Posts Tagged ‘Second Street Brewery’

Skiesta returns to finally put an end to winter (we hope)

Posted: March 14, 2019 by reidrivenburgh in Beer in Los Alamos, Events
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2019SkiestaFlyer

Spring is right around the corner (honest!), and with it comes the return of beer festival season. One of the early annual fests is Skiesta, which is held at the Pajarito Mountain ski area above Los Alamos. This year’s edition will be happening this Saturday.

In preparing for this article, I re-read last year’s post, which talked about how dry the winter had been. Well, this year we’ve experienced the complete opposite, as you all know. As I type this just a few days before the festival, yet another snowstorm/hurricane just blasted through the area. That storm should be long gone by the time Skiesta starts, but the extra snow will no doubt guarantee some fine skiing.  (The image below has more details about the skiing events, if that’s your thing.)

In addition to a costume contest, the band Escape on a Horse playing alt-country and Americana styles, and good food from the lodge’s cafe, there will be plenty of fine craft beers. Stoutmeister was able to get the beer lists from the breweries that will be in attendance:

  • Bathtub Row: Mexican Lager, Hoppenheimer IPA, Cherry Wheat, Irish Red
  • Blue Corn: Gatekeeper IPA, Round Midnight Imperial Stout, Roadrunner IPA, Messages from Nowhere ESB, Atomic Blonde
  • Rowley Farmhouse Ales: Greyscale (Merlot Barrel), Cote d’Or (Pinot Noir Barrel), Sonora Weisse
  • Second Street: 2920 IPA, Agua Fria Pils, Cranberry Stout, Black Canyon Porter, Low Winter Sun (Kettle Sour with Cherries), Rod’s Best Bitter, 2019 Imperial Stout (maybe)
  • Tumbleroot: Orange Chocolate Stout, Belgian Pale, American Light Lager, IPA

That’s a nice variety of styles, so you’re sure to find something you like. On a personal note, I visited Blue Corn last weekend and can speak highly of Gatekeeper (the winner of the 2018 NM IPA Challenge) and their Imperial Stout.

Be sure to avail yourself of the complimentary bus service that will be running to and from Sullivan Field next to Los Alamos High School every 30 minutes between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Cheers!

— Reid

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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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Second Street shifts focus in 2018 and seeks shelf space in 2019

Posted: January 24, 2019 by Luke in Look Back/Look Ahead Series 2018-19
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Brewmaster Rod Tweet and head brewer Tom Ludzia are ready for more Second Street beer. Are you?

Second Street had another great year, with each of its taprooms humming along like well-oiled machines. The big news wasn’t the taprooms in 2018, although it should be noted that Second Street Rufina is steadily becoming just as much a fixture in the Santa Fe brewpub scene as the Oldery and the Railyard locations already are. The real star of Second Street’s 2018, however, was another machine altogether, one perhaps not as well-oiled (just yet), but one with multiple components whirring to life at the hands of a few good men and women. That machine includes the canning line, the wholesale shop, and the new lines of distribution of kegs and gorgeous cans chugging off the line.

Some time between counting inventory and working on the latest batch of one of his new flagship beers, president and brewmaster Rod Tweet made some time to sit down with me for the latest installment of our Look Back/Look Ahead Series for 2018-19.

Tweet meets me after work on a Saturday at Rufina. We take one of the tall tables in the large Rufina space, and I have a hard time deciding on what I want to drink, for once. There’s more than a few exciting beers on the list these days, but I’m in the mood for the Brown. It’s good, and I can’t recall the last time I really enjoyed a Brown Ale as much in years.

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The Brown Ale does not disappoint.

After taking a couple sips, I start the recorder. I want to see how business was in 2018, and I want to hear all about the brand-new canning line, and how its first few months in operation went. As we all know, it ain’t easy getting one of those things firing on all pistons. I’m also looking to find out what they plan to do with all the beer they’re pouring into packaging in 2019, and which beers.

“We had a really good year,” Tweet says. “The new place continues to grow. The Railyard, and the original location are like an engine, relatively figured out at this point.”

Second Street is still fine-tuning Rufina, building on what they know, but tweaking everything from food to events as needed. With their restaurant business purring away, they have more time to focus on what we’re all interested in: beer.

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The Week Ahead in Beer: The darkness descends again this weekend

Posted: January 23, 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 eight 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.

Winter in New Mexico does not exactly behave in a normal fashion. It bounces back and forth between mild and frigid, not really adhering to the technical start and end dates for the season. In fact, we are only a little more than a third of the way through winter, and while it might not always feel like it, our breweries are sticking with the dark and decadent beers for a while longer. La Cumbre brings back its beloved Baltic Porter, Siberian Silk, on tap and in cans on Friday. It is just one of many Baltics on tap, with additional versions available on tap at Bosque (Grandfather Owl), Bow and Arrow (Buffalo Plaid), Toltec, and Turtle Mountain (Stockholm Syndrome). If we weren’t so close to our Stout Challenge on Super Bowl Sunday, the Crew might have done a mini-Baltic challenge. Speaking of stouts, Bow and Arrow is releasing the latest entry in its Bandit series, the Churro Bandito, on tap this Saturday. They threw actual churros into the imperial stout during the boil. Yeah, we cannot wait to try this one. There is also the T34 Imperial Russian Stout at Bombs Away. So much darkness, so little time. We will be cranking up the new Swallow the Sun album on Friday and trying to hit as many as we can.

Another cool event to highlight in Santa Fe is A Bitter Day on Saturday at Second Street Rufina. Anyone who has been to Second Street knows how much the brewery team there loves the bitter style of English beers, so now SSB has invited other breweries to make their own takes on the style and serve them all up at once. There will be live music from Fox White, a special menu, and more running all day.

On the new beer front this week, there are a few options to check out of the non-stout/porter variety. Boese Brothers recently brought back the popular Cascade Grenade IPA. Bombs Away also has S.A.F. Raspberry Sour and Oaked Claymore Scotch Ale. Canteen is feeling smooth with Vienna Lager, Smokin’ Joe Lager, and more Falconer’s Arm Pale Ale. Marble suffered no thorny injuries (we hope) making more Prickly Pear Gose. Quarter Celtic asks What’s the Wi-Fi Password? with its new Strata IPA. Rio Bravo is feeling saucy with Beer Against Humanity IPA. Sidetrack has brought back its American blonde ale, Güera, and this Saturday will have Second Side ESB, a collaboration with Second Street, on tap for the third anniversary party. Tractor resurrects an old favorite in Scotcholate, while also feeling sweet with the new Caramel Cider.

Up in Santa Fe, HoneyMoon will have Cidrucha available Friday. Tumbleroot had a big tap turnover, with everything from Double Brown to New School IPA to Captain SMASH, a rum barrel-aged barleywine, going on tap, plus there are new bottles of Dry Hopper Sour Golden Ale and Sour Red Ale with cherries.

Continue reading for all the news that is fit to blog for the week of January 21.

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The Crew has an extra ticket for someone to enjoy the loaded lineups at WinterBrew

Posted: January 10, 2019 by cjax33 in WinterBrew 2019
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It’s time to gather with 700 of your closest beer-loving friends at WinterBrew.

WinterBrew 2019 is so close we can almost taste all the great beers that will be poured at the Santa Fe Farmers Market on Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. If you were not one of the lucky 700 to get a ticket, well, you might be able to land the extra pass the Crew has in hand for the festival.

I love tapping into New Mexico beer history, so the first person to correctly answer the following question will be the winner. Since this event is in Santa Fe, we stuck with a theme for that town.

Q. What current Santa Fe landmark was a brewery way back in the 19th century? Hint: It currently has a connection to someone famous beyond just New Mexico.

Send us an email at nmdarksidebrewcrew@gmail.com with your answer. We will announce when the contest is over on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram), so keep an eye out there. The winner will be informed directly via email. If you are the winner, just meet the Crew out front at 5 p.m. (we will have our shirts on for easy identification). This is just one small way to give back to you, our loyal readers.

UPDATE: The question was answered correctly on Thursday at 5:30. It was the Jean Cocteau Theater, owned by George R.R. Martin. He’s kinda famous, right?

Now, for everyone that is going, we present the beer lists for 16 of the 18 attending breweries. Hopefully we get the other two before long.

  • Abbey: Monks’ Ale, Monks’ Dark Chocolate, Monks’ Tripel Reserve, Monks’ Grapefruit Wit
  • Bosque: Driftwood Oatmeal Stout, Open Space Haze, Elephants on Parade Tart, Frostbit Wit, Fistful of Churros, Bosque Cider
  • Bow and Arrow: TBA
  • Chili Line: TBA
  • Cloudcroft: Chai Spiced Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Railspike Red Ale, Trainwreck IPA
  • HoneyMoon: Camellia Flor, Camellia Blanco, Cidrucha
  • Lost Hiker: Snowpocolipse (Winter Warmer), Midnight Squirrel Stout, Rye Knot (Belgian Pale w/ Rye), Connectivity IPA
  • Marble: Desert Fog, Double White, Coffee Porter (NEW! Replacing Cholo Smooth), Sympathy for the Pork Chop (Smoked Marzen)
  • Picacho Peak: I Heart Chocolate Porter, Twisted Windmill (DIPA), 575 Scottsman, Dirty Blonde, Javelina Black (American Stout)
  • Red River: Lazy Bear Blonde, Midnight Meadows Oatmeal Stout, Back 40 Farmhouse Ale, Super Bad Medicine Bourbon Barrel-Aged Honey DIPA
  • Rowley Farmhouse Ales: No B.U. IPA, Petite Blanche (available from 5 to 6:10 p.m.), Cote d’Or Double Cerise (6:10-7:20), Sin Barreras Mole Barrel-Aged Stout with fresh raspberries (7:20-9)
  • Santa Fe: 7K IPA, Getta Witness (Witbier), Pepe Loco (Dark Lager), Chicken Killer 2.0
  • Second Street: 2920 IPA, Jackplane Imperial Porter, Agua Fria Pilsner, Boneshaker Special Bitter, 2018 Anniversary Ale, 2018 Skookum (Barleywine), Barrel-Aged Skookum, Chin Gose, Kolsch, MBV Stout
  • Sidetrack: Hobo King Lager, Dark Engine Stout, Turntable IPA, Buzz Bomb, plus cask of Dark Engine with cacao nibs and coffee
  • Starr Brothers: There Gose Them Boyzz, Brown Chicken Brown Cow, Lost City of Gold (Hazy IPA), Zombies in the Manger (Biscochito Stout)
  • Truth or Consequences: Bad Santa (Spiced Winter Ale), Good Juju (American Brown Ale), Irish Red, Palomas Porter, Supernova Hazy DIPA, Truth Serum (Barleywine, in bottles)
  • Tumbleroot: Captain SMASH (Rum Barrel-Aged SMASH Barleywine), Orange Chocolate Stout (nitro), Farmhouse Saison, Pale Ale
  • Turtle Mountain: Tiempo Mañana IPL, Darker than Darkness (Schwarzbier), Stockholm Syndrome (Baltic Porter), Deep Depravity (Barleywine), plus the archived 2016 Depravity and then 2017 Infinitesimus

Those are a lot of big, malty, chewy beers, so make sure to pace yourselves. WinterBrew is always a blast of an event, whether you take the Rail Runner or drive and spend the night in Santa Fe (please do not drive up and back if you are drinking). There will be food inside, but it might not hurt to load up at Second Street Railyard next door beforehand.

See you all tomorrow night.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister