La Cumbre Brewing Company, Albuquerque, NM

This post was written by Justin and Michael Carpenter, a local beer drinker and participating homebrewer in Beers Made By Walking. Justin approached me to see if I'd be interested in letting him talk about a brewery he visited in New Mexico. I said Definitely!

Last week my wife and I took at trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We hung out with family and friends, visited some of our old stomping grounds, and hit up some breweries. Out of the handful of pubs we visited, La Cumbre Brewing was definitely the best experience, and it was an honor to meet and speak to Master Brewer/President Jeff Erway.

The brewery is located in a warehouse in a, well...somewhat industrial area of the city. The sign outside that says “Open for Beerness” was a welcoming sight. The tasting room is small yet very comfortable with table tops made from oak barrels. Jeff’s personal beer bottle collection adorns the walls and is quite impressive. Our eyes immediately drifted towards the chalk board that displayed information on all of their beers, including two cask ales – it was definitely a good sign.

While enjoying our beer, we asked for a brewery tour. The pourer told us that it was a busy day for the brewery because Jeff and his wife were also supplying beer for a local auction. We didn’t have our hopes up, but surprisingly not five minutes later Jeff brought us back to where all the magic happens. This was not your typical tour filled with general information about grain and bottling. He asked us if we were homebrewers (which we are) and it all went uphill from there. He took us step-by step through his unique brewing process as well as his brewing philosophy.

First of all, Jeff doesn’t use domestic two-row for his base malt. Instead, he uses British and German malts, which he feels are a higher quality and produce a richer malt flavor and aroma. In addition, even though these base malts are a little higher in cost, he actually gets a better efficiency rate with them. And because some of these malts are considered to be “under-modified,” he has to utilize a step-mash process and occasionally needs to perform decoctions. All of La Cumbre’s beers are unfiltered, yet still crystal clear in the glass and are vegan-friendly due to his use of a clarifier called Biofine Clear (which is a derivative of sand). It would make other head brewers jealous to learn that La Cumbre Brewing is uninhibited by an accountant over-seeing the brewing process. Jeff has a “better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission” attitude: when he brews, he creates the beers he wants, using ingredients he wants, then worries about the cost later.

Now what you’ve all been waiting for: the beer! When I visit a new brewery, my go-to beer is always a Pale Ale or an IPA. Jeff had his Elevated IPA on cask, so of course I ordered a pint. Wow! Exactly what I expect from a well made IPA. The hop aroma and bitterness were huge but it didn’t cover up the malt backbone. It had a silky-smooth mouth-feel from cask conditioning, and was not sticky or too sweet. The perfect balance! We enjoyed their Cerro Blanco Wheat, which was a fruity American Wheat; we also sampled his South Peak Pilsner, which had a very strong Pilsner malt aroma in the nose, a subtle Saaz hop character with a crisp finish. We also experienced the English-inspired Pyramid Rock Pale Ale which had a great balance between Kent Golding hops and a slight Crystal Malt sweetness. All were very tasty.

Yes, La Cumbre’s beer was amazing and the pub had a comfortable feel. But the best part about all of it is the humbleness of head brewer Jeff Erway. He has won medals at the GABF when he brewed for Chama River Brewing Company, but you would never know it from his attitude. Jeff is a graduate of the American Brewer's Guild and is a certified beer judge. He will be using his hard-earned skills at this year’s GABF, having entered several beers for La Cumbre as well as judging. Jeff feels that it is really important for breweries of all levels to attend festivals such as this, as it facilitates awareness and evokes respect for all breweries that are present. He’s extremely approachable and very obviously knowledgeable, so if you see Jeff at the GABF, any other festival, or are ever down south visiting the 505, stop in at La Cumbre Brewing Company and say hello.


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