Stop #1: Bosque Brewing
Bosque Brewing just opened in Autumn 2012. It has a neat little tasting room with what appears to be some killer sandwiches. These sandwiches appeared to be pretty popular based on the number of phone in orders that were taken while we were at Bosque. Based on the brews that I tasted, it seems that Bosque still has some kinks to work out in their beers, as I tasted DMS (Dimethyl sulfide) in several of their beers. This off flavor is noted by a cooked vegetable flavor and aroma. The beers I tasted were Bitter Brit (3/10), Brewer's Boot (4/10), Cumulus White IPA (4/10), Mellow Brit (5/10), Oatmeal Stout (5/10), and Old Bosky (4/10). Strangely enough, the shitters also had an odd aroma that was also kind of reminiscent of cooked vegetables despite being immaculately clean.
Beers: 2/10 | Atmosphere: 7/10 | Restrooms: B-
Best Beer: Oatmeal Stout | Worth Visiting? No at the current moment
Stop #2: Chama River Brewing Company
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| Beer touring is so much fun! (Translation: Hurry the FUCK UP!) |
Our second stop of the day was Chama River which features some of the better beers in New Mexico. The atmosphere is an upscale restaurant and they did have taster trays available. When we arrived at Chama River, I asked for tasters of everything, but the waitress informed that we were only allowed 24oz of shared alcohol at the table at a time per New Mexico state law. Huh? Most all of the beers were easy drinking and flavorful. I tasted Class VI Golden Lager (4/10), Broken Spoke Honey Wheat (6/10), Rio Chama Amber (4/10), Rio Lodo Brown (7/10), Jackalope IPA (8/10), Sleeping Dog Stout (8/10), Centennial Pale Ale (6/10), Shadow Boxer Black IPA (6/10), Copper John Pale Ale (5/10), and Me Llamo Lodo (5/10). My favorite of the stop was Sleeping Dog Stout, which was a Milk Stout with delicious notes of chocolate, vanilla, and light coffee. Luckily we skipped lunch here, as I tasted some of the finest tacos of my life at a random stop after Chama River. Their beers are only available on location.
Beers: 8/10 | Atmosphere: 7/10 | Restrooms: B
Best Beer: Sleeping Dog Stout | Worth Visiting? Yes
Stop #2.5: Taco Cabana
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| Holy shit, these are THE best fucking tacos of my life! |
Stop #3: Nexus Brewery
After some of the most scrumptious tacos of my life, we proceeded to Nexus Brewery which is a bit hard to find on a frontage road next to Interstate 25. Nexus is also a very new brewery, opening in 2011. The service was fantastic here, the beers were decent enough, and the restrooms were decent enough. When I visited, the following ten beers were available: Maximus IPA (5/10), Imperial Cream Ale (5/10), Chocolate Porter (6/10), English Barley Wine (5/10), Belgian Wit (4/10), Cream Ale (5/10), American IPA (5/10), Scottish Ale (5/10), American Red (6/10), and American Stout (5/10). If you're in ABQ, then a stop may be warranted but there really aren't any stand out beers.
Beers: 5/10 | Atmosphere: 6/10 | Restrooms: C
Best Beer: Chocolate Porter | Worth Visiting? Maybe
Stop #4: La Cumbre
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| One of the neat tables at La Cumbre |
At this point in the day, the sun was already going down, as we ventured to one of the best breweries in New Mexico that featured 11 beers. La Cumbre was a rocking place with a lot of fun people and a fun atmosphere. They are well known for their Elevated IPA, which is an über-hoppy IPA with tons of notes of ganja, pine, and citrus. It's a real palate wrecker which is the reason that the staff recommend tasting it last. Elevated IPA was such a killer beer that I picked up a case of La Cumbre Elevated IPA to bring home and share with friends. A four pack of 16 ounce cans of Elevated IPA runs $10.49. It can either be found at the brewery or at a few select liquor stores in New Mexico. Unlike Chama River, La Cumbre had no problem serving me 11 tasters at the same time. Besides Elevated IPA, their South Peak Pilsner was very authentic and tasty. Also on tap during my visit was their 2nd Anniversary Stout, which was a delicious Imperial Stout aged in red wine barrels. A taster tray during my visit included Jefe's Hefe (7/10), South Peak Pilsner (8/10), Pyramid Rock Pale (7/10), Mal Pais Stout (6/10), Pecos Porter (7/10), Hot Shots Rauch (7/10), Trout English Pale Ale (5/10), Pater's Pale (6/10), 2nd Anniversary Stout (8/10), Noche De Paz (6/10), and Elevated IPA (9/10).
Beers: 8/10 | Atmosphere: 8/10 | Restrooms: C
Best Beer: Elevated IPA | Worth Visiting? YES!
Stop #5: Marble Brewery
Though we made an extended stop at the Marble taproom in Santa Fe the night before, we did make a quick stop to try three beers at the Marble location in Albuquerque that weren't available in Santa Fe. Pumpkin Porter (7/10) had a really nice toasted pumpkin flavor, Brown Porter (7/10) had a delicious nutty flavor in addition to some roast, and Daisy Mae (6/10) was an interesting experimental sour. All of these beers are only available in the tap room. Honestly, this location is preferable and more fun than the Santa Fe location and probably the number one beer stop in New Mexico.
Beers: 8/10 | Atmosphere: 9/10 | Restrooms: B+
Best Beer: Pumpkin Porter | Worth Visiting? FUCK YEAH!
This was the most intense day of our New Mexican beer tour and in total, I tried 40 beers during the day. After Marble, I was due for a long nap as we made the haul three hours south to Las Cruces.
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