Man, it has been a long time since we have just done a straight-up brewery review here in the greater ABQ area. Franz Solo wrote up some of the Il Vicino beers he indulged in back on April 12 but prior to that we had not done anything since … December?! Jeez, we’re slacking. Blame our busy schedules and the special events we’ve been covering, but we were overdue for a brewery review.

So E-Rock and I, Stoutmeister, decided to rectify this by (finally) heading over to Rio Rancho to try the beers they’re now brewing in-house at Cazuela’s, a Mexican restaurant on Sara Road just north of Intel, east of 528/Rio Rancho Blvd. We visited during a non-crowded period on Wednesday afternoon.

We ordered a sampler (only $7) of the eight beers currently on tap to make sure we tried them all before ordering pints of our favorites. Here is our beer-by-beer breakdown of Cazuela’s current offerings.

Mexican Lager

Stoutmeister: Not my favorite, but I’m not big into the style. More reminiscent of Tecate than Corona, there is a slight bite. I kinda wondered if there was something added to the mix (lime?) that made for a tart taste. I sipped once and then pushed it away, just in case. Hey, some of us have strange allergies.

E-Rock: This is a very light beer in the Corona/Tecate mold. It’s good for what it is. I’m not a big fan of the style, but it is done well.

Stoned Cream Ale

Stoutmeister: A pleasant surprise, this could be the long-lost cousin of Nexus’ cream ale. Light but flavorful, with a good malty profile and plenty of sweetness. This goes great with the current heat outdoors.

E-Rock: This was one of my favorite beers that Cazuela’s has to offer. I highly recommend a pint or two while kicking back on the porch. This cream ale is smooth, clean, and full of flavor.

Hefeweisen

Stoutmeister: It’s a hefe, fairly good for the genre that I’m not a big fan of. I will give credit in that it’s not a cloudy hefe, which tends to often be almost undrinkable. If anything this is a lighter, easier to drink hefe.

E-Rock: Unlike Stoutmeister, I’m quite fond on a nice cloudy hefe. That said, other than clarity, it’s usually a difficult venture to make a hefeweisen taste unique while staying true to the style. This hefe is on the light side, but it still has that characteristic flavor that any hefe lover would enjoy.

ESB

Stoutmeister: I had this one before and liked the prior batch a little bit better. This time around the dryness one would associate with an ESB was still there, but there was not enough of that little malty sweetness to balance it out. If anything it just felt too light on the palate.

E-Rock: This ESB is golden in color and slightly bitter in taste. I have yet to warm to the ESB style in general, so this beer didn’t leave much of an impression on me.

IPA

Stoutmeister: Cazuela’s IPA was a bit varied from the usual style. The hops hit more mid-palate than overwhelming you at the front. The finish is maltier and cleaner than most IPAs. It is a different sort of IPA, maybe not for the fanatical hopheads but for those of us who drink IPAs more casually.

E-Rock: This IPA reminded me of an IPA that you would find in Arizona. It’s not bad, but it’s a little lacking when you compared it to a typical New Mexico or Southern California IPA. Troy, a home brewer and fellow patron at the bar, suggested that had too much Cascade hops in it. He suggested mixing it with the Stoned Cream Ale for a more balanced flavor.

Robust Porter

Stoutmeister: Fairly dry for a porter with a good roasted flavor throughout. This is more of the beer I expect someone to brew in November than June. The mouthfeel was not as thick as some porters tend to be, but overall it was a tick above average for me. This is more than good enough considering how few dark beers are being brewed this time of year.

E-Rock: This beer gave my taste buds exactly what they wanted. It has a complexity that you would normally find in a vanilla porter. I usually drink lighter beers on hot days like today, but after trying the sample I couldn’t help but order a full pint. The Robust Porter and the Stoned Cream Ale were well worth the trip to Rio Rancho.

Stout

Stoutmeister: Much like the porter, the stout seemed out of season but was pretty darned enjoyable. I ended up ordering a full pint of this (I know, stop the presses and all) but in the end I’m a little summer-beered-out. It has some good roasted flavors mixed in with hints of chocolate and coffee. I was not a big fan of the batch of this I had back on Super Bowl Sunday during our second Stout Challenge, but this was a marked improvement. That weird, earthy flavor was gone, replaced by more traditional stout flavors.

E-Rock: I enjoyed the Stout both today and back in January during the Stout Challenge. It has a well-balanced flavor profile, but it was a little too dry for my palate given how hot the day was.

Inebriator (Doppelbock)

Stoutmeister: I sampled this before at Blues & Brews and unlike some of the other beers it was still the same strong ale. This was the only beer on the menu in excess of eight-percent ABV and unlike some of its strong or stronger brethren, you can taste the alcohol here. There is that standard bock sweetness from the malts around the edges, but in the middle is a rough-and-tumble beer that as the name might indicate is not for the faint of heart, er, palate.

E-Rock: I’ve been looking forward to trying the Inebriator for months. It didn’t knock my socks off, but it was still a solid beer. Neither the alcohol nor the sweetness were overpowering. Overall, it was a good representative of the genre.

Overall assessment

Stoutmeister: I have sampled Cazuela’s before but found everything, save for the ESB, to have improved since those tastings. The atmosphere is nice and chilled, though I can imagine it being fairly packed on the weekends and the like. The bar area where the brewery is located is separate from the restaurant, so you don’t have to worry about small children and the like while you enjoy a beer. Overall I thought the beer selection was good and the beers themselves are all at or above the baseline for other ABQ-area beers made in the same style. Head on over to Cazuela’s and let us know what you think.

E-Rock: If I had to use one word to describe the beers at Cazuela’s, I would say solid. Other than the IPA, I found that most of the beers were good representations of their styles. Unfortunately, I only reserved enough money for beer sampling. I am told that Cazuela’s has some great food, particularly their ceviche. On my next trip out there, I plan on heading up with a healthy appetite and heading back with a growler full of the Stoned Cream Ale.

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Cazuela’s seems to be rotating beers more often now as its operation has settled in. We will be sure to head back when there are more beers to try. It’s nice to have another good brewery out on the west side of the Rio Grande.

Until the next time we get off our lazy butts and actually write about the beer we’re drinking …

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister