All right, as we detailed earlier this week, it is time for the opening round of our first brewery patio bracket challenge. This is all purely for fun, a way to celebrate our breweries and their efforts to maximize their patios during the current year.

Originally, we were going to start with the breweries in our North and East and North and West brackets, but we were informed one of those breweries was on the verge of opening a new and expanded patio, so we will wait until Monday. For now, we continue with the offsite taprooms in the Albuquerque area, divided between all those east of Interstate 25 and those to the west.

Did you miss the voting for the breweries down south? Well, go back here and cast your picks.

So, a few points we want to make before you all get to the voting:

• What makes a patio the best? That is entirely up to you. It can be the setup, the views, the size, the shade coverings, the staff on hand, or just the beer (and/or food) served there. There are no wrong answers or reasons, but if you want to leave a comment with the poll to tell us why a specific place is your favorite, please do so!
• We ask that everyone vote for a maximum of four brewery patios per poll. If there is only one or two or three you want to vote for, that is just fine. We will narrow these initial lists of eight patios per region down to four, then two, then one will advance to the final rounds.
• You are totally allowed to pick a place just based upon the photos we are providing (credit to each brewery for the photos that we did not have a good patio shot from, which is most of them), even if you have never been there. However, if you have friends or relatives that do not follow us, but live in one of these towns, please share the story links and let them have their say as well.

Polls for each region will be set up to last for one week worth of voting. If there is a tie for fourth place, we will either open it up to a tiebreaker poll, or the Crew will figure out a tiebreaker that is as fair as we can make it. The four highest vote totals per region will advance to the second round.

ABQ Area Offsite Taprooms West of I-25

Somehow we do not have a picture of Marble Westside, but we will work on getting one.

So which of the eight offsite taprooms west of the freeway in Albuquerque has the best patio? You make the call, either from personal experience/visits or the photos above.

ABQ Area Offsite Taprooms East of I-25

We do not have a picture of the patio at Rock Canyon Taproom, which is owned by Lizard Tail Brewing.

So which of the eight offsite taprooms east of the freeway in Albuquerque has the best patio? You make the call, either from personal experience/visits or the photos above.

The first round continues. Good luck to all the breweries and to all the beer drinkers.

Next up: Offsite Taprooms Beyond Albuquerque and the ABQ Metro Area Suburban Breweries.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister