Greetings, beer lovers! Los Alamos is once again hosting one of its annual beer-related events this Saturday, SummerFest. As usual, the event will take place at Pajarito Mountain, the local ski area. The temperatures are finally starting to climb, so this is a good opportunity to climb a few thousand feet to where the air is crisp and cool. (Note: Hopefully it will be nice, but weather on the mountain can be quite unpredictable, so be ready for anything.)

The beautiful mountain environment makes for a great place to visit, and you can burn some calories hiking or biking in the morning to make room for the afternoon food and brews. As a bonus, the beer lines will no doubt be shorter than those at the more crowded Albuquerque events. Winning all around!

The Stephanie Hatfield Band will be playing their brand of eclectic indie folk rock starting at 2 p.m. If you’re not familiar, check them out at their web site. Bill Palmer’s TV Killers will be joining them.

The ski lifts will be operating from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., if you’d like to take the easy and fun route up the mountain. Other events include a bike race and a disc golf tournament (register online). The cafe will be open as well, serving up their excellent eats.

I know you’re here for the beer, so here is the current list of breweries that will be in attendance and the available beers from those that responded to Stoutmeister’s request for their lists. We also noted the breweries that are new to the event.

• Bathtub Row: Grapefruit IPA, Little Bird Blonde, Irish Red, and Acid Canyon Sour, as well as a few wine options
• Bosque: 1888 Blonde Ale, Elephants on Parade, IPA, Center Fielder Extra Pale Ale
• Bow and Arrow (NEW): TBA
• Boxing Bear: Uppercut IPA, New Mexikolsch, Black and Blue Tart, Cider
• Red Door: English IPA, Blackberry Hefeweizen, Unhinged Cider, Vanilla Cream Ale
• Red River (NEW): Lazy Bear Blonde, Greenie Peak Wheat, Midnight Meadows Oatmeal Stout, Bad Medicine Honey Double IPA
• Second Street: TBA
• Sierra Blanca: TBA
• The 377: TBA
• Tractor: TBA
• Tumbleroot (NEW): TBA
• Turtle Mountain: Pech Chilz Pico 12, Bocky Mountain High, Sup’s Sesh’d Session IPA, Tim’s Mom, Trivial Monstrosity, Rainbow in the Dunkel (Tim’s Mom will be tapped first, then once it runs out, Trivial will be poured on the same tap)

That’s a lot of quality beer! As we get more info about the beers, we will update this list right up until the start of the beer festival at 1 p.m.

Admission is $20, which includes unlimited sampling, a pint glass, and pint of your favorite brew. If you do plan on unlimited sampling and don’t want to drive, be sure to take the free shuttles that run from the high school in town.

For more information, visit the Facebook event page or Pajarito Mountain’s blog post.

Cheers!

— Reid