Balloon Fiesta week keeps rolling along, with some really nice weather (knock on wood) and mild temperatures. Of course, the great negative is the traffic driving there, at least if you are in a car or other motorized vehicle. If you are on a bicycle, well, things are going a lot smoother from what many folks have told us. The good news is if you really want to have some extra fun, make your launch point a brewery and then head over. La Cumbre and Canteen are teaming up to host a pair of Brews Cruises, where riders can travel in a safe pack along the North Diversion Channel bike path to Balloon Fiesta Park. Basically, park your car by La Cumbre on Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. ride to that night’s Balloon Glow. Or, park at Canteen on Saturday before dawn and ride on over at 5:30 a.m. for the penultimate day of the Fiesta. The cost for the package is $20 and includes a balloon and bike pin or other commemorative pin, a donation to BikeABQ, and a pint of beer to enjoy when you return to the brewery. That’s just winning all around, while even getting some exercise and lowering your stress level by not being stuck in vehicle traffic for hours. Then you can just get back to stressing over what to dress up as for Halloween. No? Just us? Dang it.
New Draft:
Flock of Moons tapped more of The Bookhouse Boys, their barrel-aged imperial pastry stout. Quarter Celtic added McKeown’s Cream Stout. Tractor will bring back Javi Pre-Prohibition Lager on Friday.
Up in Santa Fe, Keeping Together recently added Provisional Form, their take on an Oktoberfest amber lager. Second Street will bring back Atalaya Amber for their big event Saturday. Down south, Truth or Consequences Brewing will bring back a fiery favorite, Green Chile Amber, on Thursday.
New Package:
Bow & Arrow will bring back Proper Pumpkin Beer, their autumnal imperial stout, in cans and on draft this Friday. (UPDATES) Steel Bender has a double release Friday with the annual release of Brickie American Stout in cans and on draft, and Barrel-Aged Ale Witch Pumpkin Ale in cans only.
Notable Events:
Today (Wednesday) — Poetry & Beer returns to Tractor Wells Park at 7 p.m.
Thursday — Painted Lady hosts The Crypt Keeper’s Comedy Hour at 7 p.m.
Friday — Scary Movie Bingo is back at Painted Lady, this time featuring the original 1922 version of Nosferatu, starting at 7 p.m.
Goth Night & Dark Market returns to Tractor Wells Park at 8 p.m.
Saturday — The Wiggly Butts dog adoption event will be at Ponderosa from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Rescuefest, benefiting Atalaya Search and Rescue, runs from noon to 10 p.m. at Second Street Rufina.
Sidetrack will celebrate Oktoberfest with music, food, and more from 5 p.m. to close.
Painted Lady hosts Creepy Craft Night at 6 p.m.
Sunday — The Six-Pack Running Series is back at Canteen at 11 a.m., followed by Pints & Pokes from noon to 2 p.m.
Wicked Whispers: Horror Stories for Halloween will be told at Sidetrack from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Monday — Another Bard Crawl begins, this time with Hamlet, at Boxing Bear Firestone at 7:30 p.m.
Quick News Bits:
Steel Bender hosts their awesome Balloons & Brews every morning through Sunday from 7 to 10 a.m.
During the month of October, for every pint of Raspberry Dynamite sold at Steel Bender, $1 will go to Pink Warrior House.
Albuquerque metro area breweries
Boese Brothers Brewery — Featured seasonal: Drunk Astronaut (8.1% ABV), a double IPA with a hefty amount of Galaxy hops (get it?).
Bombs Away Beer Company — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (5.9% ABV, 20 IBU), the traditional märzen that you have been waiting for this fall.
Bow & Arrow Brewing — Featured seasonal: I Like Big Buttes (8% ABV) not only has arguably the best beer name of the year so far, it’s also an outstanding classic DIPA available in cans and on draft.
Boxing Bear Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: OktoBEARfest (5.3% ABV), a crushable German lager available in cans and on draft.
Brekki Brekki/Cantina Craftworks — Featured seasonal: The beers made at Brekki Brekki are for the entire restaurant collective under the Cantina Hospitality Group banner. Contact each location for what’s on tap.
Brew Lab 101 Beer & Cider Company — Featured seasonal: Labtoberfest is back for the season.
Calavida Cantina — Featured seasonal: Celtic Hermano (6.1% ABV, 42 IBU), this stout (not this batch) was the first one they brewed on the system in the old Boxing Bear space.
Canteen Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Allora Italian Pilsner (5.2% ABV, 25 IBU), a lager option that isn’t a märzen or festbier, available in cans and on draft.
Casa Vieja Brewery — Featured seasonal: Duke’s Red Irish Ale (5% ABV), a brewery original back on tap for a limited time.
Differential Brewing — Featured seasonal: Matcha Ginger Blonde (5% ABV) is the current seasonal on tap.
Dripline Brewery — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest, tis the season and all for this collaboration made with Painted Lady.
Ex Novo Brewing — Featured seasonal: German Overalls (5.8% ABV), the traditional märzen is back in cans and on draft.
Flix Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Flix Brühaus, their Oktoberfest lager, is back for the season.
Flock of Moons Brewing — Featured seasonal: Neumond (4.7% ABV, 26 IBU), an absolutely brilliant interpretation of the German schwarzbier (dark lager) style.
FMV Brewing — Featured seasonal: Stage 10 American Amber, the first house beer is now on draft at this brewery located at 2500 Yale Blvd SE near the Sunport.
Gravity Bound Brewing — Featured seasonal: Pistola, the classic West Coast IPA is back on draft and in cans for a limited time.
High and Dry Brewing — Featured seasonal: Unbalanced Breakfast (4.8% ABV), an oatmeal stout with a low ABV that still boasts a lot of flavor.
Hops Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
JUNO Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Kaktus Brewing — Featured seasonal: Woolly Slammoth IPA (7.3% ABV, 80 IBU), a quaffable English-style hoppy ale.
La Cumbre Brewing — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (5.9% ABV, 32 IBU), basically the local gold standard for a märzen, available in cans and on draft.
Lasso Brewing — Featured seasonal: Kolsch, which has recently been released for the first time in cans and on draft.
Marble Brewery — Featured seasonal: Marblefest (6.5% ABV), back for the season in cans and on draft.
Nexus Brewery — Featured seasonal: Festbier (6.3% ABV, 20 IBU), described by the brewery as “Prost to the season! Festbier Oktoberfest is moderately malty, toasty, and dangerously easy to drink. Blink once and your stein will be empty!”
Painted Lady Bed and Brew — Featured seasonal: Boogedy Boogedy Boo!, a robust porter that’s excellent for spooky nights, now with Indonesian vanilla added for a limited time.
Ponderosa Brewing Co. — Featured seasonal: The Last Dance (4.2% ABV, 19 IBU), a black Mexican lager brewed in collaboration with Thirsty Eye.
Quarter Celtic Brewpub— Featured seasonal: Vienna Lager, the most awarded one-off that keeps coming back because, well, it brings all the medals to the brewery.
Rio Bravo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Somos Brewnidos (5.2% ABV, 18 IBU), a New Mexican lager perfect for patio days or United games, with a portion of the proceeds from draft and can sales going to the Somos Unidos Foundation.
Rumor Brewing — Featured seasonal: La Madera Mild (5.5% ABV, 22 IBU), a chewy little biscuit of an English-style brew that is perfect before or after a day on the hiking trails around Cedar Crest.
Sidetrack Brewing — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (6% ABV), a delectable märzen available in cans and on draft.
Starr Brothers Brewing — Featured seasonal: Therewolf (6.5% ABV, 22 IBU), the annual Oktoberfest release is back on draft.
Steel Bender Brewyard — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfiesta (7% ABV), because autumn is a state of mind, and this beer will get you there early in cans and on draft.
Sunday Service Motor Company — Featured seasonal: Still closed for renovations.
The Tatted Bee Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Thirsty Eye Brewing — Featured seasonal: Shut the Front Dort, a good lager with one of our favorite beer names of all time.
The 377 Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Tractor Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Old Wizard Fingers Doppelbock (7.2% ABV), a delectable dark lager.
Turtle Mountain Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Turtle Claw Hard Seltzer (7% ABV), and yeah, they requested we highlight the seltzer, so that’s what we’re doing because we’re nice. It’s not our thing, but it might be yours.
Unhinged Brewing — Featured seasonal: A Ton of Fruit, a prickly pear wheat ale.
Santa Fe breweries
Beer Creek Brewing — Featured seasonal: Temporada (6.1% ABV), a Belgian saison brewed with 100-percent New Mexico-grown pilsner malt and Neomexicanus hops. Described by the brewery as “crisp and dry with hints of bubblegum. Not a Brett beer.”
Keeping Together — Featured seasonal: No Concept of Concept, a strawberry mild brown ale.
Nuckolls Brewing — Featured seasonal: Coal Car (5.5% ABV), an oatmeal stout that’s just one of 11 house beers now available.
Rowley Farmhouse Ales — Featured seasonal: Second-String Loser (9.6% ABV, 26 IBU), a Belgian golden strong ale.
Santa Fe Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (6% ABV), the classic German-style lager is back in cans and on draft.
Second Street Brewery — Featured seasonal: Butterfly IPA, a true session IPA with an ABV under 4 percent, available in cans and on draft.
Travel Bug — Featured seasonal: A reader tipped us off that this brewery in a travel bookstore has started rotating beers now, and currently on tap are Suelo Red Ale, Flaxon Ale, and Pale Ale.
Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery — Featured seasonal: Festbier (6.6% ABV), a traditional German lager that was just tapped earlier this week.
Other breweries you need to visit
Bathtub Row Brewing — Featured seasonal: Oz’s Oatmeal Stout (5.4% ABV), a classic ode to the darkness.
Downshift Brewing — Featured seasonal: Gratitude Pale Ale (5.4% ABV, 40 IBU), brewed to support local charities, and right now $1 from every pint sold goes to helping in the recovery efforts from the South Fork and Salt fires.
Jemez Mountain Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Señor Lager, which as you may have guessed from the name is a Mexican-style lager.
Open Space Brewing — Featured seasonal: Mining District Märzen (6.3% ABV), an excellent Oktoberfest for the season.
Red River Brewing and Distilling — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Sierra Blanca Brewing — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.
Truth or Consequences Brewing — Featured seasonal: La Bete (15% ABV), a monstrous yet beautiful imperial brut saison.
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That’s all for this week! If you have any questions or comments, leave them below or contact us on our Facebook page.
Keep supporting local!
— Stoutmeister
