Stoutmeister and E-Rock spent the last day of March in the Taos area in Northern New Mexico, which is now home to four breweries with potentially more on the way.

Half the battle in finding a new brewery is often just that, finding it. Located off Highway 38 a mile or so north of Eagle Nest, we went right past the dirt road leading to New Mexico’s most rustic brewery, Comanche Creek. After executing a U-turn and coming back, we set out along the two miles or so from the main road, past a couple ranches, before entering an area that has a little log cabin at the very end. This cabin is home to Comanche Creek, a microbrewery that sprang up almost two years ago as the brainchild of owner/brewer Kody Mutz. It is a no-frills operation, run by Kody and his wife, Tasha, out of a property owned by his parents.

Kody was living in Denver, jumping in to the homebrewing craze inside his condo, when his day job went up in smoke. The Mutzes came back to the property his family owned and took over the cabin that was used for blacksmithing by Kody’s great-grandfather. It had simply become a storage space in the years since. After a lot of hard work and elbow grease, the brewery opened in the summer of 2010. Comanche Creek caters not only to the locals who came to visit while E-Rock and I were there, but also to the tourists who flood the area for skiing season in the winter and those who get away from the desert heat in the summer. With an elevation in excess of 8,000 feet, Comanche Creek is the highest-altitude brewery in the state.

Considering the tiny space, Comanche Creek only keeps a few beers on tap at any time, while also bottling some of its more popular styles for sale at the brewery and at restaurants in nearby Eagle Nest and Angel Fire. As March 31 is the “slow season,” Kody said he was working more on experimenting with two of the three beers available. We sampled the Iron Mountain Porter, a regular fixture on the menu, as well as the new Crookside Blonde and the appropriately named Mild Ale. We also made sure to grab bottles of Homestead Amber, the brewery’s signature beer.

The area outside the brewery’s lone entrance is designated as the “Biergarten,” with hand-carved wood benches and tables, some under the cover of the awning and others out in the open for those who have no problem with the high-mountain sun. The setting in the valley between two mountain ranges, with a stream flowing nearby, a gentle breeze blowing, and the huge pine trees looming just to the west is downright breathtaking. No other brewery in the state can claim to have such truly epic scenery surrounding it.

E-Rock and I started with the Iron Mountain Porter. I described this best as a baseline porter, very robust, but without the smoked flavor many porters have. It was more solid, less sweet than Santa Fe’s State Pen Porter. If anything it sits somewhere between the PTO Smoke Porter at Tractor and State Pen on the flavor scale. Even on a warm day, this just seems like a good, strong mountain beer that can be had year-round.

As for the Mild Ale, E-Rock called it “a slight change from their amber. I guess they wanted to make it a little less hoppy.” As the name implied, it was very mild, probably a little too mild, but as an experimental beer it was a worthy effort, E-Rock added.

Since the Creekside Blonde was described as having a hint of grapefruit flavor, and I am sadly allergic to citrus fruits, I left that style entirely to E-Rock. “That was a good one. It had a hint of grapefruit, but was not too citrusy,” he said. “This wasn’t a beer that tasted like grapefruit juice. Rather, the grapefruit added complexity to the taste of the beer. This was a very successful experiment.”

E-Rock agreed that the porter and the amber were the best available. The amber has a very good balance between lighter malts and hops. It is a very smooth, yet still complex beer, with a good collection of flavors that do not overwhelm the palate or leave you feeling dried out.

While most people just head to Taos and rarely explore the surrounding area, Comanche Creek is more than worth the side trip. Just take Highway 64 east, go north through Angel Fire and hop on 38 in Eagle Nest. Take note that during wet weather, an SUV or other four-wheel driver might be needed to get there; leave the BMW at home, but we made it there in nice weather in E-Rock’s Honda Civic. The experience of just getting out to Comanche Creek, along the dirt road with plenty of signs to keep you on the right path, is quite fun, and the beer reward at the end is worth maybe having to wash your car when you get home.

Until next time, when we visit the newest brewery in Northern New Mexico, the Taos Ale House.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister and E-Rock