The second round of the IPA Challenge was held at 3 Rivers Brewery in Farmington on Tuesday night, with results coming out this morning from the New Mexico Brewers Guild.

After tying Il Vicino with 28 votes apiece in Sunday’s opening round at Nexus, Marble moved into sole possession of first place, picking up a round-high seven votes to total 35 with two more rounds still to go. Il Vicino tallied five votes and is in second place.

The results from Farmington (beer number in parentheses corresponds to the number each beer received in the blind taste test):

1. Marble (13) with seven votes

2. Turtle Mountain (6) with six votes

3. (tie) Chama River (1) and Il Vicino (4) with five votes

5. Second Street (8) with three votes

6. (tie) Blue Heron (9) and La Cumbre (11) with two votes

8. (tie) High Desert (3), Santa Fe (5), 3 Rivers (7), Tractor (10), Blue Corn (12), and Mimbres Valley (14) with one vote apiece

14. Nexus (2) received zero votes

So after two rounds — the next is Thursday at 4 p.m. at Blue Corn at 4056 Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe — here are the overall standings:

1. Marble: 35 votes

2. Il Vicino: 33

3. Chama River: 19

4. (tie) La Cumbre and Santa Fe: 14

6. Turtle Mountain: 13

7. (tie) 3 Rivers and Tractor: 9

9. High Desert: 8

10. Second Street: 7

11. (tie) Blue Heron and Nexus: 5

13. (tie) Blue Corn and Mimbres Valley: 4

As a reminder, tickets are still on sale at nmbeer.org or at Il Vicino Canteen for Saturday’s noon final round, with IV playing host. The Crew (at least Stoutmeister and E-Rock, hopefully the others can work it into their schedules) will be there to join in the festivities and help select the best IPA of 2012.

Until then, we’re off to Marble tonight to see The Lonesome Heroes perform from 8-11 p.m. and, of course, to enjoy a couple pints of Marble’s finest.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister