Le Cumbre Brewing (Albuquerque) — Our first beer stop in ABQ after checking into our hotel. The bartender was very friendly and the East African Karibu Cafe food truck’s pork curry was amazing. The space was fairly full when we arrived but people were moving through so it never got overly crowded. We both thought the beers were good but not particularly memorable and were a little surprised by their very high rating on several beer sites.
Beers: Malpais Stout, Pyramid Rock Amber Ale, A Slice of Hefen and their Octoberfest beer; also sampled La Negra (Russian Imperial Stout).
Bosque Brewing Company (Albuquerque) — We wanted to try one more beer place on Friday night, so after doing a bit of digging on Rate Beer, decided on this place about 20 minutes north of downtown. We grabbed a spot at the bar and decided on one beer each. The pretzels with chipotle aioli were too good to pass up too!
Beers: Scotia Scotch Ale and Octoberfest
Dual Brewing (Sante Fe) — The fact that this brewery specializes in Belgian-style ales made this an easy choice for a few samplers on Saturday night. We found an open table near the bar and ordered a few 4 oz beers, all of which ran $2-3 each. There was also an all-girl Balkan folk band playing which provided some interesting entertainment (in a good way). We had already eaten but several of the menu items looked tasty coming out of the kitchen. Altogether our favorite brewery of the trip.
Beers: Manikin (scotch-style dark ale), Grunewald (imperial porter), Dark Ryder (strong dark ale); Danae (sour Belgian golden), and Whistler on Wood (bourbon barrel aged blonde)
Taos Mesa Brewing (Taos) — We noticed this brewery on our way to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge and stopped on the way back for two pints, a plate of green chile (of course) / cheese smothered fries and free wifi so we could check in to our Southwest flight. They had several guest taps but we choose to go with two of their beers. Mine tasted a lot like Guinness (good thing) and Eric liked his kolsch. It looked like they did quite a lot of live music shows as evidenced by their enormous parking lot, several posters and the large indoor stage. Overall, a nice surprise.
Beers: Superstitious Stout and Kolsch 45
Blue Heron Brewing Company (El Prado) — This small brewery is located along the low road (Rt. 68) between Sante Fe and Taos. We stopped in on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of happy hour, so our pints were $3 each! The back patio was a great spot to enjoy a beer and was full of chatty locals.
Beers: La Llorona Scottish Ale and Blue Heron Blonde Ale
Marble Brewing (Albuquerque) — With about 45 minutes to kill before dropping off our rental car, we decided to stop in to one last brewery of the trip. It wasn’t busy so the bartender was happy to give us samples of a few beers so we could make our decision. Eric really enjoyed his pumpkin ale, but really all the beers were solid. A cozy place to hang out with lots of tables and a nice outdoor patio area. I could see this place being packed on the weekends.
Beers: Oatmeal Stout and Pumpkin Ale; also sampled Double White and Imperial Red