It has been a while, over a year in fact, since a new brewery (Bosque) opened in Albuquerque. After a long drought, there are some new breweries on the horizon, the biggest and most ambitious of which is The Stumbling Steer. The Steer is located in the old west side Quarters near the intersection of…
Author: Stoutmeister
Former sports writer in Tucson, LA, and Burque. Now I write about craft beer, which is a totally reasonable way to support my hobby of spending afternoons and evenings indulging in the finest stouts, lagers, and more.
Hopfest in Review: A proper farewell to festival season
There was a bittersweet feeling as the Crew left Hopfest on Saturday afternoon. It stemmed not from any disappoint in the event — it was quite the opposite, in fact — but instead it came with the realization that beer festival season in 2013 was coming to a close. Even though the year itself is…
To properly tackle Hopfest everyone needs a battle plan
Hopfest is big. There are 62 breweries serving up samples for thousands of beer lovers. In other words, it is not the place to just walk into and wander about. Nope, you need a plan, a battle plan. Luckily, the Dark Side Brew Crew is here to provide one. It’s what we do. In terms…
Bosque prepares to celebrate one year of great beer
Bosque Brewing is growing up right before our eyes. This Saturday the north side brewery will celebrate its one-year anniversary with a party for its loyal customers and anyone else who wants to join. I sat down with brewers Gabe Jensen and Ryan Jameson to talk about Saturday’s festivities, as well as looking back to…
The history of Hopfest: Brew it, and they will come
As craft brewing has exploded in New Mexico, so have the size and popularity of our beer festivals. Look no further than Albuquerque Hopfest, which kicks off its sixth annual run this Saturday at Isleta Casino. Thousands of beer lovers will descend upon the festival to try beers from over 60 breweries from New Mexico…
Beer Battle: The greatest pumpkin ale of them all is …
Way back in the spring the Brew Crew staged a mini-beer battle between the four varieties of Irish Red that were on tap around town. Here in the fall, pumpkin beers have become the predominant seasonal of the moment, even rising above Oktoberfest-style beers. A few years back I, Stoutmeister, wanted nothing to do with…
Duel Brewing making progress in its early days in Santa Fe
Welcome to part three of our three-part series on Santa Fe’s non-distribution breweries. You can find our recap of Blue Corn here and Second Street here. Franz Solo and I, Stoutmeister, visited these three breweries on Sunday afternoon, grabbing sampler platters at each so we could make it home in one piece. Duel Brewing has…
Second Street is still second to none
Welcome to part two of our three-part series on Santa Fe’s non-distribution breweries. You can find our recap of Blue Corn here, with our recap of Duel still to come. Anyway, much as we did with Blue Corn, Franz Solo and I, Stoutmeister, snagged an impressive sampler tray of all the beers that Second Street…
Blue Corn continues to raise the bar in Santa Fe
Welcome to part one of our three-part Santa Fe brewery series that does not actually include Santa Fe Brewing itself. Why not? We can drink SFBC beers anytime, since they’re all bottled or canned and sold down here in ABQ. We cannot, however, enjoy Blue Corn, Second Street, or Duel anywhere but at their breweries….
New Mexico breweries rock out to some heavy medal
All of us at the Dark Side Brew Crew and most of the craft beer drinkers we know are all aware that New Mexico has some great breweries. The breweries proved that belief, and then some, by pulling in a single-year-record eight medals at the Great American Beer Festival on Saturday morning. Dating back to…
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 