The chill of winter brings with it the avalanche of seasonal dark brews, a welcome respite for those of us who love beer we cannot see through. As a quintet of dark-beer-loving Albuquerqueans, this is when we are frequently inhabiting our city’s multiple microbreweries.

Our goal with this blog is to share our opinions on the finest local brews, while not ignoring all that comes into our city’s many fine beer-selling establishments. We will engage in beer battles, where our roundtable of self-proclaimed experts will pit stout vs. stout, porter vs. porter, and everything else we can get our hands on.

Each of our members (we will be posting introductory bios very soon) will bring a specific area of expertise to this endeavor. We welcome any and all input from the beer-loving public. We want you to share your opinions, too.

In the last few days some of us have been stopping to try new beers and enjoy old favorites. As sad as we were to discover that the delicious P.T.O. Smoked Porter is no longer on tap at Tractor’s Nob Hill Taproom, the new Porter For Pyros has appeared at Chama River. While it lacks that Smoky bite, the PFP does have a smooth drinkability that even non-dark beer lovers could enjoy. Amid the growing competition locally, it is nice to see Chama stepping back up into the fray.

While most folks head to Il Vicino for some tasty pizza, the Canteen is worth a visit, for all of the brewery’s excellent seasonal brews are more than worth trying. The Exodus IPA, the Holy Grail for Hopheads, is back on tap. For a darker soul, the Sasquatch Scotch Ale is on tap. It offers up a bitter bite, but with a smooth finish. It has been on tap for a while, but the delicious Irish Red is also more than worth the trip. I challenge anyone to debate that it is not the finest red in town (Hopheads need not argue, I realize you will demand a duel at dawn to defend Marble’s uber-hoppy, ubiquitous Red).

At any rate, this is the best time of year to trek out to support all of the Albuquerque area’s microbreweries. The phrase “buy local” is being used heavily in advertising nowadays. For us, “drink local” is an even better phrase.

Cheers!

— Chris “Stoutmeister” Jackson, Editor-in-Chief