Beer in New Mexico

[hops99]

So, I'm packing up the wife and kids Saturday, to drive cross-country to spend Thanksgiving with my sister in Santa Fe. I usually fly out there once or twice a year, and love the area, and to me, a big added plus is the quirky variety of decent beer to be found in Northern N.M.

One of my favorite beers throughout the country is the Santa Fe Pale Ale - which sometimes tastes more like hoppy grapefruit juice than beer - and their Brown and Wheat brews are pretty good, too. Plus, the last time I was out there I sampled the "Chicken Killer" barleywine, which was big and tasty. The brewery itself is really just a small tasting room, but it has a great feel, and the ownners took me on an impromptu tour of the place, which was fantastic. I think their beers are only distributed around Santa Fe, but I could be wrong.

Also, Second Street Brewery in Santa Fe is a good stop as well. It's a very relaxed atmosphere, the food is genuine, and the beer is above average. I remember a terrific IPA on tap last year.

Blue Corn (in Santa Fe and Albuquerque) is more commercialized, but also has decent food, and acceptable beers. Add in Embudo Station on the way up to Taos, and Eske's in Taos (they have the only chili beer that I've ever been able to choke down), and you've got a healthy beer scene. It seems to me that all of these places are under the radar, and some are deserving of much more praise than they might get.

I've also read about a few places I haven't been to, like Il Vicino in Albuquerque, and a place that gets good reviews in Rio Rancho. Anyone been to either place, and are there any hidden gems that I haven't heard of in the area?

[hopjack13]

i think your on your own man ;)
i've been to new mexico a few times but not sence?????...
1993 i think, any way i have a friend who's going out that way soon i'll ask him, he may know something.

[beer editor]

This is where I live - less than an hour from Second Street, 10 minutes from Turtle Mountain in Rio Rancho, about 20-25 minutes from Blue Corn Albuquerque and the Il Vicino that makes the beer for two pubs in Albuquerque and one in Santa Fe (on San Francisco, only a few blocks from the Plaza).

First, the bad news. Embudo Station no longer brews. (Kind of moot this time of year, because it would be closed for the season.)

Il Vicino and BC Abq both won two medals each in the 2002 World Beer Cup, then followed that with medals at GABF. And BC won a gold at the 2003 GABF again. So, yes, IV is worth a stop. The brewery has a tasting room that is open in the afternoons - and otherwise hit one of the pubs. Good wood fired pizza. Do get by Blue Corn, and try whichever of the one offs that are available.

The place in Rio Rancho, Turtle Mountain, is my local. They took the wood fired theme from IV, but after 3 1/2 of operation the pub is far earthier than IV. Pizzas are loaded with fresh ingredients - great place for green chile and garlic (if you order a pizza that doesn't have garlic you can have it added). Excellent Imperial Stout on tap as I type. TM now has a "tasting room" (beer plus food) on Route 14, the south end of the Turquoise Trail, just across from where you turn north to go up to the ski area.

Otherwise, Second Street is still top notch and the IPA is my favorite. But try a lager if they've got one on (they usually don't last long), and the ESB if you like hops.

And Eskes and Santa Fe are pretty much as you describe them. The brewery is the only place to get Chicken Killer - and it is better on tap than in the bottle.

More new to you - Assets (one of the oldest in the state) on Montgomery in Albuquerque, Tractor Brewing (with the "Get Plowed" t-shirts) to the south in Los Lunas, and Milagro Brewing in Bernalillo (exit 242, handy if you are going between Santa Fe and Turtle Mountain). Assets is still catching up from doing the Isotopes beer this summer - good Kolsch, excellent specialty beers (particularly when you can catch a lager). Tractor is on tap a lot of places and all the Ribs Restaurants (Ribs and Tractor share a building in Los Lunas). Above average food, good beer, I prefer the Oatmeal Stout (but that's me).

Milagro is great for shifting gears. Their beer is more English oriented (quieter hops, Beeston malts). Upscalish restaurant, which you may or may not care for, so consider going during happy hour and hanging out at the bar.

Oops, failed to mention our two other bottle breweries - Rio Grande in Albuquerque (also makes Cabezon beers) and Sierra Blanca. Take home a bottle of Alien Ale (Sierra Blanca) for your friends, and try the IPA or Imperial Stout if you can get by the pub they have in Ruidosa. Rio Grande has twice won GABF medals for its green chile lager, made with chiles roasted right at the brewery.

And then there's Farmington, Soccoro and Las Cruces - let me know if you have time ...

Addresses, etc. at www.nmbeer.org (http://nmbeer.org)

Prosit,
Stan

[hops99]

Whoa, jackpot! Thanks a bunch for the great information/updates. First things first, I am truly upset about Embudo's demise - that was one of the most scenic and relaxing places to enjoy a beer anywhere in the U.S. :)

It certainly sounds like there's even more beer choices around than I had thought. We'll be in Santa Fe for 5 or 6 days, so I was trying to plan an Albuquerque area pubcrawl one of the days. I'll definitely add Turtle Mountain, Assets, and Milagro to the list - and I might even try to swing down to Tractor (I recall stopping for gas in Los Lunas a few years back, and thinking it was pretty depressed - I'm pleasantly surprised that there's a good brewpub in town). I had already planned on doing Blue Corn again, and initiating myself with Il Vicino.

As for the bottled offerings, I do remember having both of them in past visits. I have had the Alien Ale, and if I properly recall, I thought it tasted somewhere between Fat Tire and 90 Schilling. I really liked it. Also, I think one of the two (maybe Rio Grande) had a cow's head skeleton for the logo - cool stuff.

The website is a great help, too. Thanks again for all the terrific information!

[hopjack13]

wow i didn't think there was anyone here from new mexico, makes me wana go :D