Ponderosa Brewing

Ponderosa Brewing is a very low-key, relaxed setting to enjoy food and beer. Their patio is very spacious and open, as well as their main dining area inside, which they recently opened up into a beer-hall style layout (before it was very closed off and had booth seating throughout). This brewery has a full menu that offers great pub food and snacks to enjoy with their beers, which is great especially when there isn't anywhere else in the neighborhood to grab a bite. The beer menu was pretty full, offering 10 beers, however the variety was not very broad; all the beers were lighter in color, the darkest of which was their Red ale. The first flight of five consisted of:

Ghost Train IPA

Rip Saw Red

Crosscut Kolsch

American Wheat

Azacca Pale

The Ghost Train IPA was a pleasant IPA, not too bold or bitter, very smooth and creamy with the right amount of hop flavor. Not a great IPA by any means, but very drinkable and a good representation of the style. To be a beer snob for a moment, the color and the smell of this beer were just what you would look for in an IPA, being a beautiful orangey-golden color and smelling of sweet citrus hops.

The Rip Saw Red was a very mild-flavored red. The carbonation slightly overpowered the taste of hops and malt, and there really much flavor in the aftertaste. There were notes of rye and hops, but not too much maltiness. A very average red ale.

The Crosscut Kolsch was pretty disappointing. This light beer should be very crisp and refreshing, but it wasn't even close. There was a strange, almost dirty flavor to the beer, just not good and we would not recommend this for the light beer of choice.

The American Wheat, on the other hand, was very refreshing and flavorful. This beer is one we would highly recommend if you're just starting out in the craft world or if you're looking for something refreshing after a long day working out in the yard (trust us on that one!). The citrus, wheat, and floral flavors all contributed to this beer's refreshing demeanor.

The Azacca Pale was described to us by the waitress as tropical, and we very much agree. This beer smelled so delightfully of pineapple and had a fantastic flavor that could only be described as tropical. The tangy hop flavor showcased the pale ale style, while the fruit flavors brought out the tropical taste in this deliciously refreshing, seasonal beer. 

The second flight consisted of seasonals that ring in the summer:

Saison Chat Sauvage

Spanglish

Summer Break Blonde

505 Collaboration Lager

Sharkbite Lager

The Saison Chat Sauvage was very floral in the smell and taste, not a harsh, sour farmhouse ale, but a much different flavor from the rest of the beers on the menu. For its style, this beer was easy to drink and had a very manageable flavor, but still wasn't a first pick.

The Spanglish was a Mexican Lager style beer and great for summer. This easy-to-drink lager has hints of orange flavor and is really representative of a Mexican Lager. Very good beer for those hot summer days.

The Summer Break Blonde was very similar to the Spanglish but slightly more crisp. This is what we would call a Quantity beer; very easy to drink and can be consumed in quantity pretty easily, especially at 4.2% ABV. This would be another great starter beer if you're looking to venture into the craft beer world.

The 505 was a collaboration lager between Ponderosa and several other breweries, housed at La Cumbre. The other breweries that contributed to brewing this lager included La Cumbre, Marble, The Canteen, Bow & Arrow, and more. This beer is one that breweries around Albuquerque get together each year to create for the ABQ Beer Fest week. This year's 505 was an unfiltered lager with hints of apricot that we enjoyed in the sample-sized serving, but wasn't as good in the pint. Not very refreshing or crisp, this lager left something to be desired, which is unfortunate for so many great minds involved in its creation.

The Sharkbite Lager was a red rye lager and very good. The caramel malt flavors were very welcomed and had a different flavor than the rest of the beers in the flight. This beer had a very full flavor and was delicious to say the least.

Now, having said all this about Ponderosa, this was their second chance at a write up with us; we originally went about a month earlier decided not to blog about them at the time. This brewery can be very hit-or-miss, their seasonals are not reliable or consistent. Our original tasting was going to be very Brewtal, but since we had prior experience with Ponderosa and knew they had it in them to be better than that, we decided to hold off, and we're so glad we did.

Megan's overall opinion: I like Ponderosa for its location and really relaxed feeling, I just wish their beers were more consistent so we knew what to expect each time we go. My favorites this time around were the Azacca pale and the American Wheat which may have to do with the weather, but both were very refreshing and tasted great with the food. My least favorite were the Kolsch and the Rip Saw Red, both of which are regular beers on the menu. so in my opinion Ponderosa has some work to do. I do like the patio area as well as the live bands they occasionally have, but overall this isn't the place to spend your Friday or Saturday nights.

Randy's overall opinion: This go around I liked them a lot better than I have in the past. They seem to do really well with the lighter beers and hit and miss with the darker styles. With just about the entire menu being a lighter fare, it was a little difficult choosing some over others. I did like the Sharkbite Lager as it reminded me of a Sam Adams. Summer Break Blonde, Spanglish, and American Wheat were my next. Surprisingly the Kolsch was on the downswing this time where normally I like it and is one of my top choices. They did downsize their food menu which sucks. I ended up getting their mac and cheese but hardly the price of admission for the $13 they were charging for it....and I have no idea what they do to the water there but it is the most off tasting non tastable H2O I have ever had. Yuck. Big picture, Ponderosa is a very highly mediocre place to go. Consistency needs to be worked on but they seem to hit more than miss. It happens to be the closest brewery to us so we frequent it somewhat more often than others but if it weren't for that, I'm not sure how often we would go. It's good enough TO go, just not a prime choice.

http://www.ponderosabrewing.net/

Cazuela's Mexican Grill & Brewery

Cazuela's is a very interesting brewery; it's not everyday you come across a Mexican Grill / Brewery. The atmosphere was very fun and open, the brewery was located behind the bar and very easy to see, and the patio was huge and very, very nice on such a nice day. The menu was very full and had a lot of options including some seafood cocktails and many parable selections. The beer options were also widely varied and plentiful; our first flight consisted of the following:

Acapulco Gold

Agave American Hefeweizen

Piedra Del Fuego (Stoned Cream Ale)

Festival Marzen

Chupacabra American IPA

Papa-Cabra Double IPA

The Acapulco Gold was a very good, crisp beer...very easy to drink and really good flavor to it. The smell and taste were both pretty sweet and the wheat flavor really came through on this beer. This is a very good beer to pair with Mexican food and would pair very well with any of their seafood offerings.

The Agave Hefe was a little disappointing; the aroma and taste were both a little too strongly floral and perfumey. The color wasn't nearly hazy enough for a style that should be mostly unfiltered, and the flavor just wasn't very good.

The Piedra Del Fuego was a cream ale and had some interesting flavors. It was even more sweet than the Alcapulco Gold, but also had a tangy flavor that just wasn't right for a cream ale. Overall not a bad beer, but definitely not one of Cazuela's best.

The Festival Marzen was a good fest beer, very drinkable and light with a clear German-style flavor to it. This beer wasn't very full of flavor, but that's a good thing for a fest beer. Although this is a German style beer, it would also pair very well with the menu.

The Chupacabra IPA was disappointing to say the least. The hop flavor was very present, but there was a dirty (actual dirt like our yard) taste that just overtook the beer. Not the worst IPA we've ever had (We'll get to that one...), but definitely not even close to the best.

The Papa-Cabra on the other hand was a good DIPA, not a great DIPA, but good. It was smooth and hoppy-flavored and drank as it should. DIPAs are typically less hoppy tasting than an IPA and have more of a creamy flavor, and this one was just that.

The second flight included quite a few of the high-alcohol content beers, and some of the seemingly experimental beers:

Calabasa Pumpkin

Panama Red

Inebriator Double Bock

Beer for My Horses: Oatmeal Stout

Atom Beer: Dortmunder Dark Sour

Primo Spruced Brown

The Calabasa Pumpkin, although very out of season for the style, was a very welcome seasonal to this flight. The smell was absolutely what you would look for in a pumpkin ale, and the taste was delightfully delicious. It's hard to judge a beer so far out of season like this because there isn't another to compare it to right now, but that could be part of the reason it was so good in the middle of May. 

The Panama Red, unlike the Calabasa Pumpkin, very much lacked in flavor. It was red in color, and it tasted like a red, but there just wasn't enough taste to it. Like a few of the beers so far, there was no aroma and that really transcended to the flavor of the beer.

The Inebriator Double Bock smelled very strong of alcohol and tasted the same, much as the name would indicate. The beer was very smooth and had a slightly smokey flavor, but the alcohol taste was the most prominent.

The Beer for My Horses was a decent stout, but not creamy enough to be an oatmeal stout. The flavor was very meaty and slightly smokey, but no signs of oatmeal. Overall a good stout, just not a good oatmeal stout.

The Atom Beer was categorized as a Dortmunder Dark Sour which basically means the beer was brewed with Noble Hops and had a sour yet smokey flavor. For the style it was a good beer, but even our palates aren't there yet. This is an extreme style that is one that would be sought out in particular, not exactly a porch-sitting beer.

The Primo Spruced Brown was absolutely awful, to be Brewtally-Honest. There was nothing brown about this beer other than the color. It tasted of black licorice and Windex. Just terrible.

There was also a bonus beer, hooray bonus beer! Or so we thought... it was a prickly pear sour! The prickly pear flavor was very present and good but the beer was very, very sour. The pretty pink color is very misleading, but we were warned about just how sour this sour was.

Megan's overall opinion: I love the venue and the patio is great. The food was very good and the selection on the menu was exactly what I wanted from a Mexican grill. The beers were pretty 50/50, I really liked half and really didn't like the other half. My favorite beers were the Acapulco Gold and the Marzen, both were really easy to drink and great to pair with my lunch and enjoy on the patio. My least favorite was the brown, it was not a good beer and definitely not a good brown.

Randy's overall opinion: Probably the best patio in the city. The food is good and they are starting to step it up on the beers as well. STARTING I SAID. Right now they are half and half. I did really like the Pumpkin Spice but that could be because it is out of season and I forgot how much I really like pumpkin beers. Also liked the Acapulco Gold. IT IS the season for that kind of crisp beer. The Marzen was good as well, my third choice.

So ok.... the brown, prickly pear sour, and dark sour all fall into the WTF category for me. No secret I don't like sours. No secret I have not found a good brown. No secret I do not like beers that I have to guess what in the world I am drinking. I suppose for "Style" it maybe was close, but for drinking.... no way. 

I like this place and appreciate the beers they are coming out with (last time we went they only had about 6) but there is still some refinement to be done for sure. I guess with a large menu you can try and experiment with a few but that better mean you keep the good ones good. Would I come back? Absolutely. This place is worth the trip for the overall experience. Although it's not a Friday night venue, it is a good afternoon lunch place.

http://cazuelasmexicangrill.com/