They’re here! Yes, it’s still summer and too hot and all that, but the German lagers are here, and they’re spectacular. We have already been blessed with Oktoberfiesta at Steel Bender, Oktoberfest at Santa Fe (in my opinion, their best batch in quite some time), Herr Fest at Turtle Mountain, Marblefest at Marble (draft only so far), and Flocktoberfest at Flock of Moons. Now the others are rolling out, mostly on Friday, but Ex Novo quietly released German Overalls (Märzen) and Eternal Fest in cans and on draft already. I got to taste both last night before we walked up to Sunshine Theater to see The Sword and Red Fang (excellent show) and yeah, these might be the best ones they have done to date. Friday will mark the return of Traktoberfest on draft, while Boxing Bear confirmed that OktoBEARfest will have a formal release as well (it’s already available in cans at select retailers). But, let’s face it, the gold standard around these parts for some time has been La Cumbre’s Oktoberfest (Märzen), and it will get a formal release on Friday that will include fasser (cask) tappings at both taprooms. You don’t have to bust out the lederhosen and dirndls just yet, but these are some glorious times to have all of these great lagers back in our lives. We can almost feel autumn’s return, and it cannot arrive soon enough!
New Draft:
In addition to the German lagers above, Painted Lady recently tapped a fresh batch of You’ve Got Red on You, a hoppy red ale, and a special limited batch of Boogedy Boogedy Boo, a porter now with the addition of Indonesian vanilla. Turtle Mountain tapped Gold Star Imperial IPA.
Up in Santa Fe, Tumbleroot tapped their Festbier, too. (UPDATE) Open Space added Garden Day: Clary Sage, a new saison.
New Package:
Boxing Bear also released their New Mexico State Fair collaboration beer, Centennial Lager, in cans and on draft (see this article for more details). Lasso released Kolsch in cans and on draft.
Notable Events:
Today (Wednesday) — Comedy and Magic returns to Tractor Wells Park at 7 p.m.
Thursday — Painted Lady hosts The Crypt Keeper’s Comedy Hour at 7 p.m.
Friday — Goth Night is back at Tractor Wells Park at 8 p.m.
The Haunted Trolley Tour starts at Painted Lady at 8 p.m.
Saturday — It’s time to celebrate the sixth anniversary of Boxing Bear at The Bridges on Tramway, starting at 11 a.m. and running all day and night.
Drag Bingo is back at Canteen at 1 p.m.
La Cumbre hosts the Summer Book Fair at their Westside taproom from 3 to 7 p.m.
Quick News Bits:
Santa Fe Brewing is selling some Zozobra pint glasses at all of their taprooms to go with the Zozobra 102 Mexican Dark Lager that’s currently on tap and in cans. They’re just $10 apiece, but the supply is limited.
Good news, the Calavida Cantina kitchen is open again, serving up a whole new menu of delights. Check out their social media or click on the link below under Featured Beers.
Ponderosa now has 32-ounce crowlers, so you can take your favorite beers home without having to dig up and wash out that old glass growler anymore.
Albuquerque metro area breweries
Boese Brothers Brewery — Featured seasonal: Zeus Juice White IPA (8.3% ABV), loaded with Citra and Centennial hops, it is a big and flavorful seasonal IPA.
Bombs Away Beer Company — Featured seasonal: N/M38 Lager (4.8% ABV, 30 IBU), a Mexican-style lager made with all locally grown malts.
Bow & Arrow Brewing — Featured seasonal: I Like Big Buttes (8% ABV) not only has arguably the best beer name of the year so far, it’s also an outstanding classic DIPA available in cans and on draft.
Boxing Bear Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Old Grizzled Bear (5% ABV), an English-style pale ale, made for fans of the old school hop-forward brews.
Brekki Brekki/Cantina Craftworks — Featured seasonal: The beers made at Brekki Brekki are for the entire restaurant collective under the Cantina Hospitality Group banner. Contact each location for what’s on tap.
Brew Lab 101 Beer & Cider Company — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Calavida Cantina — Featured seasonal: Celtic Hermano (6.1% ABV, 42 IBU), this stout (not this batch) was the first one they brewed on the system in the old Boxing Bear space.
Canteen Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Liberty Lager (4.8%, 8 IBU), a crushable lager that will help you beat the heat in cans and on draft.
Casa Vieja Brewery — Featured seasonal: Duke’s Red Irish Ale (5% ABV), a brewery original back on tap for a limited time.
Differential Brewing — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Dripline Brewery — Featured seasonal: Super Bloom APA (5.4% ABV), a sweet, floral pale ale that goes quite well with the new lineup of tasty smash burgers from the kitchen.
Ex Novo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Twice in a Lifetime (6.6% ABV), a hoppy hybrid of a cold IPA and a West Coast IPA is back in cans and on draft for a limited time.
Flix Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Flock of Moons Brewing — Featured seasonal: Neumond (4.7% ABV, 26 IBU), an absolutely brilliant interpretation of the German schwarzbier (dark lager) style.
Gravity Bound Brewing — Featured seasonal: Night Hike (5.4% ABV), a delectable Czech dark lager.
High and Dry Brewing — Featured seasonal: Unbalanced Breakfast (4.8% ABV), an oatmeal stout with a low ABV that still boasts a lot of flavor.
Hops Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
JUNO Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Kaktus Brewing — Featured seasonal: Lion Hearted IPA (5.9% ABV, 60 IBU), a quaffable English-style hoppy ale.
La Cumbre Brewing — Featured seasonal: PLS German Pilsner (4.8% ABV), a smooth lager with a that’s perfect for the middle of summer, available in cans and on draft.
Lasso Brewing — Featured seasonal: Kolsch, which we noted above has been released this week for the first time in cans and on draft.
Marble Brewery — Featured seasonal: Lager Du Blanc (5.3% ABV), a single-hopped lighter lager that will help finish off summer.
Nexus Brewery — Featured seasonal: Kyoto Gold Summer Lager (4.9% ABV), described by the brewery as a “Japanese-inspired refreshing (lager), Kyoto Gold combines flaked rice with subtle Lemondrop hops for a delicate citrus finish.”
Painted Lady Bed and Brew — Featured seasonal: Boogedy Boogedy Boo!, a robust porter that’s excellent for spooky nights, now with Indonesian vanilla added for a limited time.
Ponderosa Brewing Co. — Featured seasonal: Bellamah Detour (6.7% ABV, 30 IBU), an imperial brown ale named for the recent road construction in the Sawmill District.
Quarter Celtic Brewpub— Featured seasonal: Vienna Lager, the most awarded one-off that keeps coming back because, well, it brings all the medals to the brewery.
Rio Bravo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Somos Brewnidos (5.2% ABV, 18 IBU), a New Mexican lager perfect for patio days or United games, with a portion of the proceeds from draft and can sales going to the Somos Unidos Foundation.
Rumor Brewing — Featured seasonal: La Madera Mild (5.5% ABV, 22 IBU), a chewy little biscuit of an English-style brew that is perfect before or after a day on the hiking trails around Cedar Crest.
Sidetrack Brewing — Featured seasonal: Modus Touch (5.6% ABV), an English golden ale made with American hops, now available in cans as well as on draft.
Starr Brothers Brewing — Featured seasonal: Tamale Wood Nights (4.8% ABV, 27 IBU), an international amber lager that goes great with World Cup matches this summer.
Steel Bender Brewyard — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfiesta (7% ABV), because autumn is a state of mind, and this beer will get you there early in cans and on draft.
Sunday Service Motor Company — Featured seasonal: Still closed for renovations.
The Tatted Bee Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Thirsty Eye Brewing — Featured seasonal: Shut the Front Dort, a good lager with one of our favorite beer names of all time.
The 377 Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Tractor Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Old Wizard Fingers Doppelbock (7.2% ABV), a delectable dark lager.
Turtle Mountain Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Turtle Claw Hard Seltzer (7% ABV), and yeah, they requested we highlight the seltzer, so that’s what we’re doing because we’re nice. It’s not our thing, but it might be yours.
Unhinged Brewing — Featured seasonal: A Ton of Fruit, a prickly pear wheat ale.
Santa Fe breweries
Beer Creek Brewing — Featured seasonal: Temporada (6.1% ABV), a Belgian saison brewed with 100-percent New Mexico-grown pilsner malt and Neomexicanus hops. Described by the brewery as “crisp and dry with hints of bubblegum. Not a Brett beer.”
Nuckolls Brewing — Featured seasonal: Coal Car (5.5% ABV), an oatmeal stout that’s just one of 11 house beers now available.
Rowley Farmhouse Ales — Featured seasonal: Second-String Loser (9.6% ABV, 26 IBU), a Belgian golden strong ale.
Santa Fe Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (6% ABV), the classic German-style lager is back in cans and on draft.
Second Street Brewery — Featured seasonal: Butterfly IPA, a true session IPA with an ABV under 4 percent, available in cans and on draft.
Travel Bug — Featured seasonal: A reader tipped us off that this brewery in a travel bookstore has started rotating beers now, and currently on tap are Suelo Red Ale, Flaxon Ale, and Pale Ale.
Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery — Featured seasonal: Festbier (6.6% ABV), a traditional German lager that was just tapped earlier this week.
Other breweries you need to visit
Bathtub Row Brewing — Featured seasonal: Baltic Porter (7.9% ABV), a big beast of a beer that keeps thoughts of glorious winter alive.
Downshift Brewing — Featured seasonal: Gratitude Pale Ale (5.4% ABV, 40 IBU), brewed to support local charities, and right now $1 from every pint sold goes to helping in the recovery efforts from the South Fork and Salt fires.
Jemez Mountain Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Señor Lager, which as you may have guessed from the name is a Mexican-style lager.
Open Space Brewing — Featured seasonal: Skeleton Ridge (10% ABV), a Belgian dark strong named in honor of one of the more difficult, but totally worth it hiking trails in the Gila Wilderness. Welcome to the listings, friends! Open Space is located at 11990 U.S. Highway 180 in Santa Clara, just east of Silver City.
Red River Brewing and Distilling — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Sierra Blanca Brewing — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Truth or Consequences Brewing — Featured seasonal: 6-7 IPA (6.7% ABV, 67 IBUs), a collaboration with Tractor Brewing from the recent Beer Prom event at Ex Novo.
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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.
Keep supporting local!
— Stoutmeister
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 
Thanks for the lowdown on the fall lager releases! You are spot on about Santa Fe brewing’s offering. The color is a little off but flavor wise it Finally has descent character. La Cumbre definitely has the market cornered for authenticity and is my personal favorite year after year. Steel Bender gave it a hell of run for its money last year, can’t wait to try this year’s offering from them and all the local breweries as well as the typical German offerings available in our market. Cheers! Note: Boxing Bear’s release is already at the bottom of my list this year, very drab..