The Tumbling Tumbleroot

Those of us who live in, near or above Santa Fe may have noticed that Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery is bumping up the micro brewery scene in Santa Fe quite a few notches. I have been to their Aqua Fria location a few times but hadn’t known that they are canning and bottling their wares until I found an entire end cap of their beer and spirits at the Santa Fe Trader Joe’s. Whoa! How did they pull that off? That’s serious. If you read their vision, they are actually pulling it off.

   Trader Joes sells Santa Fe Brewing Company, Bosque, La Cumbre, Marble, and Sierra Blanca Brewing Company already. The California based grocer is a big supporter of local businesses beyond these fine beers. Much of their French style bread is made by Sage Bakehouse here in Santa Fe for example and they sell some local salsas etc. 

   Tumbleroot has fulfilled its mission of creating a community center where people can listen to music, play with their kids, drink good beer and whisky or vodka or gin or agave spirit or rum. All of their spirits are made with organic ingredients and distilled in house by their staff of dedicated crafters. The variety of their beers boggle the mind. They go far beyond the offerings of places like Second Street or Santa Fe Brewing by offering a few varieties of IPA, lager, pilsner, stout, porter, red ale and beers aged in booze barrels. To produce such a wide variety of specialized beers shows true skill and dedication. And the beers are highly drinkable.

   We have to be grateful for them for getting a big room, putting a stage in it and having a steady line up of bands such as our favorite Pigment. For the Siler/Rufina/Aqua Fria neighborhood, this is serious stuff. These guys are not messing around.

    And though I was a little taken aback by the prices of their beer on the shelf at Trader Joes, I had a hunch that it must be pretty good or Mr. Joe wouldn’t be selling it and giving it so much critical retail space.

   Let’s pile on down to Tumbleroot and remember to support our other northern New Mexico and southern Colorado breweries as well. (Ska has dropped the prices on their fine beers which are perfect for your hikes and skiing trips.) You can try many of them at the New Mexico Hard Cider Taproom on upper Cerrillos Road if you don’t want to hop around from brewery to brewery.

   Cheers.