Clearing out the beer files…

In case you haven’t noticed, every Monday members of the Crew gather at various watering holes to kick off the week the right way.  Why Mondays? Well, who honestly enjoys that first day back to work after a two days away? (and Stoutmeister’s freelance gig for the local paper doesn’t schedule him for prep sports, because high schools don’t play on most Mondays).

Follow us on twitter and like us on Facebook to see where we’ll be on Beer Mondays and all other outings.

This week, as in today, we will be at Chama River to try their new Shadow Boxer Black IPA and Barely Legal Barley Wine. After dinner we will be heading down to Tractor Brewing in Nob Hill for their Growl at the Moon promotion, where patrons can bring their growlers into Tractor. The catch is that you have to drink all the beer in the growler before departing. Don’t worry, enough of us will be there that no one will be KO’d by the new milk stout. Look for reviews on these new beers soon!

Cheers to a great week!

— Shilling

Malt Madness returns

The mad scientists at Il Vicino Canteen are once again combining two favorites — beer and bracketology! The IV crew has brought back Malt Madness, a “tournament” of beers where a 24-beer bracket is created, pitting IV’s regular and specialty beers against one another in a battle to the death. Well, not death, but a battle to be IV’s top beer (Wet Mountain IPA is almost certain to be the No. 1 seed after winning the IPA Challenge).

The brackets come out today and fans have until next Monday to come in and fill out their brackets. For further details, check out the picture of the official rules page we have here, or just head over to the Canteen and sign up.

Here’s hoping my personal favorites, the Irish Red, Slow Down Brown, Passtout, and the Vanilla Porter make the 24-beer list.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

Coming soon to a beer blog near you

Keep an eye out this week for more bomb(ers) away from Franz Solo; madcap beer mixing in E-Rock’s Lab; the next lesson in Brewology from Professor Cryptogrind; a full list of the breweries in New Mexico outside the ABQ metro area from Stoutmeister; and plenty more before Stoutmeister and E-Rock’s Excellent Arizona Adventure begins on Sunday!