The brothers McKeown, Brady and Ror, were hundreds of miles apart this past Saturday, but still had their eyes fixed on the same spot. The former was watching the livestream and the latter was present at the Great American Beer Festival awards ceremony in Denver, waiting to see if Quarter Celtic Brewpub and Meadery would be taking home any hardware this year.

Quarter Celtic, which the brothers co-own, had won three times previously, with two medals in 2020 and one more in 2022.

They added a fourth this year, earning their first GABF gold medal for the Vienna Fest Bier in the Vienna Lager category, which had 123 total entries.

“It was kind of gut-wrenching, because right before that we had the Dortmunder, which we had great hopes for,” Ror said. “It was a past winner, it kicks butt in competitions. That one didn’t get mentioned. That was a very big category (210 entries). It was a little deflating. You’re kind of mulling things over, and then Vienna shows up and they’re already announcing silver, and you’re trying to find out what our next beer is. All of our (other) beers have funny names, and it’s just Vienna (Fest Bier), yeah, OK, fine, and then Quarter Celtic, oh crap! It was a surprise. I think that’s why I screamed … really loud, a shriek.”

Ror said that the four-person team of Quarter Celtic staff all got very loud.

“I think even the guy announcing it was like, ‘Yeah, keep that enthusiasm going,’” he added. “We were louder than the group of 20 that was in front of us.”

Back home, technology was not exactly the friend of Brady, who is also Quarter Celtic’s head brewer.

“I was watching on the livestream and it was having issues at my house,” Brady said. “It was starting and stopping. I got a text from someone before I saw, which was just like last time. It was fun watching at home. I took some good screen shots. And, I wasn’t hungover.”

Ah, yes, the post-Friday session hangover. The Crew knows that all too well. We do not miss it one bit.

But, back to Quarter Celtic, where the only slight bummer is that the medal winner ran out on tap a while ago, replacing by this year’s Oktoberfest lager (which is also going quickly, so hustle on over to try that if you have not already). The only remaining keg of the Vienna is reserved for the upcoming wedding of a former staff member.

“The good and the bad of making great lagers is they take up space and time,” Ror said. “We’re a 10-barrel brewery. Brady’s kicking butt on the lagers, but they kind of back everything up. So when you win with one that you weren’t planning on brewing again, there’s a big shuffle there.”

Brady said they are moving up the Vienna on the brewing schedule, but it may still be a while before they can get to it.

“As usual, we have things (already in the cold room) waiting to go on,” Brady said.

Up at GABF, the Quarter Celtic staff had plenty of fun. In addition to their own booth, Ror said they also served at the collaboration booth for their Coin-Op Lager that they made with Bossfight, and at the Heavy Medal booth with 2022 bronze medalist Kill or be Kilt.

“It was nice because the Heavy Medal booth was right behind us, and we had Kilt on there,” Ror said. “It was literally right through the curtain. He was sending people over to taste two medal winners back to back.”

There were also a lot of people who sought out Quarter Celtic, as the word has reached the beer community beyond New Mexico that they are a brewery worth visiting.

“One of the nice things is we’ve been going for eight or nine years now, and we got the never heard of you, where are you at, but now people are seeking us out,” Ror said. “We’ve won for the red (Crimson Lass), and the Kilt, and the Dortmunder in the past. People were trying to find us, knew who we were, and called out by name.”

We consider all of these things to be quite good, and we can be patient and enjoy the Oktoberfest and some other upcoming lagers until it is time for Vienna to reappear on tap.

Until then, congratulations to Brady, Ror, and the entire Quarter Celtic team on adding yet another medal to their wall of honors, and for doing such a great job representing the local craft beer industry in New Mexico and beyond.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister