Greetings, everyone. Hope you are all well-rested now. If not, get on that. ABQ Beer Week was bigger and better than ever, but after 11 days of beer events, we all have to admit we are pretty darn tired. It was an exhausting affair. At least it was fun. So much fun. So much fun it is hard to put it into words. So much as Luke did with the Outside Bike & Brew Festival in Santa Fe, I just assembled a bunch of our photographs and used this as a wrap-up.
Do not fret, however, we are not totally going to cop out on things. We did try a lot of beers, and while some were one-offs or specialties, we also tried a lot that you can get on tap or for sale in bottles/cans/bombers around town. The Crew will present our choices for the best beers of Beer Week. Just as soon as I get everyone to wake up and remember what they had.
Without further rambling, here are our pics from ABQ Beer Week 2015.
ABQ Beer Week kicked off with the simultaneous release of the 505 Collaboration Session IPA, left, and Canteen’s Hops-pitality IPA.One of the many food and beer pairings over at Shade Tree Customs & Cafe, who brought their A Game to Beer Week.Two Fools did their fair share of tappings as well, including Hitachino Nest White Ale.New Mexico Craft Brewing came down from Las Vegas to stage a tap takeover at Stereo Bar downtown.We went bowling with the folks from Tractor. Um, we were rusty, that totally explained our scores. That and the Farmer’s Tan Red Ale.Nexus’ anniversary party was a huge hit, as if you couldn’t tell by the crowds.Nob Hill Bar & Grill was one of our favorite spots throughout Beer Week. Our friend Karim agreed, twas quite metal.Mother Road brought their beers to Jubilation for all to try.Beer, Cheese, & More at Marble was a tremendous success. It was so nice, they did it twice.Food and beer goes together brilliantly sometimes. Red Door’s food truck battle was one outstanding example.More food and beer, this time the Sierra Nevada Cheese & Sausage festival at O’Niell’s.Franz and Mrs. Solo basked in the warm glow of the inaugural BearFest.Marble, Santa Fe, and everyone else brought their finest to Blues & Brews.The crowd was bustling at Blues & Brews, but it was a happy pack of beer drinkers.Firkin Brewhouse, which will open soon in the Brewery District, made a nice debut at Blues & Brews. Their Capo’s Java Stout was excellent.The Crew who attended Blues & Brews were a happy bunch. From left, Adam, Laura, Stoutmeister, Kristin, with the photo bomb from Karl.The Crew came up short in the second Battle of the Beer Geeks (congrats again to the Babes in Brewland!), but we still had a great time, and not just because of Baby Bannon. From left, proud parents Brandon and Taylor, Mrs. Solo, Franz Solo, John, and Stoutmeister all enjoying our Darkside Donutbrau.The Marble staff was all smiles throughout Beer Week, including at the second Beer, Cheese, & More at Marble Westside.Another outstanding entry for Two Fools’ tappings was Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout.Hoppiness Envy, the collaboration IPA between Canteen and Bosque, was an amazing addition to the Beer Week fun.Avery’s Uncle Jacob’s Stout at Nob Hill Bar & Grill was a fitting finale for a couple of us.
There are a lot of people to thank for all the fun of the past week-plus. I realize I will miss a few on this list, but here are the ones my tired mind could remember: Thomas DeCaro, Monica Mondragon, Silas Sims, Tony Calder, Angelo Orona, Skye Devore, Chris Goblet, Amberley Rice, Leah Black, Carlos Contreras, Zach Guilmette, Barbie Gonzalez, Ken Carson, Antal Maurer, John Bullard, Brady McKeown, Brandon Venaglia, Patrick Cavanaugh, all the bar and brewery staffs, the festival volunteers, all of you happy beer drinkers, and last and most importantly the amazing Marne Gaston. Thank you one and all!
We will see you all around the breweries and upcoming festivals. If you have any photos or stories you would love to share from Beer Week, email them to us at nmdarksidebrewcrew@gmail.com. And yes, we are still taking signups for the NM Brewers Guild Enthusiast Membership. Just send us your name and email and we will add you to the list to give to the Guild.
Crew! Great coverage this year! So, now that the madness is over, perhaps you guys could consider hosting an Untappd Brewery Crash? You could pick a place and day–maybe even arrange some discounts for Untappd check-ins! It would be a cool way to meet all the folks toasting fellow ABQ check-ins. I don’t know if that sounds like a good idea to others, but I figured it was worth mentioning! Cheers!
That would take a fair amount of planning (not sure if we could get people discounts anywhere), but it’s a possibility. The toughest thing is most of our nights/days off do not coincide amongst the Crew members. We’ll look into it.
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 
Crew! Great coverage this year! So, now that the madness is over, perhaps you guys could consider hosting an Untappd Brewery Crash? You could pick a place and day–maybe even arrange some discounts for Untappd check-ins! It would be a cool way to meet all the folks toasting fellow ABQ check-ins. I don’t know if that sounds like a good idea to others, but I figured it was worth mentioning! Cheers!
8BitHitman (Jeremy Manning on Untappd)
That would take a fair amount of planning (not sure if we could get people discounts anywhere), but it’s a possibility. The toughest thing is most of our nights/days off do not coincide amongst the Crew members. We’ll look into it.