Friday, July 26, 2013

What Happens in Vegas Gets Sent to Albuquerque

Don't worry, you guys who overdid it at your bachelor parties in Nevada.I'm talking about scenic Las Vegas, New Mexico. You know, the place where you stop for gas on the way back from Denver. It's also home to the New Mexico Craft Brewing Company, whose beers you may have tried at one of the local festivals. You have another opportunity to try them on Wednesday, July 31 at Charlie's Sandbox (3901 Masthead NE) right here in Albuquerque. I had never heard of Charlie's, but apparently it's a big spot for the sand volleyball crowd. I can't promise you'll run into Misty Mays or Karch Kiraly there, but you will get to try a couple of interesting beers. From the New Mexico Craft Brewing guy himself:
Be it known, ye shluckers of ale: New Mexico Craft Brewing Co. is officially releasing two specialty ales in nano quantities on Wednesday at 8pm at the Sandbar in Charlie's Sandbox (http://www.charliessandbox.com/). On tap will be 1/6bbl of Josh's Strong Ale: a burly ol' bitch that defies category. Bold, rounded, with an oaky aura (OG: 1.074, IBU: 100, ABV: 8.5%, steamed). And 1/6bbl of Extra(extra) IPA. A unique, robust, and euphoric hop experience created through continuous hopping and alchemic combinations of strains (OG: 1.086, IBU: 135, ABV: 8.9%). And these ales, like all our ales, don't use sugar or any crap like that to achieve their power. It wasn't easy to let these go, so please enjoy them...

Boom Yonan the Beerbarian

And there you have it, folks. Something to do next week, but guys, please: keep the Speedos at home.

Friday, July 19, 2013

The Final Frontier of Collaborations

Who's next on Stone Brewing Co.'s short list of possible collaborators, me? Well, why not? It seems that Stone founder Greg Koch has decided to eschew collabs with working breweries and instead got together with a couple of buddies to make the latest release, Stone Farking Wheaton wOOtStout. The buddies include Drew Curtis, creator of news roundup website FARK.com, and Star Trek heartthrob(?) Wil Wheaton. You can see that Wheaton has what it takes to make a good beer from the photo, where he sports the prerequisite brewer's beard, that is if George Michael were a brewer. And let's be honest, it doesn't matter who Stone chooses to be a partner in a collaboration, as we will all buy at least one to try, and many more if the beer proves to be good. This one sounds good: rye and wheat malt along with pecans all played a part in the creation of this 13% Imperial Stout style beer, of which 25% was aged in bourbon barrels. While I'd prefer a 40-50% blend in my barrel-aged stouts, any barrel is better than none. But I was never on Star Trek, so my opinion isn't worth much. Expect to pay around $8 for this beer at local stores.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Beer Premier Lineup

Just a follow up to my last post on Saturday's Beer Premier event: I have the full list of beers that will be making their very first appearance in Albuquerque and in your mouth. Don't forget that there will be many other beers to try from the 16 breweries at the Premier besides the newbies. Go to nmbeer.org or your local brewery for that ticket before they sell out!
Abbey Brewing Co. - Monk's Kolsch
Back Alley Drafthouse - White Ryeno an Imperial Rye Witbier
Blue Corn Brewery - Belgian IPA
Broken Bottle Brewery - Knight Rider Wheat
Bosque Brewing Co. - Double German Ale
Chama River Brewing Co. - American Session Ale
La Cumbre Brewing Co. - Saison d'Hommel
Marble Brewery - 111 Farmhouse Ale
Nexus Brewery - English Brown
Santa Fe Brewing Co. - "Pirate Booty" - a Pineapple Ginger Hefeweizen
Second Street Brewery - Single Hop Mosaic IPA
Sierra Blanca Brewing Co. - Oak Aged Desert Pils
Tractor Brewing Co. - "Peaotch" - a peach pale ale
Turtle Mountain Brewing Co. - Summer Scotch Ale w/ spices
Taos Mesa Brewing Co. - Notorious ESB

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Dust Off That Tux

Y'all know I'm all about getting dressed up for a nice night out. Freshly pressed slacks, monogrammed cufflinks, Windsor knot. Meticulously groomed, like a Squash Blossom Boys fan. So, you can be damn sure that I am psyched for the NM Brewers Guild upcoming event, The Beer Premier. The Beer Premier takes place on Saturday, July 20 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. The premise behind this event is that each of the 16 participating breweries will be debuting a beer never before released at their brewery. For instance: Turtle Mountain will unveil Summer Scotch Ale. Wuuhhh? My brain is swelling at the thought. Breweries will have up to four beers per booth available for you to sample. $30 gets you into the event, which begins at 5:30. Your ticket also gets you a commemorative tasting glass. The VIP admission is $70, gets you in at 4:30 with early samplins' of all the new releases as well as seating at either a 6 or 8 pm four course beer dinner. From the Brewers Guild, "Each beer dinner lasts for approximately 1.5 hours and includes an opening cheese course, roasted beet & goat cheese salad, a pork tenderloin with wild rice pilaf and finally a flourless chocolate cake desert course. Each course will be paired with a New Mexico craft beer and a brewmaster will announce each course and talk about his or her beer." And as we all know, beer tastes better when the person who made it is standing there watching your reaction while you drink it.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Enjoy By, Enjoy for Years

Beers worth talking about have hit the stores recently. Here's a few random selections for your drinking pleasure:

Joining one of the many breweries who have deemed New Mexico worthy of imbibing their beers, Idaho Springs, Colorado's own Tommyknocker has added New Mexico to its 22 states of distribution. Welcome, folks. Enjoy this week, the one where it rains. We won't be getting six kinds of IPAs from this brewery; instead, expect to find a good old traditional Doppelbock style beer (Butt Head Bock, 8.2% ABV), and an Imperial Nut Brown Ale (9.2% ABV). If it's hops you're looking for, they do offer Hop Strike Black IPA (6.5% ABV, 78 IBUs). Great price point, $3.99 for 22 oz. bombers, available at Wyoming Kellys and other fine stores.


25 years of Black Butte Imperial Porter?? I think I missed a few along the way! The recipe has changed from year to year, with #25 including figs, black currants, and Medjool dates. Probably the best thing Deschutes did for this release was increasing the bourbon barrel-aged portion by 20%. This 11.3% ABV annual release retails for $12.99 and up at local stores. It also cellars well, so pick up an extra for aging after the booze mellows out.

Well, Stone Brewing Co. promised us if that if we got the most tweets, we would get Enjoy By again. But we haven't received it since...what? The Enjoy by 2.15.13 release?? Forget stupid tweet contests, just give us the damn beer every release. Enjoy By 8.2.13 is here, $7.99 for a 22 oz. bomber. Whatever, it's back, and I'm happy to have it. It's not going to rot your teeth if you drink it after August 2, but it is meant to be consumed while the hop flavor is at its freshest. Very limited release, so get out there and get yours.