Drinking in Santa Fe

Every time we travel to New Mexico, whether Taos or this Santa Fe Christmas trip, I want to grow out my hair into dreads, get my nose pierced or get a tattoo (or some other trendy thing), buy an old bus and paint it Partridge Family colors, hang up some Tibetan prayer flags and go off the grid.

I want to get my hippie-artsy-freak on!

We saw lots of these types (the types that we  wanna-be) working in some of the breweries.   This attitude was probably exemplified the best at Santa Fe Brewing Company.

Awards at Santa Fe Brewing Co.

Santa Fe Brewing Company:  Although this was a destination on our Google map, we were actually looking for an architectural salvage company when we drove by and saw the brewery.   A U-turn was in order.   It was a little early in the day, but the tasting room had actually opened early—just because a couple of cars had pulled up.   I love that spontaneity.    A worker had just taken it upon himself to let us all in and crank  up the taps.   It was a really small tasting room (even though I think they have some more public space upstairs) and not at all what I expected from a brewery that has a distributorship throughout this region.     About the time we received our first tasting, a dreadlocked dude worker came out of the brewery, asked for a coffee cup full of whatever was being poured, raised his cup and “Cheered” us all, and then returned to work.   See, that is who I want to be!

We bought a growler of Black IPA, a new beer for them.   Hubby was really excited because this was a joint effort between a home-brewer and Santa Fe Brewing Co.    I am usually not an IPA fan (like hubby), but this was really smooth.   (This would be growler #1).

Second Street Brewery actually has two locations.   We visited the one at the The Railyard after we visited the Farmers Market(which, yes, was still open during the winter, and yes, was actually open on December 24th).    We stopped in after we had already had lunch so we only ordered a flight.

Really,  these are small beers.

My favorite was the Festivus Ale (“for the rest of us”).   But if we had been a little more adventurous (and not so full) we would have ordered a pint of Alternator Doppelalt, heralded as a stronger version of their German altbier.   Stronger indeed, for this beer (with an alcohol content of 7.9%) had a two pint limit!    This brewery/restaurant had a really cool vibe and it seemed like a lot of locals/regulars frequented it.

I loved this fence around the patio at 2nd Street Brewery. Notice the bird, the hops, and the garden spade.

Blue Corn Cafe and Brewery:   We visited the downtown location which I prefer.  (We had been to the southside location on our previous trip.)   We had another flight of beer and a couple of pints of our favorites.    This eatery/pub also seemed like a place that had its frequent local visitors.    We munched on some delicious queso with our brews (and bought another growler of Atalaya Amber Ale, kind of a spicy, hoppy brew.)

We were doing research.

Marble Brewery:   When we had been to Santa Fe before, we dined al fresco at Rooftop Pizzerria.   We were headed that way again but were stopped in our tracks.   What did we see at the other end of the building?   Marble Brewery.   We made another U-turn.  Loved this little place.    (It was too cold to dine outside anyway.)   This tap room was just cool.   All the food comes from the pizzeria and the bartenders actually run to the other end of the building to get it and deliver it back.     The tap room also offers a full espresso menu.  While we waited for our growler to be filled up, I read an article posted on the bulletin board about this new brewery.   They are just getting going and only brewed 18,000 gallons (which hubby tells me is not that much) last year.     I would recommend this place for pizza and beers and the view from the balcony (in warmer weather).

Our three growlers. Doh! It just dawned on me that we didn’t make it back to Second Street Brewery for a souvenir  growler. I am packing the bags now for a return trip.  (And, that Santa Fe growler is actually a clear bottle.   You can see how dark that black IPA really is.)

Why so many growlers you might ask?   Hubby is getting near ready to brew his own.   By the time this is posted, he may have it done.   These are souvenirs for his own brew room shelf.

So, what if you don’t like beer?   (And, please remember that we visited these breweries over a 6 day period!)  Well, I have some other options for you.

Station Coffee House (530A S Guadalupe St):  Also at The Railyard.   I could have sat here for a while and just sipped on some coffee.   But, we were rearin’ to site see so I got a fabulous cup of passion black tea to go.   The pastries looked divine here.

Mangiamo Pronto:   This looks like a quaint outdoor cafe and the food smelled great.   It also looked like they had a pretty good selection of wines.   But, it was cold so we ordered Mexican Hot Chocolate—delicious.

The Cafe at Santa Fe Farmers Market:  They also serve up some pretty great bottomless coffee!

What’s up for the next post?   Stay tuned for Santa Fe Destinations.


 

 

 

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