Albuquerque Brewing Company

Albuquerque Brewing is a slightly hidden, hole-in-the-wall, small brewery that is located on I-25 just before Paseo Del Norte. This brewery isn't much of a destination brewery, it's more of a stop in after work for a beer and maybe a pizza. The layout for the tap room is left over from the counter top sales office that occupied the space before them, which could have been a really neat concept had they worked with it a little better. The room is very closed off and needs to be opened up for more seating and to be able to see the entertainers that perform indoors when the weather isn't nice out. The model-home style kitchen was a perfect set up for their pizza oven but before they put that in, the kitchen area was a sort of gathering place, much like a home with a large family. They used to have kitchen cabinets behind the serving area that held their pint glasses which just further enhanced the feeling of being in someone's home, but they have since removed those. The venue from the start has felt like a work in progress construction zone, so if they can get that under control it would be a nicer place to spend some time. The patio on the other hand is expansive and a great hang-out area, especially with the live music they often have. There really is a lot to say about this brewery and we haven't even made it to the beer review!

Albuquerque Brewing Company's slogan is "True to Style," which when they first opened seemed intriguing since they had more of the English styled beers instead of the hop-headed beers that many breweries in Albuquerque tend to have. Just from looking over the menu however, it seems ABC has branched out to many different styles, so "True to Style" doesn't hold much weight anymore. We of course partook of the flight, which unfortunately seemed to have several beers missing due to blown kegs, but even so, we ended up with six beers, which was more than we've seen on tap here before. They were out of their High Plains Drafter Blonde Ale, the Dunkelweizen, their Off the Richter Red Ale, and the Handlebar Mustache Stout. Our flight included:

Duke's Pale Ale

Tilted Windmill IPA

Vienna Amber (Seasonal)

Imperial Red Ale (Seasonal)

Saison (Seasonal)

American Golden Nitro Stout (Seasonal)

The Duke's Pale was a very mild pale ale, which for English-adaptation pale is the flavor it should have. The hops were present but in no way overbearing, and the sweet, wheat flavor seemed to take over the beer giving it an almost hefeweizen taste.

The Tilted Windmill IPA was also extremely mild in the hops regional, barely resembling an IPA. It tasted very sweet, with an almost apple-like flavor to it. It was crisp and refreshing, just not quite an IPA.

The Vienna Amber was a seasonal beer that ABC should keep on tap year-round. This was an excellent English-style amber, unfiltered and full of malt character. There was a slightly smokey flavor that really added to the beer, overall an excellent amber.

The Imperial Red was another seasonal that seemed to take the place of their Off the Richter Red Ale. This red was a very brown color and had a similar smokey smell to the Vienna Amber. The taste was good, malty as an English red ale should be and not at all hoppy. This was an interesting beer, in a good way, and sneaky...you wouldn't guess it was imperial from the taste.

The Saison was pretty typical for a farmhouse ale, having that unfiltered, wheat look to it. The flavor could be compared to a soured hefeweizen, which works for this seasonal summer ale.

The American Golden Nitro Stout was rather disappointing. Being such fans of nitros and of pale stouts, this beer was disappointing in every way. The color of this "Golden" stout was a medium brown color and it smelled nutty like a brown ale as well. The nitro did make for a very creamy beer, but there wasn't much flavor at all, so again, we'd say this was more a of a nitro brown ale than a a nitro golden stout.

Megan's overall opinion: I want to like ABC, but for some reason I just can't. There are a lot of things about it I do like, such as the decor and the feeling that it's small and local, but the whole place just seems unfinished and disorganized. Their beer is good, it's just inconsistent and lacks flavor. I did really enjoy the amber, I thought that was an excellent beer, but it wasn't one to drive across town for. I really didn't like the IPA, it just didn't have any flavor to it in either direction, hops or malts. I would like to see more of the home-feel in the decor, I liked hanging out in the "kitchen" and I think the patio is great, they just need to finish the inside area and clean it up. Location could be better, but we've also seen a lot worse. The first beer we ever had at ABC was a nitro cappuccino red ale, and it was fantastic, so I hope they bring that back someday!

Randy's overall opinion: Albuquerque Brewing seems like an afterthought hobby to me. I understand the location because they are tied to the business next door, but access to it is awful. Inside is very different than your typical brewery but each time we go there, it seems like the construction isn't completed; cords draped everywhere, half finished tables, walls with patch marks.... That would all be fine if it were a work in progress but unfortunately this is the norm. no path of improvement or growth. The patio is large which is a good thing and it looks like the events are enjoyable. The beer could use some help but they are not far off. I felt just about all the beers were weaker than they should be (style-wise) and somewhat watery. A good number of beers were not available which was disappointing. The word I would use to describe Albuquerque Brewing is CONFUSING. I'm not sure on the beer style despite the logo, not sure on the look they are going for, and frankly not sure what they are trying to do. This place does have potential though!

http://www.abqbrewco.com/

Pi Brewing

Pi Brewing, formerly known as Nicky V's Pizzeria, is still very much a restaurant that serves their own beer which typically means the focus is on the food, leaving the beer inconsistent and often times very few on tap. There have been times we've ventured to Pi and absolutely loved all the beer, and there have been equal times where we've gone and half the taps are blown and the couple beers they do have aren't very good. It's just an extremely hit-or-miss, inconsistent brewery.

We were fortunate this round to have all eight taps flowing for this flight:

Prohibition Pilsner

Unwindulax

Pineapple Express

Amber's Amber

Cardinal Sin

Discordia IPA

Barreled Bourbon Vanilla Porter

Zinister Dichotomy

The Prohibition Pilsner had a good wheat flavor but also had a bit of a bite upfront. It was a very mild, tame and drinkable beer, but would have been more enjoyable had it been served a little colder. A major factor in the flavors that come out in a beer is the temperature, you actually don't want the mountains to turn blue for good craft beers, but you definitely don't want them served warm either.

The Unwindulax was a German sour ale and was similar in color to the pilsner. This is a very easy sour, if you're interested in expanding your palate into the world of sours, this is a great one to start with. A lot of sours get their tart flavor from fruit mixtures or use fruit to tone down the tart flavors, but this German sour was brewed to incorporate the sour yeast flavor, and it was done properly. 

The Pineapple Express was a hefeweizen style beer and was very light and simple. The usual banana and bubble gum flavors were present but not overbearing, which made this a very easy to drink beer. This is another beer that Pi served a little on the warmer side, so had it been colder, it would have been even better and more refreshing.

The Amber's Amber Ale was very light in color, and smelled sweet and malty. The taste on the other hand was a little weak. It still tasted like an amber, but it was very watery and weak. 

The Cardinal Sin Red Ale had that great crimson color expected of a good red ale. Unfortunately, much like the amber, the flavor just wasn't there. It tasted like an Irish red, but the flavor was weak and just disappointing.

The Discordia IPA was just bad. On occasion, not often, we leave a sample unfinished. This was one of those occasions.  This IPA was only slightly hoppy and very much tasted like dirty, sweaty gym socks. Just really not good at all.

The Barreled BVP was a great recovery from the IPA. It was so smooth, had great vanilla flavor that expanded through the whole beer from the forefront all the way through to the after taste. It was very light for a porter, almost more of a brown, but a great dark beer for the summer.

The Zinister Dichotomy was another sour, this time brewed with raspberries and aged in wine barrels. This was an excellent sour, another that was very drinkable and quite delicious. Not as easy as the German Sour, but still easier than most. If you like wine, this is a great beer to try out.

Megan's overall opinion: I want to like Pi, I have liked Pi before, but I just wish they would be more consistent in their brewing. They had a couple beers this time around that I really enjoyed, the BVP and the Zinister were really good and I think should be staples in their list. The IPA was terrible, and I think because Albuquerque is such a hop-headed town, every brewery feels the need to have an IPA on tap, but I think Pi would be better off without one. The rest of the beers were alright, just nothing special. The food is great and as a restaurant that seems to be more their focus, but hopefully they can focus a little more on the beer.

Randy's overall opinion: Biggest surprise for me was the fact that I actually liked a sour! Zinister, the raspberry sour beer was not a sweaty cheek punch of tart but was refreshingly mild and flavorful. Now, I'm not saying it was my favorite beer on the list but I'll say it was second! That should go down in the record books as I never thought I would have a sour in my top favorites. Speaking of my favorite, the BVP (Vanilla Porter) is always the go-to while here. Very consistently done and the one that keeps me wanting to return to Pi.  Now, the place itself is an awesome pizza/ pasta joint. The food is really good and the space is used well. Location and parking are left to be desired but it's manageable. The beers need to be consistent all around. Seems like every time we go, the beer menu is totally different from the previous time (except for the BVP thank goodness).  As a whole, I feel they have taken a step backwards since the beginning. They do have a decent enough variety to choose from but really need to make them better. This is a tough beer town and being mediocre gets you forgotten about. 

https://www.facebook.com/pibrewing/

Lizard Tail Brewing

Lizard Tail Brewing for the longest time has been the only brewery located in the eastern part of Albuquerque. This will soon change with the addition of a couple big time taprooms building on that side of town. This could very well be the reason Lizard Tail has survived this long; their beer alone probably wouldn't make it among the likes of La Cumbre or Bosque. Not to say the beer was bad, it just wasn't one of the greats.

Lizard Tail did, however, have a huge variety in their flights, including 15 different styles. We had to break the flights up quite a bit in order to fit them all on the table. We started with the regular, year-round offerings:

Bluetail Blond

Horned Honey Pale

Chameleon Amber

Reptilian IPA

Chuckwalla Abbey

Red Earth Irish

Basilisk Brown

Desert Dweller Dubbel

Desert Night India Black

Oatmeal Stout

The Bluetail Blond was a wheaty and very easy and simple, refreshing beer. Unfortunately, this beer had a terrible smell to it that really ruined the taste. If you plugged your nose, this could be a decent beer, but the odor was difficult to get passed.

The Horned Honey Pale was very nice, sweet, honey-flavored beer that was refreshing and very easy to drink. There was a slight hop flavor that accented the sweetness in the honey, and that crisp finish makes for a great pale.

The Chameleon Amber  was smooth and a little sweet, but had great flavor. Not as malty as a lot of ambers we've come across, but still that easy, gateway brew that can open the door to more complex craft beers.

The Reptilian IPA was a great IPA. It had excellent hop character and none of that bitterness usually associated with an IPA. It was smooth yet crisp and an excellent example of a west coast American IPA. The Legless DIPA was out during our visit, but we've heard great things of that beer as well.

The Chuckwalla Abbey a sweet, slightly Belgian-style beer, not quite has bold or pungent as a true Belgian, but similar in character. The Abbey tasted slightly of apples and was another easy to drink beer.

The Red Earth Irish was very malty as to be expected from an Irish red ale. The flavor was very malty, and almost had a cereal-type, or earthy flavor. This malty beer was surprisingly crisp and refreshing.

The Basilisk Brown was very smooth and creamy. There wasn't much flavor to the beer, but there was a nutty-taste to it. A decent brown, not anywhere near the greatest ever, but not the worst ever either.

The Desert Dweller Dubbel was very sour and strong in alcohol. It had similar attributes to a barley wine or very strong, sour, amber ale. Definitely not their best beer.

The Desert Night India Black was a fantastic black ale with all the right flavors and just the right balance. Very malty and smooth, this black stout-like ale is crisp enough for summer and mysterious enough to keep you coming back for more.

The Oatmeal Stout, much like the Desert Night was very dark, rich, and malty. This was a good depiction of what a stout ought to taste like and represented the style well. It had flavors of coffee and oatmeal and was very malty. This has been one of the best Oatmeal Stouts we have had locally.

Lizard Tail also had a variety of seasonal brews including:

Saison

Raspberry Wit

Wakatu SHPA

Strawberry IPA

Long-nosed Trippel

The Saison was very interesting and complex in its flavors. It was smooth and wheaty but also had a slightly spicy flavor like red chile or Halls Original cough drops.

The Raspberry Wit was a light pink color and looked like ruby red grapefruit juice. It tasted very tart and slightly like raspberries but also had an off flavor like dirty dish water. It wasn't terrible, but really wasn't very good either.

The Wakatu Single Hopped Pale Ale was a very simple and easy to drink pale. This beer is the perfect way to start venturing into IPAs, it has a simple hop flavor that isn't too bitter and is as easy to drink as a wheat. 

The Strawberry IPA sounds like a great pairing of flavors, but this beer just didn't quite make it. It smelled heavily of strawberries, strawberry shortcake even, but the taste was just a bit too tart. The strawberry and hop flavors didn't come through very well at and was really disappointing for such a great concept in flavors.

The Long-nosed Trippel was a little bit sour and a little bit sweet. Instead of being compliments to each other, these flavors seemed to mix into a taste comparable to a household cleaner. Not an uncommon flaw, but a pretty major beer flaw.

Megan's overall opinion: Lizard Tail very much feels like a bar, not a brew pub. Being the only brewery east of San Mateo, there isn't much to be picky about, but I think at least half of these beers fall very short. My least favorite beer was the Raspberry Wit because it looked so good in the glass but fell very short of my expectations. I did, however, enjoy the Black Ale and the Oatmeal Stout. I think Lizard Tails strengths definitely lie in their maltier beers. The atmosphere, apart from being a bar, felt very "locals only." The bar top was filled with the regular patrons and it seemed like we were slightly intruding, even though we sat alone in the back of the room.

Randy's overall opinion: This place is better than it should be. A dismal hole-in-the-wall lingering among the dire hopes of crappy strip-mall companions, tucked away behind the dark window shades and dim lighting of the interior. You would never know there was a brewery to be found here. It seems as though there is no desire to enhance the ambiance or appearance. They just brew beer and have the same regulars to keep the doors open week after week. Ok, ok, enough of that....Over the year-ish that it has been since we had been back, Lizard Tail has obviously come a long way in their beer department. The Black Ale and Reptilian IPA were both really good. There were a few that I was not cool with, such as the Dubbel and the Trippel. However,  I will give them credit for trying styles of beer that are not commonly found here.  This is a brewery that is commonly overlooked and understandably so, but they do have something to offer....as long as you are looking for a beer and not an atmosphere.

http://www.lizardtailbrewing.com/home