I am visiting NM next week. Has anyone been to any of these breweries? looking for recommendations.
1. High Desert Brewing Co. - Las Cruces, NM
2. Socorro Springs Restaurant and Brewery - Socorro, NM
3. Tractor Brewpub and Ribs - Los Lunas, NM
4. Il Vicino Wood Oven Pizza and Brewery - Albuquerque, NM
5. Chama River Brewing Microbar - Albuquerque, NM
6. Marble Brewery - Albuquerque, NM
Thanks for the suggestions.
Circle C Brewer
Yes to Socorro Springs. Have their calzones with a nice, dark beer. Their calzones are to die for. I spilled a growler of their oatmeal stout in my boss' truck, and he thanked me. Wanted me to do it again in a month. It smelled that good. Pretty solid beers.
Chama River is the standard beer for central ABQ/metro area. Good place, good food, good people. They're strong on most beers, and hold quite a few specials. I haven't been to their mini tap room in a while, just the restaurant.
Marble is new, and done by a lot of the people that do Chama. I still find them a bit young, and they haven't truly dialed in the flavor/process yet. But they're good people with pretty good beer. Nice atmosphere in the place though, and the beers get better practically weekly. You can actually get one of their beers on tap at Chili's chain restaurants.
Il Vicino. The restaurants are great, with some nice pizzas and sandwiches and a hot chile oil to die for. The beer is good-ish, with limited selections at the restaurants. Their little tap room has much better beer than the restaurants, but the restaurants are a damn good place for lunch or dinner.
You left out Kelly's, which is an albuquerque tradition. They have about a dozen types of beers, and they all suck. Extract, with just standard employees making them. I was there once, and the waitress was offended that I didn't like a beer that
she brewed. Nice place to hang out though. Very nice way to spend an afternoon is on the patio; one of the best places to get a taste of local flavor.
Tractor, I go back and forth on. Don't know about the others. Nothing wrong with most beers that I've tried, but I just haven't had enough to make a decision.
If you had to pick just one, I'd say hit up Chama and/or Socorro Springs. If you're going through Socorro late at night or in the morning when Springs is closed go to the El Camino and get their breakfast burritos smothered in green chile. Best I've ever had.