Welcome back to the second round of our brewery patio bracket-style tournament. After revisiting the southern breweries on Monday, followed by the offsite taprooms on Tuesday, we have three more polls today to narrow down these regional fields.

The breweries in the northern reaches of New Mexico really fired up their supporters, with a record 1,350 votes cast in the Northwest Region and then another 922 in the Northeast. The support was also impressive for the eight breweries in the ABQ metro area, with 837 votes recorded. We are putting all three of these polls together for the second round.

The breakdown of these three polls saw some impressive totals at the top, with a Farmington piling up more votes than any other brewery in all 12 regions. The only issue? A brewery in Aztec racked up the fifth most votes overall, so there was no runaway that resulted in an automatic bye to the regional final like we saw in the Southwest and Southeast regions. The Northwest also saw the closest vote between fourth and fifth place, with just two votes separating the two Santa Fe-based breweries.

As before, the top four brewery patios advanced.

Northwest: 1. Lauter Haus Brewing 377 votes, 2. 550 Brewing 288, 3. Bathtub Row Brewing 180, 4. Rowley Farmhouse Ales 137, 5. Second Street Brewery 135, 6. Santa Fe Brewing Headquarters 131, 7. Chili Line Brewing 75, 8. Elkins Brewing 27

Northeast: 1. Red River Brewing 293, 2. Comanche Creek Brewing 195, 3. Taos Mesa Brewing Mothership 124, 4. Beer Creek Brewing 104, 5. Enchanted Circle Brewing 72, 6. Blü Dragonfly Brewing 64, 7. Blue Heron Brewing 45, 8. Colfax Ale Cellar 25

ABQ Metro: 1. Ex Novo Brewing 209, 2. Casa Vieja Brewery 198, 3. Bosque Brewing North 144, 4. Turtle Mountain Brewing 78, 5. Ale Republic 61, 6. Kaktus Brewing 60, 7. Cazuela’s Mexican Grill and Brewery 55, 8. Brew Lab 101 32

Now it is time to narrow down those top four finishers in each bracket to two regional finalists. Once again, what makes a brewery patio the best is totally up to you. This entire tournament is just for fun, so pick whomever you wish.

Northwest Breweries

That first-round battle between Lauter Haus and 550 was impressive. Will they dominate again, or can either Bathtub Row or RFA spoil the far northwest party?

Northeast Breweries

A couple notes, just in case anyone did not read our comments in the first-round story. Beer Creek was grouped here because someone from the Santa Fe area had to get bumped, and we thought the setup of their patio is much more similar to those breweries in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. We also said only currently open breweries were eligible, but we gave Taos Mesa a break, since their shutdown was not voluntary at all, but due to a fire. Both ended up faring well in the first round, but have their work cut out for them against Red River and Comanche Creek.

ABQ Metro Breweries

This one ended up being the Battle of Corrales Road, as Ex Novo and Casa Vieja went back and forth at the top of this poll before the final votes were tallied. Do not sleep on Bosque North, however, and Turtle Mountain remains a bit of a darkhorse, with its long history having given it a boost over the four eliminated patios.

Good luck to all the breweries and to all of you in being able to pick your favorites. It will not get any easier as we continue to roll along.

We will publish the last of the second-round polls Thursday as all four Albuquerque regions will narrow their fields.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister