Denim Tux is a 4.9% American pilsner brewed with local blue corn by Bow & Arrow Brewing Co. in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It has been on Untappd since 2018, and with more than 3,100 check-ins it is the most-logged of the lagers Untappd lists for the brewery.
That makes it a good way into a brewery better known for sour, wild and barrel-aged beers. Denim Tux is the other side of Bow & Arrow: a clean, everyday lager that still carries a Southwestern ingredient in every batch.
- Style: American pilsner (a pale lager)
- ABV: 4.9%
- IBU: not listed on Untappd
- Brewery: Bow & Arrow Brewing Co.
- Where to find it: Albuquerque, with a second taproom in Farmington; also sold in cans
What is Bow & Arrow’s Denim Tux?
Bow & Arrow’s listing on Untappd describes Denim Tux in a single line: a crisp, refreshing lager made with local blue corn, and gluten-reduced. Untappd files it as an American pilsner at 4.9% ABV and shows it as in production.
Craft Beer & Brewing magazine filled in the details in a 2019 profile of the brewery. According to that piece, blue corn makes up about 10 percent of the grist, the mix of grains that goes into the mash. The beer is fermented until it finishes very dry, then lagered for close to a month until it drops clear. Lagering is the long, cold resting period that gives lagers their clean, smooth character.
How Untappd users rate Denim Tux
Denim Tux holds a 3.80 rating from more than 2,400 Untappd ratings, and it has been checked in over 3,100 times by roughly 2,800 different people. It is still being logged dozens of times a month, so plenty of people are drinking it right now, not just when it first came out.
The brewery as a whole does well on the app too. Across its full lineup, Bow & Arrow is rated 3.94 from more than 48,000 ratings.
What is an American pilsner?
A pilsner is a pale, crisp lager. The style began in the Czech city of Plzeň in 1842 and spread around the world. An American pilsner is the version German and Czech immigrant brewers developed in the United States in the 1800s.
Those brewers found that six-row American barley, which is higher in protein than European barley, made a hazier, heavier beer. Adding corn or rice to the grist thinned out the protein, lightened the body and gave the beer a crisper finish. That is general style history rather than a note on Denim Tux itself, but it explains why corn and pilsner go together.
Here is what the style generally looks like:
- Color: pale straw to light gold, and clear.
- Body: light to medium, with a dry, clean finish.
- Malt and grain: a soft bready or grainy sweetness, sometimes with a hint of corn.
- Hops: enough bitterness to keep it crisp, with gentle floral or spicy hop aroma.
- Strength: usually around 4.5% to 5.5% ABV, which puts Denim Tux right in the middle.
Why blue corn?
Blue corn has been grown in the Southwest for centuries and is a staple of Pueblo and New Mexican cooking, from blue corn tortillas to atole. Using it in a pilsner keeps the old American habit of brewing with corn while swapping in a grain with deep roots in this region.
It also fits how Bow & Arrow works. The brewery says its focus is local ingredients, and its values include cultural heritage and appreciation of the land. Craft Beer & Brewing reported that the team brews with Navajo tea, also known as greenthread, and has set out traps to capture local wild yeast. Denim Tux is the most approachable example of that local-first thinking.
About Bow & Arrow Brewing Co.
Bow & Arrow opened in Albuquerque in 2016. It was co-founded by Shyla Sheppard, a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation), and Missy Begay, who is Diné. Outlets including Good Beer Hunting and Porch Drinking have described it as the first Native American women-owned brewery in the country.
On Untappd, the brewery describes itself as a 15-barrel brewery in the Rio Grande Valley along the Sandia Mountains, inspired by the people, culture and dusty trails of the American Southwest. Its logo, a “hop arrowhead,” combines a hop cone, an arrowhead and mountains.
Beyond Denim Tux, the brewery is known for foeder-aged farmhouse ales, sours and its Native Star Series of hazy IPAs. Its lager lineup on Untappd also includes Easy Cactus, a dark lager, and Check Out Chaco, a Czech-style pilsner.
Where to drink Denim Tux
Bow & Arrow has two places to drink its beer, according to its website:
- Albuquerque Brewery & Beerhall, 608 McKnight Ave NW, in the Wells Park neighborhood just north of downtown. This is where the beer is brewed, and the patio has a wood-burning fire pit.
- 4 Corners Taproom, 5100 E Main St, Suite 109, Farmington.
Denim Tux is also canned (the brewery’s homepage shows a can of it in an ice-filled cooler), so it travels well to a backyard cookout or a cooler at the lake. Tap lists change, so check with the brewery before you make a special trip for it.
Is Denim Tux gluten-free?
No. Untappd’s listing calls Denim Tux gluten-reduced, which is not the same thing. A gluten-reduced beer is brewed from grains that contain gluten and then treated to break much of it down, while a gluten-free beer is made without those grains. Anyone with celiac disease or a gluten allergy should ask the brewery directly before ordering one.
Who is Denim Tux for?
It suits anyone who reaches for a light, cold lager: people who find IPAs too bitter, drinkers who want something easy with green chile or tacos, and anyone curious how a New Mexico ingredient shows up in a classic style. At 4.9%, it is also a sensible pick for a long afternoon on the patio.
Plan your pint
If you have been meaning to visit Bow & Arrow, Denim Tux is an easy first order, and the sours and farmhouse ales will be waiting when you want to go further. Find the Wells Park brewery and the Farmington taproom alongside dozens of other New Mexico breweries on the New Mexico Breweries map, and bring a designated driver or call a rideshare if you plan to stay a while.
Beer details from Untappd.
