Oh, look at that, just enough stuff has piled up that it was time to empty the old beer notebook again. Let us dive right in, shall we?

First up, a little while ago we were sent that book pictured up above. Beer Hiking Southern Rockies is part of a series of regional books that combine two great loves, hiking and craft breweries, and offers up ways to do both.

So how does one go about properly reviewing such a book? By going on one of those hikes, of course, and then stopping at the suggested brewery. That requires two things, one being the time to go hiking, and the other being cooperative weather.

Nonetheless, at this point at least Reid and I will be attempting a couple of those hikes. Reid may even be going with the book’s co-author, Kevin Holsapple, an old friend of the Crew.

The book itself comes out August 12, so clearly the clock is ticking for us to get on out there. I’ve read through the New Mexico section of the book, which Kevin wrote, and found it to be rather enjoyable. Though I am not as avid of a hiker as many of you are, I do enjoy getting out to nature every once in a while.

There are 54 different featured hikes and breweries reviewed within the book between four states (NM, Arizona, Colorado, Utah). The hikes are told in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide. The breweries are given a review detailing their background/history, top-selling beers, and the like. Most of you will probably be quite familiar with the breweries featured, though maybe not all, so it could be a doubly good adventure.

The featured breweries/hikes in New Mexico are:

• Dragonfly Loop/Open Space Brewing, Santa Clara
• Soledad Canyon/Icebox Brewing, Las Cruces
• Grindstone Canyon/Downshift Brewing, Ruidoso
• Lobo Canyon/Junkyard on 66 Brewery, Grants
• Paseo del Bosque/La Cumbre Brewing
• Santa Fe River/Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery
• Los Alamos Mesa/Bathtub Row Brewing Co-op
• Animas River/Three Rivers Brewing, Farmington
• El Salto Del Agua Cañoncito/Taos Mesa Brewing
• Tolby Canyon/Comanche Creek Brewing, Eagle Nest
• Double Draw/Red River Brewing

We hope to get those stories up between now and the book’s release date. A big thanks to Lauren Hook for sending us a copy of the book. We plan to put it to good use.

Icebox hosts round two of NMIPAC

If you missed last week in Santa Fe, or maybe you can’t make it to the July 26 final round at Canteen, we suggest you hit the road and zip down I-25 to Las Cruces this Saturday for the second round of the IPA Challenge.

The New Mexico Brewers Guild and Icebox Brewing will be hosting out at the main brewery location on Picacho from noon to 2 p.m., with voting totals announced afterwards. The first round produced plenty of surprises, including a three-way tie for first place with 12 votes apiece for Boxing Bear, Ponderosa, and Second Street.

Icebox nabbed eight votes in the first round to finish fifth, right behind Canteen with nine. Can the Las Cruces brewery use homefield advantage to climb up the list? It did not hurt Second Street to have that opening round at nearby Santa Fe Brewing, so that will be one of many aspects to keep an eye on this time around.

The Crew is not going to have anyone present at this round, so we will likely just have a very quick write-up for the site while also sharing the Guild’s photos on social media. But, you can go attend if you just follow this link and buy a ticket.

Blü Dragonfly soars into town

Before the last New Mexico United game, I stopped by Jubilation to grab some beer for the tailgate. While perusing the local and regional offerings, I was surprised to see a new-to-Albuquerque selection of cans on the shelf.

Blü Dragonfly Brewing, which is based in Colfax County outside of Raton, is now doing limited distribution down here in the metro area. Their owner had given us a heads up a little while ago that he had gotten out of the taproom business (they had spots in Cimarron and Red River in the past) and was solely focused on packaging and distribution now.

As seen in the picture above, the offerings at Jubilation were a pilsner, an Irish red, and a dunkel. I really wanted to grab all three to try them, but the tailgate was not exactly the right place to do that, and any leftover cans would have just cooked inside my car. I shall make a return visit to Jubilation and give these a proper review, hopefully with other Crew members joining me.

If you have spotted Blü Dragonfly cans out there, pick some up, give ’em a proper tasting, and let us know what you think.

Welcome to Albuquerque, northern neighbor!

Flix picks up two medals

Flix Brewhouse claimed a pair of medals at the U.S. Open Beer Championship this week. The movie theater brewery snagged a silver for E.T. Fonio Home (name of the year candidate) in the Specialty Pale Ale category.

In the Fruit Wheat Beer – Raspberry category, Flix also earned a bronze for Raspberry Fields Forever.

Congrats to head brewer Brandon Venaglia and his team!

That’s all from us for this notebook entry. If you hear of any beer news out there that we have not already written about (or that needs an update), drop us a DM on social media or send an email to nmdarksidebrewcrew@gmail.com.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister