BLUE GRASSHOPPER BREW PUB

United States Brewpubs,

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RIO RANCHO, NEW MEXICO

On the right side of a mini-mall off Coors Boulevard in Albuquerque, casual cafe-styled BLUE GRASSHOPPER BREW PUB (closed August 2020) fills out a cheaply furnished cornered interior and blue cement-floored patio. An amber awning welcomes faithful locals and out-of-town beer enthusiasts to the graffiti-walled pub (with a few guitars and TV’s hanging behind the 12-seat L-shaped bar and portraits of Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe nearby).

Featuring 20 slate-backed draught lines and a small kitchen serving wood-fired pizza, sandwiches, wings, salads and gyros, Blue Grasshopper also accommodates acoustic guitar performers with a small stage area. Ten cafeteria tables round out the intimate space.

Due to an aborted change of venue, Blue Grasshopper’s out of all its original house brews while the staff reassembles the brewing equipment they’d recently broke down. In the meantime, each tap line is dedicated to a local outside brew for this April Fool’s Day ’16 jaunt.

So I gladly settle in at the cozy bar to quaff seven previously untried New Mexican libations (fully reviewed in Beer Index), including La Cumbre’s South Peak Pilsner, Slice of Hefen and Not Even Brown as well as Red Door’s Shift Ender Golden Lager and Paint It Black Stout plus Abby Monk’s Tripel and Sierra Blanca Bone Chiller Brown Ale.

Those who’ve enjoyed Blue Grasshopper’s homemade brews confirm their goodness. In fact, the brewer was readying a light ale during my two-hour visit.

www.bghnm.com

LA CUMBRE MIND PHOC

Beers A-Z,

“Strong pale ale with coffee” softly caresses the palate as delicately creamed coffee bean influence delicately rises above dewy tea-like pale malting and earthen hops. Casual coffee tones eventually fade into citric-spiced spritz. Instead of getting blown away by New Mexican ‘mind fuck,’ easygoing java-fueled moderation suits lighter thirsts as well as hard-core mocha mavens.

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BRICKTOWN BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

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OWASSA, OKLAHOMA

In a freestanding red brick edifice in the Green Country ‘Cherokee Nation’ of Owassa, 15 miles northeast of Tulsa, lies BRICKTOWN BREWERY, opened 2014. A slick traditional American sportsbar with eight locations spread across Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas, Owassa’s Bricktown franchise brews off premise and serves better-than-generic fare that takes no stylistic chances with each specific offering.

A big American flag on the wall and exposed pipes at the high ceiling mark the spacious dining hall. A 20-stool bar with centralized refrigerator, large TV and Beer Board services several tables and features 20-plus tap handles plus bottled fare. Burgers and pizza went well with the seven proprietary draught beers available on my March 2016 visit with college pals, Jeff and Dana.

For openers, dry golden ale, Old King Kolsch, brought lemony Cascade hop zest and salty brine to its wheat cracker spine.

Wiley One-Eyed Wheat allowed tart lemon-wedged orange peel sweetness to its wispy white wheat base. 

Blues Berry Ale offered light-bodied perfume-hopped blueberry tartness to carbolic lemon-dropped spritz.

Sessionable Three Guardsman India Pale Ale maintained a soft citric flow as its subtly spiced lemon and grapefruit tang gained resonance.

Softly creamed Millie Mc Fadden Red Rye contrasted dry-hopped citrus tones against delicate rye-toasted cereal malts.

On the dark side, mediocre Bricktown Brown plied muddled nutty tones to citric-soured tea drear. Somewhat better, Single String Stout placed cocoa-powdered coffee sourness above cola nuttiness.

www.bricktownbrewery.com

 

FLYING SAUCER DRAUGHT EMPORIUM

BEER PUB,

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ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

It’s hard to find fault with forward-thinking FLYING SAUCER DRAUGHT EMPORIUM, despite the fact such large-scale beer pub endeavors merely scratch the surface promoting local independent brewers’ true obsession crafting off-center hybrids, hard-to-find limited editions, daringly ambitious seasonals and obscure one-offs. While bigger beerpub chains such as Yard House and World Of Beer offer hundreds of great microbrew choices, there’s barely any specialty brews amongst the obvious best-selling fare. Ultimately, this standard predictability led to the future demise of Bud-Coors-Miller, three boring macrobrewers scrambling to find a cool niche while selling watered-down versions of timid mainstream recipes to vapid sycophantic dilettantes.

Originating in Fort Worth, Texas, during 1995, the mighty Flying Saucer now operates 16 locations scattered through Missouri, Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and the Lone Star State as of my April Fools Day 2016 sojourn.

Taking up the entire first floor space and large outdoor deck of a red brick downtown Industrial edifice within walking distance of Busch Stadium (home to the historic St. Louis Cardinals), this vibrant craft beer mecca sports exquisite wood tone elegance, high-ceilinged exposed ducts and prominent recessed columns. The 20-stool central bar services multiple interior tables and the open-air deck. The copper-topped bar matches the acrylic penny-medallion keg taps (featuring 1oo draughts). Silver plates adorn the walls alongside cool Chimay, Petrus, Duvel and 4 Hands souvenir saucers. 100-plus bottled beers and a fine liquor selection also get scattered across an exhausting menu boasting “famous make your own pizzas” and good pub food.

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Stopping by lunchtime on a crisp springtime jaunt thru the Gateway to the West, my friend Dennis and I quaff nine previously untried libations (reviewed fully in Beer Index). From Missouri came Modern Arkham’s Finest Stout, O’Fallon King Louie Toffee Stout and Charleville Down With OGP English Porter. Illinois offered Excel Flash Bang Wheat Ale and Old Bakery Porter. Kansas brought forth Tallgrass Wooden Rooster Tripel and Tallgrass Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat Cream Stout while Colorado kicked in New Belgium Blackberry Barleywine and California tossed off Ballast Point Victory At Sea – Peppermint. This veritable cornucopia of stylistic intrigue cannot, at this time, be matched by Flying Saucer’s larger competitors.

Perfect for local businessmen, die-hard Cardinals fans and curious beer seekers, Flying Saucer seems to have all corners covered as a truly iconic large-scale American beer pub.

www.beerknurd.com/locations/st–louis–flying–saucer