Marble Brewery (Albuquerque, NM)

Because of a mishap with my car rental, I took the bus to Sophia's Place with the desert sun beating down on me. For the same reason, I had to skip my visit to Gruet Winery (wouldn't have made it in time), so I decided some cold beers are in order. Turns out, Albuquerque is home to a number of microbreweries and some were on my route back to the hotel. I picked Marble Brewery, since their reserve beer, "From the Wood" was listed of the Top 25 beers in 2010 by Draft Magazine.

The brewery and tap room was surprisingly big, with a big patio area as well.

It was way too hot for this California girl, so I ended up sitting inside, where most of the customers are older. Where are the youngsters? Oh, apparently they were all sitting outside. I'm just too weak for that.

The available beers were up on the blackboard, all with the same price. 5oz taster is $1.50, 10oz is $3.00 and a 16oz is $4.00. Cheap!

I started with tasters of the Marble Red and the Belgo Brown. The Red smells fruity and had a light bitterness, while the Brown was light and crisp, despite its appearances. Then I moved on to a glass of the Triple - what can I say, I like that style.

So I had been asking them about their "From the Wood" beer that I read about. From the what? Oh, did I mean their Reserve beer (I guess they just call it the Marble Reserve)? Alas, they usually bring those out around the holidays. I ended up talking to one of the bartenders about California beers, as he was just down here a month ago. Perhaps he took pity on this traveler, but he brought two tasters for me: Sephira (their sour beer) and the Marble Reserve!

I am so glad he did. The Sephira is a sour ale that had been aged in oak barrels and was a blend of five barrels. It's not as sour as other sour beers go - think about the sourness of Kombucha - which I preferred. The Marble Reserve stands apart from their other beers. This was a Belgian dark ale that's been aged in Woodford bourbon casks then Brettanomyces yeast was added. Both impart a wonderful complexity and richness to the beer. It's everything I like in a beer: full bodied, smooth and creamy mouthfeel, not to mention the bourbon in the nose. This was a great beer indeed. If you're in Albuquerque "over the holidays", be sure to get your hands on one of these!

Now .. where can I get some in California?

Marble Brewery
111 Marble Ave
Albuquerque, NM 87102
(505) 243-2739
www.marblebrewery.com