On the one hand, congratulations to Second Street.

On the other hand, oof, what a tough year for New Mexico breweries at the Great American Beer Festival awards ceremony.

Second Street earned a bronze for one of their house beers, Rod’s Best Bitter, in the Extra Special Bitter category. RBB beat out another 58 beers to come in third Saturday morning.

Otherwise, New Mexico breweries were shut out. The last time only one local brewery won a medal was 2010, when Chama River earned one with 3 Dog Night Baltic Porter.

It was an unusual year, with the awards ceremony held on the festival floor instead of in the auditorium downstairs at the Denver Convention Center. It felt like a small number of breweries, such as Westbound & Down and Cannonball Creek both of Colorado, won multiple medals and dominated the field.

That is the nature of awards competitions, however, some years are remarkable, others are humbling.

— Stoutmeister