Brewery Patio Bracket Round Two: The Southern challengers to the top titans must be decided

Congrats to 575 Brewing in Alamogordo, which piled up so many first-round votes we gave it a bye into the South and West regional final, while Cloudcroft Brewing did the same in the South and East. (Photo courtesy of 575 Brewing)

Welcome to the second round of our brewery patio bracket tournament. We kick things off, as we did in the first round, with the breweries in the South and East, and South and West parts of New Mexico.

Our original plan was to take the top four (out of eight) in each region and have them compete in the second round. After the first-round voting totals poured in, we are changing it up a bit just in these two regions (pending final voting in the others). Basically, one brewery in each region was so dominant in the first round of voting, they are both automatically moving on to the regional final.

Here are those final totals.

South and East: 1. Cloudcroft Brewing 292 votes, 2. Sierra Blanca 131, 3. Lost Hiker 72, 4. Guadalupe Mountain 62, 5. Bonito Valley 49, 6. Drylands 20, 7. The Wellhead 19, 8. Milton’s 15

South and West: 1. 575 Brewing 328, 2. Spotted Dog 136, 3. Picacho Peak 83, 4. Truth or Consequences 43, 5. Icebox 38, 6. High Desert 37, 7. Little Toad Creek 34, 8. Hub City 18

So yes, Cloudcroft Brewing and 575 Brewing get those byes. That will leave three breweries in each region competing here in the second round, with one each advancing to the regional final.

If you did not participate in the first round, you can go back and read the primer on how to pick what is the best patio. Thanks to everyone that did vote in the first round, particularly in these two regions, which are often well outside the travel patterns of the bulk of our readers here in the Albuquerque metro area.

Without further ado, let the second round begin. As before, these photos are either courtesy of the breweries, or from the Brew Crew archives.

South and East Breweries

The big brewery in a small town, the mountain town brewery, and the cozy brewpub make for quite the diverse field. Who gets to advance to face Cloudcroft for the regional championship? That is up to all of you!

South and West Breweries

Another contrasting trio, with a Las Cruces-area brewery with a small-but-clearly popular patio going up against a much more spacious outdoor venue nearby, and then the small-town brewery mixed in against them. The winner squares off with the hugely popular 575 Brewing in the regional final.

The second round continues Tuesday as we revisit the offsite taprooms of Albuquerque, which almost saw a K.O. on the west side of Interstate 25, while the east side turned into a “sibling” battle for the ages.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister