Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Haha! Well...I didn't want to be the first to leave a comment. Man, great venue with decent food...too bad the beer is mediocre. Not sure I've had anything there I'd want to have more than once. The Red Beer was okay, but...
The thing with Marble is... they are putting something in the Kool-Aid. They are kind of like the hot chick that transfered into your High School at the end of Junior year and everybody is ga-ga.
While I can't dismiss the basic quality of their IPA (and it is done in the most hyped fashion of West coast IPAs these days), their other beers defy style guidelines (not everything needs the West Coast Imperial hopping treatment, especially Brown!) and they just do little to get me as enthusiastic as the raving, frothing Marble 'fanboys' I contend with on a regular basis.
I think that's probably true about the Kool-Aid. But halfway through my second (and especially third) Double IPA...I'm really not caring too much (about anything, really). BUT YES, I definitely agree with you about the rest of their selection - a little too weird in some places for my taste. Maybe that will change as the brewery matures?
I think a big thing these guys have going for them is venue vs. product. They make the entire process of downing a few pints pretty enjoyable with their cool location, venue and decent bar food selection. I also like that you can order a beer out on the patio if the bar is too crowded.
Chama is working its way up my list just based on the micro tap room downtown. Cool spot!
Full Disclosure: I work as a brewer for a competitor to Kellys.
For what it is worth, Kellys just installed a new brewery and I think the first beers are going on tap in the next few weeks. I was just there and checked it out since I know the head brewer. They had been brewing ~1,000 barrels a year in half-barrel increments, which is insane for a number of reasons.
The thing about Kellys is that they are not a brewer-owned business. The brewery at Kellys is regarded as the 'red-headed stepchild' of the restaurant. That said, I like a couple of their beers. Since I used to work there, I still get to sample what the brewers make for themselves there (and never goes on tap, unfortunately) so I know it is not the brewers. All I can say is, I hope the new brewery solves some of their problems which are mainly in consistency and QC.
I also think they spread themselves too thin with 20 styles. I was told the brewers just don't care about half of them and that even if something comes out 'off', if they don't have a back-up, the owner insists it goes on tap anyway.
The funny thing is, 5 or 6 years ago, Kellys's beer got lauded in popular polls but today they are considered bad while, in my opinion, their beer is actually better today than 5-6 years ago. Then again, now they have a lot of competition (from me ;-). I remember in the Spring of 2005 or 6 than for several months, almost every one of their beers has a noticeable (if not undrinkable) lactobacillus contamination. For months! The story goes that their temperature control in their fermentation room broke resulting in high fermentation temps and the owner bought some new TVs for the bar instead of getting the problem fixed.
Their biggest F-up in my opinion is their neglect of their IPA. Not for any other reason except the hordes of self-appointed beer snobs are going to drink a pint of IPA (flavor of the minute) and judge a lot based on that. Unfortunately for Kellys, their strengths are the Brown and the Porter.
At any rate, I'll probably go back down there after Thanksgiving (when everything on tap is coming out of the new system) and try them out.
Last edited by ABQConvict; 10-22-2010 at 02:34 PM..
Their biggest F-up in my opinion is their neglect of their IPA. Not for any other reason except the hordes of self-appointed beer snobs are going to drink a pint of IPA (flavor of the minute) and judge a lot based on that. Unfortunately for Kellys, their strengths are the Brown and the Porter.
At any rate, I'll probably go back down there after Thanksgiving (when everything on tap is coming out of the new system) and try them out.
I don't think I'm a beer snob quite yet. I drink too much of it. Maybe when I start wearing top-sider's with boater-shorts and begin sipping it in small quantities with my legs crossed...
IPA's are just awesome all the way around, and it has been a popular beer since the 1700s, right? -- so not all that much a "flavor of the minute" per say...but I get what you mean. It has blossomed as a front-runner at a lot of places.
And I have to agree - Kelly's Brown and their Stout are pretty decent. A couple years ago I liked their Red too, but it seems to have gotten watery (presumably because of the stuff you mention above). I hope it turns around. I'd love to have more than a couple ABQ breweries pumping out good stuff -- more options!!!!!!
IPAs have been around since the 18th century but I see their real rise in popularity coming in the mid to late 1990s, especially after the widespread distribution of Sierra Nevada PA put highly hopped ales on the minds and palates of American brewpubs and microbreweries and their patrons.
The IPA maintained that micro 'King-of-the-hill' status until it jumped the shark in the last 2-3 years with the advent of Imperial IPA, Imperial Stout, Imperial XXX <--- insert any conceivable style here.
I just think that any small brewery that wants to survive would do well to have a good IPA since so many people judge a brewery by their IPA the way I judge a New Mexican restaurant by their red chile, cheese enchiladas. :-)
I wonder what style will unseat the IPA. My guess would be Imperial Stouts if the trend to hoppier, higher alcohol, the trends that lifted IPA continues, but I would like to see where Browns and Milds would go if they were as sought after as the Pale Ales.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. BUT YES, I definitely agree with you about the rest of their selection - a little too weird in some places for my taste. Maybe that will change as the brewery matures? 
