SOUTHWEST
Taos Mesa Brewing, Taos, NM
A solar and steel structure set on the high desert houses Taos Mesa Brewing. It is a quonset hut of impeccable design and recycled construction, with one indoor stage and two outdoor venues for live entertainment. Wheeler Peak, the highest mountain in New Mexico, and Pueblo Peak, both part of the Sangre de Cristo range, is the vista north from the beer garden. The brewery sits on five high-desert acres, and the founders purchased another five to the north to protect that view.
Head Brewer Jason Wylie pipes nine of his own creations to the taps with several guest beers from other New Mexico brewers. Kolsch 45 is light, crisp and balanced, and The Notorious B.I.G. ESB does its name proud—a big ale, dark, rich. Order crab cakes and all the pieces come together.
Taos is renowned for its outdoor lifestyle and twenty-seven minutes away is the Ski Valley with some of the toughest terrain in the west. Mountain bikers, hikers and fly fishers find an all season playground on 242,000 acres in the newly designated Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.
—Pete Warzel
More in the Southwest
Draft Station, Santa Fe, NM; Oak Creek Brewery & Grill, Sedona, AZ; Taos Cantina, Sedona, AZ
This story appears in the July issue of All About Beer Magazine. Click here for a free trial.