High Desert Brewing Company

iron78

Wisconsin

3.98/5  rDev +7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Stopped in while driving through the area. Was a fun stop after being on the road for a couple of days.
The building has the outside "local" look for the southwest. Being December, was a bit cool to sit out side, but looks like it would have been a good place to have a brew some evening.
Inside it had a older, worn feel. Ceiling covered with coasters from other beers/bewpubs.

I found the service good, polite and helpful.
Just had an appetizer, quesadilla. Was good, had nice pepper kick.

The IPA had nice balance, good hop flavor. Found the Barley wine to have a bit too much alcohol burn, but otherwise good. They had quite a few beers on tap, and a good variety of styles too.

A nice low key place.
I'll stop by again if I go that way.

01-02-2008 22:00:37 | More by iron78

SidSales

United Kingdom (England)

3.4/5  rDev -8.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 2 | $$

Visted this place recently (13/09) whilst on holiday from the UK.

Smallish place with stools around the bar and about a dozen tables for dining, tables also outside. Fire limit inside is 57 persons - so that gives an idea how small. Difficult to find although our driver knew of the place so that was ok.

10 beers on tap which were:-
Wheat Ale
Peach Wheat
IPA
American Pale Ale
Porter
Bohemian Pilsener
Steam beer
Oktoberfest
Imperial Stout
Barley Wine

Got to say most of the beers were ok with the Imperial Stout and Barley Wine being dangerous.

Food very average, I had the Bratwurst which gave me the sh*ts all of the following day. As there is little to do in this area you have not got much choice.

09-20-2007 13:29:48 | More by SidSales

MikeFromMarsPA

Pennsylvania

2.3/5  rDev -38.2%
vibe: 2 | quality: 3 | service: 1 | selection: 3 | food: 2 | $$$

We arrived in Las Cruces on a Wednesday evening just after the dinner hour, so the place wasn't all that full. After about five minutes, our server arrived and asked us what we wanted. I ordered the exact same thing I order every time I visit a brewpub for the first time: one sample of every beer they make on tap. Our server rolled her eyes and said, "That's going to take a while, I'm really busy" and then stood there, expecting me to change my order to something more convenient for her. I didn't, and she left.

Our sampler arrived relatively quickly (apparently she wasn't that busy after all) and we went through them. They had 8 regular beers on tap, which were all average and competent but uninspired. The ninth beer we sampled (which we were charged extra for) was their Anniversary Ale, a limited batch to celebrate 10 years in business. The Anniversary Ale was excellent, and was pretty much the redeeming value of this place.

We each ordered a burger. For $6.99 we got your basic burger-fries combo. Again, nothing inspiring. The kind of burger that comes in a big frozen stack in a box from somewhere else.

The atmosphere is that of a friendly but run-down little dive, if you're into that kind of thing. If you're into beer coasters stuck to the ceiling with chewing gum and pictures of Elvis on black velvet on the walls, then you'll be in heaven.

We washed down our food with a pint each of the Anniversary Ale. I noticed that the cooler behind the bar was full of pre-filled growlers, which is never a good sign, since they were probably sitting there for a day or two already, so I decided to go out to our car and get one of our empty growlers to fill with the Anniversary. I came back in and set our growler (from the amazing Etna Brewery in CA) on the bar. Before I could even ask our server to fill it for us, she comes up to me and says "If you brought that in to get filled, we can't do it. It's house policy." I've not been to too many places that are so wantonly disrespectful of the universal beer karma that they won't fill someone else's growler. So, I asked innocently enough, "Why is that?" to which I get a retort "Because that's what the owners of the place said. That's what 'house policy' means."

Needless to say, we left fairly quickly after that. I never tip less than 18%. Well, almost never.

I won't be going back here, and I wouldn't encourage anyone else to try this place either. The Anniversary Ale was the only thing above mediocre about it, and it's just a limited batch. Let's hope that at some point over their second decade in business, the owners and staff get a freakin' clue.

08-03-2007 20:52:47 | More by MikeFromMarsPA

russpowell

Oklahoma

3.95/5  rDev +6.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$

I was lucky enough to get dinner here, so I was able to sample a few more brews than normal

This place looks like it used to be a mexican or italian restaraunt. Place is decked with loads of beer coasters on the ceiling, this place has the feel of a local hangout. Although the area looks kind of run down there was really good mix of folks in there, skewing much younger then my old ass. The patio looked like a cool place to hang out.

All the beers I tried were above average (ESB, Oktoberfest) to very good (Imp Stout). The growlers were just flying outta there!

Service was great, granted I was sitting at the bar, but they took care of me & had a good attitude

There were 9 beers on tap & both lagers & ales were well represented. The dark bock & the imp stout were my favorites

The food selection & quality was just average pubgrub, more an accompanyment to the beer versus a draw in it's own right

The beers were $3.75 a pint, $2.75 for a 10 oz draw. Food was a little pricey. I would go again if down that way to be sure

03-28-2007 04:06:45 | More by russpowell

86sportster883

New Jersey

3.95/5  rDev +6.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $

I drove about 40 miles one afternoon to visit this place while staying down in El Paso, TX. It was certainly worth the trip. It's a real low key place that I originally drove right past. A small one story building mostly obscurred by the trees in front. I walked in, not even sure that the place was open, and was pleasantly surprised. It's a small place for sure. About a dozen tables of various sizes and a small bar that could accomodate about 10 bar stools. The place was empty except for the bartender, a couple of locals at the bar and myself. Little Feat was playing on CD when I walked in (or some cover of Sailin' Shoes), and a mix of blues, bluegrass and Reggae seemed to follow. I sat at the bar, and the bartenter, as well as the other patrons, were frendly. Fox news (sound off, closed captioning on) played on the single large TV and provided the source materiel for most of the dialog/humor at the bar.

I really liked the atmosphere. Good music, friendly folks, very casual. It's not the place you would go if you wanted to impress a date, that is, unless she really likes beer. And this place has quite a selection. On tap they offered 11 of their own beers; a Wheat ale, a Peach Wheat, IPA, American Pale Ale, Amber Ale, Brown Ale, Stout, a Steam beer, Dark Bock, Holiday Ale and a Barley Wine. I sampled all but the Wheat and the Barley Wine and was really impressed with most. Their APA was one of the best I've had. Their IPA was very, very drinkable, not over hopped or overly bitter. The Peach Wheat had such a strong Peach nose that I thought for sure it would be too sweet for my palate, but it turned out be be an amazingly well balanced wheat beer. I was distracted by something during the Steam beer and inhaled it before I remembered to pay attention to the style. All I can say is that the Steam will be my choice as a session beer next time I return. I even liked their Holiday style offering, which is typically not a beer style I like at all. Their T-shirt slogan is "None of our beers suck!" and from what I sampled, I would have to agree.

Didn't try the food. Didn't even pick up the menu. The one special of the day was, Pulled pork w/pickle slices on a kaiser roll served with potato salad on the side for $7.99. It sounded tempting, but I had other plans.

UPDATE: Returned for dinner and drinks on 5/15/07, a weekday evening when the place was practically full. The food was slightly better than average and the service was super friendly, but not great. I was still impressed by the beers I had, the dark bock and foreign stout. Unfortunately, there was one obnoxious foul-mouthed NMSU professor making as ass of himself at the bar that just seemed to detract from the whole experience.

12-01-2006 05:54:40 | More by 86sportster883

AndrewKoransky

Colorado

4.03/5  rDev +8.3%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3

We stopped by this little place on a vacation to the natural wonders near the El Paso area. Former reviewers mentioned their small batches of beer... as a result, they had the largest selection of brewpub brews than I've ever seen in a brew pub. They had nearly 10-12 custom beers on tap if I recall. And some of them were very good beers. The place itself had character, but it was definitely one of the smallest brewpubs I've been in. Had that kinda lovable hole-in-the-wall feel to it. The food wasn't terribly memorable, but I won't forget the beer. If are you in the El Paso or Las Cruces area, and you love beer, this place is not to be missed!

09-06-2004 04:19:25 | More by AndrewKoransky

sideshowrob

Maryland

3.98/5  rDev +7%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4

This place surely holds the title for "Worlds Smallest Brewpub"! Literally it is a converted bungalow - They still have two Apartments for rent at the back of the shop! Unfortunately, it's furnished about as well as the standard straight-out-of-college type apartment, as well.

I admit I was very aprehensive upon entering this place. Still though, A brewpub is a brewpub, so in I went. Very impressive tap list! They seem to be able to keep about ten beers on tap, and they use a small 100bbl system - lot's of batches, lots of fresh brew, and I'm sure a very, very busy brewmaster!. I tried the Scotch Ale, which was VERY smoky/peaty one night, and then modestly so the next; the Dark Bock, and the IPA. All were good beers. The small batches means they can tinker with the recipies often - the beer you get one night may not be exactly the same the next time.

Good food as well. Pretty standard New Mexican fare. No complaints about service, all wait/bar staff were friendly and attentive. This really, really seems to be neighborhood hang out, as many people knew the staff very well. They didn't seem to mind "outsiders" at all.

Well worth the trip if you're in the area. Definately not a tourist trap!

03-07-2004 18:06:37 | More by sideshowrob