As we noted in our Look Back/Look Ahead Series article on Steel Bender, the second anniversary bash is this weekend, and to say the Brewyard is going all-out would be an understatement.

Friday through Sunday, there will be events, beers, and more for everyone to enjoy. Here is the breakdown of everything going down under the lights in Los Ranchos.

Friday

The actual anniversary day kicks off with the release of Daydream Belizer, a Belgian ale with a collaborative local twist. Steel Bender teamed up with Eldora Chocolates and Pour Vida Coffee to add, you guessed it, chocolate and coffee to the beer. The SBB staff put it best in describing this amazing elixir on Facebook:

“Featuring a Chateau Special B malt base and a yeast strain derived from a classic trappist ale, Daydream Belizer boasts a big and deliciously fruity Belgian nose. The cold-pressed, medium-roast Guatemalan coffee from our friends at Pour Vida Coffee introduces a smooth, nutty character. And, the 100-percent Belize Mayan Mountain Chocolate from our nearly-next-door-neighbors Eldora Chocolate provides the perfect amount of chocolate sweetness.

“After spending a couple of Fridays tasting coffee and chocolate (those were some great afternoons), we landed on the right combination where the late additions to the fermentation complement each other while allowing the character of the Belgian yeast to hold strong in aroma and flavor.”

Next time, we gotta figure out ways to get ourselves invited to these sorts of tastings.

In addition to the beer, one of our favorite local bands of the non-metal variety, Le Chat Lunatique, will take the Murphy Stage from 6 to 8:30 p.m. There will also be a limited release of anniversary baseball sleeve shirts for sale, and all weekend long you can get 20 percent off all winter merchandise. The way the weather is behaving of late, you may still need some warmer clothes and accessories for a while longer.

If you happen to be in Santa Fe on Friday, you can always stop by Tumbleroot for the Team Fox Pints for Parkinson’s Fundraiser, featuring Steel Bender’s The Village Innuendo among the available beers to help in this good cause.

Saturday

At this point, should we just rename this day as Ciderday? SBB will be releasing two of its ciders in bottles for the first time.

CE-1: Cider Expedition features nothing in the 750mL bottles but nine pressed apple varieties and one pear variety, all harvested from orchards at the base of the San Juan Mountains, along with water and yeast. You can also get this one on draft if you want to sample it before taking a bottle or two home.

Los Ranchos Cider actually debuted at the Magnificent Cider Fest last year. All the apples were harvested locally, with nothing else in the bottle but water and yeast. This one is rather limited, so it is available in bottles only.

The kitchen staff is preparing a Brie en Croute with housemade green chile jelly that is made to pair perfectly with the ciders.

If the brewery looks too crowded, you can also snag some SBB beers at the Southwest Coffee & Chocolate Fest at the Lujan Expo Center on the State Fairgrounds this Saturday and Sunday, starting at 10 a.m. both days. Naturally, Daydream Belizer will be among the beers poured there.

Sunday

St. Patrick’s Day on a weekend should automatically mean we all get Monday off work, but since we do not, pace yourselves. This is a very good day to take advantage of Lyft/Uber.

New on tap will be Mulvaney’s Irish Red on nitro, plus Blue Bullet Stout will available for $1 off all pints throughout the day. The kitchen is whipping up a Gammon Boxty, and corned beef & cab egg rolls with horseradish sauce.

The Gershom Brothers will provide the music from 5:30 to 7:30.

That should just about tide us all over for the weekend, right? Have fun and be safe out there.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister