Everywhere is a beer destination...even Las Cruces, New Mexico

De La Vega's Pecan Beer hit the spot on an
afternoon at White Sands.

You see people going around, asking all the time. "What's a good beer destination?".  It's even the subject of the next beer blogging session.

Given the pervasiveness of America's brewing revolution, I say "everywhere" is a good beer destination.  OK, maybe I don't have realy high standards.  Anytime I go someplace new and try something I haven't had before, and it's good, I'm pretty happy with that trip from a beer travel point of view.  Case in point, last week on a family trip in Las Cruces, NM, I pick-up a six-pack of De La Vega's Pecan Beer. And yes, it tastes like pecans, which are widely grown in Southeastern New Mexico.  It's apparently brewed with  roasted malts giving it an amber color, which probably contributes to its nuttiness. It's a little sweet and the pecan flavor was strong, but hardly seemed like a gimmicky novelty beer.

I also tried Marble Brewing's IPA from up the road in Albuquerque.  Nice IPA, hitting all the usual citrus and floral notes.

And of course, no trip to Las Cruces is complete without a stop at High Desert Brewing.  I sampled a Rye Pale Ale, the IPA, and Irish Red.  All of them solid.  Sometimes, you have to leave Northern California just to understand what the beer is to the rest of the country.  Las Cruces is as good a place as any for that.