On Wednesday we drove from Artesia, NM to Albuquerque, NM. On the way we stopped at the UFO Museum in Roswell, NM. The first thing I noticed was the newspaper cutout above. I was amazed that I was reading about an incident that happened outside of Louisville, KY. This was actually one of the earliest reported UFO sightings. A pilot from Louisville saw a flying saucer and decided to chase it. This ultimately resulted in a plane crash that took his life... Kind of strange. I can't go anywhere without there being some sort of Louisville connection (small town, small world).
We arrived in Albuquerque in the evening. I decided to check out a little brewery called "Kelly's". The weather was very nice so I sat outside on the patio. The place had about thirty beers that they brewed there. I tried the IPA... That was enough. Nothing special at this brewery. I went back to meet Paul at the hotel and we headed over to the Il Vicino Taproom. We made it just as they were closing. I didn't think they were going to serve us, but man was I wrong! This was the BEST service I have ever had at any brewery and some of the friendliest beer drinkers that I have ever met. Paul and I each had a pint of the Wet Mountain IPA. It was a very nice and crisp IPA. I sampled the Wheat Wine (delicious) and with that followed a sample of every other beer they had on tap! By this point we had made several new friends (including the bartender and brewmaster). It was an honour to enjoy a beer along with the person who made it. They loaded Paul and myself up with some nice glassware and we were on our way to the next brewery.
Chama River Brewery was our last stop of the evening. Our to new friends, Russ and Dawn, who we just met at Il Vicino recommended checking this place out. We were hungry so we split several sides - Green Chile Fondue, Lobster & Basil Mashed Potatoes, Truffle Blue Cheese Fries, Green Chile Polenta Cake and last but certainly not least, Sweet Potato Brulee (pictured above). For beer we were in luck... There was a recent hop shortage that shocked the brewing community last year. Prices for hops went way up and that had a big impact on many of the smaller breweries. Chama River just recently signed a contract securing their hops for this year. To celebrate, they have been doing single hopped pale ales with each of the hop varietals. We were fortunate enough to be there when their Simcoe Pale was on tap. Yet another great beer from New Mexico.
On Thursday morning, Bert and I went for coffee and breakfast. We stopped at a little Italian style coffee shop. The espresso was nice and strong. We met a guy who farmed green chile's and I told him how much I loved New Mexico's chilies. Lucky for us, he happened to have some in his car and gave us several packets of this "505 Green Chile sauce" that he makes. I can't wit to get home and cook with them! The people we met while in Albuquerque were some of the coolest most down to earth people I have met on the road. It was very refreshing to meet such awesome folks. From there, Bert and I headed to Frontier (an Albuquerque landmark) for some Green Chile breakfast burritos.
New Mexico... I miss you already!
List for Wednesday, Thursday & Friday:
- Negro Modelo
- Il Vicino Wet Mountain IPA
- Il Vicino Wheat Wine
- Chama River Simcoe Pale Ale
- Left Hand Chainsaw Ale
- Boon Geuze
- Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA
- Kelly's IPA
- Santa Fe Brewing Company Java Stout
- Marble Brewery IPA
Great to read that you've been able to try so many IPAs. As you mentioned the hop shortage has, I think, really hit a lot of microbreweries hard and stunted some of their production and creativity. Hopefully this shows a true dedication to the style and that, no matter what, breweries will 'find a way' to make sure that IPAs are being produced.
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