Stoutmeister

Irish Red Challenge: The champion still reigns

The Crew, well half of us, gathered last year a week after St. Patrick’s Day to select the best Irish Red Ale that was being poured in the ABQ metro area. There were three of us choosing among just four reds, so it worked as basically a scaled-down version of our annual Super Bowl Stout…

Beer Notes: Irish Red challenge, brewer shuffle, and more

Dear lord have I had my fill of high school basketball. It’s not over until Saturday, but I’m ready to be done. The good news is I’ve made money for beer! (and other expenses, but hey, priorities) Anyway, didn’t mean to neglect the site or the current wealth of news, but a man only has…

Spring into beer at Taos Ski Valley

The good folks up at the Taos Ski Valley know there is more to life than just skiing and snowboarding. There is beer, and it is good, and it brings people to the valley even after the snow melts. To celebrate the change of seasons, the Taos Ski Valley is playing host to the Spring…

Beer Notes: Local brewers play musical chairs

It has been a slow news week on the beer front, as you all have no doubt noticed from our lack of fresh content on the site. Now, part of this is due to the fact that there are a lot of rumors about brewers moving about that we have either not confirmed or we…

And now the rest of us indulged at The Stumbling Steer

For those who follow us on Facebook, you probably noticed we had a bit of a loopy little weekend. Brandon turns 30 today (Monday), so in advance there were many shenanigans. For me, personally, the highlight was the old-school “drinking in the parking lot” moment that mixed with our now high standards for beer (yup,…

Los Alamos’ quest for its own brewery needs support

Though there is always the possibility that one may exist elsewhere in America, the Los Alamos Beer Cooperative is the first of its kind in New Mexico. Quietly, this co-op effort is seeking to open the first brewery in Los Alamos, with a reported target date of this fall. Of course, hoping to open a…

It’s not a Crime to like Stone’s new offering

Franz Solo wrote up a post on this beer, but WordPress was being “difficult,” so I am posting it for him. — Stoutmeister For my 500th distinct beer on Untappd, my key to ‘Legendary’ status, I chose Crime from Stone Brewing. This is not a beer for the meek, akin rather to Ruinten with its…

Odell is doing more than OK after a year of major expansion

Every now and again, the good folks at Jubilation hold a special beer tasting. And every now and again, someone interesting shows up to one of those tastings. Back on Thursday afternoon, Odell was the featured brewery, and Ryan Odell, a regional sales manager, was there in person to chat about his family’s enterprise. The…

Bosque bolsters its brewing staff with a big-name hire

Back toward the end of WinterBrew I, Stoutmeister, was talking to the guys at Bosque when founding brewer/co-owner Gabe Jensen dropped some surprising news. I had to hang onto that news for a bit, but then the story broke late last week that Blue Corn brewer John Bullard, who has made quite a name for…

Stout Challenge: Double down on the new champion

Three years, three Stout Challenges, three different champions. In the first year, Marble took the crown. In year two, we went to a blind taste test format and it was La Cumbre who came out on top. Sticking with the blind taste test format this year, our only change of note was that Mrs. Solo…