Appraising New Mexico craft beer

Durango is so close to New Mexico that in many ways we have a foot in each state.

The economic intercourse between southern Colorado and northern New Mexico is considerable. Driven by advertising markets, we get our TV from Albuquerque. Many of us occasionally shop across the border in Farmington, while tourism from New Mexico helps drive Durango's own economy.

When it comes to beer, Durango's packaging breweries find an obvious additional market in New Mexico. And while New Mexico's homegrown craft-beer scene is improving, it lags behind Colorado's by almost any measure - number of breweries, amount of production, medals won at the Great American Beer Festival.

Still, there is good beer to be found in the self-proclaimed "Land of Enchantment." This week, Beer at 6512 will be highlighting New Mexico craft beers - the impressive and the disappointing, those distributed in Colorado and some that you must find there.

I hope you enjoy it.


*Note to readers: The computer I use to transfer photos has crapped out, so this blog will be lacking in photographs for the immediate future.