New Mexico Breweries
Discussed in this Post:
Beer and Brewery facts from their websites or Untappd, opinions by Jeff
Dear Pete,
In my last letter I forgot to tell you that all the bartenders in New Mexico had little squirt bottles of water that they used to carefully wash beer off the outside of glasses before serving. I haven’t seen that around here.
After my letter about the brewery taprooms in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, I thought I’d follow with some links and brief notes on each one I visited. Here goes:
I wrote a fair amount about Marble already. Their Desert Fog (7.2% ABV, 35 IBU) is really good. I may be a low rater on Untappd. Their white has a stronger coriander flavor than Allagash White does. I may also have abused the Passionate Gose by washing my tacos down with it, damping their fire. But I liked it.
One more thing about Marble: most of their canned beers have what I’d consider ideal labels. You can recognize the brewery by their logo and the style by the name. Then when you look for details, they give them all, clearly. Desert Fog was the one exception I saw.
At Boxing Bear, I loved the Simcoe DDH Albumurky Hazy IPA (6.6% ABV, no[?!] IBU). I rated it 4.25 on Untappd. I see where someone else recently called it nearly perfect. I brought home a crowler, so you can tell me what you think.
The patio at Boxing Bear was a great place to sit, drink, and talk. A notch below Marble, but nice.
The Red Door taproom is the one that is right downtown in an office building. All cement and steel. Super-convenient, but not super-comfortable. The Cascade Smash (5.4% ABV, 43 IBU) reminded me of Geary’s Pale, my go-to for so long.
We zoomed from the Red Door to the Boese Brothers to Sidetrack, having only a single half-pint at each, barely more than a taster. Certainly it isn’t a fair evaluation of breweries or their beers. That’s not stopping me
Boese Brothers is in an old Studebaker dealership. Route 66 runs right through Albuquerque, and lots of restaurants and bars used to have something to do with automobiles. I was happy to see that they had a session IPA on tap, as I’m always searching for great session beer. Little Big Hop (4.2% ABV, no IBU) is drinkable but not great.
Sidetrack Brewing was the most comfortable of the three, maybe just because it has the smallest taproom. Or maybe because I had a panini and chips there. The name is a reference to its location near the train station. I had a Cit Mo Mo Cit (6.8% ABV 78 IBU). It was not at all bitter. Bruce, Jan and I spent some time discussing the idea that post-boil hopping adds IBU but not actual bitterness. The “no IBU” beers above definitely had hops in them, so, confusion reigns.
More research is necessary.
We visited Santa Fe tap rooms at a more civilized pace and space.
We walked directly from the train to Second Street Brewery Railyard. In a newly renovated market area near the station, it has a great, open-side taproom with a spacious patio. I’d be happy to relax there for hours. Good thing I didn’t, because it wasn’t even my favorite taproom in Santa Fe.
In need of hydration, I asked the waiter, “Do you pronounce it Chin-Gose?”
He said, “Chin-Go-Suh.”
I praised him for their pronunciation purity and ordered one. I wonder if the proper pronunciation is making a comeback, now that the style is gaining the mainstream. The Chin-gose (5.3% ABV 34 IBU) was delicious, refreshing, and everything one could want from a lime-infused gose.
My favorite thing about the Desert Dogs Brewery and Cidery was the porch. The taproom is on the second floor, and a little porch allows you to watch the street traffic in the touristiest part of Santa Fe. My second favorite thing was the free wifi.
Unfortunately not my favorite thing was the session ale I drank: Session Ale (4.2% ABV No IBU).
My favorite taproom in Santa Fe (really my fave of the whole trip) is the Brakeroom. It’s a small freestanding building, at one time housing for railroad brakemen, later a cigar bar, now a taproom for Santa Fe Brewing Company. With the wood lockers from the cigar bar era, the old railroad photos, the backroom with the blue flocked wallpaper, and the dusty yard surrounded by growing hops, it was a real southwestern place to enjoy beer.
I had a Happy Camper IPA (6.6% ABV 82 IBU). It was more malty and less bitter than those numbers would have you expect. Not an exciting beer, but I’d take a coolerful camping without complaint.
To summarize, my favorite taproom of the trip was Santa Fe’s Brakeroom, my favorite beer was Boxing Bear’s Simcoe DDH Albumurky Hazy IPA
Cheers!
Jeff