The New Mexico Brewers Guild IPA Challenge will wrap up with a three-session final round at Canteen Brewhouse this Saturday. The staggered times will be at noon, 2 p.m., and 4 p.m., with tickets still available online for just the first two sessions, which should definitely be your sign to get them in advance as none may remain at the door.

The Crew will have members at the final session, so we will be live from Canteen to provide you with the results as they are announced. Keep an eye on our social media sites (Facebook and Instagram), and then check back here on the main page for an interview with the winning brewery.

Now, to explain the headline (and yes, that was an Ozzy/Black Sabbath tribute reference), way back in 2012, when the Crew was just a few months into covering the beer scene, the first IPA Challenge we attended and covered was at the then-Il Vicino Brewery Canteen. The hosts won in a landslide with an exceptionally potent batch of Exodus IPA, their fourth straight victory.

We’re not gonna get all misty-eyed and overly nostalgic here, we promise, but it’s gonna be pretty cool to be back there for this event 13 years later, still writing about the ever-evolving beer scene.

Anyway, the setup will be the same as most years. You enter, get your tray, find a space at which to sit down, and then get to work. We always recommend you experience the aromas of the 16 entries first, jot down a few notes, and then you can go in whatever order you might like. Go one to 16, or 16 to one, go with evens, go with odds, just pick the West Coast/clear IPAs first, or the hazies, or whatever the heck suits you best. There are no wrong ways to do this.

The opening round at The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing certainly produced some surprises, with 100-plus voters submitting their picks that left a three-way tie between Boxing Bear, Ponderosa, and Second Street. The second round at Icebox Brewing in Las Cruces saw the hosts run out to a commanding lead with 27 total votes. Boxing Bear (20), Second Street (15), Downshift (13), Ponderosa (13), Santa Fe (13), Canteen (11), and Ex Novo (11) all follow.

Just remember, this is all for fun, and it remains the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Brewers Guild. There are no wrong answers when it comes to your opinion on what makes the best IPA. Since you get a full pint of your choice, just remember, it should be an IPA that you want to drink, rather than what you think the rest of the public would consider the top IPA.

So let us all have a nice, friendly debate before, during, and afterwards. Passions run high among beer lovers, but just take a glance at the nice, chill brewers hanging about. They don’t take the results personally, so neither should you. They just want to be able to engage in a little friendly smack talk with one another.

If you have any questions about the NMIPAC, please DM us on social media, or drop us a line at nmdarksidebrewcrew@gmail.com. If it’s something we cannot answer, we will pass it along to the Guild and/or Canteen.

May the best IPA win, and may we all have a little fun after another long, hot week.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister