Posts Tagged ‘Canteen Brewhouse’

The Week Ahead in Beer: Charitable causes take center stage at multiple breweries

Posted: April 24, 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, one in Red River, and one in Truth or Consequences 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.

The final days of April seem to have a theme of giving back to good causes. It starts this week at Dialogue with Finola’s Fight Benefit Concert featuring the Memphis P Tails and Sex for Admission. There will be a raffle and a silent auction during the concert, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m. It all benefits Finola, a friend of the brewery who is battling cancer. Then on Friday, our friend Carlos Contreras wrote a guest post on a special Art Fusion for a Cause at Ponderosa, benefiting the New Mexico Autism Society. Sunday will feature a pair of events, one in Albuquerque and the other in Santa Fe. The former will feature the release of One Albuquerque shirts benefiting the Albuquerque Police Department at Canteen at 4 p.m., with live music from Todd Tijerina. The Santa Fe event will be at Tumbleroot at 4, as Soldier Songs and Voices hosts a benefit concert for veterans. Special guest Susan Gibson will also perform at this free event, with donations accepted at the door.

On the new beer front this week, there are a few options to check out. Bombs Away hits the mark with version five of its Hazy Chain DIPA. Bosque puckers up with Re Re’s Shandy. Canteen brings back Fill in the Blanco and Coffee Lager. Cantero is feeling the season with Jelly Bean Sour and Chocolate Bunny Marshmallow Stout. Kaktus kicked out some German Pilsner, Maibock, and Lemongrass Blonde. Marble still has some celebratory beers on tap like the Malbec Zinfandel Saison. Ponderosa doubles down on Doppelbock. Quarter Celtic introduces Rosemarie, a rosé ale with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and hibiscus. Sidetrack has more Turntable IPA and Co-Mo IPA. Steel Bender walks a mile with The Whole Shoe Belgo IPA.

Up in Santa Fe, Blue Corn added Santa Muerte Collab IPA. Second Street takes it to the Chin-Gose, while also adding Kohatu Pale Ale. Tumbleroot has just filled bottles of Sour Golden Ale with apricots. Down in Truth or Consequences, T or C Brewing is adding four new beers during Thursday’s beer fiesta, including a pale ale, a wheat ale, and two lagers.

Continue reading for all the news that is fit to blog for the week of April 22.

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Brewery District breweries jump on board neighborhood block party

Posted: April 18, 2019 by cjax33 in Events, News
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There’s a beer party on Friday and everyone is invited!

It is not often that a beer festival, big or small, sneaks up on us, but that was the case with the Bacon Jam Block Party. This neighborhood event, which will feature four breweries, is set for Friday from 2 to 11 p.m.

The new restaurant Bacon Jam is located on the southeast corner of Girard and Candelaria, and neighbors Palmer Brewery and Left Turn Distilling have been instrumental in helping the owners prepare for this mini-festival, which is free to the public.

“He’s just wanting to have a get-together to introduce his new restaurant, Bacon Jam, to the neighborhood,” Left Turn owner Brian Langwell said of the Bacon Jam owner. “And, let everyone know there’s a bunch of breweries in the neighborhood. … (But) they usually know that. The theory was we’re going to get every brewery in the neighborhood together and do this. We got every brewery except La Cumbre. They didn’t see the need to send someone half a block down the street.”

Rather than block off part of Girard, the party will be contained in the large Bacon Jam parking lot and patio that faces Candelaria.

“We’re going to serve on their patio outside,” Brian said. “The four breweries that are participating are Red Door, Canteen, ourselves Palmer and Left Turn, and Cantero. We’re going to set up our little portable booths out on the patio out there. They’ll do beers and we’ll do cocktails. We’re going to block off the majority of their parking lot out there, have a stage out there and do live music. I know the guy from Bacon Jam is going to do food specials so everybody can try his food.”

If you have driven up Candelaria recently, you might have noticed this spot, which will be the setting for the block party.

The Left Turn/Palmer tasting room will be open during the festival.

“We’re going to be doing really simple stuff (at the festival),” Brian said. “We’re going to have limited staff.”

“If they want the fancy stuff, they can come in here,” Rob Palmer added.

The festival will mark the debut of the new Left Turn bourbon, which is being readied for bottling as soon as the labels arrive, Brian said.

Take note, this is not a free sampling festival. Beer will be sold in pints, only. A portion of the proceeds will go to the charity Warehouse 508.

As for the beers being poured:

  • Canteen: Fill in the Blanco (White IPA), High Plains Pilsner, Boysenberry Wheat, Munich Dunkel
  • Cantero: IPA, Deaf Dog Brown, Brew-ha-rista (Red Chile Stout), Cream Sour
  • Red Door: Rickety Cricket (Green Tea Raspberry Hefeweizen), Lemongrass Pils, Unhinged Cider

“It’s just basically a big block party to introduce Bacon Jam to the neighborhood,” Brian said. “I’m just the guy that did the permits.”

Thanks to Brian and Rob for the quick chat and the helpful info, and of course for wading through those giant stacks of paper to get those permits done.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

Tart at Heart 5 beer list leans heavily toward local breweries

Posted: April 11, 2019 by cjax33 in Events, News
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You do not need to wear a bunny hat to enjoy Tart at Heart’s beer lineup this year, but you could.

After waiting patiently, the beer list for Saturday’s Tart at Heart 5 is finally set and ready to go. For event details, check our previous story.

Twenty-one of the beers that will be available for sampling are from 10 local breweries, with the other eight coming from out of state for Saturday’s 2-to-5 p.m. event at Sister Bar.

If any last-minute changes occur, we will update this list. UPDATE: It turns out The 377 Brewery is also in attendance, bringing two more local sours to the event.

  • Bell’s Brewery: L’Appel du Vide-Blackberry Sour
  • Boulevard: Love Child #9
  • Bow & Arrow: Cosmic Arrow, Desert Revival
  • Canteen: Social Capital with jasmine and raspberry
  • Cantero: Tamarind Sour
  • Dialogue: Sour Raspberry, ODB Kettle Soured English Mild
  • Firestone Walker: Bretta Tangerine
  • Goose Island: Bourbon Country Bramble Rye
  • La Cumbre: Blood Orange Sour
  • Marble: 111 Rosé, Abbey Brett
  • New Belgium: Transatlantique Kriek
  • Odell: Brett Golden Sour Ale
  • Red Door: Blueberry Pie Berliner Weisse, Lemonade Stand
  • Rio Bravo: Cherry on Brett
  • Rowley Farmhouse Ales: Cote d’or Pinot Noir, Greyscale, Sonora Weisse, Grandissant (VIP only)
  • Steel Bender: Pucker Up Buttercup, Brett Innuendo, Ned’s Sour Pail, Ned’s Sour Pail with boysenberry, Viejo Agrio
  • Stone: Winter Harvest-Vintage 2014
  • The 377: Freya, Cosmos
  • Upslope: Wild Christmas

Pack some antacids, leave the car at home, and have fun this weekend. After all, there will only be about two-and-a-half hours between the end of this and the start of the New Mexico United game.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

Canteen kicks things up a notch for its 25th anniversary year

Posted: April 8, 2019 by cjax33 in Look Back/Look Ahead Series 2018-19
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The oldest brewery in town is throwing a party this June, and it’s gonna be BIG.

The answer to the question of what is the oldest brewery in Albuquerque is apparent the moment anyone walks into Canteen Brewhouse, what with the 25th anniversary signs plastered everywhere.

It has been a long road from the early days brewing in the back of the Il Vicino location in Nob Hill to the current brewery, so to take stock of it all, I sat down with head brewer Zach Guilmette and general manager Jamie Schwebach in one of our last Look Back/Look Ahead Series interviews for 2018-19.

“We saw continued growth last year,” Jamie said. “Having the patio redone was a huge help. We were able to showcase the beers Zach was making. I think we’ve had a lot of fun with a lot of different styles of beer.”

“The beer is the beer, but you can’t succeed without good service, someone who is connecting with the community,” Zach added.

Head brewer Zach Guilmette with his pride and joy, High Plains Pilsner.

Zach and Jamie spent most of the interview heaping praise upon one another, and both are quite right that things have gotten a lot better over the last year at Canteen.

“What I’ve noticed after being here three years is the last year has really seen a much bigger outreach to the community with different, diversified events that Jamie has put on,” Zach said. “Such as weightlifting competitions, drag queen bingo, and at least one other fun event.”

“I think we’ve created some great partnerships with the community,” Jamie said. “We’re making sure we’re giving back to the community, whether it’s hosting nonprofit night and giving 20 percent sales back, to partnering to run 5Ks, to the Valle De Oro partnership with the development of their space in the South Valley. It’s been good opportunities to give back. … I really feel our owners have really encouraged that, really encouraged community partnerships. It’s been fun.”

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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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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: Just don’t go full McGregor this weekend

Posted: March 13, 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.

St. Patrick’s Day is this Sunday, so as one would expect, there are gonna be a whole lot of themed events and Irish-style beers coming out this weekend. Just try not to overdo it; people really don’t like the “jolly, drunk Irishman” as much as pop culture likes to pretend (or worse, act like a certain infamous MMA fighter who hails from Ireland). Quarter Celtic, naturally, is one of the best places to enjoy a proper NM twist on the holiday. The brewpub celebrates its anniversary party on both Saturday and Sunday. There will be a limited menu of Celtic fare only (so no nachos, folks), with lots of delicious beers available, of course. Outside there will be a tent and a separate beer station, plus live music. Get there early for the barrel-aged Irish Handcuffs Imperial Stout. Marble is bringing music back to the downtown stage with a St. Paddy’s Day Festival on Saturday featuring the Squash Blossom Boys, The Riddims, The Moon Thieves, and Red Light Cameras, plus of course Paddy McNitro Stout will be back on tap at all three locations. Canteen will have a St. Paddy’s Celebration with bagpipes at 3, music by Beloved at 4, and plenty of beer and food specials. Remember, you can also take six-packs of Irish Red home. Rio Bravo will host a St. Paddy’s Brunch and Beer Pong starting at 11 a.m. Tractor has Adam Hooks playing a selection of classic hits by The Pogues at the Nob Hill Taproom on Saturday at 5 p.m. Second Street will have the Albuquerque & Four Corners Pipe ‘N Drum Band at the original location on Sunday at 4:30 p.m., with a full menu of special Irish foods available all weekend at all three locations, plus plenty of special beers on tap.

There is also the big Steel Bender second anniversary party, which we previewed in a separate story. It will include a very Irish-themed Sunday in terms of food and beers.

On the new beer front this week, there are a few options to check out. Ale Republic has switched up quite a few taps, with Brown Bear Brown, Blonde, Trail Head DIPA, and Lone Wolf (American Light Ale) now available. Bow & Arrow has the new Coyote Cool (Red Saison) in bottles and on tap. Cantero has a new Lager and Mango Fria on tap. Dialogue drops some Munich Dunkel and Belgian Dark Strong with cherries, along with Dry Irish Stout this weekend. Flix Brewhouse is feeling Marvelous with a new oatmeal stout, plus Saison De Walt makes its annual return. La Cumbre added an Irish Red and Pogue Mahone stout. Marble recently introduced Chicansima, a Mexican dark lager brewed in collaboration with the National Hispanic Cultural Center. Ponderosa tapped the long-awaited Belgian Golden Strong, and Cocoa Puffs Baltic Porter should be on tap by this weekend. Steel Bender has Daydream Belizer, a chocolate-and-coffee Belgian ale, available on Friday, plus Los Ranchos and CE-1 Ciders on Saturday, and Mulvaney’s Irish Red on nitro on Sunday.

Up in Santa Fe, it’s quiet again, but that won’t last long. Over in Los Alamos, we got an update from Bathtub Row with plenty of seasonal brews available, including an Irish Red and an Imperial Stout.

Continue reading for all the news that is fit to blog for the week of March 11.

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Marble and other local breweries send some big checks to Sierra Nevada

Posted: March 1, 2019 by cjax33 in News
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The Marble team presents a check to Sierra Nevada for the sales of Resilience IPA. From left, brewer John Carroll, packaging line director Nate Jackson, head brewer John Heine, and president/brewmaster Ted Rice.

The results are in from one big charitable effort on the part of several New Mexico breweries, and they are good. Marble Brewery presented a check for more than $22,000 to Sierra Nevada Brewing’s Camp Fire Relief Fund on Friday, all from the sales of Resilience Butte County Proud IPA.

Marble was one of six New Mexico breweries, along with 1,400 across the country, to take a Sierra Nevada recipe and make a beer where 100 percent of proceeds went to charity. It was needed to help the victims of the wildfires in Northern California that crept right up to the outskirts of Chico, where Sierra Nevada’s original brewery is still located.

“It’s so insane, and the biggest thing we wanted to do is thank everyone, because it was everyone’s consumption of this fantastic beer that helped us raise so much money,” said Marble social media director Leah Black. “It was with 1,400 other breweries around the country, so ours is just a small chunk of what will help this cause.”

Steel Bender Brewyard reported that it raised $9,500 for its batch of Resilience, while Canteen Brewhouse, Quarter Celtic Brewpub, and Cloudcroft Brewing did not have their final figures available. Rowley Farmhouse Ales still has some Resilience on draft, so if you never got to try this flavorful West Coast IPA, head up to Santa Fe and drink for a good cause. UPDATE: Cloudcroft also still has it on tap, so if you are headed south for the weekend, make sure to stop by.

A huge thank you to all the participating breweries, to Sierra Nevada for coming up with the idea, and of course, as Leah said, to all the hopheads who bought a pint or two.

Enjoy the weekend!

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

Stout Challenge VIII: Blackened is the end?

Posted: February 1, 2019 by cjax33 in Beer Battle, Stout Challenge 2019
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Last year’s Stout Challenge participants, not all of whom are returning for 2019.

The days of the regular stout may be coming to an end. Declining sales has led to many breweries dropping stouts from their year-round lineups. Meanwhile, the Crew continues to change and evolve. We have lost members to moving out of state for work, others are greatly limited by parenthood or other personal matters, and thus, there is a chance this could be our final Stout Challenge. (Though we really, really, really hope not.)

For those who have not followed us for long, every Super Bowl Sunday the Crew gathers at Franz Solo’s house, armed with as many house stouts as we can fit into growlers. With the lovely Ms. Margaret as our volunteer pouring guru, we try them in a blind taste test not dissimilar to the IPA Challenge. Our goal is to try the stouts that are on regularly throughout the year and determine which one is our personal favorite, based around the categories of aroma, flavor, mouthfeel, and finish.

For anyone who thinks that this probably just means we are ranking the same top four or five stouts every year, er, well, no. In fact, in seven past years of doing this, we have never had a brewery win twice, much less even repeat. Here are the past winners.

We added up the liquid total for 2018 and it was approximately four gallons of stout.

This year the field is wide open. We could have as many as 17 stouts to choose among, though we will not know for sure on some until we visit the breweries to fill our growlers/crowlers this weekend.

Here are the potential 16 stouts that we will be sampling in alphabetical order by brewery. Any marked with a * would be a first-time participant. The others have numbers in parentheses for their finish last year out of 17 participants.

  1. Bosque Driftwood (14th)
  2. Boxing Bear Standing 8 (3rd)
  3. Canteen Dark ‘n Lusty (1st)
  4. Hops All About the Stout*
  5. Kellys Sleeping Dog (2nd)
  6. La Cumbre Malpais (7th)
  7. Marble Oatmeal Stout (6th)
  8. Palmer Switch Stance Stout (12th)
  9. Quarter Celtic MacLomas (5th)
  10. Red Door Stout*
  11. Rio Bravo Velvet Udders (8th, then known just as Oatmeal Stout)
  12. Sidetrack Dark Engine (16th)
  13. Starr Brothers Foggy Monocle (13th)
  14. Toltec Oatmeal Stout*
  15. Tractor Double Plow (11th)
  16. Turtle Mountain Stauffenberg (9th)

UPDATE: It turns out Kilt Check is out of Obliviscaris Oatmeal Stout, which came in fourth last year.

We will share some pictures and the like on social media Sunday, but the full results will wait until Monday. Enjoy the game, if you can, or at least the commercials. Please remember, if you do go past the limit, Lyft and Uber are there for you as options, or make sure there is a designated driver if you are leaving home to watch the game.

Cheers to the darkness!

— Stoutmeister

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