A supremely underserved part of metro Albuquerque just got a much-needed new brewery. Unhinged Brewing is located at 251 98th St NW, Suite F. It is the first brewery located west of the Rio Grande and south of Interstate 40.

Unhinged is a welcoming space with very friendly staff and a nice patio. Although they don’t have a kitchen, there are multiple food options available in the same strip mall to bring in, such as Wing Stop and Don Tortas.

They currently have five core beers: a lager, an IPA, a red IPA, a brown, and a stout. All are solid representations of their styles. For me, however, the stout is a little light, both in color and taste. This may actually appeal to those beer drinkers who don’t care for a heavy stout. The brewer says he is a big British beer fan, so think American-style beer with a British bent.

I briefly spoke to the brewer Paul Short, and he said the beers are close to how he wants them. They will just get some minor tweaking. The in-house brewing equipment is still in the installation phase, so the beer is being contract-brewed with Paul’s recipes and supervision. He hopes to start brewing on site by the end of the year.

Get your holly, jolly weekend on and head out I-40 westbound to the 98th Street Exit. It’s just a bit south of there on the west side of 98th. The brewery is open from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the rest of the week it is open from noon to 11. Have no fear, when we were there, they were showing the World Cup game, so no need for patrons to miss any action!

Cheers!

— AmyO