Last night Nate's American Nuclear Society had a fun "Welcome Back" event (the spring 2015 semester at UNM began on Monday). The event was "bounce and beer"!
Basically it was an excuse for grown men (and myself) to jump around on giant trampolines for an hour and then go drink beer and eat delicious brewery food.
If you read my "Flossmoor Station" review you know I love a good craft beer and Bosque Brewing definitely delivers that and much much more.
The brewery recently opened a Public House location (congratulations, guys!) but we visited the brewery location at 8900 San Mateo Blvd NE, #1 Suite 1, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113
The tap room itself is small, perhaps only about 30 seats but the warm woods used in the bar and few tables coupled with the soft lighting and the industrial ceilings and metal fixtures create a cozy atmosphere - an atmosphere perfect for craft beer drinking! The tables are also all equipped with a small puzzle to challenge drinkers to solve (I was at a table of 9 Nuclear Engineers who spent the better part of 2 hours trying to solve it without success). The tap room also has 3 large flat screen TVs (last night tuned into the Lobo Men's basketball game against the Air Force).
The brewery boasts 6 year-round beers as well as 6 rotating seasonal beers. You can order most in sizes ranging from 5oz samples to 64oz growlers (Wednesday's and Sunday's are discount growler days!) the brewery also has a happy hour Monday-Thursday 3-6 pm with $1 off any regularly priced beers and discounted food.
I had 2 of the rotating beers: the first was the Acequia IPA. The IPA was perfectly balanced and bitter and oddly refreshing after an hour of "exercise". The second was the Rio Grande Tortoise Black IPA. Now fellow beer drinkers, if you've never had a Black IPA because you don't like IPAs I encourage you to try them immediately because they're nothing like what a typical IPA is. I can't really describe how but they're just incredible and I wish I could drink them daily. The Rio Grande Tortoise was a little heavy to go with my sandwich so I was happy I only ordered an 11oz size.
Decor: good, as I've said the atmosphere is comfortable and inviting, kinda like going to your friends house (if your friend owned a brewery in an industrial district).
Cleanliness: excellent, the bar itself was clean, the tap room was clean and the bathrooms were clean.
Food taste: excellent, I've said it once and I'll say it again, breweries have the best food! Although their menu is limited (paninis, salads, soups, pretzels, brats) they take exceptional care creating every dish. Nate and I ordered chips with IPA salsa to share and it was pretty good (the salsa wasn't as hot as I would've liked but the IPA flavor was present and I was starving from the hour of bouncing). For dinner I ordered the turkey sandwich. Sounds boring, right? Wrong! This panini was anything but! Served on a grilled chibata roll, the sandwich had sliced turkey, melted Gruyere cheese, chipotle aioli, mixed greens and thick sliced tomatoes and served with housemade kettle chips - chunchy, crispy, not too greasy, perfectly salted.
Food appearance: good, the food was arranged on the plates in the most appealing way (sandwiches cut in half to show off all their tasty ingredients).
Service: excellent, seeing as only 2 people were working the front-of-house and they had to cover the bar and tables I'd say they did a sublime job; drinks were refilled in a timely manner, food was brought out quickly and accurately, they were both friendly.
Total: 13/15
I would love to check out the Public House location very soon to compare them. If you're in the industrial district of Albuquerque and craving some fantastic beer and tasty nosh check out Bosque Brewing!
Lunch when we come for hubby's graduation?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! We could try the Public House since its across the street from UNM.
DeleteThe Scotia Scoth Ale was the best I had by a long shot. And the hot pretzels were damn tasty with it
ReplyDeleteEven with the mayo-based aioli?
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