Back by popular demand!

This Saturday and Sunday (June 15 and 16), Second Street Brewery — Rufina’s annual Crab and Pilsner Festival returns to Santa Fe for a second round, and we’ve never been more excited to get crabs again.

Last year, hundreds of Santa Feans and visitors showed up hungry and thirsty for the first Crab and Pilsner bash in such numbers that they exhausted the entire supply of cold-water-clawed crawlies. Luckily, Rufina is such a spacious, well-run operation that the party never felt too packed, nor did the serving teams ever seem overwhelmed. My friends and I certainly had a shell of a time!

“Last year was incredibly successful!” said Second Street creative director Mariah Scee. “The turnout on both Saturday and Sunday exceeded our expectations, and the event went really well on both the crab and the beer fronts. Particularly on the beer side, we had a great variety of pilsners, making it a really fun experience for experienced beer drinkers, and also allowing us to introduce the style to guests who might not have known what pilsner was before the event. We also learned a lot, and are going into this weekend better equipped to handle the volume of people, keep the crab boiling, the plates coming, and flight after flight of pilsners flowing from the bar.”

This year, Second Street will make sure there’s plenty of crabs to go around, by at least a 30-percent increase. They’ll have both Dungeness and snow crab cooking away in the brewhouse, available For purchase by the whole or half order with all the fixins included. There will be free live music and decent patio weather!

And, of course, there will be pilsners! For the occasion, Second Street has brewed up a special yet-to-be-named Imperial Pilsner, and there will be plenty of Agua Fria Pilsner flowing for your enjoyment. All beers will be available for purchase just like last year, by the pint or in flights.

This year Second Street be joined by 12 other local NM breweries, and we’ve got the full list for you below.

The Beer List

1. Blue Corn Brewery: Lager than Life — 5.0% ABV, 28 IBU

2. Canteen Brewhouse: High Plains Pils — 5.5% ABV, 35 IBU (Silver medal winner at the 2016 World Beer Cup)

3. Kaktus Brewing: Grandma’s Prescription Pils(ner) — 5.2% ABV, 24 IBU

4. La Cumbre: Kellerbier — 5.4% ABV, 35 IBU

5. Marble Brewing: Czech Pilsner Burquell — 5.3% ABV, 30 IBU (Inspired by the traditional Pilsner Urquell)

6. Rowley Farmhouse: American Hero (A collaboration beer brewed in Santa Fe with  Perennial Artisan Ales from St. Louis)

7. Second Street Brewery: Agua Fria Pilsner — 5.3% ABV, 34 IBU (Traditional, but not. Crisp, clean maltiness from German Heirloom Pilsner malt and kettle additions of Hallertau, Tettnanger, Cz Saaz, and Hull Melon, the experimental progeny of Cascade developed in Germany.  Dry hopped with Huell Melon, Hallertau Mittelfruh, and Saaz for a refreshing floral and honeydew finish.)

8. Second Street Brewery — Rufina: Imperial Pilsner

9. Sierra Blanca Brewing: Desert Pilsner — 5.4% ABV, 48 IBU (2010 New Mexico State Fair Winner: Best Overall Lager and a Gold in the Pilsner category)

10. Steel Bender Brewyard: Hummingbird Pils — 4.7% ABV, 30 IBU

11. Taos Mesa Brewing: Koenig German Lager — 4.9% ABV, 29 IBU (A smooth, crisp, and drinkable Bavarian-style lager with earthy, citrus, black tea, and pepper notes.)

12. Toltec Brewing: Mystic Rye — 4.5% ABV, 24 IBU (A crisp, straw-colored, German-inspired lager brewed with malted rye and German hops)

13. Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery: Tumbleroot Pils — 5.2% ABV, 33 IBU (German Pils Malt and Saphir and Saaz Hops)

14. Turtle Mountain Brewing: Wooden Teeth — 4.8% ABV, 18 IBU (2018 GABF Gold Medal Winner International Style Pilsner)

Who: Second Street Brewery & friends

What: A showcase of pilsners and the crabs that love them

When: June 15-16, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Where: 2920 Rufina Street, Santa Fe, NM 87507

Why you should go: If I need say more than 14 different craft pilsners and all the crab you can handle, then I might have checked the wrong audience box. But, if you need more? Well, there will be music, no cover charge, and fun for the whole family! Thunder & Rain (the band, not the weather) will be playing on Saturday with special guest Stephanie Hatfield. And, friendly reminder, this weekend is Father’s Day. If you don’t have a gift, you better get crackin’. Wink. Wink.

It’s summertime, right? For now? Well, now that the spring snows have finally abated up here in Santa Fe, it’s time to start clutching those fleeting strings of summer, and what better way to do so then with a crab and pilsner bash to end all winters? A crab and pilsner festival just screams, “We’re keeping this summery weather and you can’t have it back, Mother Nature, not unless you pry it from our cold dead …” Where was I going with this? Ah, yes, summer is about here, and what better way to kick it off with cold beer on a patio? So grab your halter top and head out to Rufina Street! I will certainly be in attendance, bib and all, and I hope to see you out there with buttery fingers, and a silly pilsnerized grin on your face. To the crab!

Cheers!

— Luke

For more @NMDarkSideBC news and wildly inappropriate Untappd check-ins follow me on Twitter @SantaFeCraftBro.