The Week Ahead in Beer—A new brewery and a new tap room

Editor’s note: E-Rock did write this Monday, but yours truly was flying from Philadelphia to Chicago Midway to Albuquerque, with a wonderful two-hour delay in the Midwest thrown in. Better late than never, right? — Stoutmeister

Greetings, Burque beer connoisseurs, my name is E-Rock and I am here this Monday, as I am roughly every Monday, to keep you up to date on all of the seasonal beers, music, and events served up in and around the 505.

Starting this week, Albuquerque-area denizens will have two new places to drink. Bosque Brewing Company is opening their doors on Friday after much anticipation, and Marble is opening a new tap room on the west side out by Cottonwood Mall. In addition to having new drinking options, area craft beer lovers have several new brown ales, IPAs, and other great beers to sample this week. Back Alley Draft House is now featuring the Goat Head Brown. Bosque Brewing Company opens its doors this Friday serving Bosque Burnin’, Kindling, Mellow Brit, Olde Bosky, and Cumulus. Broken Bottle is releasing Trav’s Beer, their new Belgian, on Thursday. Chama River is introducing their Union IPA. Il Vicino has the Every Day IPA and Oaked Rye PA on tap. La Cumbre now has La Roja Grande on tap. Mickey C’s is releasing their new Honey Wheat and IPA this week. Turtle Mountain has a new Grandma’s Brown on tap.

That is just a small sample of what is going on in the Duke City. Continue reading for all the news that is fit to blog for the week of October 22.

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. ABP is still serving up their take on the early autumn staple that is Oktoberfest. Get it while you still can.

News: Ben Miller is brewing up a new batch of something good slated for release within the next two weeks.

Back Alley Draft House — 766-6973 (NYPD)

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

Beers: Goat Head Brown, Goat Head TuRtle Tongue Double Pumpkin, Saison, Cherry Wheat. Goat Head’s new Brown is light in color and malty in flavor.

Bad Ass Brewery — 918-2337

(Mon–Thurs 4 p.m.–10:30 p.m., Fri–Sat 3 p.m.–midnight, Sun 4–7 p.m.)

Beers: Match Wine Barrel Sour, Nutty Café, Desert Rose (Prickly Pear), Dragon Blood (India Dark Ale), Zombie IPA, Sunburn Irish Red, Double Play Ale, Torn Kilt, English Brown Smog, C Squared, Naked Euphoria, Half Dressed Ale, Charlie’s Old Red, Oatmeal Stout, Triple Chocolate Stout, Bitter Black. The Zombie IPA is a favorite among BAB’s patrons, so it tends to run out fast. Enjoy this fresh batch while you have the chance.

Events: BAB will host a Halloween party this Wednesday with a costume contest starting at 8 p.m. In addition, they will be screening the new season of The Walking Dead this Sunday at 7 p.m. Drop by early for good seats and check out the new food menu before the show starts.

Bosque Brewing Company — 750-7596

(Mon–Thurs 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m., Fri–Sat 2 p.m.–midnight)

Beers: Bosque Burnin’, Kindling, Mellow Brit, Olde Bosky, Cumulus. Bosque Brewing held the Executive Bosque Club VIP event last Friday night. According to their Facebook page, Cumulus IPA and Olde Bosky were the favorites.

News: Bosque Brewing’s grand opening will be this Friday.

Broken Bottle Brewery — 890-8777

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

Beers: Trav’s Beer (Belgian), Rob Van Winkle Vanilla Stout, Debacle Pumpkin Ale, Irish Coffee (5.4% ABV). B3 has hit their stride recently with a string of great new seasonals. Their latest release is their new Vanilla Stout (named for 90’s icon Rob Van Winkle, a.k.a. Vanilla Ice).

News: B3 is now serving their last keg of the Vanilla Stout and Irish Coffee, so grab a pint of each before they are out. On the bright side, they plan on unveiling Trav’s Beer, their new Belgian-styled brew, on Thursday.

Events: BBB has $3 pints all day on Tuesday. Geeks Who Drink are back at Broken Bottle this Wednesday, and BBB will be showing football throughout the day and The Walking Dead starting at 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Chama River Brewing Company — 342-1800

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

Beers: Union IPA (British style IPA), Punkin Drublic (Pumpkin Ale), Bonus Czech (Pilsner), Chinook Pale Ale (6.0% ABV). Chama River is bringing back the Bonus Czech. With the on-again, off-again warm weather that we’ve been experiencing in the 505 lately, this refreshing pilsner will give you another opportunity to relive summer before the cold sets in.

Il Vicino Brewing Canteen — 881-2737

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

Beers: Every Day IPA (5.8%, 70 IBU), Oaked Rye PA, Irish Red, Roggenbock, Hop Bam Boom Double IPA, Exodus IPA, Crystalweisen (filtered hefeweisen), India Pale Lager, Saison D’Gaul. The Double IPA is back on tap at the Canteen. According to Il Vicino’s Facebook page, this Double IPA is “not the ever-popular Elsa’s, but it is this year’s entry for the Alpha King Challenge. It’s so good it’ll make you say a whop bop-a-lu a HOP bam boom … Seriously that’s the name!” Some times I think IV’s brew staff is having too much fun, but with the all of the great beers they brew, who can blame them?

News: The Red Chile Stout is on tap for Cask Wednesday and Irish Oaked will be on cask Saturday. In other news, Il Vicino briefly had an Oktoberbest on tap this week, but they sold out of 7 barrels of this tasty batch in the span of about a week. It was that good.

Music: Tues — Gregg Daigle Duo (Roots/Folk) 6-9 p.m., Sun — Keith Sanchez (Songwriter) 3-6 p.m.

La Cumbre Brewing — 872-0225

(Open every day at noon)

Beers: La Roja Grande (Imperial Red), Witch’s Tit, Hoppy Hippie Organic Ale, Pecos Porter, Acclimated (Double) IPA, Fievre D’Abricot (apricot saison), Dunkel Hefe. As far as I know, the Hoppy Hippie is Albuquerque’s first organic IPA. Also on tap at La Cumbre is Witch’s Tit. Last year’s batch of this spiced pumpkin ale was a favorite among the Brew Crew.

Music: Weds — The Attitudes 6-9 p.m., Sat — The Squash Blossom Boys 7-10 p.m.

Marble Brewery — 243-2739

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

Beers: Pumpkin Ale, No Shoe Brew, Porter Belgique (6.0% ABV), HBC Brown (6.0% ABV), Imperial Red (9.0% ABV). The Imperial Red is the GABF Bronze Medal Winner 2012.
 According to Marble’s web site, the Imperial Red was brewed with “generous additions of our favorite hop varieties blended harmoniously with long layers of dark caramel malts.”

News: According to Marble’s Facebook page, “Westside Tap Room Update — We will be opening next Tuesday, 10/23 at 3 PM. 5740 Night Whisper NW.” For those unable to find it on the map, the tap room is located just north of the intersection of Unser and McMahon (the latter is the street Ellison turns into as it goes west; Ellison is the red light off 528 across from Cottonwood and next to Cibola High School). Just go north on Unser through the intersection and look to your left.

Music: Weds — StereoFidelics 7-10 p.m., Thurs —Merican Slang 7-10 p.m., Fri — The Old Main 8-11 p.m., Sat — Downtown Growers Market Fundraiser featuring: Squash Blossom Boys, Los Radiators, Kubatana Marimba Southwest 1-8 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: Honey Wheat, IPA, Double Pilsner, Amber, Irish Red Ale. Mickey C’s has brought back their Honey Wheat this week.

News: Mickey C’s new Porter will be on tap soon, and the Smoked Milk Stout is out but it will be back in a month.

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.

News: Nexus is brewing up a batch of Barley Wine right now. Look for it in the coming weeks.

Events: 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: 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: Pilsner, Barnstorm Ale (Heller Bock), Tractoberfest, Sticky Fingers Brown Ale, Scotch Ale. According to its description on ratebeer.com, the BarnStorm Ale (7.0% AVB, 40 IBU) “is brewed to bock strength but lighter in color and with more hop presence. Munich malt flavor, Crystal malt color with Perle and Czech Saaz hops for the perfect storm in your mouth.”

News: The Black IPA, Black Lager, and Beer Noir Month are coming soon.

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: Grandma’s Pumpkin Brown, “Dark Knight” Dark Lager, Cherry Wheat, Oktoberfest, Harvest Ale, Amnesia IPA, Hophead Red, Hybrid IPA, Cabo Lager, PNB Brown, Red Rye, Hybrid IPA on cask. According to TMBC’s website, Grandma’s Brown (1.056 OG,  15 IBU, 6.0% ABV) is a “dark, robust American Brown Ale exemplifies a terrific balance of nuts, chocolate, and roasted malt. The abundance of special ingredients in this recipe create a finished product that Granny would be proud of.”

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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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