Well, this past weekend took quite a bit out of all of us. Hence, no Monday story, and only a couple other Crew members could put together coherent thoughts about all that happened. We can’t blame the IPA Challenge, either, since Andrew was one of four of us who was there. As for me? Well,…
Month: July 2018
IPA Challenge: Blue Corn storms to its 2nd victory
BERNALILLO — What has happened before will happen again. It is not just a line from the last version of Battlestar Galactica, but it is a summation of the 2018 New Mexico IPA Challenge. Blue Corn, the 2013 winner, has recaptured the title in a stunning upset of the biggest breweries in the state. The…
IPA Challenge: Survival guide for final round at Bosque North
Every year as a public service, the Crew likes to provide a sort of survival guide for those who are new to the NM IPA Challenge. Of course, this year will also be a new experience for many at Bosque North, the new brewery/taproom facility off Highway 550 in Bernalillo. Think of this as a…
Midseason Update: Bosque North ready for its grand debut
During my visit with the Bosque Brewing command staff at their new office/warehouse space last week, we also spent a lot of time talking about the final preparations for Bosque North and its series of openings. There was an industry-invite-only opening on Wednesday, and it will host the final round of the NM IPA Challenge…
The Week Ahead in Beer: Feeding the need at Bombs Away
Greetings, New Mexico craft beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with The Week Ahead in Beer. This column covers all the breweries in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, with Santa Fe’s seven breweries, one in Los Alamos, one in Moriarty, one in Red River, and one in Las Cruces also joining the party. Back when Marble Brewery opened…
Weekend Beer-cap: Hops, brunches, bottle shares and farewells
OK, fine, I give up. Weekend Beer-cap will now be a Tuesday feature, not Monday. Turns out it can be hard for folks to get things together Sunday night, myself included. It was quite the weekend. Franz Solo and I joined a group of beer-loving friends for another epic tasting and bottle share. We indulged…
Midseason Update: Bosque moves into swanky new office/warehouse space
Last month, Bosque Brewing sent out a short press release about moving its offices to a new location in Rio Rancho. It seemed surprising that the brewery’s ownership would make such a move, especially with Bosque North in Bernalillo still unopened. After finally being able to work out a time to meet (never easy with…
IPA Challenge: Hometown advantage reigns supreme again in Santa Fe
SANTA FE — Many folks packed into Santa Fe’s Second Street – Rufina Taproom for the second round of the New Mexico IPA Challenge on Saturday afternoon. Sixteen IPAs were poured straight from the taps, cleaned by brewers Tom and Kevin the night before. The only major variable to note was the Santa Fe palate….
Monks’ Taproom says farewell to the downtown area
As you’ve all heard by now, Monks’ Taproom, Abbey Brewing Co.’s Albuquerque-based taproom, is closing its doors at the end of business on Tuesday, July 31. Yesterday, I reached out to Berkeley Merchant, general manager of Abbey Brewing, and he had this to say in a forthcoming press release: “We will miss serving our regular…
Leveling the playing field: Clean lines means a clean(er) fight
The New Mexico IPA Challenge is well underway, and the question of fairness has come up a bit, to say the least. Well, at least from a technical standpoint, rest assured, our IPA Challenge is as fair as it can be because the Brewers Guild and its volunteers have taken steps to ensure that each…
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 