Santa Fe Brewing’s Adobe Igloo

A very wonderful man in my life recently went skiing in Taos, NM and snuck a bunch of New Mexico beers back with him. *swoon* Santa Fe’s Adobe Igloo was by far the best label out of the bunch so I took a shot at recreating it. See below for some step-by-steps and my thoughts on the brew!

Nails:

I chose to make every other nail a different pattern here. For the nails that will showcase the beer mug and igloo, follow these steps-

Step 1 (on ring finger): Lay down a white basecoat on all nails and let dry completely. Then, using black paint and a long, very thin brush, paint an “X” that is smaller near the cuticle and wider at the tip of the nail. Color in the “X” with paint using your dotting tool.

Step 2: Take a very small dotting tool (if you don’t have a small one, use a toothpick) and draw the triangles on the outside of the bottom of the “X”.

Step 3: Take the tiniest dotting tool you have (again, you don’t have a small one, use a needle or toothpick) and make 2 rows of dotted lines on the inside of the “X” with white paint.

Step 4: Draw on that beer mug! I used a burnt sienna-color acrylic and, again, a very tiny dotting tool, to draw on the mug and foam. Do the same for the igloo on your other hand (or skip these altogether if you just don’t give a damn about them).

Step 5: The other nails- using the long, thin brush paint a normal “X” on your nail. Color in the top part of the “X” with black. Using a tiny dotting tool, draw the triangles on the inside of the other half of the “X”.

Step 6: Take that tiny dotting tool and add white dots making on outline of the original “X” that you painted. Using the same tool, draw in a design on the top half of the nail. I chose this 4-squared cross, but you could really put any shape you’d like in here. Add some other colors if you want too, like teal!

Step 7: Cover that biz in a thick topcoat and enjoy! Adobe-autiful!

Ale:

This Winter Ale, made with cacao and red chile flakes, teeters between bitter and sweet. It pours a deep brown color with a quickly dissipating head. The mouthfeel is really light and watery with very slight carbonation. (Keep in mind, these have traveled on a plane to get to me, so I may not be drinking the best example here…). However, the flavor reminds me more of a brown ale. The cacao is slightly present, but I’m having a hard time tasting any of the chile, which I feel would’ve made this beer a bit more interesting and more of a “winter warmer”.

Beside the fact that I don’t necessarily think this beer fits its flavor profile, it’s a very drinkable brew, one that I would consider in the warmer seasons as well.