The Week Ahead in Beer—Oktoberfests are back again!

The Oktoberfests are finally here! I see that I am getting ahead of myself. Hello beer lovers. For those of you who don’t know, my name is E-Rock and I am here this fine autumn Monday to keep you up-to-date on current information pertaining to music, events, and seasonal beers served up in and around the Albuquerque metro area.

As I have already hinted, many local breweries are releasing Oktoberfests and pumpkin ales this week, including ABQ Brew Pub, La Cumbre, Nexus, Tractor, and Turtle Mountain. There are also several other non-autumn-specific beers finding their ways to taps across the 505. ABQ Brew Pub is releasing their Oktoberfest, Back Alley Draft House has a new batch of The Street Saison ready for consumption, Bad Ass Brewery has new batches of Torn Kilt and C-Squared kolsch on tap, Broken Bottle has a new Irish Coffee beer, Chama River has their Chinook Pale Ale on tap, Il Vicino has a fresh batch of Exodus IPA, La Cumbre is unleashing their autumn-friendly VMO #3, Marble is introducing the Cuvee Abricot as a new entry in Burque’s burgeoning apricot wheat beer scene, Mickey C’s has a fresh batch of their Irish Red Ale on tap, Nexus is bringing back their popular pumpkin ale — the Equinox Spiced Brown — on tap this Friday, Tractor is introducing a new Rye IPA, their new Sticky Fingers Brown Ale, and the local favorite Traktoberfest, and Turtle Mountain is releasing new batches of their Oktoberfest, Harvest Ale, and Amnesia IPA.

That is just a taste of what is going on in the Duke City. Continue reading for all the news that is fit to blog for the week of September 24.

E-Rock, left, has uncovered all the beers worth sneaking up on this week.

To break down each “capsule,” I listed the brewery (with Web page linked), its phone number (all are area code 505, for out-of-state readers) and hours of operation. Under “Beers” are the new or seasonal beers on tap for this week. And for those breweries that play host to musicians, I made sure to list who’s on the week’s set list.

ABQ Brew Pub — 884-1116

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

Beers: Oktoberfest. After a month without any new seasonals on tap, ABP is one of the first breweries in the metro area to serve up the early autumn staple that is Oktoberfest.

Back Alley Draft House — 766-6973 (NYPD)

(Hours 5 p.m.-11 p.m. daily)

Beers: The Street Saison, Melia (9% ABV), “Cali Girl” Cherry Wheat, Goathead Stout (8% ABV). The Melia tastes like a subtle wheat bear or a saison. The Street Saison is back on tap at BADH. The Street is a very subtle and drinkable saison.

Bad Ass Brewery — 918-2337

(Mon–Thurs 4 p.m.–10:30 p.m., Fri–Sat 3 p.m.–midnight, Sun noon–8 p.m.)

Beers: Torn Kilt, C-Squared, Belgian Mistress, English Brown Smog, Naked Euphoria, Utter Insanity, Half Dressed Ale, Charlies Old Red, 3 Way IPA, Matt’s Smoked Ale, Hefe Rojo, Eat Your Oatmeal, Triple Chocolate Stout, Bitter Black. The Belgian Mistress is actually BAB’s dark Belgian that was originally named the European Whore. Needless to say, BAB went with Belgian Mistress because it’s a bit more classy.

News: BAB’s new chef, Chris McGinnis, has added several new soups and pizzas to complement BAB’s new menu.

Events: Anyone wearing a football jersey on Sunday at BAB gets their pints at the $3 happy hour price.

Broken Bottle Brewery — 890-8777

(Mon–Fri 4 p.m.–midnight, Sat noon–midnight, Sun noon–10 p.m.)

Beers: Irish Coffee (5.4% ABV), Sol Rosenburg Ale, “The Incident” Black IPA. According to Broken Bottle, the Irish Coffee is “a very light, Irish-style ale infused with so much coffee it would make a Starbucks barista blush. It has a beautiful red hue with a nice, smooth coffee flavor.”

Events: BBB has $3 pints all day on Tuesday. Geeks Who Drink are back at Broken Bottle this Wednesday. Broken Bottle Brewery Comedy Night is back this Thursday at 8 p.m., featuring John Cuellar, Dan Rascon, Matt Peterson, and Sarah Kennedy, and BBB will be showing Sunday Night Football.

Chama River Brewing Company — 342-1800

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

Beers: Chinook Pale Ale, Hopslap, El Hefe, Chama Red. The Hopslap is back on tap. In case the name hasn’t clued you in on it, there are a lot of hops in this beast.

Il Vicino Brewing Canteen — 881-2737

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

Beers: Exodus IPA, Koa Coconut Porter, Cascade Pale Ale, Dunkle Hefe, Crystalweisen (filtered hefeweisen), Dark Matter (Black) Pilsner, India Pale Lager, Saison D’Gaul, Boysenberry Wheat. The Koa Coconut Porter is IV’s GABF Pro/am entry brewed with recipe designer Kyle Baxter. This delicious porter was inspired by Kyle’s years in Hawaii. Members of the Brew Crew had a sneak peek at this beer and we loved it.

News: The Exodus IPA is on tap for Cask Wednesday and the Motueka IPA will be on cask Saturday.

Music: Tues — Felix y los Gatos (Blues/Cajun) 6-9 p.m., Sun — Keith Sanchez 3-6 p.m.

La Cumbre Brewing — 872-0225

(Open every day at noon)

Beers: VMO #3, Pecos Porter, Acclimated (Double) IPA, 1/2 Nelson Pale Ale, Fievre D’Abricot (apricot saison), Dunkel Hefe. According to Stoutmeister, “The VMO #3 is not an Oktoberfest in the classic sense, instead it is a German-style lager with a slightly darker complexion than most lagers. It tends to be a little dry, but it grows on you as you drink it and ends up being rather smooth and refreshing in the end.”

Music: Weds — The RJ Perez Trio 7-10 p.m., Sat — Group Therapy 7-10 p.m.

Marble Brewery — 243-2739

(Mon–Sat 1 p.m.–midnight, Sun 1 p.m.–10:30 p.m.)

Beers: Cuvee Abricot (7.0% ABV), HBC Brown, Double White, Imperial Red (9.0% ABV), Abbey Darkness (8.8% ABV).

Events: Marble will host a poetry event on Sunday from 4-7 p.m. See the music listing below for more details.

Music: Weds — The Chuck Hawley Band 5-8 p.m., Thurs — The Voodoo Fix 7-10 p.m., Fri — Double Plow 8-11:00 p.m., Sat — The Saltine Ramblers 8-11 p.m.. Sun — I’ll Drink to That, featuring: Mondo Vibrations, BROKENbreadWINNER, Zack Freeman, Leah Black and Cali Shaw aka Cali Sobrenas, Emily Bjustrom (poet), Zach Kluckman (poet), Kat Guarascio (poet), Ben Borman (poet), Hosted by Carlos Contreras 4-7 p.m.

Mickey C’s Brewery — 798-1970 (located in Sandia Chile Grill)

(Mon–Sat 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Sun 8 a.m.–6 p.m.)

Beers: Irish Red Ale, Smoked Milk Stout, Pale Ale, Hefeweizen. Mickey C’s Hefeweizen was brewed with just grains and hops in honor of Oktoberfest. It is much drier and a bit stronger of a beer than their normal honey wheat.

News: Mickey C’s IPA will be on tap in about two weeks, and their Amber Ale and Double Pilsner will be on tap in the near future.

Nexus Brewery — 242-4100

(Mon–Thurs 2 p.m.–10 p.m., Fri–Sun 11 a.m.–midnight)

Beers: Equinox Spiced Brown (starting Friday), Sandia Watermelon Wheat. The Sandia Watermelon Wheat is a solid wheat beer with a very subtle taste. According to owner Ken Carson, this first batch of Sandia came out more subtle than he hoped for, so expect newer batches to have stronger watermelon flavor. Stoutmeister and I sampled the first batch. Even though it wasn’t quite what Nexus had hoped for, we found it to be a tasty and drinkable wheat.

Events: Nexus is introducing new fall specials including $3 pints on Monday and Tuesday, and six of their famous Southern Fried Wings for only $5 on Sunday and Monday. As always, Nexus plays host to the Young, Dumb, and Full of Comedy open mic on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Sunroom.

Music: Thurs — Black Turquoise 6 p.m., Sat — Racine Kreyol6 p.m., Sun — Smooth Jazz, noon

Tractor Brewing Company — 433-5654 (Nob Hill Tap Room)

(The tap room opens most days around 3 p.m. and stays open as late as 2 a.m.; it opens earlier on weekends)

Beers: Traktoberfest, Rye IPA, Sticky Fingers Brown Ale, Scotch Ale, Hang Me Out To Dry Cider. The Sticky Fingers Brown Ale is a new addition to Tractor’s menu (not to be confused with their “Nut What You Think” Brown Ale, which was recently on tap). The Crew will be heading over to sample this very soon.

News: The Black IPA, Black Lager, and Beer Noir Month are coming soon. Yes, Stoutmeister is more than a little excited for this event.

Turtle Mountain Brewing Company — 994-9497

(Kitchen hours: Mon–Thurs 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–9:30 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.–8:30 p.m.)

Beers: Oktoberfest, Harvest Ale, Amnesia IPA, “Dark Knight” Maduro Stout, Hophead Red, Hybrid IPA, Cabo Lager, PNB Brown, 80/80, Red Rye, Hybrid IPA on cask. The Harvest Ale is made with fresh hops, and The Dark Knight Maduro Stout was brewed to coincide with Santa Ana Star Center’s production of Batman Live which will be running from October 17-21. Stay tuned for more information regarding the upcoming collaborative events between TMBC and Santa Ana Star Center.

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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!

— E-Rock

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