of beers to celebrate Red Door’s recent anniversary. The Plum Gose was second and Oktoberfest was third.

Live Music (Brewery): Today (Wednesday)—Seth Hoffman, 7-9 p.m.; Thursday—Brewers & Blues with Sweet Sixx and The Wild Pack, 6-9 p.m.

Weekly Events (Brewery): Monday—The Draft Sessions, 7-9 p.m.

Weekly Events (Taproom): Today (Wednesday)—Paint it Black Open Mic Comedy, 7-9 p.m.; Thursday—Art at the Bar, 5:30-8:30 p.m.; Sunday—Parents’ Day Out, noon-3 p.m.; Tuesday—Geeks Who Drink, 7-9 p.m.

Rio Bravo Brewing Company — (505) 900-3909

(Mon noon–10 p.m., Tues–Thu noon–11 p.m., Fri–Sat noon–1 a.m., Sun 11 a.m.–10 p.m.)

Beers: Rio Bravo Amber, Weizen, Randy’s Shandy, Dirty Rotten Bastard IPA, Snakebite IPA, Roadkill Red Ale, La Luz Lager, Old Town Porter (regular and barrel-aged), Vanilla Porter, NM Pinon Coffee Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Barrel-aged Belgian Strong Golden, Level 3 IPA, Imperial Russian Stout (regular and barrel-aged), Lemongrass Wit, Peach Gose, Cherry Sour, Kolsch, Hibiscus Mojito, Penguin Lager, Belgian Blonde, Cherry Wheat, Belgo IPA, Pink Boots Pale Ale, Oktoberfest, Grapefruit Launcher IPA, Schwarzbier. A portion of the Penguin Lager proceeds are going to the new exhibit at the ABQ Bio Park. There are now three barrel-aged beers on tap in the Porter, RIS, and Belgian Strong. The Grapefruit Launcher IPA and Schwarzbier are the most recent additions.

Live Music: Friday—Garry Blackchild and the Jir Project Band, 7 p.m.; Saturday—Nathan Fox, 8 p.m.

Other Events: Sunday—Appreciate hosted by Duke City Creative, 2 p.m.

Weekly Events: Today (Wednesday)—Movie Night (now outside), 7 p.m. or later, weather permitting; Thursday—Girls Pint Out, all day; Friday—Headliners Comedy presents Friday Night Fools ($5 cover, event only), 9:30 p.m.; Sunday—Pints & Planks with Yoga Zo; Monday—Micro Mondays, 7 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Happy hour Monday-Friday, 2-6 p.m., $1 off pints

Sidetrack Brewing — (505) 832-7183

(Mon–Thurs 3–11 p.m., Fri 3 p.m.–midnight, Sat noon–midnight, Sun noon–10 p.m.)

Beers: Marzen, Pub Ale, Bonehead Red, Dark Engine Stout, Sidetrack Pilsner, #91 Pale Ale. The most recent addition is the #91 Pale Ale, with the Bonehead coming before that.

Cask: The Pilsner and the last of the Switchgear IPA are in the firkins.

Events: Saturday—Movie Night with Alien, 7 p.m.

Weekly Events: Tuesday—Taco Tuesday, all day

Starr Brothers Brewing — (505) 492-2752

(Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day)

Beers: Starrstruck IPA, L.A. Woman (Blonde), Red Zepplin, Lampshade Porter, Don’t Fear the RIPA, Starrphire Pilsner, Brown Chicken Brown Cow, Foggy Monocle (Oatmeal Stout), Sando Spice (Green Chile IPA), ThereWolf (Oktoberfest), Oakey Smokey. Welcome back, Foggy Monocle, the winner of the 2017 Brew Crew Stout Challenge. The most recent additions are the Don’t Fear the RIPA, Sando Spice, ThereWolf, and Oakey Smokey, which goes down in history as the last collaboration brew with Chama River.

Steel Bender Brewyard — (505) 433-3537

(Sun–Thurs 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–11 p.m.)

Beers: (house) Skull Bucket IPA, Red Iron Red, Sparkfitter Amber, Lloyd’s 3 O’Clock Kolsch, Blue Bullet Stout, The Village Wit; (seasonals/specialties) Smith Hopper Extra Pale Ale with Dr. Rudi, Plum Bob Gose, Cow Plow Brown Ale, Alewitch Pumpkin Ale, V.M.O.M.G. (Marzen), Compa NM Lager. The Alewitch and V.M.O.M.G. won’t be around for too long, so get these fall favorites while you can. The Compa is back by popular demand.

The 377 Brewery — (505) 934-0795

(Open noon-11 p.m. most days)

Beers: (house) 377 IPA, Dieterhosen Hefe, El CuCuy (DIPA), Fat Brown Guy (Porter), Red Horse NM Lager, Schwarzbier, Berliner Weisse, Naked Ale (Pale); (seasonals) Secret Squirrel (Best Bitter), Black Ops Hops, Kolsch, Full Booty Stout, Scottish Ale, Say Juan (Summer Saison), Plum Sour, Peach Wheat, Oktoberfest, Spiced Wild Red Ale, Milk Stout, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Pumpkin Porter. This inaugural batch of Oktoberfest from The 377 hits the right notes, with some malty breadiness without too much sweetness. The Spiced Wild, Milk Stout, and BBA Pumpkin Porter are the most recent additions.

Tractor Brewing Company — (505) 433-5654 (Nob Hill), (505) 243-6752 (Wells Park), (505) 243-6752 (Four Hills)

(Nob Hill: Sun–Weds noon–midnight, Thurs noon–2 a.m., Fri–Sat noon–2 a.m.; Wells Park: Mon–Thurs 3 p.m.–close, Fri–Sun 1 p.m.–midnight; Four Hills: Sun–Thurs 11 a.m.–midnight, Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–2 a.m.)

Beers: Chocolate Milk Stout, Minute-4, Berry Cider, Big Sipper IPA, Traktoberfest, Scout Golden Ale, Javi Lager, Cowboy Coffee (on nitro at Wells Park only), Jack the Sipper, Belgo American Pale Ale, Three-Two Amber (Wells Park and Nob Hill only), Cucumber Gose (Wells Park and Four Hills only), Flanders Red Ale (Wells Park and Four Hills only), Half Acre Hefe (Four Hills only), Delicious Golden Dry Cider (Four Hills Only), Holstein & Hops (Four Hills only), Cascara Cider (Four Hills only). Some delicious old favorites return in the Javi Lager, Cowboy Coffee, Nitro Milk Stout, and Jack the Sipper. Recent new additions to the lineup are the Belgo American and Three-Two Amber, which is the first in a series of 3.2-percent ABV beers (talk about sessionable).

Live Music (Wells Park): Thursday—Lorin Walker Madsen, 8 p.m.; Saturday—Migos vs. Khalifa, 8 p.m.

Live Music (Nob Hill): Today (Wednesday)—Glenn McLaughlin, 8:30 p.m.; Saturday—Julian Wild, 5 p.m.

Live Music (Four Hills): Saturday—Eli del Puerto, 7 p.m.

Other Events (Wells Park): Today (Wednesday)—Politics & Pints, 5:30 p.m.

Other Events (Four Hills): Saturday—Indigenous Comicon Art Opening, 6 p.m.

Weekly Events (Wells Park): Monday—MNF Fantasy Shootout, 5 p.m.; Tuesday—Kamikaze Karaoke, 7 p.m.

Weekly Events (Nob Hill): Today (Wednesday)—Writing Wednesdays, 5 p.m.; Monday—Tractor Tune Up, 7:30 p.m.

Also, every first Monday of the month at both Tractor locations is Beer for a Better Burque night. For every pint you buy $1 can go to one of four charities that have partnered with Tractor. You can also opt to purchase a special growler with the logo of your favorite charity.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Tractor now has a late happy hour from 9 p.m. to midnight on Mondays with $2.25 classic beers and $3.25 seasonals.

Turtle Mountain Brewing Company — (505) 994-9497

(Kitchen hours: Mon–Tues 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Wed–Thurs 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Sun 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Reminder: TMBC closes early when business dictates. Please call.)

Beers: Lil’ Shelly (Pale Ale), Oktoberfest, Mr. Hoover’s Redux, SCH Scotch Lager, Pour les Abeilles, S.O.S. (Wet Hop Pale Ale). The S.O.S. and Pour les Abeilles (Honey Lemongrass Saison) are the most recent additions. An archived keg of Cocomilia Robur has been tapped for a limited time.

Cask: Tuesday—TBA

Santa Fe breweries

Blue Corn Brewery — (505) 438-1800

(Open daily 11 a.m.–10 p.m.)

Beers: Wedding Lager, Merry Prankster’s Sour Ale, Ginger Braggot, Apparition Pale Coffee Ale, La Catrina Rye IPA. The most recent addition is the La Catrina. The Ginger Braggot is back for another run, ditto the Apparition.

Chili Line Brewing — (505) 500-7903

(Mon–Sat 4–11 p.m., Sun 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m.)

Beers: El Jefe (Rauchweizen), Antonio Bandito (Dunkelweizen), Llorona Lager, La Bamba (Rauchbier), Stara Baba (Oak Smoked Polish Gratzer), Jacona Stout, P.G. (Pinche Guey) IPA. The Jacona and P.G. are the most recent additions.

Live Music: Every night at 7 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts: Reverse happy hour after 9 p.m. includes $1 off pints, $6 appetizers, $10 entrees and pizzas.

Duel Brewing Company — (505) 474-5301

(Brewery: Mon–Sat open at 11 a.m., Sun open at 1 p.m.; ABQ taproom: Mon–Thurs 2 p.m.–midnight; Fri–Sun noon–midnight)

Beers: Bad Amber, WWWMD (Barrel-Aged Whistler), Marcel, Fantin (Double Pale Ale), Duchamp (Sour Wit), Cezanne Magnifique, HMWWA FIACFW, Cezanne Verite. This batch of Cezanne Verite is barrel aged and it is also for sale in bombers. The WWWMD acronym stands for What Would Whistler’s Mother Do. Old favorites Fiction, Titian, and Whistler will return soon, along with the new Lourd of Funk, which will debut at the Beer Premiere at Bow & Arrow on Oct. 28.

Live Music (ABQ taproom): Thursday—Los Unusual Suspects, 8-11 p.m.; Friday—MOON Friday the 13th Hip-Hop Show, 9 p.m.-1 a.m.; Saturday—Burque Sol, 9 p.m.-midnight

Weekly Events (ABQ taproom): Tuesday—Bike-In Brew, 7 p.m.

Happy Hour/Discounts (Brewery): Happy hour Mon–Fri, 4-6 p.m. (discounts for all draft beer), Growler Saturdays ($3 off growler fills).

Happy Hour/Discounts (ABQ taproom): Happy hour Mon–Fri, 5-7 p.m.

Rowley Farmhouse Ales — (505) 428-0719

(Open all week from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.)

Beers: Fields of Rye, Saison du Sarlacc, Agent Scully – Season One, Episode Four (IPA), Germophile (Berliner Weisse), Meier (Meyer Lemon Gose), Fruhschoppen (Hefeweizen), Little White Lies (Belgian Blonde), Conduit (Belgian IPA). The Agent Scully is a new series of IPAs which will vary by hop combinations. Episode 4 is the most recent iteration. This batch of Germophile was dry-hopped with Motueka and Simcoe.

Santa Fe Brewing Company — (505) 424-3333

(Main taproom: Mon–Sat 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Sun 2-8 p.m.; ABQ taproom: Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.–11 p.m.; Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–midnight; Sun 11 a.m.–10 p.m.)

Beers: Freestyle Pilsner, Autonomous Collective IPA, Oktoberfest, Hefe’d Up, Cucumber Saison (ECS), Secret Society of A.L.T. (ECS), Wet Hop Pale Ale (ECS). Rejoice, for Oktoberfest is back. And yes, Freestyle is still around for a limited time as well, but rumors persist it may never leave the lineup.

Happy Hour/Discounts: $1 off growler refills in the tasting room on Mondays. $2 pint Tuesdays at the Eldorado Taphouse. On Wednesday, there is a $2 pint special in the tasting room. On Thursday, there will be $1 off growler refills at the Eldorado Taphouse.

Second Street Brewery — (505) 989-3278 (Railyard), (505) 982-3030 (original location)

(Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–11 p.m., Sunday noon-9 p.m.)

Beers: Kolsch, IPA, Cream Stout, Coffee Porter, Diablo Canyon Pale Ale, XX ESB, 2920 IPA, LVL Stout, Oktoberfest, Summer Rain Sour, Latona Amber. The most recent addition is the Latona Amber. This batch of Oktoberfest is excellent, classic stuff. Hurry up and drink up some of these beers so they can make room for another batch of the GABF bronze medal-winning Rod’s Steam Bitter.

Live Music (Original location): Friday—The Blues Revue Band, 6-9 p.m.; Saturday—Still Closed for Repairs, 6-9 p.m.

Live Music (Railyard): Friday—Half Broke Horses, 6-9 p.m.; Saturday—Swing Soleil, 6-9 p.m.

Weekly Events (Railyard): Today (Wednesday)—Geeks Who Drink, 8 p.m.

Other breweries you need to visit

Bathtub Row Brewing — (505) 500-8381

(Mon–Weds 2–10 p.m., Thurs 2–11 p.m., Fri–Sat noon–11 p.m., Sun noon–10 p.m.)

Beers: Kutthroat Kolsch, Kaboom Quad, Wit Rock, Catherine’s Historical Stout, Little Bird Blonde, Anderson Amber. Well, look at that, an updated beer list for BRB. The Wit Rock and Little Bird are old favorites, the rest are more recent recipes.

Sierra Blanca Brewing — (505) 832-2337

(Mon–Thurs 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Fri –Sat 11 a.m.–9 p.m.)

Beers: Oktoberfest, Cherry Sour, Interstella Vanilla, Cherry Wheat, Single Hop IPA. The Whiskey Stout will return in a week-and-a-half. The Cherry Sour is back for another run. Oktoberfest is now available on tap. Cherry Wheat is available in bottles and just won a gold medal at GABF.

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That’s all for this week! If you have any questions or comments, leave them below or contact us on our Facebook page.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

The 2017 GABF experience summed up by a merry band of lunatics

Posted: October 10, 2017 by cjax33 in GABF 2017
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Marble’s Geraldine Lucero and Barbie Gonzalez were among the first to greet us at GABF.

It can be awfully hard to recap a three-day event featuring hundreds of breweries and thousands of beers, but by golly, the Crew will try to review our latest trip to the Great American Beer Festival.

For yours truly, this was my third trip overall, second in a row via the magic of a press pass. Franz Solo also got a press pass this year, while Luke, Shawna, and Andrew all went up on tickets for the Saturday night session (the guys were going for the first time). If those three elect to share their experiences, we will add them to this story.

The La Cumbre booth was a popular spot, which hopefully will convince more beercationers to visit New Mexico! And yes, Jeff Erway was in a full German outfit. It was a little sweaty, he told us.

Franz and I charged into battle Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday afternoon following the awards ceremony, which we recapped here. The sessions were pretty much the same as my past experiences — well-organized and yet chaotic. The Brewers Association, their volunteers, and all the participating breweries run a pretty smooth ship. The chaos comes from the gigantic crowd, which swarms one way and then the next. Take any crowd you have seen at a New Mexico festival, multiply it by 1,000, throw in some crazy costumes, a full bagpipe marching band, and expand everything over a space the size of seven football fields and … well, you have GABF.

While there were plenty of brewery heavyweights on site, from Avery to Firestone Walker to Founders to Stone, there were also a ton of up-and-comers garnering huge lines and attention. Toppling Goliath, from Iowa, had a huge line, as did Great Notion from Portland, Oregon. We typically do not follow the crowds in most things, but when it comes to beer, and this fest in particular, we know that it pays to hit up the busiest booths.

We caught up to Quarter Celtic’s David Facey, left, and Brady McKeown, right, as they kilted about the fest.

Breaking down our new favorite breweries by region, to help everyone plan their future beer-cations, and in some cases, our specific favorite beers.

Northwest: Chuckanut (WA), Loowit (WA), Great Notion (OR). In particular, the Vienna Lager at Chuckanut, and the amazing Great Notion Double Stack, a breakfast stout for the ages. For those of you hopheads, Juice Box at Great Notion is arguably the best juicy, hazy IPA outside of New England.

California: Central Coast, Modern Times, Three Weavers. Most of you have probably heard of Modern Times down in San Diego, but dear lord, if you can get your hands on any of the Monsters’ Park imperial stout variants, get them ASAP. As for Three Weavers, based out of Inglewood, we absolutely had to try 2 Minutes to Midnight.

Well, hello there Three Weavers and your excellent beer with the name of an Iron Maiden song.

Southwest: Dragoon (AZ), (512) Brewing (TX). I have sung the praises of Tucson’s Dragoon many times before. We hit up the Austin-based (512) on the recommendation of a fellow beer writer. Any variant of their Double Pecan Porter will make your day, month, even year.

Midwest: Drekker (ND), Haymarket (IL), Revolution (IL), Sun King (IN), Toppling Goliath (IA). Yes, Toppling Goliath lives up to every bit of the hype that surrounds it. The Mornin’ Delight rivaled the Great Notion Double Stack for best breakfast stout of the fest. How good are they? Yes, they are even better than Founders Breakfast Stout. Drekker, based out of Fargo (!), created Coconut Killer IPA. There were hops and coconut and somehow they blended it into something truly amazing. The Deth’s Tar from Revolution is another epic imperial stout. We also loved Bear Hug Stout from Bell’s, which lord willing, will be distributed down here at some point.

Southeast: Foothills (NC), Cigar City (FL). OK, yes, you have all probably heard of Tampa’s Cigar City before. Hunaphu gets the bulk of the stout love, but Marshal Zhukov is another worthy must-find beer. Another one to find is Sexual Chocolate, a beer that lives up to its name, from Winston-Salem’s Foothills Brewing.

If there is one brewpub chain to visit on the East Coast, it’s this one.

Northeast: Iron Hill (multiple locations), Southern Tier (NY-PA). Wait, what is a chain brewery doing on here? Well, Iron Hill is of a much higher quality than most, and its Russian Imperial Stout is a medal winner. Southern Tier is another one that a lot of people know about, but Monstrous was an imperial stout we have not had before. It was not available in stores, but we did bring bottles of the decadent Creme Brule.

OK, enough rambling from me. Here is what the others had to say, starting with a certain viking poet who has a lot to say (again, it was his first time).

Franz Solo got to snag a selfie with Russian River brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo.

Franz Solo: On a bright and blustery fall morning, two brothers in the cult of beer and all that is good in this life set out on the quest of Valhalla. How do you quantify something that is legendary, a myth so precious you but whisper the name in hopes that it will not simply vanish as all things at their end? If my hand be true and my heart be honest, perhaps, there, there is the way.

As with all grand events there is the lush tapestry of anticipation and slight jitters that accompany the start. We check in for our press credentials, we wait, and then set loose! The roar grows from a murmur to a full-on assault on the ears as the night growls to crescendo and climax, like some worn-out prize fighter just before he falls. Bagpipes and jovial madness in every direction, beer and our comrades in arms as far as the eye can see. On only very few occasions in my life have I witnessed such overall happiness and enjoyment by nearly everyone we met for the entire duration. That we as human beings can simply come together in positive collaboration around something as old and seemingly simple and pleasurable as beer is certainly heartening in these otherwise uncertain and dark times.

If you’re in Portland, you gotta seek out Great Notion Brewing.

I kept a reasonably thorough log of what we tried in each of our four-and-a-half hour sessions, and these were some of the highlights for me, beginning with beers not locally available to us in New Mexico. The Mexican Lager from pFreim Family Brewers (Hood River, Oregon), was simply wonderful, with a solid malt base and delightfully tart, but not overbearing hops. Double Stack from Great Notion was one of many great beers in their lineup for the festival. In particular, this double breakfast stout tasted like, well, f***ing pancakes and syrup in beer form. I wholeheartedly embrace this addition of maple flavor to one of my favorite stout variants, and was quite happy that this appears to be somewhat of a trend as I will enumerate later on.

Chicago’s Revolution Brewing brought an imperial oatmeal stout called Deth’s Tar, which was as dark and devilish as a vat of molasses being used to encase Han Solo in carbonite. A pure monster of a stout that I thoroughly enjoyed. From the far north in Fargo, N.D., we happened upon Coconut Killer IPA, which was like the lighter side of Double Stack and tasted just like vanilla ice cream in IPA form, clean, crisp, and refreshing enough to warrant a second tasting.

Hailing from Deborah, Iowa, Toppling Goliath had our second pancakes with syrup tasting breakfast stout called Mornin’ Delight which well, tasted like f***ing pancakes. Of the two beers we tried from Dark Horse Brewing Co. (Marshall, Mich.), Oil of Gladness was a wonderful collaboration with Three Floyds, and had so many layers of nuanced flavors from the barrel. It is to my knowledge the first black barley wine I’ve ever tried and I will certainly seek more of these out.

Not all of us braved the lines, but we had to admit, Melvin Brewing had one of the most unique “booths” at GABF.

A visit to the booth for Destihl Brewery (Normal, Ill.), scored us a taste of Dosvidanya, which was a classic and hoppy take on the Russian imperial stout variety. In contrast, Comrade Brewing’s Wet Hop Superpower IPA certainly lived up to our high expectations for this past NIPAC finalist. After a good number of samples, Superpower blasted straight through the pancakes, the Russian imperial stouts, and the other IPAs alike. I look forward to trying a pint of this one at some future date.

Our visit to Modern Times (San Diego) Brewing’s booth yielded a plethora of choices in the vein of special barrel-aged imperial stouts. My personal favorite was the Monsters’ Park Aged in Bourbon Barrels Mexican Hot Chocolate variant, which was spicy and delicious just like our own native holiday drink.

On a wholly different edge of the spectrum, though no less delicious to my taste, was the 2017 gold medal winner from Little Machine Brewing (Denver), Razz Against the Machine. The name was awesome to begin with and this beer was a wonderful tart raspberry delight of a beer.

Funky Buddha’s Maple Bacon Coffee Porter was well, just as the name says with loads of fantastic flavor and extremely well balanced throughout. Clare’s Thirsty Raspberry Imperial Bourbon Stout from Haymarket Pub and Brewery (Chicago) tasted just like a slice of raspberry blackout cake from our local Flying Star. There was the initial wave of barrel and chocolate malt blend, followed by a wonderful wave of raspberry to finish of this wonderful dessert of a beer.

Cheers to all the fresh barrel tappings, Avery!

Avery pulled out all of the stops and had hourly from-the-barrel tastings of some of our favorite brews featuring Rumpkin, Tweak, and Effin’ Teamwork (an imperial stout collaboration with Odell Brewing) which were simply divine all around.

There were many more outstanding beers that we tried which I could speak to, but for a little brevity’s sake, the finisher for the festival that we stumbled upon at the end of a row was Cigar City’s Marshal Zhukov aged in cognac barrels. A true liquid poem to the glory of stout and barrel-aged beers, no sooner had it passed our lips and we knew we would not find a better finishing beer for our GABF experience.

Guild director John Gozigian had plenty of customers throughout the weekend, enjoying beers from the breweries that did not have their own booths at the fest.

On the local front, our New Mexico breweries did us quite proud, and I encourage you all to go out and enjoy the medal winners and the rest of what is an extremely strong lineup for our state, blessed with many outstanding breweries and beers.

On one final note, I’ll leave you with a quote from us after our first GABF session: “Our palate is pancakes, bring us all of your breakfast stout!”

Skål!

Luke managed to snap this photo of a still-living Andrew after the fest.

Andrew: This weekend’s visit to Denver for GABF was a true beer-cation. I feel no shame in saying that all activity focused on and revolved around beer … even more so then usual. My first GABF on Saturday night was the crown jewel of the weekend. I should have planned more, but I’m convinced that it wouldn’t have changed anything. Entering the convention center and finding myself surrounded by 800-plus brewery booths was both surreal and overwhelming. The scale of this event is staggering. Lacking any sort of method or strategy I proceeded to bounce back and forth between booths for hours. Fortunately the beer gods led me on a path to many delicious beers from around the country. Other highlights of the trip include: (1) bumping into members of the Marble crew, and Nexus head brewer Kaylynn McKnight at the Falling Rock Tap House the night before they won gold medals… which is also where (2) I enjoyed some Pliny the Elder Imperial IPA on tap from Russian River Brewing; and (3) drinking Yeti straight from the source at Great Divide Brewing. But, the best part was seeing NM breweries bring home some medals!! Congrats!!

Luke, center, and Andrew, left, managed to track down New Mexico brewers all over town, including Nexus’ Kaylynn McKnight.

Luke: I was warned GABF was overwhelming, and perhaps the festival itself was. But, Denver and the whole scene was certainly large enough to handle the extra 60,000 bodies, 900-plus breweries, and do it all with grace. At no point did it seem like the locals were upset that something big had come to town. At no point were we overcrowded on the streets. Ubers and Lyfts were only ever 3 minutes away. There was no waiting for a table, which wasn’t out of the ordinary for any given Sunday. The only overwhelming part was the sheer number of beers to sample. But, that’s the point. For fellow Crew member Andrew and I, it was our first GABF. Once we got into the festival, our plan and brewery list went out the window. But, that happens to GABF first-timers. I almost wouldn’t do that differently.

GABF wasn’t overwhelming, but not because it wasn’t big. It wasn’t overwhelming because we found New Mexico friends at the right time, and the Dark Side shirt was as recognizable as if we were in Albuquerque. Andrew and I didn’t make it to Bierstadt Lagerhaus, Crooked Stave, or Prost, but that’s for next time, and there will be a next time. It’s not about what we didn’t get to do, or sample. GABF, for us first-timers in the Crew, was about all the things we still did right. There were many of them — TRVE, Banded Oak, Falling Rock, to name a few. Huge thanks to Julie Ruth and Nichole Breihan, for without them, my first experience would not have been possible. Congrats to our New Mexico winners!

Shawna and Jerrad made the most of being at the last session together.

Shawna: Jerrad and I hit the road on Saturday morning to attend the Saturday evening session of GABF. To say that we had an exhausting day was a gross understatement! Was it worth it? Hell yes! We arrived in Denver on Saturday afternoon. We checked in, got a bite to eat at the nearby 16th Street Mall, then we were off to stand in the already long line. Last year, the line wrapped all the way around the convention center, so we knew we had to get there reasonably early, an hour and a half recommended for general admission ticket holders. To our surprise, they moved the line this year — and opened it up to the indoor waiting area right away, helping keep the madness of not only the GABF crowd, but a zombie crawl nearby, off the busy Denver streets! Whoever made that logistical decision is all right in my book! Once the gates opened, it was more or less a free-for-all, with the exception of the line block queue. We had just about every brewery in the nation at our disposal. I had several on my list that I was excited to check out. I couldn’t begin to try to give you a list of favorite beers at this festival, but here is a list of the most memorable (which seems appropriate haha):

  • Avery (CO) Old Perseverance (whooooaaaa 18.5% ABV)
  • Crooked Stave (CO) Petite Sour Raspberry
  • Revision Brewing (NV) Dr. Lupulin 3X
  • Melvin Brewing (WY) Hubert MPA
  • Victory Brewing (PA) Sour Monkey
  • Lewis and Clark Brewing (MT) Miner’s Gold Hefe
  • Little Machine (CO) Razz Against the Machine
  • Great Lakes Brewing (OH) Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
  • Modern Times Barrel House (CA) Mexican Hot Chocolate
  • Snake River Brewing (WY) Coffee Milk Stout

Did we mention the costumes? Because Shawna found one of the best of the fest.

One learned lesson this year was to definitely try to go on Thursday or Friday in the future. They sell out first for a reason. The Saturday crowd is very rushed. From what I hear, the Thursday and Friday crowds are a bit more jovial. One thing that I can give the Saturday crowd — they sure know how to party! Everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. We were all mutually in beer heaven, even if it seems a bit of a blur now. We woke up early on Sunday and grabbed a coffee with fellow Crew member Luke, then we hit the road back to with a stopover at Trinity Brewing in Colorado Springs for some unique bottled brews before the long trek to Albuquerque. We will definitely stay longer next time. One day in and out is not nearly enough time to take in the wonderful city that is Denver, or even its downtown area, for that matter. See you next year GABF!

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That is all from us. If you have any awesome GABF stories you would like to share, please send them to us and we will post them.

And, if you could not surmise from all our ridiculous praise, if you have never been to this event, you gotta go at least once in your life.

Boxing Bear’s Justin Hamilton was all smiles, and this was before he won a bronze medal.

We are, however, glad to be home. Now it is time to go seek out all the medal winners from New Mexico. We will have to wait for the next batch of Rod’s Steam Bitter (bronze) at Second Street (it was not on tap when we stopped for dinner on the way back), but of course there is still plenty of Sierra Blanca Cherry Wheat (gold), Marble Pilsner (bronze), Nexus Imperial Cream (gold), and hopefully there is still some Marble Cholo Stout (gold) and Boxing Bear Featherweight Session IPA (bronze) on tap.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

New Mexico breweries bring home 6 medals from GABF 2017

Posted: October 7, 2017 by cjax33 in GABF 2017
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Marble’s Josh Trujillo is all good after bringing home two medals.

It was another successful Great American Beer Festival for our local breweries, as five different places brought home a total of six medals on Saturday morning at the annual awards ceremony in Denver.

Marble Brewery won yet another medal for its Pilsner, taking home a bronze in the Kellerbier or Zwickelbier category. It is the fourth time since 2011 that Pilsner has won a medal. The big win came later, when Cholo Stout took gold in the American-Style Stout category.

“The Pilsner has definitely had a lot of success,” Marble brewmaster Josh Trujillo said. “We put a lot of love into that one. I have a lot of influence on it, but John Heine is the one who is running that beer, making sure it’s consistent. It’s what everybody drinks. We know people drink it all the time. It’s nice to see that one really stay consistent and stay well.”

The Cholo Stout, now on its second iteration, was born out of the Heights taproom experimental brewing system.

“I’m excited, it’s a very challenging style,” Josh said. “To medal the first time … it’s the second time it’s been brewed, but it’s a beautiful style. I finally got to make it good. I feel really privileged that they trust me enough to make these beers. It’s all teamwork. It’s awesome to get it done.”

Nexus Brewery claimed a gold as well with Imperial Cream Ale topping the Other Strong Beer category.

“I don’t even know what to say,” said Nexus head brewer Kaylynn McKnight. “I’m just very honored. I thought all of New Mexico did a great job. I’m just proud. I’m proud of all of New Mexico.”

Nexus’ Kaylynn McKnight and her fiancee Andrew Krosche are all smiles after she brought home a gold medal.

Sierra Blanca actually got the medal run started way back in the fourth category, Fruit Wheat Beer, snagging a gold medal with its Cherry Wheat. It marks Sierra Blanca’s first gold since winning for Bone Chiller Brown back in 2012.

The other bronze medals went to Boxing Bear with Featherweight Session IPA in the Session IPA category and to Second Street for Rod’s Steam Bitter in the American Amber Lager category. That marks the second medal for the Steam Bitter, which won gold back in 2013.

“Obviously we’re thrilled about the medal,” Second Street brewmaster Rod Tweet wrote in an email to the Crew. “It’s been a really hectic year this year with getting the third location open and the brewhouse up and running and winning the bronze medal really tops it off for us. Really happy, thanks!”

Overall, the total of six medals matches the 2016 haul and is tied for the second most medals for New Mexico breweries in a single year.

We will be adding plenty more to this story as we track down the other award winners throughout the course of this final day of GABF. Congratulations to all the winners!

Now get out there today and enjoy some national champions!

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

A speed tasting that certainly did not bomb

Posted: October 5, 2017 by amyotravel in New Brewery Preview
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The finished interior of Bombs Away Beer Company looks great.

I recently took a peek at the website for Bombs Away Beer Company for clues as to when they would open. I was shocked to find out they already had. Apparently, they just had a soft opening a few days prior. Although I already had plans right after work that day, curiosity and impatience got the best of me. I decided I had to stop by there, even if it was just for a few minutes, and at least try a couple of beers. It turns out they don’t sell the sampler pours individually, and I didn’t want to ask for a few free samples and leave without buying any beer, so I took on the challenge of consuming a full sampler of six beers in just over 10 minutes. (I was not driving, FYI.)

I am very glad I did. Unlike with many new breweries, the beer did not suffer from a lack of carbonation. This was not “thin” beer. There are also an impressive number of house-brewed beer styles on tap for a new operation.

I briefly spoke with brewer David Kimbell and told him that I was impressed by the quantity of beer out of the gate, as well as the carbonation levels. Kimbell, who is a first-time head brewer (although he has brewing experience at La Cumbre, Santa Fe, and Kellys), said he did go through multiple batches before he decided the beers were ready for public consumption. I guess I chose my samples well, despite being pressed on time, because Kimbell said that their amber is a little under-carbonated, but that it works fine for the style. I didn’t try the amber, so I cannot compare it to the others. He also said he is still trying to dial in the lager. I did not choose the lager, either.

The beers I did sample were: Willie Pete Wit, Short Fuse Blonde, Wild Card Spiced Ale, Brisance Bitter, B.A.B.C. IPA, and Low Order Porter. Descriptions of their current beers can be found on their website. My favorites were the Bitter and the Porter. The Bitter was very true to style and very easy-drinking. It’s not overly complex, but highly satisfying. The Porter was all roasty goodness with coffee and tobacco notes (in my opinion).

A delightful first flight of six of the eight available beers.

It was hard to choose favorites because all six were beers I could see myself ordering again. Perhaps the only minor letdown for me was I would have liked more spice on the Spiced Ale. It’s a good beer, I just expected more of a fall seasonal taste. The IPA is a New England-style, hazy IPA. For those looking for over-the-top hops, this is not that kind of IPA. It worked for me because I like a lighter IPA style.

The space is inspiring and they did a wonderful job with the décor. Kimbell said they built everything themselves (tables, bar, etc.). The location, at 9801 Acoma near Moon and Central, is very convenient for beer lovers who work at Kirtland Air Force Base and Sandia National Labs. Until I looked at their website, I had no idea there was a Skyline Heights neighborhood of Albuquerque.

Despite the lack of formal announcements that they are open, there were about 15 to 20 patrons in there when I stopped by early on a Tuesday evening. I have a feeling that those people looking for a Southeast Heights brewery hangout have fully acquired their target.

Cheers!

— AmyO

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