
Our friends at Bow & Arrow are getting the jump on 2023 with the second edition of their Native Land series. This second version will be a Mexican-style lager made with blue corn, and it will be available in cans and on draft at the brewery and Rambler Taproom this Friday. For those who are new here, or don’t recall all those beers ago, Native Land is a series where Bow & Arrow goes on to recruit breweries from around the country to create their own versions of the beer from a base recipe, with the intent that “participating breweries commit to donate a portion of beer sales to Native American non-profits focused on ecological stewardship, access to ancestral lands and/or revitalization of traditional agriculture and food ways,” per the Bow & Arrow website. Bow & Arrow itself will be donating to Navajo Ethno-Agriculture/Lane Farm.
New Draft:
Downshift will tap Campin’ Vibes Amber Ale in Ruidoso on Thursday, with a tapping at Outpost 1706 in Old Town to follow soon. Ex Novo tapped Dunkel Steve, and we’re not giggling, you’re giggling. High and Dry had a big tap turnover with the arrival of Bastard Man (Hazy IPA), Awkward Lovers (Lager), Vermillion Waves (Red IPA), NGC 4565 (Galaxy IPA), and Rusalka’s Kiss (Grodziskie). La Cumbre has been releasing new beers and old favorites all week for its ongoing 12th anniversary celebration, including Klitsch(KO) Imperial Stout on nitro, Siren Song (barrel-aged imperial red), barrel-aged Siberian Silk (Baltic Porter), and the upcoming Imperial Red on Thursday, Vivid Wild (Hazy IPA) on Friday, and 12th Anniversary DIPA on Saturday. Marble tapped Cerro Nevado Pale Ale. ReSource added Digital Native, a strawberry and black cherry sour. Sobremesa tapped Mesa Especial Lager. Thirsty Eye will have more Bruiser the American Pitbull Stout on Friday. Tractor brings back Boot Girl IPA on Friday. Turtle Mountain tapped Mandy Pale Ale. Vision City added a new Keller Pils. (UPDATES) Casa Vieja tapped Jamestown Spruce Tip Ale. Ex Novo added Phantastic Voyage Hazy IPA. Harmon Lane goes big with a Barleywine.
Up in Santa Fe, Second Street tapped Sloppy Sloth Neomexicanus Hazy IPA, and we expect cans will follow at some point soon.
New Package:
Ex Novo goes Off the Record with its new hazy IPA in cans and on draft. Gravity Bound just rolled out a fresh batch of On the Run German Pilsner in cans and on draft. La Cumbre managed to sneak in the Winter Edition of Project Dank in cans and on draft last Friday, and also will have some archived bottles available this week, including 2020 and 2021 La Negra Imperial Stout on Thursday and Friday, respectively, plus 2020 Siren Song on Saturday. (UPDATES) Boxing Bear will release Coconut Chocolate Milk Stout in cans at the Firestone and West Downtown taprooms on Friday. Canteen brings back Panama Joe Coffee Stout in cans and on draft. Ex Novo goes Off the Record with its new hazy IPA in cans and on draft. Sierra Blanca rolled out bottles and draft of Whiskey Stout.
Notable Events:
Today (Wednesday) — The last Poetry & Beer of the year starts at 7 p.m. at Tractor Wells Park.
Friday — Brace yourselves for Ugly Sweater Goth Night & Dark Market at Tractor Wells Park from 8 to 11 p.m.
Saturday — The La Cumbre anniversary party rages on all day at both locations, with live music at the brewery from 5 to 8 p.m.
Sidetrack wanted us to highlight the Downtown Shop & Stroll that runs from 4 to 8 p.m., so make sure to stop at your favorite downtown breweries, too.
Sunday — Bosque Telshor hosts its first Holiday Market from noon to 6 p.m.
The Monthly Variety Show takes over JUNO from 2 to 6 p.m.
Rio Bravo hosts a Christmas Market from 3 to 7 p.m.
Tumbleroot has a rare Sunday metal show, with Armed for Apocalypse headlining, and The Illegal Aliens and Dirtwyrm supporting, starting at 7 p.m.
Tuesday — The next Pints & Pencils event ($30 per person) is set for 6 p.m. at ReSource.
Quick News Bits:
Bosque North will be accepting new, unopened toys for the Sandoval County Annual Toy Drive through December 20.
Both Canteen locations are accepting new, unwrapped gifts, books, and stocking stuffers for the Make Merry Project for APS Title 1 homeless students ages 0 to 18. This drive runs through Thursday.
ReSource will be closed Saturday to celebrate the wedding of two of their beertenders.
All Marble locations will close at 5:30 p.m. this Monday so the staff can gear up for their holiday party.
The New Mexico Brewers Guild is looking for a new executive director. Tess Vidalis is resigning at the end of the year, ending her term two years early. If you are interested in applying, visit the Guild website.
Albuquerque metro area breweries
Boese Brothers Brewery — Featured seasonal: Double Dead Red (7.5% ABV), a hop-forward red ale that has long been a fan-favorite specialty at BBB.
Bombs Away Beer Company — Featured seasonal: Hazy Chain DIPA v.15 (6.45% ABV, 100+ IBU), featuring a combo of Warrior, Mosaic, and Sabro hops.
Bosque Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Little Tipper IPA (6.2% ABV, 45 IBU), a sessionable version of the popular Scale Tipper.
Bow & Arrow Brewing — Featured seasonal: Dark Harvest Dunkelweizen (6.9% ABV, 14 IBU), available on draft for a limited time, this German-style wheat beer has a new recipe since the last time it was brewed as a collab.
Boxing Bear Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Scotch Rocket (8.1% ABV), a delicious wee heavy to keep you warm this winter, available on draft and in cans.
Brew Lab 101 Beer & Cider Company — Featured seasonal: Bitter Chill, a cold IPA, on tap for a limited time.
Canteen Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Pond Hopper (6.3% ABV, 24 IBU), an English ale made in collaboration with Malteurop Malting.
Casa Vieja Brewery — Featured seasonal: Tripel Threat, a hefty Belgian-style brew.
Cazuela’s Seafood & Mexican Grill
Differential Brewing — Featured seasonal: Red Corn Rye Lager (4.8% ABV, 16 IBU) is a summer lager with a nice rye bite to it.
Downshift Brewing at Outpost 1706 — Featured seasonal: Gratitude Session IPA (4.2% ABV, 40 IBU), brewed to support local charities, right now $1 from every pint sold goes to the Shelter Fund of the Community Foundation of Lincoln County.
Echoes Brewery — Featured seasonal: Echoes IPA, their first beer is a hoppy, but not too hoppy, introduction to the new brewery on Gold in the old Burt’s Tiki Lounge space.
Enchanted Circle Brewing Taproom
Ex Novo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Nevermore (12.1% ABV), a black barleywine aged in whiskey barrels with smoked figs and cacao nibs, now available in cans and on draft.
Flix Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: FlixBrühaus, their version of an Oktoberfest.
Gravity Bound Brewing — Featured seasonal: Crumbling Blues (5.7% ABV), a blueberry crumble cake inspired sour.
Harmon Lane Brewing at Southwest Grape and Grain — Featured seasonal: Pumpkin Porter (6.9% ABV, 21 IBU), a darker take on a traditional pumpkin ale.
High and Dry Brewing — Featured seasonal: How Do You Spell Kolsch?, a sweet, delicious treat of a beer whose supply has nearly run out.
Hops Brewery — Featured seasonal: Killer Bee Pale Ale (6.3% ABV, 23 IBU), this beer is made with actual honey from killer bee hives in Southern New Mexico.
JUNO Brewery
Kaktus Brewing — Featured seasonal: Helles Lager, which is pretty much the closest beer they have to being a year-round offering, because the regulars in Bernalillo demand it all the time.
La Cumbre Brewing — Featured seasonal: Gilded Age Porter (5.7% ABV, 35 IBU), a most metal porter, available in cans on draft, and we tested that metal status by consuming only this beer during the recent Wayfarer/Wake/Heretical Sect show at Sister. Hails!
La Reforma Brewery — Featured seasonal: Copper Canyon Pale Ale (6.9% ABV), which benefits two children’s orphanages in the Copper Canyon region of Northern Mexico. It is also available at Santa Fe and Tractor.
Late Shift Lager House at The Craftroom — Featured seasonal: Hop Villain (6.8% ABV, 102 IBU), a beastly IPA that is a change of sorts from the lager-dominated lineup.
Lizard Tail Brewing — Featured seasonal: Long Nosed Tripel (9.2% ABV, 30 IBU), the biggest beer on the menu.
Marble Brewery — Featured seasonal: Turkish Coffee Stout (7.5% ABV), a spiced coffee stout that will keep you warm inside. Click on the different taprooms in the menu for the updated beer lists for each location.
Nexus Brewery — Featured seasonal: New Mexico Snow Storm IPA (7.2% ABV, 36 IBU), the runner-up at the 2021 New Mexico IPA Challenge had another strong finish at the 2022 NMIPAC, coming in fourth.
Palmer Brewery and Cider House — Featured seasonal: 2 Robs Make a Rita, an annual collaboration with Starr Brothers Brewing.
Ponderosa Brewing Co. — Featured seasonal: Italian Pilsner, the winner of back-to-back gold medals at the 2021 Great American Beer Festival and the 2022 World Beer Cup, is available on draft and in cans.
Quarter Celtic Brewpub— Featured seasonal: Becca’s Blend, a spunky little red rye IPA.
Red Door Brewing — Featured seasonal: Hibiscus White IPA is still available on draft for a limited time.
ReSource Brewing — Featured seasonal: TBA, check with the brewery to see what is on tap at the moment.
Rio Bravo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Black Sparrow (13% ABV, 60 IBU), a rum-barrel-aged imperial stout.
Rumor Brewing (formerly Ale Republic) — Featured seasonal: Love (4.4% ABV, 12 IBU), a smoothie sour with sweet and tart cherries.
Sidetrack Brewing — Featured seasonal: Railyard Reaper Oatmeal Stout (5.2% ABV, 28 IBU), when the brewer tells you it’s his homage to Sleeping Dog Stout of the late Chama River, you instantly order a pint.
Sobremesa — Featured seasonal: Dos Años, a barrel-aged Baltic porter brewed for the brewpub’s recent second anniversary.
Starr Brothers Brewing — Featured seasonal: Therewolf, the annual Oktoberfest release, is running low on draft.
Steel Bender Brewyard — Featured seasonal: SereniTEA Now! (6.5% ABV, 10 IBU), the annual collaboration with Canteen and High and Dry benefits Agora Crisis Center.
Thirsty Eye Brewing — Featured seasonal: Biscochito Liquido, a winter brown ale brewed with cinnamon and anise, it hits all the right spots for the season.
Tractor Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Javi Pre-Prohibition Lager (4.9% ABV, 23 IBU), a special beer brewed in the memory of Javier “Javi” Garcia, a friend of the brewery who tragically lost his life in a bicycle accident.
Turquoise Trail Brewing — The brewery is closed at its original location, but is looking for a new home elsewhere in Albuquerque, as we covered here.
Turtle Mountain Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: The Zeus Effect (4.3% ABV, 50 IBU), a session wet-hop IPA, will have $1 donated to Special Olympics from every pint sold.
Unhinged Brewing — Welcome to the listings to this new brewery at 98th Street and Central! We wrote a short preview, so go check out the opening lineup, which includes Non-Linear IPA, Jest-a-Lager, Foolin’ Around Brown, ScRew lOose StOuT, and Off the Rails (Red IPA).
Vision City Brewstillery — Featured seasonal: Double Vision (7.1% ABV), a strong Belgian wheat, is one of several beers on tap at this new brewery/distillery, which we already previewed.
Santa Fe breweries
Beer Creek Brewing — Featured seasonal: Black Wedding, a black IPA, if you could not guess, is available for the winter months.
Chile Line Brewing — Featured seasonal: A Huevo (5% ABV, 20 IBU) is a Yerba Matte-inspired beer.
Hidden Mountain Brewing (formerly Blue Corn Brewery) — Featured seasonal: Naughty or Spiced, a winter warmer with mulling spices, nicely balanced for the holidays.
Rowley Farmhouse Ales — Featured seasonal: Chantal (8.5% ABV, 30 IBU), this French-style saison was brewed in honor of a friend of the brewery who passed away after a battle with cancer. Available in cans and on draft.
Santa Fe Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Adobe Igloo is back in cans and on draft for the winter months.
Second Street Brewery — Featured seasonal: Boondock Skye (4.8% ABV, 35 IBU) is a crushable session IPA that everyone needs to drink up to make room for new seasonals.
Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery — Featured seasonal: White Rabbit Wit, the first in a series of new witbiers.
Other breweries you need to visit
Bathtub Row Brewing — Featured seasonal: Owl Peak Blue Corn Lager (5.4% ABV, 14 IBU), a collaboration lager with Owl Peak Farm in La Madera.
Little Toad Creek Brewing and Distilling
Red River Brewing and Distilling — Featured seasonal: Steam Coffee Porter (6.5% ABV, 30 IBU), from the brewery: “Smooth and malty with a solid creamy head. Roasted grains are well balanced with base malts and just enough hops to offset any residual sweetness. Add in some coffee from Steam and it’s winter in a glass.”
Sierra Blanca Brewing — Featured seasonal: Peanut Butter Porter, because let’s face it, there aren’t many NM breweries using peanut butter in their beers, but it’s still a very popular adjunct.
Truth or Consequences Brewing — Featured seasonal: Mastodon (12.6% ABV), a Belgian-style quad with flavors of banana, dried fruit, and caramel, then aged in whiskey barrels to add hints of toasted oak and rich honey, available in bottles and on draft.
* * * *
That’s all for this week! If you have any questions or comments, leave them below or contact us on our Facebook page.
Keep supporting local!
— Stoutmeister