This week has been just a tad chaotic. At least for the sports writer in this group, who has barely had a chance to breathe while spending hours at the Pit and Santa Ana Star Center.

The good news is the weekend is almost upon us, which means the high school basketball tournament is almost over, and it means the first great beer road trip for Crew members is about to kick off.

Along with my trusty right-hand man, E-Rock, I will be trekking to our neighboring state of Arizona on Sunday to begin a week of baseball games and brewery visits. Starting with Flagstaff’s ubiquitous Beaver Street Brewery and continuing through the many breweries of Maricopa County and then Tucson, E-Rock and Stoutmeister’s Excellent (Beer) Adventure is about to begin.

As for the rest of the Crew, well, they’ll still be around to hold down the fort in Albuquerque. Here are the weekend plans for those staying in NM, and for E-Rock and Stoutmeister before they blaze a trail westward …

Stoutmeister: If I have time, I will try to visit a brewery Saturday night. I’d go somewhere Friday after the Lobo baseball game (yeah, doing that on top of daytime hoops, I am probably insane) but a few bands I know are playing at non-beer establishments and I should stop by to say hello to my musician friends. Otherwise, in addition to Beaver Street on Sunday the plan is to head up from our crash-pad in Chandler to one of the breweries in Tempe that isn’t Four Peaks — always a favorite, but the idea is to visit some new places this trip.

E-Rock: I am headed off to Arizona with Stoutmeister for some out-of-state brews, but before that I am probably going to drop by Bad Ass Brewery on Saturday to check out some of their newest creations.  I am also looking to make some time to check out the new Mustachio Milk Stout over at Tractor.

Franz Solo: One of those evil viruses, the kind that make a person too sick to drink beer, has attacked one of our own this week.  We hope Franz feels better soon.  A week without beer is a week too long for any man.

Shilling: This weekend is looking to be a busy one for me which is pretty much normal.  As usual, the spring weather here in the Duke City is unpredictable (70’s earlier this week with light winds and 30’s and low 40’s later in the week with Hurricane Jorge blowing outside) which makes it hard to plan for a bike ride or enjoy anything outside.  I am looking to spend a little bit of time at the Tractor Taproom with Cryptogrind and grabbing bottles for his ESB that is currently in secondary fermentation.  Also, I’m hoping to get an interview in with Chris and Donavan over at the new Broken Bottle Brewery out on Albuquerque’s Westside.

Cryptogrind: Well, it looks to be a chilly weekend … which only calls for a nice, warming brew. This means I shall be spending some time warming my limbs and palate with some of Tractor’s new milk stout. And Sunday … well I think that calls for a nice brunch, featuring a Scottish ale and a big tasty plate of chicken and waffles courtesy of Nexus. Mouth … is … already … watering …

That’s all for us. Hope all of you have a great weekend and for those who get to enjoy it, a great spring break week! Look for some Arizona and local posts in the coming week!

Cheers!

— The Crew