Los Alamos is teeming with upcoming beer activities

Mere days after posting about how little there is going on in the sleepy little town of Los Alamos, I have returned to inform you about all of the upcoming activities in this bustling little party town. (I’m not going to go so far as to claim that my words actually caused these events, but you have to admit that it’s quite a coincidence) Without further eating of crow:

There will be beer and music at the Los Alamos Sciencefest this weekend, which runs at the same time as the Critical Mash homebrew competition.

The Los Alamos Atom Mashers homebrewers club is hosting its second annual Critical Mash (heh, those atom guys!) Homebrew Competition this weekend. The entries have been submitted, and now it’s time for a weekend of judging. Mike Hall, the organizer of the event and a respected beer judge, passed along these impressive stats for last year’s event:

Entrants from six states, including New Mexico
115 total entries
62 participants, 23 judges, and seven stewards
Three judges, with at least one BJCP-certified or a pro, on every panel

This year’s event, which is part of a rivalry between the Sangre de Cristo Craft Brewers from Santa Fe and the Kansas City Bier Meisters, looks to match those numbers. For more information, including times and locations, visit the event page on Facebook.

Los Alamos is also hosting a ScienceFest Expo this Saturday, and in conjunction with the Los Alamos Beer Co-op, there will be “Lyrics and Libations” (fancy talk for beer and bands) at Ashley Pond in the center of town. Several breweries and bands will be on hand throughout the afternoon, from 12:30 to 6. There will be Critical Mash folks in attendance as well, so it will be a great opportunity to talk beer! Abbey Brewing, Blue Heron, Santa Fe, and Tractor will be the participating breweries.

Another beer festival at Pajarito? Sure, why not?

Looking ahead a little bit, the annual “Ullrfest” event will be taking place at the Pajarito ski lodge on Saturday, Sept. 20 from noon to 6 p.m. The beer events at Pajarito are always a blast, and Ullrfest is one of the biggest and best. The Jimmy Stadler Band will be playing, and while we don’t yet have a list of the breweries that will be attending, it will likely include your favorites. So block out your calendar now and plan to down a few beers to appease Ullr, who we hope will bless us with an abundance of snow this winter. Oh, and there is a costume contest. If only Franz Solo wasn’t working and the rest of the Crew weren’t at Hopfest that day, I’m sure they could come up with some crazy viking outfits to wear.

The Los Alamos Beer Co-op will also be hosting a “future home” celebration at 5 p.m. on Sept. 26 at the site of their future taproom, the former Canyon Bar and Grill. This event will feature Taos Mesa Brewery pouring beers and Higher Ground playing bluegrass music.

That’s it for now. Good work, Los Alamos!

Cheers!

— Reid