After missing out last year, albeit for a very good reason, the Dark Side Brew Crew is descending upon Ruidoso for their epic Oktoberfest celebration at Downshift Brewing Riverside on Saturday.

Oh, that reason was because we were at the OG Oktoberfest in Munich last year, but you’ve already heard us gloat about that plenty by now.

This time around, we’re sticking around stateside and it was definitely time that we came to this particular event. First, it falls before Balloon Fiesta, which restricts my travel due to my paying job. Second, everyone has told us it’s awesome.

As I rolled up to the brewery today, preparations were well underway. The Oktoberfest märzen is already on tap. The staff is ready (“gonna be a long day, but a good day,” one told a customer). The locals and the tourists are ready.

We’ll have not just a recap of the event itself, but also updates on how things are going for Downshift (including a tour of their new brewing facility), and we hope to catch up with the good folks from Lost Hiker Brewing while we are here.

If you have any hankering to get out of the Albuquerque or Santa Fe metro areas and enjoy some mountain hospitality mixed with a German-style event, head on down this weekend. There will be tickets at the door.

Oh, and the weather? Light breeze, temps in the 70s, blue skies with fluffy clouds, basically perfect. No need to worry about flooding or anything of that sort.

Got questions? Ask us, and if we cannot answer, we will ask the Downshift team. They’re great humans and deserve our support this weekend and every weekend.

Pröst!

— Stoutmeister