FOOD

Fermented Winter

What does “seasonal” even mean anyway?

BY WILLIAM MELHADO william@sfreporter.com

The nebulous term “seasonal” does a lot of heavy lifting around the holidays. Hot buttered rum, warm mulled wine, eggnog—all canon seasonal beverages. And though there’s obviously more than one season, the term inherently associates with that wintery time of year. It may as well mean “Christmas.” But as winters warm and precipitation patterns change, how does that change the definition of seasonal? That’s a question best left up to the locals who make the seasonal brews that, for a limited time, pop up in breweries and bars around town.

Hidden Mountain Brewing Co.

4056 Cerrillos Road, (505) 438-1800 hiddenmountainbrewing.com On the patio of Hidden Mountain Brewing Co., a high wall obstructs the Rodeo Road traffic as chimeneas add personality to the restaurant’s otherwise nondescript décor. When it comes to the seasonal offering at the former Blue Corn Brewery, which rebranded in February, head brewer Paul Mallory takes a more creative approach to beer-making than one might expect from the homely pub’s ambiance.

“It’s a big, chewy, imperial stout that has a lot of body, a lot of alcohol, a lot of that whiskey flavor from the oak barrel,” Mallory says of his Without a Trace Imperial Stout, a draught as dark and heavy as a black hole on a winter night and one that clocks in at 12.0 ABV, or alcohol by volume.

While some imperials invoke hard alcohol, Mallory’s limited release doesn’t overwhelm the senses. To create his new beer, he aged the stuff in single malt whiskey barrels from Susan’s Fine Wine and Spirits. Later, after a server delivered an open bottle of Without a Trace, SFR realized a smaller shareable version would work best. For $15 per pint-sized bottle, the imperial stout is heavy on the wallet and stomach, and is available for takeaway and tableside service.

If a brew as dark as the depths of space isn’t your speed, however, Mallory also recommends his White Out Stout.

“You get this really nice coffee flavored beer,” he explains, “but it looks kind of like a pale ale.”

Leaf & Hive Brew Lab

1208 Mercantile Road Ste. A, (505) 699-3055 leafandhive.com With stouts claiming one end of the seasonal drink spectrum, the other might just be concoctions from Leaf & Hive Brew Lab. A cousin of kombucha, Leaf & Hive’s fermented brews are made from green tea and honey, and they have a wide range of flavor profiles that have enabled brewer Garrett Eaton to experiment in numerous directions for this year’s seasonal drinks.

“I’ll try to get mostly ingredients that are in stock or something I could get fresh,” Eaton tells SFR, adding that his holiday- inspired, pine-scented The Night Beefore was made possible by in-season cranberries and mulled juniper.

Inspired by Christmas, the juniper’s effervescence comes out of the gate swinging, though the cranberries linger on the palate for some time afterward. And it doesn’t stop there. For the Winter Rx brew, Eaton harvested local osha root, adding elderberry extract for a botanical tonic that feels as good as it tastes. The tartness of the elderberries balances the sweetness of the honey base, Eaton explains, and the result is something like a throat coat, yet spicy and bright—very Christmas, and a pickme-up in more ways than one. Osha root has long been used as a natural remedy for infections, and elderberries, Eaton says, are “also good for the common cold, boosting your immunity, so it’s kind of our, like, flu elixir.”

If you pop by for a spell, you’ll find pastel colors pouring from Leaf & Hive’s 12 taps, all of which paint a bright picture for winter afternoons just warm enough to enjoy the patio. Somehow, Eaton and crew have created more palatable options to those put off by sugary ciders with a just-right level of sweetness, but still—if sampling more than one brew, stay organized, because the flavors, while elegant, can prove subtle if the drinker isn’t overly discerning.

WILLIAM MELHADO

A palette of honey brews from Leaf & Hive Brew Lab to make the season bright.

Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery

2791 Agua Fría St., (505) 393-5135 32 Bisbee Court tumblerootbreweryanddistillery.com Each week this December, Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery has released a new

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Santa Fe Brewing Co.’s State Pen Porter is a traditional winter beer that doesn’t swarm the senses with holiday overkill.

beer as, “Almost an advent type of thing,” says co-founder and head brewer Jason Kirkman, who also likens the four new brews to “a countdown to Christmas.”

One advantage of running a distillery and a brewery, Kirkman explains, is the opportunity to use homemade spirits in the beer making process.

“We kind of made a tradition out of using our old ristras to make an extract,” he says, which is then used in the appetizing Mole Chile Stout.

There’s a lot happening in this particular beer with a chile-forward nose and a heady spice that keeps going strong, almost obscuring the mole flavor. Uneducated palates might find that bit hard to suss out, but if the initial heat is off-putting, keep sipping: The complexities of this beverage become more clear deeper into the pint.

Those in search of something a little more universal might prefer the gin-barrel aged Honey Double IPA. According to Kirkman, the one-off was brewed in Tumbleroot’s Navy Strength Gin casks to “pick up the vanillay-y, oaky character in the barrel.” With a notable bouquet of resinous sweetness that thankfully doesn’t force bitter hoppiness down one’s throat (looking at you, other IPAs), its convergence of honey and juniper makes for a don’t-miss seasonal one-off. Even so, Kirkman warns Santa Feans in search of this seasonal treasure that quantities will be limited at both the Tumbleroot distillery and at its cavernous bar, restaurant and concert space down Agua Fría Street. You’ve been warned.

Santa Fe Brewing Co.

35 Fire Place, (505) 424-3333 santafebrewing.com Santa Fe Brewing Co., New Mexico’s oldest microbrewery turned beer behemoth, isn’t entirely well-known for its darker beers these days. Instead, the house that founder Brian Lock built tends to appeal to the masses with IPAs and lagers. But as the days shorten, says head brewer Bery Boyce, the brewery marks the season with blacker brews to assuage those inclined.

The State Pen Porter, Boyce explains, is a “true-to-style” beer reminiscent of the early American craft brewing scene. But this English style porter has a bit “more roasted character, more caramel malt, more hops,” than its contemporaries across the pond, Boyce continues, which meshes better with the Yankee palate.

While the State Pen Porter isn’t new— it’s one of the brewery’s original beers— its seasonal return each year lasts about a month, according to Boyce, and it is, he adds, “perfect for pondering.”

Indeed it is, and for a porter, the State Pen isn’t thick in the mouth. It could just as easily be consumed on picnic blankets or in back yards on a late spring day as it could around a fire blazing at the brewery’s flagship I-25 taproom and campus. Slightly malty and a bit sour, this seasonal beer doesn’t smother one’s tastebuds. Instead find an almost minimalist flavor, which distinguishes itself from the sometimes annoyingly ubiquitous bouquets, spices and heavy pours that typically crop up around the holidays.

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