Howdy, all. Stoutmeister here with another clearing out of the old beer notebook. Not every brewery visit/tour merits its own post. Well, it’s more like I just keep meaning to write that, but then something gets in the way. And by something I mean I’m really lazy these days. Just trying to rest up and brace myself for VALHALLA (more on that Wednesday). Yeah, right, that’s it.

Anyway, the last couple of weeks have seen us popping up at various breweries around town. And by us I actually mean the entire Crew. Yup, as this photographic evidence shows (thanks to Shilling’s girlfriend for being patient enough with us to snap it off my phone camera), the original Crew roster was together at Il Vicino for one whole night. We had such a good time we are planning to do it again Wednesday night at Broken Bottle. We have to go try their new Vanilla Stout and Pumpkin Ale, plus we are using it as a sendoff for E-Rock and I before we depart for VALHALLA (yes, it’s going to be in all caps on every reference; deal with it).

To keep things straight, I am going in chronological order of recent visits to places.

Turtle Mountain Brewing

I was already in Rio Rancho to cover soccer earlier in the evening, so I figured why not stop by TMBC for a bite to eat and to try some new seasonals? After finding the last seat at the bar, and then enduring funny looks from folks while I busted out this here laptop, I chowed down on a chicken sandwich and ordered a pint of Oktoberfest. Turtle’s version is light, without too much sweetness. It starts off a little dry, but as your palate gets acclimated it becomes a smooth, flavorful beer, perfect with just about anything on their extensive menu. Due to time constraints, I only got a small sample of “The Dark Knight” Maduro Stout. I really wish I had ordered this as my pint. This is a strong, flavorful stout, with smoky aromas and dark chocolate hints. It does not feel thick like some stouts do, but instead it is just smooth and easy to drink. This ranks right up there with TMBC’s Big House Stout as one of their finest dark beers. Find an excuse to trek out to Rio Rancho before this special beer is gone.

Back Alley Draft House

Beer makes the first presidential debate seem less awful, or so I told myself (I was called out by my friend Cassie after she pointed out that I swore earlier in the day that I would skip watching the thing; she was not impressed by my “but I have beer” defense). E-Rock gathered a bunch of folks at BADH, some of whom paid a lot of attention to what the candidates were saying — I heard Mitt diss on Big Bird, that’s about all since there were baseball games on — while we all enjoyed the various pints available. I did my usual and stuck to the wonderfully burly Goat Head Stout. I fear someday they will run out of this black gold, so get your butt down to BADH (it’s behind NY Pizza Dept.) and indulge. You do not have to wait for politics or sports as an excuse. Beer should be enough. They have a double pumpkin (!) on tap this week, so that should be reason enough to head on over. Plus, you can order NYPD pizza/calzones/pasta and have it delivered from right around the corner.

Sierra Blanca/Rio Grande Brewing

As a precursor to VALHALLA, the Professor decided he need to properly represent New Mexico with T-shirts from various area breweries. The Alien Stout logo was too good to pass up, even if it meant a 40-mile drive out to Moriarty to visit the SB/RG mothership.

The unfortunate thing about the brewery’s location is that while there is a sign telling you to get off at Exit 197, there is no sign then telling you how to get to the brewery once you’re off the freeway. After a couple wrong turns and being lost for 10 minutes, we managed to figure out how to get there. From westbound Central you take a left (south) on Camino Oriente and then a left (east) on Industrial Loop and the brewery will be on your right side. The brewery staff told us they are working with the city of Moriarty to get a sign out on Central to help keep any Burquenos from getting lost like we did.

For a production brewery that sells all over the state, SB/RG is nonetheless fairly quaint and charming. We were the only guests in the early afternoon in their small taproom/gift shop area. After picking out shirts we enjoyed pints of the latest, and so far best, batch of the Alien Stout. This burly imperial is the finest creation of SB/RG. It’s powerful (over 8 percent ABV), so be careful. Compared to the Maduro Stout at TMBC, this one has a thicker mouthfeel. We were told they lessened the chocolate flavors this time as they had made the previous batches too sweet. There was more of a smoked, oatmeal hint this time around. And as always, beer on draught tops beer in bottle.

Hey, the next time you have to head east on I-40 (or are coming back from Texas/Oklahoma), SB/RG is worth a stop.

Il Vicino Brewery Canteen

So yeah, the whole Crew gathered as for once in our busy, chaotic lives, we were all able to be in one place at one time. Our GroupMe chat room on our cell phones was silent for a few hours. With some other friends in tow, I am fairly certain we tried every seasonal listed on the wall chalkboard of goodness.

I went with the Koa Coconut Porter, the IV-assisted entry into the GABF Pro-Am Competition. I had not had any since the IV staff let E-Rock and I have an advance sample. This time around I could pick out the strong coconut flavor right off the bat. It is not nearly as sweet as you might think, however. If you are not a coconut person, skip it; if you are, enjoy. From there I went back to my current seasonal favorite, the Dark Matter Pilsner, which I still maintain is a hybrid of a regular pilsner, a black IPA, and a brown ale.

The others were all over the place. To wit …

Franz Solo: “The India Pale Lager had an aroma like a spiced orange and extreme flavor for only the bold of palate. (Coconut) porter was smooth and well-balanced with the coffee, chocolate, and coconut but not quite enough bite for my taste. The black pilsner was wonderful, silky, and smooth all the way, an unexpected gem.”

Brandon: “Koa Coconut Porter — Rich mouthfeel, with good malty body right off the bat. The coconut finishes the brew in a subtle way on the back of the pallet and lingers just a bit. I would have liked just a bit more coconut and a slightly bigger punch though. Good porter overall, would drink this again. IPL — This is a burly hybrid. Citrusy hop blend, but not over the top tartness. Smooth drinking for this style, with moderate carbonation and color leaning more towards the lager side of things. I hope they make this a regular.”

Shilling: “I switched out my usual Dark Matter with the IPL and a good decision it was. I sampled the Koa but I wasn’t able to get the full extent of such a unique beer in such a small glass. Guess that means I need to go back and drink some more.”

E-Rock: (now a full-time member of Vertigo Venus — yup, another band gig — we’ll let him add his comments when he can)

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Well, that’s it for this week’s beer notebook. I will have the VALHALLA preview up tomorrow after I help a special someone rearrange her furniture and also drop off a growler of pumpkin ale as a way of saying “sorry I’ll be gone for GABF and then my cousin’s wedding on the east coast on consecutive weekends.”

Stop by Broken Bottle tomorrow night if you want to meet the Crew and chat/drink with us. Our arrival time is TBD, but we will probably announce it via Facebook or Twitter.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister