The second-place finisher in 2021 will head into the final round of the 2022 New Mexico IPA Challenge with a slim lead as Nexus Brewery tries to win its first trophy.

It was a clean second round at Lauter Haus Brewing in Farmington on Wednesday night, with Nexus picking up 14 votes to give it 24 total. Close behind is Lava Rock, which added six more votes to its first-round-leading 17 for 23 overall.

Bosque, a two-time past champion (2014, 2015), now sits in third with 21 votes. Then comes Ex Novo (19 votes), Canteen and Gravity Bound (both with 18), and then La Cumbre and Marble (16 each).

Defending champion Boxing Bear received zero votes in Farmington and now has just three in total, putting it 16th out of 16 entries. That has to come as perhaps the biggest shock of all.

Farmington’s Three Rivers Brewery is now at 14 votes, more than doubling its first-round total of six thanks to a bit of a homefield advantage. It had the third most votes at Lauter Haus behind Nexus and Bosque.

Second Street, which had the wrong beer served in the first round at its Rufina taproom, did not see a major turnaround with the correct beer now on tap, going from two votes to four for six total.

The final round of the NMIPAC will be held at Santa Fe Brewing’s taproom inside Tin Can Alley. Three separate sessions will be held at 1, 2, and 3 p.m. to avoid overcrowding, and the first session is already sold out online. Tickets for the remaining two sessions can be found here. The winner will be announced no later than 5 p.m., after the votes are tallied, and the Crew will have live coverage of all of it.

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