Northwest New Mexico's First Brewpub: 3 Rivers Eatery And Brewhouse
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Bryan L. Bennett

With the August opening of 3 Rivers Eatery and Brewhouse in Farmington, San
Juan county can now join the ranks of the fresh-beer endowed.

Opened in the same 1912 building that originally housed Farmington's first
drug store, in the original downtown section of town, 3 Rivers definitely
has the site and location.

Owner Bob Beckley kept the look and feel of the old building, leaving the
beautiful 20 foot high curved, white ceiling with cast-in moldings and gold
trim in place. Lots of glass, combined with the high ceiling, make the pub
area pleasantly airy and light.

Bob gave us a tour of his brewery, which is an impressive setup. With three
floors to work with, two above ground and one below, Bob was able to make
the entire operation gravity fed. From the grain storage and mill on the
top floor to the two zone conditioning room in the basement he has created
an ideal small brewery.

Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, the beers don't yet live up to the
building and systems potential. At least not yet.

Offered are 6 regular beers; Raspberry Wheat, Honey Ale, Pale, Amber, Brown,
and a Porter. All of them except the Raspberry suffered from being overly
sweet. The Pale and Amber were also a bit green on the day I was there. From
talking to Bob, I could understand his dilemma as a brewer. The Farmington
area is not know for it's discriminating drinkers. I know, I grew up in the
area. Just trying to find good beer in the bottle, much less on tap, is a near
fruitless endeavor. Trying to convince a town of light lager drinkers that
beer can, and should, have more flavor and character is not an easy task. He's
brewing all of his ales with a low hops profile and fairly middle-of-the-road
in an effort to train the palates of the locals. An honest effort, but in
my opinion he'd be better served by providing at least one well hopped,
full bodied beer. The Amber, or maybe the Pale, would be good candidates
for this. That way those customers that know good beer would have something
to enjoy.

His food is good pub fare and prices are quite reasonable; $2.75/pint or a
sampler of all 6, in 6oz. glasses, for $5.00. He also has pitchers on tap
and growlers to go.

If your in the Farmington area, look him up at 101 East Main and give it a
shot. The food is surely worth the price and hopefully the beers will have
gained a bit more character.