Albuquerque suggestions?

[markvale5]

I'll be in Albuquerque next week for a few days for work, any brewery suggestions?

 

[bob1852]

I like Turtle Mountain. It's a tiny pizza place and brewery in Rio Rancho. But the beer and food are good. Nice atmosphere for a little place...

 

[markvale5]

Sounds great. I can get dinner while I'm there as well.

 

[PGEduardo]

No Offense, but Turtle Mountain is in Rio Rancho, pretty far from the center of Albuquerque. It's a local favorite of the Rio Ranchonians, but rarely gets top billing as a top tier Albuquerque Area Brewery. I've heard it's ok, but unless you're staying way out on the west side of Albuquerque it's probably not worth the drive...

My *subjective, personal* list:

1 - Marble Brewery - best all-around brewery and great atmosphere
2 - La Cumbre - probably the homebrewer's favorite as they have some amazing beer on tap. Atmosphere is meh.
3 - Tractor Brewing Co. - so so beer (IMO), but great atmosphere
4 - Canteen Brewery (Il Vicino) - pretty OK beer, good atmosphere and close to La Cumbre
5 - Red Door, Ponderosa, Nexus, Boxing Bear, Stumbling Steer, Kelly's are Tier 2 in my opinion (though I haven't been to all of them)

 

[JerseyJD]

You are in for a treat as Albuquerque has become a bit of a beer mecca. Definitely try La Cumbre in the heart of the brewing district which runs off the I-25 corridor in an older industrial area. Their IPA, Elevated, is simply spectacular and is a former GABF gold medal winner. I'm also partial to their Pyramid Pale Ale, made with maris otter and British hops, and their Hef.

Just NW of La Cumbre is the Canteen which is the brewery for a local Italian chain, Il Vicino. The Canteen is also well decorated with numerous medals from the GABF. A third recommendation is Marble which is on the other side of the highway towards downtown. After these big 3, there are many newer breweries which I enjoy including Nexus, Bosque, and the Stumbling Steer Restaurant which I believe is still contracting out their brewing.

 

[Paps]

Not a brewery but you could scope out `southwest grape and grain` which is a homebrew shop in that area.

 

[PGEduardo]

Not a brewery but you could scope out `southwest grape and grain` which is a homebrew shop in that area.

They actually opened up a west side location within their own microbrewery, called Boxing Bear. Haven't been, but I'd imagine it would be ok...

 

[EternalHoppiness]

Great advice above from PGEduardo and JerseyJD. IMHO La Cumbre is the one not to miss, although the only food is from a truck outside (which is often pretty decent). I do like Marble, and Canteen isn't bad either and has better food.

Boxing bear isn't bad considering they've been open less than a year, but not worth a special trip yet. The brew shop is excellent for a LHBS, though.

Of the others mentioned above, most aren't bad (except Kelly's - it's bad). Nexus is decent and has good food. I haven't been to Tractor or Bosque recently, but they were okay last time I was there.

 

[markvale5]

Looks like Marble and La Cumbre will definitely be on my list.

 

[ibbones]

Looks like Marble and La Cumbre will definitely be on my list.

Those two would be my choice. We spent three days in ABQ last October and enjoyed those two way more then the others.
Marble's Red Ale...YUM.....

 

[markvale5]

Those two would be my choice. We spent three days in ABQ last October and enjoyed those two way more then the others.
Marble's Red Ale...YUM.....

I do love me some red!

 

[PGEduardo]

Marble's Red Ale...YUM.....

Their Marble Red is probably my favorite beer of all time. It's simply perfect in it's blend of malt, bitterness and hops. I'm working on a clone which I need to perfect, but unfortunately it's a pretty expensive ale to brew with all the massive dry hopping...

 

[markvale5]

So far I checked out La Cumbre and Ponderosa

 

[danath34]

I highly recommend Bosque and Red Door if you get a chance. Canteen is also great.

Really, you aren't going to go wrong almost anywhere you go. As mentioned before, ABQ is becoming a big brewing city. I think we're over 20 breweries for the metro area (abq, rio rancho, bernalillo, corrales, los lunas).... I would love to compare ABQ to other cities people typically think of as beer cities.

The only real bad beer I've had here was when broken bottle first opened, but supposedly they've really fixed their issues since.

 

[ibbones]

So far I checked out La Cumbre and Ponderosa

What did you think of La Cumbre? I enjoyed it.

 

[MrNatural]

Haven't lived there in over 30 years, but damn, still miss the stuffed sopapillas.

 

[markvale5]

La Cumbre was good I really liked their stout and IPA.

I had a sopapilla today (which was recommended by a coworker) and it was really good.

 

[Noxiousbrews]

marble, tractor, boxing bear, ponderosa, red door, nexus, all good!

 

[Noxiousbrews]

I highly recommend Bosque and Red Door if you get a chance. Canteen is also great.

Really, you aren't going to go wrong almost anywhere you go. As mentioned before, ABQ is becoming a big brewing city. I think we're over 20 breweries for the metro area (abq, rio rancho, bernalillo, corrales, los lunas).... I would love to compare ABQ to other cities people typically think of as beer cities.

The only real bad beer I've had here was when broken bottle first opened, but supposedly they've really fixed their issues since.

That's hilarious that you mention that because when I first went to broken bottle I told my girlfriend "this kinda sucks..." I agree it was my first and only bad abq brewery experience.

 

[unionrdr]

We always seemed to miss that left toin at Albequoiky the couple times we've been there. Might be fun to go back now, even though dad's property in Rio Rancho got sold.

 

[markvale5]

It was a great trip. Check out La Cumbre, Ponderosa, Marble and Canteen. I really enjoyed the beers. Elevated IPA was good, enjoyed the Wildflower wheat and really enjoyed the Kentucky common.

 

[Homercidal]

And, by the way, if one day you happen to wake up
And find yourself in an existential quandary
Full of loathing and self-doubt
And wracked with the pain and isolation of your pitiful meaningless existence
At least you can take a small bit of comfort in knowing that
Somewhere out there in this crazy mixed-up universe of ours
There's still a little place called

Albuquerque!!!

 

[unionrdr]

The view from dad's property in Rio Rancho was great! The sierra Nevada with the Rio Grande running along the base with them speckled gold trout swimming in it.

 

[markvale5]

Sounds like a really nice spot to sit out and have brew.

 

[Westermans]

Boxing bear has great beer, huge window so you can see the brewery, and a LHBS all in one building.

 

[Westermans]

Great to see all these post by people I normally see giving advise living in ABQ!

 

[unionrdr]

Haven't been back there in ages, but it was nice!

 

[MrNatural]

The view from dad's property in Rio Rancho was great! The sierra Nevada with the Rio Grande running along the base with them speckled gold trout swimming in it.

Guessing you meant Sandia Mountains. Sierra Nevada is my neighborhood. Great views no matter what you call it. Spent many a pleasant mile on the Norton running up to Sandia Peak or over to Jemez Hot Springs for a moonlight dip.

 

[danath34]

That's hilarious that you mention that because when I first went to broken bottle I told my girlfriend "this kinda sucks..." I agree it was my first and only bad abq brewery experience.

Yeah I dunno exactly what the deal is, but it was REAL bad at first. My coworker and I both gave them a fair shot... We each went twice, a couple months apart, we both thought it was terrible... The second time, his wife had a piece of broken glass clink into her teeth when she took a sip. They lived up to their name!

But fast forward to a couple months ago, my buddy brought over a growler, didn't tell me who it was, just poured me one... I'll be damned if it wasn't one of the best milk stouts I've ever had! And he says everything they have on now is good too.

I've been meaning to get over there to give them a third chance, and see it for myself. I think they have a Sahti right now

 

[unionrdr]

Guessing you meant Sandia Mountains. Sierra Nevada is my neighborhood. Great views no matter what you call it. Spent many a pleasant mile on the Norton running up to Sandia Peak or over to Jemez Hot Springs for a moonlight dip.

Guess my memory is a little messed up. That was it. Beautiful view though. Been wanting to catch a mess of those gold trout!