Posts Tagged ‘Bosque Brewing’

Las Cruces breweries organize Beer for a Cause to help one of their own

Posted: April 9, 2019 by cjax33 in Beer in Las Cruces, Events
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Head down to Las Cruces this weekend for good beer for a good purpose.

Having a charity as a component of a beer festival is a fairly common occurrence in New Mexico. Having that charity be a brewer battling cancer is not common, but that is the case at Beer for a Cause, a special festival taking place this Sunday in Las Cruces.

Pecan Grill head brewer David Allan has been diagnosed with brain cancer, and the medical bills are understandably quite hefty. His fellow brewers are joining forces to help him out by hosting the festival at Picacho Peak from 3 to 8 p.m. For those who have not been down to visit a brewery in Las Cruces, this is a good opportunity for a good cause to do so (Picacho Peak is located at 3900 W. Picacho Ave., to further help you out).

“He is not only a great brewer and mentor but a genuinely amazing person to have in your life,” High Desert brewer David White said in a press release. “Family and friends are raising money to help in this fight. … Every little bit makes a difference.”

Tickets are just $5 apiece and available at the door. The first 500 people get a commemorative pint glass. This is not a traditional no-limit sampling event, so all pints are $5, though we are fairly certain most of the beers can be tasted before you buy (ask politely). There will also be food trucks, a silent auction, and live music from Jackson Lane, The Smokin’ Blue Band, Triple Jack, and the Derrick Harris Band. All of the proceeds will go to help David in his fight against cancer.

“You should be there, because if you are lucky enough to truly call Dr. Wackadoodle Dave your friend, then you are lucky enough,” his friend, homebrewer Dennis Talley, wrote to us in an email. “I’ve called him that for years because he’s never brewed a ‘normal’ beer in his life! Just like Dave, his beers are truly unique and brewed with passion and detail. My brother without DNA.”

A total of 15 New Mexico breweries are sending one or more kegs to the event. We will update the list as more are identified.

  • Bosque: Elephants on Parade, IPA
  • Cloudcroft: Railspike Imperial Red, Sahti Finnish Ale
  • High Desert: White Walker Stout, Cerveza
  • Icebox: TBA
  • La Cumbre: Elevated IPA, A Slice of Hefen
  • Little Toad Creek: Hop-a-Long Rye IPA
  • Lost Hiker: Ruidoso Blonde
  • Marble: Double White, Cerveza
  • Pecan Grill: Peanut Butter Pecan Porter
  • Picacho Peak: Bitchin Brown
  • Ponderosa: Schwarzbier
  • Sierra Blanca: American Style Lager
  • Spotted Dog: Bier de Chien (Farmhouse Ale), and second beer TBA
  • Tractor: TBA
  • Truth or Consequences: Good Juju (American Brown Ale)

For anyone in the Albuquerque or Santa Fe areas, this is a good opportunity for a quick trip south to try some beers unique to the area, while also supporting a worthy cause.

A big thanks to Deanna Green for sending us the information and for helping to organize this festival on David’s behalf.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

Craft breweries rejoice after Senate Bill 413 is signed into law

Posted: April 4, 2019 by cjax33 in Beer and Government, News
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Senate Bill 413 passed the Roundhouse and obtained the Governor’s signature.

The good news broke Wednesday night at the top of the page listing bills signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham. Senate Bill 413, which we profiled just recently, got the signature that craft breweries were hoping for and will become effective on July 1.

To sum up the benefits of the bill, breweries will now be able to sell beer at 11 a.m. on Sundays (no more waiting until almost halftime of NFL games); they can have private celebration permits for events like weddings, graduation parties, and so on; there will be minimum standards (50 barrels a year or 50 percent of all sales coming from beer brewed on site) for businesses to hold a small brewer license; and the excise tax has been ironed out, with breweries paying $.08 per gallon on the first 30,000 barrels produced. There are also benefits for cider producers and craft distillers.

In a legislative session crammed with so many bills, and an uncertain environment with the change in governors, no one was quite sure if the bill would pass. Thanks to State Rep. Javier Martinez and Senator Mimi Stewart, Guild lobbyists Al Park and Jason Weaks, and the tireless work of Tractor Brewing co-owner/president Skye Devore (who publicly spearheaded the Brewers Guild’s efforts), this bill not only passed both houses, but it reached the governor’s desk. At that point, all everyone could do was wait and hope it would not come down to Friday’s final deadline.

Thankfully, that wait ended Wednesday night, as Rep. Martinez tweeted out the news of the bill being signed, and a whole lot of online congratulations followed throughout the New Mexico craft beer community.

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Bosque and La Reforma achieve new level of synergy going forward

Posted: April 1, 2019 by cjax33 in Interviews, News
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Yeah, it was crowded for a couple hours at the farewell fiesta for Bosque’s San Mateo taproom.

The Bosque San Mateo taproom closed out its nearly seven-year run with a farewell fiesta on Saturday. The only thing is, Bosque will still be brewing at that location, even with La Reforma Brewery set to take over the taproom space this summer. How it will all work going forward comes down to one word — synergy — as 8900 San Mateo NE moves into the future.

To get all of this cleared up, I sat down with La Reforma co-founder John Gozigian, Bosque chief experience officer/owner Jess Griego, and Bosque chief executive officer/owner Gabe Jensen.

“There’s a lot of confusion over who’s behind each thing,” John said. “So La Reforma is a project that was put together by me, Jeff Jinnett, and some investors we brought in. Bosque is involved as well. They contributed basically the entire physical plant, brewing and kitchen equipment, and are substantial owners of the company, too.

“There’s been a lot of synergies developed as the project has moved forward. We’ve figured out a lot of efficiencies and synergies that I think will be good for both businesses. One of the coolest things that’s happening is the current brewers at Bosque San Mateo are going to remain on site and be the brewers for La Reforma. And, they’re also going to be brewing all of Bosque’s one-offs and seasonals for the foreseeable future.”

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Bosque bids a fond farewell to its original taproom with one heck of a party

Posted: March 28, 2019 by cjax33 in Events, News
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The lights at the original Bosque location are turning off this weekend, but not before a big party takes place.

The end is nigh for the Bosque San Mateo taproom. A Farewell Fiesta is scheduled for this Saturday to say good-bye to the original location, and rather than mourn its passing, the Crew and some of the staff got together to share memories, stories, and more.

“We just want it to be a celebration,” said director of culture and engagement Jessica Griego. “Just give one final thank you, but not (totally) final, to everyone who’s supported us over the last six-and-a-half years. We don’t have any of our current co-workers scheduled that day so that they can enjoy themselves. We’re (the owners) going to be serving beers.”

First, we wanted to make sure everyone has all the info about the event itself, so events coordinator Ezekiel “Zeke” Gomez joined the staff interview.

“We really just wanted to throw a big party to say good-bye,” Zeke said. “That taproom has so many memories. So many people have come from that taproom. I started at that taproom.”

The fiesta starts at 3 p.m. and runs until 9. Tickets cost $10 and can be purchased online or at the door, and Zeke promised that there will be plenty of tickets held back for door sales. The entire parking lot will be fenced in, so the Crew recommends that you take an Uber or Lyft to this one, as there will also be the Food Truck Festival at the Balloon Fiesta grounds nearby, which could create a bit of a traffic snarl on Alameda.

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Pink Boots Society ready to get a little Bossy with annual collaboration beer

Posted: March 27, 2019 by cjax33 in Events, News
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The members of the New Mexico chapter of the Pink Boots Society have a beer ready for all to enjoy. (Photo courtesy of Bosque Brewing)

The result of a recent gathering of the most talented women in New Mexico craft beer is set to go on tap this weekend. Bossy Hazy Guava IPA is the latest creation of the local chapter of the Pink Boots Society, brewed this time around at Bosque North back on International Women’s Day (March 8).

I caught up with Bosque director of culture and engagement Jessica Griego in person and Santa Fe Brewing lab director Monica Mondragon on email to learn more about the importance of this annual brew.

“We’re excited to release this beer,” Jessica said. “Monica from Santa Fe, our chapter lead, reached out to us this year to host. John (Bullard) was super excited to do that, especially with Bosque North having the space and the ability to do some fun things, make it really educational this year. John was on board as soon as I asked him.”

The recipe for Bossy (7.4% ABV) was created by one Bosque employee, with other members of the chapter then joining in for the actual brew day.

“What’s super exciting about this beer, it’s called Bossy, made by Mercedes (Donio), who’s our QA/QC lab tech,” Jessica said. “She actually is responsible for the entire recipe, the name, all of which is exciting to have the sole female on our brewing team get to do that. She led that charge and we all followed suit. We brewed it on International Women’s Day, which was great that that timing worked out.”

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Enjoy a pint or two at the Southwest Chocolate & Coffee Fest

Posted: March 15, 2019 by cjax33 in Events
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Indulge your sweet tooth this weekend.

Just as in years past, the annual Southwest Chocolate & Coffee Fest will have breweries in attendance at the two-day event at the Lujan Expo Center on the State Fairgrounds. The two sessions run this Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The participating breweries this year are Bosque, Boxing Bear, Broken Trail, Canteen, Marble, Palmer, Steel Bender, and Tractor. Here are the beer lists that they have provided to us.

  • Bosque: Bosque Lager, Bosque IPA, Scotia Scotch Ale, Elephants on Parade, Open Space Haze, Driftwood Oatmeal Stout, So Fresa So Clean (kettle soured strawberry ale)
  • Boxing Bear: Uppercut IPA, Apple Bear Cider, Red Knuckle Irish Red, Nitro Red Knuckle, Black and Blue Tart, Coffee Chocolate Milk Stout
  • Broken Trail: no beer, just spirits
  • Canteen: Panama Joe Coffee Stout, Coffee Lager, Cabana Mexican Lager, Tuttle IPA, Irish Red
  • Marble: Stout Americano, Double White, Berry White, Marble Lager
  • Palmer: Mocha Hipster Bomb, Cafe Pale Ale
  • Steel Bender: Daydream Belizer, The Village Innuendo, Skull Bucket IPA, Raspberry Dynamite; sales of cans of COMPA Los Ranchos Lager, Skull Bucket, Raspberry Dynamite, Lloyd’s 3 O’Clock Kolsch
  • Tractor: Cowgirl Coffee Stout, Chocolate Milk Stout, Blood Orange Cider, Chocolate Coffee Liquer, plus cans for sale

The beers with an obvious chocolate/coffee connection are the Panama Joe and Coffee Lager from Canteen, the Daydream Belizer (coffee/chocolate Belgian ale) from Steel Bender, and the duo of Cowgirl Coffee and Chocolate Milk Stouts from Tractor. Mocha Hipster Bomb won a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival in the collaboration beer category, as it was made by Palmer and Quarter Celtic. If you need a break from all the chocolate and coffee, then just about any of the other offerings should fit the bill.

You can purchase tickets in advance online for $10 for adults, or $12 at the door. Children between 4 and 12 cost $4 apiece.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

The Week Ahead in Beer: New brews to fit the warming weather

Posted: February 27, 2019 by cjax33 in The Week Ahead in Beer
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Greetings, New Mexico craft beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with The Week Ahead in Beer. This column covers all the breweries in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, with Santa Fe’s seven breweries, one in Los Alamos, one in Moriarty, and one in Red River also joining the party.

Stoutmeister puts on his serious face to handle The Week Ahead in Beer.

Stoutmeister puts on his serious face to handle The Week Ahead in Beer.

We are totally done with winter, right? No more straining our lower backs shoveling snow, right? Hey, we can all hope for warmer days ahead, and the wonderful porch beers that come along with those days. Bosque is feeling a bit springy with Resto Hazy Pale Ale, which debuts in cans and on tap this Friday at all locations. Resto will be the flagship beer at the forthcoming Restoration Pizza, which will open in March. It’s a single-hop, two-grain beer, perfectly refreshing for the dawn of spring. Across town, Boxing Bear is also sticking with the hops and haze on Friday. Totally Cereal Hazy IPA, made with rolled oats, will debut on tap. If haze is not really your thing, Bow & Arrow is releasing Rad Vista Pilsner on tap Friday. It’s the first single-hop pilsner in a new series, this one using Vic Secret hops. Both beers should feel quite nice on a warm day on the patio.

Another awesome beer-and-food pairing is going down this week at Ponderosa. The brewpub is teaming up with Rebel Donut today and Thursday from opening at 11 a.m. until the donut bite supply runs out. The pairings will feature donut bites made with the same beers they’re paired with, so it’s Blood Orange Wit, Bellamah Brown, and the brand-new Red Velvet Ale. Presale tickets are $10, while tickets at the door are $12.

On the new beer front this week, there are a few options to check out. Bosque also has its collaboration beer with Ex Novo now on tap, Frenemies, a West Coast pilsner made with experimental hops. Boxing Bear varies up one of its standards with Black and Blue Milk Shake. Canteen brings back Tuttle IPA and Social Capital, with the latter made with pomegranate and cardamom. Kaktus kicks over the taps with Solstic Pale Ale, Amber, Oatmeal Stout, Belgian Golden, and Darlings Doppelbock, named in honor of the Desert Darlings. Marble is feeling smooth with Marble Lager, and a big naughty with Safeword IPA. Quarter Celtic rolled out the beastly Never Cry Wolf-Dragon, a hazy IPA that was originally brewed for the canceled National IPA Challenge. Rio Bravo went ahead and made a peanut butter hazelnut brown ale and called it Squirrel Nuts, because why the heck not? Sidetrack has put its Pub Ale with Earl Grey Tea on draft, not just in the cask (but it’s there, too), plus there is more Turntable IPA and regular Pub Ale available. Toltec puts its NIPAC entry, Guapo Hoppo, on tap as well. Turtle Mountain tunes up a new Brut IPA called Toxic Masculinity.

Up in Santa Fe, Blue Corn and Beer Creek are releasing a collaboration, Santa Faze IPA. Rowley Farmhouse Ales introduces the new raspberry Oud Bruin, Fromabozen, and Agent Scully – Season Two, Episode Six (IPA).

Continue reading for all the news that is fit to blog for the week of February 25.

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Local women in craft beer share their thoughts after fallout from Brewing News controversy sinks National IPA Challenge

Posted: February 18, 2019 by cjax33 in Commentary/Analysis, National IPA Challenge, News
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The reddish lettering in the upper left amounted to the totality of the initial announcement that the NIPAC was canceled for 2019.

The NIPAC is dead.

Over the weekend, in the quietest way possible, the Brewing News left a small note on the front page of the National IPA Challenge website that the annual competition was canceled for 2019. It was perhaps the final, inevitable outcome after last week’s national furor over a story by publisher/owner Bill Metzger that ran in the Great Lakes edition of Brewing News, a national publication with multiple regional editions that comes out every two months.

Metzger chose to resign over the controversy following the publication of his blatantly sexist/misogynistic story. He later claimed it was satire in a futile effort to save himself, but few in the national brewing community saw it that way. A number of New Mexico breweries withdrew from the NIPAC in protest, making public statements condemning Metzger.

From Bosque Brewing: “Hey, Bosque Family. It is with serious disappointment that, in light of a recent article published by Brewing News, we are writing to let you know that we are pulling our beers from the National IPA Challenge effective immediately.

“The sexist and racist remarks made by editor Bill Metzger were deeply upsetting and do not reflect our sincere belief that the brewing industry should be an inclusive community free of misogyny, racism, or any behavior of the like.

“This decision was a very obvious one to make, and we appreciate your understanding.”

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Bosque refreshes its brand with updated logo and can designs

Posted: February 13, 2019 by cjax33 in News
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The new primary logo for Bosque Brewing debuted at a special gathering.

Bosque Brewing is giving its brand a little upgrade. During a Tuesday night gathering of Bosque Insider members, plus at least one beer writer, an updated logo and new can and merchandise designs were unveiled as pints of Scale Tipper, back this Thursday, flowed inside the brewing space adjacent to the San Mateo taproom.

“We started the process of the refresh in August of last year,” said Jessica Griego, Bosque’s director of culture and engagement, to the assembled crowd. “We settled on the final round last week.”

Bosque’s partner, the Utility Agency, “brought our brand new life,” Jessica added.

The updated primary logo emphasizes the brewery’s name over the ubiquitous leaf, which is now more of a background element on most of the designs.

“We are super excited to do something fresh and new,” Jessica said.

Say hello to the designs of the year-round can lineup. The two new additions are on the left.

That new will include two more year-round canned offerings alongside the four current staples of Elephants on Parade, Scotia, Lager, and IPA. Open Space Haze will soon appear in the new cans, and Jetty Jack is the renamed Brewer’s Boot Amber Ale.

“We feel (the refresh) pays tribute to the past six years of Bosque,” Jessica said. “We also feel it incorporates everything, the mountains, the river, and of course the Bosque (wilderness) in between. It pays homage to New Mexico.”

Jessica said the new can designs will start hitting shelves in April, so if you are a fan of the more classic almost-all-black design, go snatch them up now.

As for Scale Tipper, it will now be part of what will be dubbed the Boutique Line, which will encompass all of Bosque’s seasonal/specialty releases in package. The core beers will still be sold in 12-ounce cans sold in six-packs, while the Boutique beers will be sold in 16-ounce cans in four-packs.

Old friend, new look. Hello again, Scale Tipper.

You can pick up the swanky new Scale Tipper four-packs at all Bosque locations on Thursday. Be forewarned, even with the simpler design, this big IPA was gone from some of the taprooms before the sun set in the west the last time it was available. Since we did get an advance tasting, this batch has more of a fruity element, but still has that good old hoppy kick. It remains one of the more complex specialty IPAs in the state.

Overall, it was a nice presentation from Bosque, both for this here beer writer and the other people in the audience. Look for a revamped website to launch this month, with plenty more beers coming down the pipeline.

Thanks to the staff for the invite, too. It is always appreciated, especially for writers between day jobs.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

NM Brewers Guild executive director stepping down to start his own brewery

Posted: January 29, 2019 by cjax33 in Interviews, News
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The new project from outgoing Brewers Guild executive director John Gozigian.

The news that New Mexico Brewers Guild executive director John Gozigian was stepping down at the end of March did not catch us by complete surprise when it was announced last week. We were aware of John being involved in a new project coming to replace the Bosque San Mateo taproom/brewery, and seeing as how the Guild bylaws prohibit the director from having a financial stake in any brewery, that meant his time would eventually be up.

That time is almost here, so I sat down with John over lunch on Monday to talk about his new project, La Reforma, as well as his time with the Guild and what is coming down the line.

“It’s been in the works for a little while,” he said. “When Bosque announced that they were going to developing the Open Space (location), and I learned that they were basically going to leave the space on San Mateo, it got me to thinking. I never intended to get back into the brewing industry. Even less so, was I interested in getting back into the restaurant business.

“But, from an entrepreneurial point of view, you look at a second generation restaurant/brewery space becomes available, and you can potentially cut in half the cost of developing it for that use. The infrastructure is already there.”

John said he talked to managing director Gabe Jensen and ended up “shocked” that no one had approached Bosque about taking over the space. That led to John making a call to an old friend.

“I ran the idea by my former Marble and Santa Fe Dining partner Jeff (Jinnett) about his level of interest in getting back into the brewery/restaurant business,” John said. “Jeff was kind of the same mind I was after we left Marble, don’t need to do (another) brewery, don’t need to do a restaurant. It’s like the Mob, you know, every time you try to get out, they pull you back in. We tend to gravitate back to what we know and what our area of expertise is.”

Our first photo of John Gozigian as Guild executive director was snapped at Starr Brothers three years ago. My, how time flies.

It was Jeff who came up with the idea for La Reforma, which will bring a new theme and approach to a brewery in a town loaded with options.

“Over the years, Jeff had always talked about the restaurants he went to when he was a kid in Mexico City, because he grew up there,” John said. “He would go to these carnitas restaurants, these huge places that specialized in carnitas and tacos, and it was a real family (friendly) thing. There was beer, too. We had talked over the years that if we ever did a brewery again, we would do a Mexico City-style culinary experience, and do some Mexico-style beers, lagers, obviously.”

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