New Mexico Beer by Jon C. Stott

Author:Jon C. Stott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2014-12-08T16:00:00+00:00

Owner Brian Lock and Director of Brewing Operations Ty Levis stand beside one of the brewery’s original tanks and in front of a recently purchased fermenter. Courtesy the author.

Lock attributed this dramatic growth to the decision to package beer in cans as well as bottles. Although cans had long been used by the megabrewers, the cost of a canning line and the purchase of a very large quantity of cans had put canning beyond the reach of microbrewers. In addition, some brewers and a great number of beer snobs thought that canning beer was something only the big brewers did and thus unworthy of the craft brewing industry. But canning had now become less expensive, and more and more microbreweries were packaging in cans. The beer kept fresher longer, the plastic lining in cans prevented a metallic taste from creeping into the beer, cans were more environmentally friendly than glass bottles and they were easier and less expensive to transport.

In 2010, the year Santa Fe released Happy Camper, a new version of its IPA, in cans, production rose by more than 1,000 barrels and the next year by 3,300. Nearly half of the beer Santa Fe now brews is sold in cans. “We’re brewing constantly,” Ty Levis said. “But our canned beer is so popular we can barely keep up with demand.”

Currently, Santa Fe has seven beers available all year, two of which have been around since 1988. The recipe for the American-style pale ale is basically the original one, with slight tinkering. Ty Levis described it as a “balanced beer, much like an American-style extra special bitter.” The hops do not overwhelm and are complemented by the malts. Nut Brown Ale is medium-bodied, with understated coffee notes. Malty sweetness is modified by the hops, which give a slight tang. The original American-style wheat beer, designed as a crossover or “training-wheels” beer, has been replaced by a hefeweizen, which, in addition to the yeast notes, has more body than its predecessor.

State Pen Porter (named after a building not too far from the brewery) is, Brian Lock noted, an international-style porter, not as robust as the English style. There are coffee notes and some hop bitterness to counteract the malts. At 6.4 percent ABV, it is stronger than the pale, wheat and brown but not so strong as Java Imperial Stout, a full-bodied 8 percent ABV ale that uses blends of two organic coffees, one from East Timor and the other from Papua New Guinea. The strongest of the regulars is the ale the dog made famous, Chicken Killer Barley Wine, dark, full-bodied, flavorful and as powerful as a dachshund running amok in a barnyard. It is 10 percent ABV.

The newest of the regulars, Happy Camper IPA, Santa Fe’s first canned beer and the one that has driven the skyrocketing sales since 2010, is a variation of the brewery’s original IPA. Levis noted that it is strong (6.6 percent ABV) and hoppy “but not over the top.” It is refreshing but not too dry, and it has malt undertones that keep the hoppiness under control.

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