Thanks to an out-of-nowhere stomach bug, yours truly has been on the injured list over the last 24-hours-plus. While that has kept me from venturing out to talk to any brewery folks, it does not mean that the beer news has stopped.

The New Mexico Brewers Guild included the events calendar for 2021 in its last two newsletters, and with the Albuquerque Journal having mentioned some of events in a recent article, we figured it was fine if we went as in-depth as possible on all that is to come for the second half of this year.

First up, as anyone who follows the Guild knows, is the NMBG Fundraiser Golf Outing at Tanoan Country Club on July 26. The event is now sold out, though the Guild is still seeking sponsors. If you are a business owner who might be interested in becoming a sponsor, click on this link.

Next up, on September 7, is NMBG Pint Day. We don’t have any additional info on this one, save that it is to take place statewide. We will be in contact with the Guild in the weeks leading up to this new event.

Due to the pandemic, the annual Craft Brewers Conference for 2020 was canceled, and this year’s event has moved to Denver from September 9 to 12. It is essentially taking the spot of the Great American Beer Festival, since Denver officials were unwilling to let the festival happen with Covid-19 still in the air. There will still be a GABF awards ceremony at the conclusion of CBC. We only mention this one because its timing pushed back another event below.

The annual Beer Premier will return on October 30. This event features multiple breweries tapping a beer they have never brewed before. The exact location is still to be determined. As it is the day before Halloween, attendees will be encouraged to dress up in costumes. We did last year and it was a blast, but Jesse Herron from Painted Lady Bed & Brew bested everyone with his “Swear-wolf” costume from “What We Do in the Shadows.”

The biggest Guild event of the year will then take place in November this year, as the IPA Challenge returns in full force. It was moved to November due to CBC, as we mentioned above. The Guild will hold a preliminary round at Red Door Downtown on November 7 to narrow down the field, with results announced that day.

As for the public rounds, those are set for November 10 in Las Cruces (brewery TBA), November 13 at Beer Creek Brewing south of Santa Fe, November 17 at Lauter Haus Brewing in Farmington, and the final round is set for November 20 at a TBD Albuquerque brewery.

Everything will conclude with a new Winter Gala Fundraiser on December 18.

In the end, we are just happy to see events happening again, in particular the Beer Premier and IPA Challenge. When more info is announced on those two events, we will either update this story and republish, or write a new story.

Until then, I am on the road to recovery, and I hope everyone else that is feeling normal continues to go out and support local beer.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister