Santa Fe is a beer-lover's paradise.
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As civilizations were built, conquered and shaped into cultural landscapes, beer and the basic concepts of brewing remained largely intact for centuries. More recently, microbreweries, home brewing and other exceptions to gargantuan brewing empires like Anheuser-Busch and Coors Brewing Company have redefined perceptions of beer. Here in Santa Fe, beer enthusiast Jami Norby opened Santa Fe Homebrew Supply last November and is creating a buzz (no pun intended) among the industrious beer aficionados known as home brewers.
SFR: How long have you been a home brewer?
JN: I've been a brewer for about 15 years. A roommate turned me on to it in Madison, Wis. I blew up a few batches early on, but also made some great beer, better than I could buy.
Has Santa Fe responded well to your store?
We've had a great response from all of northern New Mexico, with brewers, wine makers and mead makers from Farmington, Taos, Las Vegas, Los Alamos, Rio Rancho, the East Mountains, Eldorado and Santa Fe. It's been a dozen years since the last home-brew shop in Santa Fe closed.
What made you want to open a business like Santa Fe Homebrew Supply?
We needed a local source for beer- and wine-making supplies, and we plan to develop local and regional suppliers for ingredients, including wine kits, hops and malted barley and honey for the mead makers, of course. We also want to encourage re-using those empty bottles; the easiest way to recycle is to refill.
What is your favorite beer to brew?
I'm a fan of porters and stouts. I like to experiment a lot. Every fall, I make a variation of a stout or porter with additions like nutmeg, cocoa or red chile. You can create some really complex flavors.
Can anyone brew beer?
Yes. It only takes a stove and a sink, some basic equipment and a little patience. I've brewed in small apartments before, so space isn't a big issue. Your fermenter (a plastic bucket or a glass water jug) can sit in the corner or in a closet.
Is there a benefit to brewing your own beer?
Absolutely. You can make any style you want. It's pretty simple, fun and a lot less expensive than buying packaged beer. For $30-$40 in ingredients, you can make 40 pints or over two cases of excellent brew, and you know exactly what's in it. We even have organic ingredients. The wine kits are great, too. Most kits make around 6 gallons…that's about 30 750ml bottles. Again, great wine for $2-$4 a bottle.
Home brewers are a special geeky breed, not unlike computer nerds. Why do you think home brewing is so popular?
Geeky? That's like saying chefs are geeky. I wouldn't say 'geeky'…maybe 'passionate'. Yeah, home brewers are passionate about the beer. The flavors and nuances in home-brewed beer and homemade wine can be as subtle and complex as the finest dishes in Santa Fe.
Santa Fe Homebrew Supply
6820 Cerrillos Road, Suite 7
473-2268
Open 9:30 am-5 pm Monday-Saturday
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ROAD TRIP
Attending a beer festival is a great way to sample the world of beer. Competitions and festivals often gather the region's or the world's best brews in one place. It's also a great place to talk shop with brewmasters and industry experts while sampling the fermented goods.
Rio Rancho Pork & Brew BBQ State Championship
March 28-29
Santa Ana Star Center
(505) 891-7258
Boulder Strong Ale Festival
April 11-12
Avery Brewing Co.
Boulder, Colo.
(303) 440-4324
Drink Your Way Through Santa Fe
These local breweries and brew pubs give good head.
The Rocky Mountain Region is synonymous with breweries and small brew pubs, and Santa Fe is home to three breweries, each of which produces its own specialties.
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Santa Fe Brewing Company
35 Fire Place, 424-3333
The tasting room is open 10:30 am-9 pm Tuesday-Friday and 11:30 am-6:30 pm Saturday. Guided tours are given at noon every Saturday.
Brewmaster:
Ty Levis
Years Brewing at SFBC:
14
Beer of Choice:
Santa Fe Pale Ale, bottled
Prices:
$3.50 pint average with beer specials
Atmosphere:
The tasting room is small but cozy and a persistent aroma of brewing beer complements the atmosphere nicely. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly, so don't hesitate to ask questions. Most people know the Santa Fe Brewing Company as one of the best music venues in town, but many music lovers may not know that the building ***image4****across the parking lot, which has a picnic table and an inviting tasting room, is actually the brewery itself. Brewmaster Ty Levis has been making suds at the Brewing Company for more than a decade, having started brewing as a summer job while home from college. Now the accolades come steadily tumbling in. Last year, SFBC's Santa Fe Wheat won a gold medal at the 2007 North American Beers Awards in the German Malted Wheat Beer category, beating entries from brewers like Anheuser-Busch.
What's on Tap
SFBC has a large variety of its beers available all year, including Santa Fe Pale Ale, State Pen Porter, Santa Fe Nut Brown, Santa Fe Wheat, Chicken Killer Barley Wine and Fiesta IPA. The brewery is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with three limited-run brews that will be released throughout the year. Each production run will be limited to 300 cases and each bottle will be numbered by hand. The first beer is a wood-aged double porter called State Pen Imperial Porter, the second is a raspberry Belgium ale called Sangre de Frambuesa and the third will be a triple IPA, yet unnamed.
Recommendation:
Try the State Pen Porter. It's a very approachable porter, full-bodied but light on the palate, good with food and friends.
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Blue Corn Café and Brewery
133 E. Water St., 984-1800
4056 Cerrillos Road, 438-1800
Open from 10 am-11 pm daily.
Brewmaster:
Daniel Jaramillo
Years Brewing at Blue Corn:
3
Beer of Choice:
Atomic Blonde Lager
Prices:
$4.50 pint average, "$2.50 Pint Night" every Wednesday and Mug Club memberships for frequent buyers. Kegs available for purchase.
Atmosphere:
Blue Corn has a convivial family-friendly vibe with good food and great service. Daniel Jaramillo's crafted beers also flow through the spouts of some of Santa Fe's most beloved and popular restaurants, including Rio Chama Steakhouse, Rooftop Pizzeria and the Sleeping Dog ***image6***Tavern. Jaramillo manages to crank out a solid and consistent selection of beers that are reliably delicious.
What's on Tap
Blue Corn's selection is well balanced between ales and lagers. The Atomic Blonde Lager is one of Jaramillo's signature brews and is easily his bestseller. Other choices include Broken Spoke Honey Wheat Ale, High Altitude Pale Ale, Road Runner IPA, End of the Trail Brown Ale and Sleeping Dog Stout. Jaramillo's seasonal beers include the Shillelagh Irish Stout and an ESB for St. Patrick's Day. In the spring, he brews a Hop-a-Veitzen, an American wheat beer variation of the German Hefeweizen-style beer. In 2007, his Sleeping Dog Stout won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, the granddaddy of all beer festivals.
Recommendation:
Try the Road Runner IPA; it's got good hop aroma and a refreshing finish.
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Second Street Brewery
1814 Second St., 982-3030
Open 11 am-10 pm Monday-Thursday,
11 am-11 pm Friday-Saturday and noon-10 pm Sunday.
Master Brewer:
Rod Tweet
Years Brewing at Second Street:
12
Beer of Choice:
Rod's Best Bitter
Prices:
$4 pint average with daily beer and food specials.
Atmosphere:
The word pub comes from "public house," which denotes a meeting place or crossroads for a community to share a pint or two of homemade beer and a meal, perhaps while listening to music. Second Street Brewery embodies the word pub better than anywhere else in Santa Fe. The draw, of course, is beer brewed by an adventuresome ***image8***brewer named Rod Tweet and his assistant, Jordy Dralle. They believe quality beer should be accessible and constantly changing. The brewery produces as many as 30 styles of beer each year, and a loyal following quickly consumes the batches faster than they're made. Two major renovations in the last few years have increased the brewery's production capacity to 1,200 barrels (37,800 gallons) of beer per year, all of it consumed one pint at a time.
What's on Tap
The brewery stocks four standard beer styles: Kolsch, Cream Stout, IPA and Rod's Best Bitter. Again, beer styles abound at Second Street and the best way to know what's on tap is to stop by for a pint.
Recommendation:
Rod's Best Bitter, Tweet's own take on the English-style ale, will keep you smiling all day.
BEER BASICS
There are two main types of beer: ales and lagers; their primary difference is in the fermentation.
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Ales
are known as top fermenters because they ferment at warmer temperatures. Ale styles include stouts, IPAs and wheat beers. They are known for their complexity, hoppy flavors and hearty styles. Famous ales include Guinness, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Pete's Wicked Ale.
Barley wine
is not a wine but beer that's brewed to yield
high-to-astronomical alcohol content.
Bitter
is a pale ale's hopped-up British cousin with a tan. It's served primarily as a draught.
Complexity
refers to a beer's combination and balance of flavor, body and texture, also known as a flavor profile.
Hops
are leafy, green buds that grow on vines and add flavor, aroma, balance and overall character to beer.
Imperial stout
is stout with a police record. It's got the same rich dark color and full body of regular stout, but has a higher alcohol content.
India Pale Ale (or IPA)
is like pale ale but with an extra helping of hops. Back in the day, extra hops were added as a preservative for long voyages. Today the extra acidity makes it a great match for deep-fried bar food.
Lagers
are known as bottom fermenters because they ferment in colder temperatures. Styles include bocks and pilsners. You've probably already tried Sam Adams Boston Lager, Negra Modelo and, well, Budweiser.
Light beer
is water that pretends to be beer. Because beer is made from malt, which is essentially sugar, it contains tons of calories. If you're on a diet, perhaps you should have one regular beer as opposed to two light beers.
Malt
is a sugary liquid that's extracted after soaking a combination of grains in a kettle called a mash tun. Malt is the basis for beer.
Malt liquor
is low-rent beer with excessive alcohol volume and a skunk-like aroma.
Pale ale or American pale ale
is a lovely blond and straw-colored beer made from pale malts.
Stout
is rich dark ale that can literally double as a meal. It's dark brown to black in color and has a full body.
Yeast
is a sugar-hungry organism that eats the sugar in the malt to create alcohol and Co2.
OUT OF TOWN
These breweries and pubs are well worth the road trip north and south.
ALBUQUERQUE
Il Vicino Brewing Company Tap Room
4000 Vassar NE
(505) 830-4629
Chama River Brewing Co.
4939 Pan American Freeway
(505) 342-1800
Kelly's Brewpub
3222 Central Ave. SE
(505) 262-2739
Assets Grille Brewing Company
6910 Montgomery Blvd. NE
(505) 889-6400
TAOS
Eske's Brew Pub
106 Des Georges Lane
(575) 758-1517
