This seems like as good a time as any to dig through the old beer notebook and see what little tidbits of news are worth sharing. We found just enough, for a change.

First up, quite literally, is the preliminary round of the 2026 New Mexico IPA Challenge. For those new to the competition, it’s held in three blind taste test rounds for the public between the north (usually Santa Fe), south (usually Las Cruces), and finishes at a brewery in the Albuquerque metro area.

Before those rounds, representatives from all the would-be participating breweries gather privately to narrow down what can be 40-plus entries to the final 16 that will appear on the public’s trays (the max allowed by state law, or so we’ve always been told). It’s also held in a blind taste test fashion at one of the breweries. While it’s not open to the public, the Crew is usually allowed to attend and be an observer only.

This year’s prelim round is Saturday here in Albuquerque. I would say where, but again, it’s not open to the public so there’s no reason for the curious types to be lining up outside. We will report which breweries make the cut, so don’t worry about that.

The public rounds are set for July 18 at Second Street Rufina in Santa Fe, July 25 at Icebox Brewing’s main location on Picacho in Las Cruces, and finally August 1 at Boxing Bear Firestone in Albuquerque. Tickets are already on sale, and the final round always sells out, so get them soon.

A new taproom, in this economy?

Potentially lost in our July 4 brewery hours of operation story was the news that one place down south was opening their first offsite taproom on the holiday. No, really, a brewery technically expanded, and it’s been a while since we have seen anything like that.

Open Space Brewing, located in Santa Clara east of Silver City, now has a taproom in the heart of the latter town in southwest New Mexico. The taproom is situated at 214 W. Yankie Street in Silver City, just north of the multi-story Murray Hotel and next to the Tranquilbuzz Coffee House.

Congrats to everyone at Open Space on making this move. It’s just another reason we need to find time to go down and see them. It’s just hard to travel during fire season when one has asthma and all that.

Metal in the Four Corners

The headbangers in Farmington are at it again, landing a big metal show for Lauter Haus Brewing. Six Feet Under and Kataklysm will bring the heavy to the brewery on July 24, and it’s already been noted that tickets are going fast and a sellout seems imminent. You can still get some tickets are the bar or online.

Just be forewarned, the Connie Mack World Series starts July 23, so if you are planning to drive up and spend the night, hotels and AirBnB’s might be in short supply. The annual baseball tournament is pretty much the biggest event of any kind in Farmington every year.

We don’t want anyone to decide not to go (seriously, that show should kick ass), but we didn’t want anyone to run into issues finding a place to crash. You can always check places in nearby towns like Aztec and Bloomfield, or just designate a driver to haul you back and forth. Just remember, you will owe them big afterwards. Like, buying them a ticket and all their beers to the Summer Slaughter Tour at El Rey in August.

Hails!

Sampler tray

• For anyone wondering about the brewery count in New Mexico, by our standards there are 86 operational breweries statewide. We do not count secondary brewing sites owned by the same company (Marble Downtown and Marble Heights, for instance, are only counted once on our list), and we do not count places with small brewer licenses that do not actually brew. They just pay taxes on the equivalent of 50 barrels worth of beer and are allowed to keep their licenses. Annoying, no?
• By that same token, the New Mexico Brewers Guild currently has 57 active members per their website. All but one are currently brewing (and that place was brewing a few months ago, but elected to cease after an equipment breakdown, and we’ll have more on that one of these days, we promise).
• Tickets are now on sale for the first outdoor edition of the Great American Beer Festival. We would love it if anyone out there wants to be guinea pigs and actually attend this year to report back to the Crew for publication. It will be held October 10-11 at Levitt Pavilion south of downtown Denver. They will apparently offer shuttle buses from downtown to the event. Still, with the unpredictable nature of weather these days, a scaled-down number of attending breweries (only La Cumbre, Quarter Celtic, and The 377 are going from New Mexico), and holding it in a park with no parking lot could make for quite the, um, interesting couple of days. I would go out of morbid curiosity alone, but alas, it falls during the Balloon Fiesta, and my day job requires me to be here for that entire nine-day span.
• Speaking of festivals, albeit of the local and more accessible variety, Marble is bringing back Marblefest on August 29. And, lo and behold, they are bringing back the best part — the biergarten with guest taps! Canteen, Ex Novo, Gravity Bound, La Cumbre, and Sidetrack are lined up to bring their finest German-style lagers alongside what Marble brews up this year. There will be a slew of live local bands, vendors, special activities, a photo booth, games, and food. The entry fee is $10, but half the money raised will go to local nonprofits. Prost!
• And, because these things always tend to happen on the same day, Ex Novo is bringing back Lagerhosen at the downtown taproom/restaurant on August 29. That will run from 1 to 8 p.m. and feature a plethora of lovely lagers from around the state and the region (downtown has a full liquor license, so they can pour out-of-state beers whereas they cannot in Corrales). Save up your rideshare points for the end of August, you’re going to need them.

All right, that’s it for now. If anyone has beer news that needs sharing, drop us a DM on social media or email us at nmdarksidebrewcrew@gmail.com.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister