Grab your finest Halloween costume a week early and get on over to Rio Bravo Brewing this Saturday afternoon for the return of the Beer Premier.

The New Mexico Brewers Guild brings back this annual event where 16 breweries will unveil 16 brand-new brewing creations. Tickets are $30 and currently available online. They will rise to $35 at the door. That gets you a commemorative pint glass, 16 sample tickets, and one full pour of your favorite. Additional pours will be available for purchase.

Guild executive director Ebbie Edmonston said that in addition to the beers, there will also be a costume contest, with prizes awarded for funniest, scariest, best couple, and best group (up to six people).

Basilaris Trio will provide the music on the beer garden stage from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., with the whole event running from 3 to 7. That gives you time to visit one of the many other events happening beforehand (see Week Ahead for those), and time to get to a watch party for the New Mexico United playoff game at 8, or if sports aren’t your thing, time to get to Tractor Wells Park to see Hops & Dreams: Halloween Edition with the Desert Darlings.

Rio Bravo previously hosted the Beer Premier in 2019, and it was a big hit back then.

“I like the idea of there being a private event space,” Edmonston said. “We’re going to be in the back half of the brewery, and they can operate front of house as normal. I like that (this) October, we’ve had great weather, knock on wood it will be great Saturday. We get to use part of the brewery space and also outside where they have a stage. It’s not going to be too crowded. We’re not going to get in the way of normal business.”

As for the beers, we do have a list, but were asked to keep most of them secret. Three breweries have publicly named their new brews, and another told us in person that it was OK to reveal theirs as well.

• Nexus: Lush Imperial Stout with Irish coffee
• Steel Bender: Groundskeeper Wee Heavy
• Thirsty Eye: Ton Up or Shut Up (Cold Brew Coffee Lager)
• Truth or Consequences: Star Eater Black IPA

The other 12 participating breweries are Bathtub Row, Canteen, Ex Novo, Marble, Palmer, Quarter Celtic, Roosevelt (Portales), Santa Fe, Sidetrack, Three Rivers (Farmington), Turtle Mountain, and host Rio Bravo.

We can at least note some of the styles of beers being tapped. There are two infused with raspberry, but the base beers are a hazy IPA and a hefeweizen. Two breweries are bringing rarer German styles to market, a Lichtenheiner and a Lichtbier. Two breweries are infused chile, red and green. There will be a stout with cherry, a brown with honey, and a pair of imperials, one a porter, the other a stout. There are even two beers so mysterious that they have yet to be named.

Hey, what is Halloween without a little mystery and suspense?

“I highly encourage everyone to dress up,” Edmonston said. “I used to work at a costume shop in college. We would always find new ways to dress up. When I have an excuse to do beer and costumes, I take it. I love the ones that are kind of last minute. They’re clever, the puns. People would walk in and I’d try to guess their costumes. One woman, she wore all black, with yellow stripes down the middle, and a fork taped to it. I had to ask someone what it was and they said, ‘a fork in the road.’ That was a good one.”

Darn it, someone already did it. Guess we’re back to square one on costumes. Where’s the nearest Spirit?

See you all out there this Saturday.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister