
Did you survive? Did you make it through all of it?
No, not Day One of ABQ Beer Week, but the Penguins’ double-overtime victory over Ottawa in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Just ask anyone at Quarter Celtic last night, half the Crew almost died several times over.
But, we digress, for it is time to get back to beer while taking a needed emotional break from hockey until Monday. Day Two features fewer events, but there are still some pretty awesome ones, especially if you love sour beers.
Read on, dear, um, readers!
Featured Event
Every day we will pick what we consider the biggest, most interesting, most unique event. This does not mean you should go to only this event and ignore the rest. All of them deserve your attention, but realistically, you can probably only attend a few. So we will make our daily pick, and you can either jump on it, or declare the Crew is foolish (we kinda are) and pick your own.
What: Sour Hour with Rowley Farmhouse Ales and Hops & Dreams: Beer Week Edition. Where: Tractor Wells Park. When: 5 p.m. (beer), 8 p.m. (belly dancers). Cost: No cover charge.
Details: As we covered in our Tractor Beer Week preview, RFA is coming down from Santa Fe with some of their finest sours to pair up with some of Tractor’s best, including Flanders Red Ale, Berliner Weisse, and possibly a newcomer from the barrel room. It’s an awesome opportunity to taste these beers from two breweries, especially for all the folks down here who don’t make it up to Santa Fe often enough. Then, stick around as the spectacularly talented Desert Darlings shimmy up a storm.
Why you should go: Beer and belly dancers are a combination that simply cannot be defeated.
All the other great events
What: Blackberry Hefeweizen Release. Where: Red Door. When: All day. Cost: No cover charge. Details: The annual summer favorite is back at both locations. Why you should go: It’s the perfect lighter (ABV) beer with lots of flavor to start your weekend.
What: Beer and Tapas Pairing. Where: Ponderosa. When: 3-6 p.m. Cost: $7. Details: A different beer and tapas pairing will be available each day. Why you should go: You need some food in your belly to go with all this beer.
What: Mother Road Sampling and Special Keg Tapping. Where: Jubilation. When: 4-6 p.m. Cost: No cover charge. Details: The latest epic tasting at Jubilation features the full lineup of excellent beers from Flagstaff, plus there will be a keg of the Altbier brewed in Arizona in collaboration with Tractor. You can fill your growlers with it, too. Why you should go: Good beer, new beer, take-home beer, all for the win.
What: La Cumbre Sampling. Where: Whole Foods Carlisle. When: 4-6 p.m. Cost: No cover charge. Details: Taste the entire current packaged lineup while getting your grocery shopping done. Why you should go: Free beer!
What: Santa Fe Sampling. Where: Kelly Liquors on Wyoming. When: 4:30-6:30 p.m. Cost: No cover charge. Details: Taste the entire current packaged lineup, buy your favorites, fill your fridge for the weekend. Why you should go: Free beer!
What: Upslope presents Loteria. Where: Monroe’s on Lomas. When: 5-7 p.m. Cost: No cover charge. Details: Play Loteria for prizes and indulge in some great New Mexican food paired with Craft Lager as the Upslope train rolls on. Why you should go: Feast and claim victory over all mortal men and women!
What: La Cumbre Tap Takeover. Where: Sister Bar. When: 5-8 p.m. Cost: No cover charge. Details: There will be seven LC beers on tap including Gracias Por Fumar, Fievre d’Abricot, Ryeot on Bourbon (soooo good), Elevated IPA, Slice of Hefen, and the special Beer Week offering, Passionfruit Wit. Why you should go: Dear lord, that is an amazing lineup. Enough said.
What: Goose Island Bourbon County Stout and Cooper Project #1 Tapping. Where: Nob Hill Bar & Grill. When: 5-11 p.m. Cost: No cover charge. Details: Enjoy pours of BCBS ’15 and ’16, plus a barrel-aged Scotch wee heavy. Why you should go: The power of the darkness compels you to ignore who owns this brewery!
What: New Belgium Rare Beer Alert. Where: Gecko’s (both locations). When: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Cost: No cover charge. Details: A special New Belgium offering will be tapped at both Gecko’s, but we don’t know what it is just yet. Why you should go: Solve the mystery and get something tasty to eat.
What: Sour Beer Flight. Where: Dialogue Brewing. When: 6-10 p.m. Cost: $8 per flight. Details: In a late addition to the events list, Dialogue is selling discounted flights of their entire lineup of sour beers. Why you should go: Pucker up, sour lovers, this is a good day for you.
What: ABQ Trolley The Hopper — Hop-on, Hop-off Brew Cruise. Where: 219 Central NW (starting point). When: 7-11 p.m. Cost: $20 in advance (buy tickets here), $25 day of. Details: The Hopper is back, visiting eight downtown-area breweries every 30 to 45 minutes. All you have to do is hop on, then hop off and enjoy a pint. The participating breweries/taprooms/beer bars are Duel, Red Door, Sidetrack, Back Alley Draft House, Boese Brothers, Marble, Rio Bravo, and Tractor Wells Park. Why you should go: If you want to visit multiple breweries, definitely let someone else do the driving, then just have Uber or Lyft pick you up at the end to take you home.
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Got any questions, comments, complaints, send them to nmdarksidebrewcrew@gmail.com, or leave them here on our site, on Facebook, or on Twitter (@nmdarksidebc).
Enjoy yourselves out there, but please, do it responsibly.
Cheers!
— Stoutmeister
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