Santa Fe Brewing Once Again

What to do when you need to bring beer to a BBQ? Pick something that looks tasty- and if you are me, grab something you haven't tried from a brewery that seems to do you right. The only problem, which I didn't realize until the aroma hit me, was that i purchased a Saison (Saison 88 to be exact) which is a type of beer I don't generally enjoy. For those of you that love a fruity, wheaty beer, you'll love Saisons. Unless of course you don't like higher alcohol beers. Then stay away.
For me, Saisons tend to be too fruity and too wheaty. When i popped the top of this Santa Fe Brewing Company beer I got a whiff of the fruity pale ale smell. A smell that made me reconsider my buying decision. However, after a few sips, I found that I wasn't completely wrong in choosing Saison 88. It still bears the hallmarks of a Saison, but it is much more drinkable, less cloying, and well balanced. Most saisons seem to slap you in the face with their fruitiness, while this one is pleasant. I may not buy it again, but i give it props. 3.5/5. Also, the can is damn pretty.

Would you blue moon if you had to?

Last night after a great hike up north of town, my party decided to stop down to the school house for some semi deserved (it was only a 4 mile hike) beer. For those of you who don't know (this group includes me) the Schoolhouse (AKA Olde Schoolhouse Cafe?) is a an awesome locals stopping point across from the epic Purgatory ski resort. In season its a post skiing it spot.
Anyways, on tap yesterday they had three options:
Ska Pinstripe
Mexican Logger
Blue Moon

Out of these three options, which would you pick? There are a lot of factors that could go into your choice making, price... i'm pretty sure the Blue Moon was a full dollar cheaper than the other two, but... is it worth it? You can support local brewers, have a solid beer, or you can have a blue moon. They might even put fruit in it if you ask nicely :).

As far as my ratings go

Ska Pinstrip- solid 4/5

Mexican Logger- 4/5, seasonally- this is not a winter beer. Also, i think at least one of those points is just bc its served everywhere over there (demoted 3/5- its beer, but its not bad)

Blue Moon- 1/5.

I do not particularly like this beer. I think its one of the beers i would frequently order at 21 when i wasn't sure what the difference between the on draft options was. If its your thing- a wheat, lightly citrusy, wide distribution, ok, i can dig that, but no. I will not be ordering this beer unless the only other option is bud lite.

Anyways- Go outside. Do something fun. Drink a beer. In whichever order you chose.

Some months I am a terrible blogger

I know its been a while since i last posed, you'll have to forgive me, its just pretty awesome here, and I've been able to keep drinking some of my favorites over and over.
If you'd like to know what they are I can make a little list :).

Carver's Brewing Company
Lightner Creek Lager: Smooth easy to drink american style lager. Good to ease off the hops sometimes. 3.5/5.
Old Oak Amber Ale: Maltier than I expected it to be, but with a hop-y kick. 4.5/5. Depending on the day. Sometimes its a bit too malty for me.
Nut brown: Nutty. Brown. Sometimes I have more beers than one at once. This is more of a fall beer for me 4/5.
Jack Rabbit Pale Ale: Proof that i've destroyed all of my taste buds and now like hoppy beer. Yum! 4.5/5.
Raspberry Wheat: A girly beer  that even I can enjoy... even if it comes with a lemon. Light, almost like a pop. I'd recommend it for any girl that says she doesn't like beer. Cider fans might not appreciate it, though.

I go there the most, probably, really good, great food, the only downside is that they aren't open late. Which isn't bad for my workday adventures. Ok, more later... hopefully...

Buying for bottles: Good Juju and Sam Adams for the win!

lefthandbrewing.com

I have been a bad little beer consumer, and haven't been keeping great track of the individual beers I have been drinking. Shame, shame upon my head. I'll try to do better next time. I've been busy/lazy/drunk? Do any of those excuses fly?
Anyways, you are in for a treat. Its summer, and what beers go best for summer? Something lighter, less malty and refreshing of course! On my way to a boxing match viewing extravaganza, i stopped off for a 6 pack and picked the first thing that grabbed my attention. Good Juju has a very distinct label and packaging, and its by left hand brewing company, which is a pretty stable bet for me. So i bought it for about a reasonable 9 dollars for the 6 pack. Its no honey brown for price, but hey, i wanted fancy freaking beer.
At first taste, you get a mouth full of ginger with this stuff. Did i mention that? Its a ginger infused beer. Surprising at first taste to say the least. Not in a bad way, but in a wow, that is a powerful flavor sort of way. It reminded me of how all sushi tastes when i go eat it.... like
pickled ginger.
I don't want to give you the wrong idea. I drank all of them. And enjoyed them. Its more of a try it and see how you feel about it.

borrowed from: http://onceuponastein.com/taste-tested-samuel-adams-spring-thaw-variety-pack/

I also picked up a mixed pack of sam adams a while back. Holy shit there were a lot of varieties in this box. While they all blended together (i'm not sure if that's sacrilegious for someone from near boston to say) but they weren't too distinct. The ipa, white lantern,  and alpine spring were hoppier than the rest, although i'm not sure i could tell them apart while drinking. The maple pecan porter was wayyyyy overly malty, at least in my option. I'll keep my candy in my icecream and out of my beer next time i think. The lager and the irish red where just basic beers.  A solid mix, and all of them were drinkable, but nothing too distinct. I feel like i've let down my boston roots. Oh well :). There are plenty more colorado beers to try!

Cheers!

Brew Kit and U Brew Farmington

I finally did it. I bought my own brewing equipment!
Its the start of something big... I can tell :).
I went down to U Bru in Farmington, New Mexico, who conveniently bought the inventory to the old Durango, Co store that went out of business last year. They were knowledgeable, interesting, and super helpful for my beer journey. However, they don't carry all grain kits and were a little surprised that a spurned easy peasy starter kits. U Bru can be found here :
http://ubruathome.com/
I picked up the basic bucket kit and they threw in a thermometer for me to get started.... once i buy a pot, a kit and some spare time....
Wish me luck! I'll update with progress when i get off my butt...

Working my way through the Beer tour of the Southwest

While i still mourn the lack of availability of some of my favorites, like Yuengling and Three Floyds, trying new beer around here has been a very good time. At least for my taste buds.

artzberger.com

This past weekend, I stopped a local shop to pick up some beer for a graduation party. When picking out beer in a store, i'll be honest. I'm a pretty lazy shopper. The number of beers is usually overwhelming, and i'm never quite sure where to go. The simplistic red cans of this beer from the Santa Fe Brewing Company caught my eye. Double plus good on the Irish Red, usually a potable beer even at its mildest. As soon as I had the cans off the shelf my roommate praised my choice. Although, i'm not sure how good her recommendation was, considering her lack of preferences. 

Anyways, I was happy. Even without pouring them, straight from the cans they were robust, malty and good. Not overly hearty, but still fairly rich. Mmmmm.... I only managed three, and at a low ABV of 4.5, it was a nice relaxing evening. I would definitely recommend these. They are a suitably good pick at about 8.50 for the 6 pack. 

Next up: some back blogging and my quest to collect brewing bottles :).

Sometimes you pick up and move to Colorado

What have you done in the last 30 days? I packed up the majority of my belongings and moved. To Colorado. 

What does that mean for the blog? Different regional awesome microbrews. Many more, and much more often. On my way out here I stopped in the middle of nowhere Kansas, I believe, to make a quick exchange with a friend driving back from the Grand Canyon. I gave him back his book on JAVA programming, and he  passed me a very, very warm american pilsner from the Grand Canyon Brewing company and a souvenir magnet from his trip. At least he knows me and knew that beer is my souvenir of choice. I packed it with me and drank it one evening while i was staying at the Amazing hostel in Durango, Co. It wasn't anything too special, but not bad for a light pilsner. 

Later on in the week when I had gotten a bit more settled, i picked up a 6 pack of the locally brewed Steam Engine Steam Ale, an amber lager. While nothing truly exceptional i thought it had a decent amount of flavor for an amber lager. I also like that it comes in cans, however, they are somewhat pressurized and I didn't manage to open even one out of the 6 without getting beer everywhere....

Finally, I picked up a bottle of wine this week. Unfortunately i haven't found any good cheap wine stores yet, but I haven't been doing much looking either. Anyways, This RACHA wine, imported from argentina was pretty good. This malbec while not super complex or fancy pant, wasn't too bad for about 10 dollars where i purchased it. I'd rate it 3.5/5 for flavor, and 3/5 for value. I've got to get bargain hunting.

Well cheers! And if you make it to the area, lets grab a local beer!