While on a trip working out in the southwest state of New Mexico, I met up with a  co-worker who works remotely and lives in the nearby area, for lunch one day in the city of Albuquerque.

My co-worker had recommended we meet up and for beer and food at a great local watering hole named Canteen Brewhouse, formerly called Il Vicino Brewery.
They’ve been brewing since 1994 and make some pretty good beers including several outstanding seasonals. This was my second visit to this pub in the past three years.

The brewhouse has a very nice pub / tasting room attached with a great indoor and outdoor seating setup allowing plenty of elbow room to sit around and enjoy eating and drinking and hanging out with friends. They are located somewhat off the beaten path in a sort of industrial area that’s not too crowded. There is plenty of parking in their lot and also on the nearby streets.

The building looks good, nice ambiance and good volume level,  the food is tasty (interesting menu selections), the service was excellent and always present, and the beers of course were fantastic.

I tried a few of their regular beers including their DIPA, then I found the one I really liked.
It was a seasonal beer called Rubi Rojo Grapefruit IPA and it was very tasty! It went down smooth and had a good over all taste and aroma and was 7.5% ABV.

After enjoying a tasty Knuckle Sandwich consisting of Italian prosciutto, salami, mozzarella cheese, arugula, roasted red peppers, I got a 32 oz Crowler can  of the Rubi Rojo IPA to go and enjoyed it back at home later that week.  Good times!

Canteen Brewbouse is located at 2381 Aztec Rd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87107

Website: http://brewery.ilvicino.com/