The end of the shortest month of the year is upon us and it is once again time to select the best seasonal offering from an ABQ-area brewing. February has been an odd month, but then it always is, representing the transition from the darker, burlier winter beers to the lighter spring offerings. It was,…
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.
Tapping Casks: Turtle Mountain follows tradition with its cask beers
Editor’s note: This is the first in a series on cask beers in the Albuquerque area, all in advance of Cask Festival at Il Vicino on March 9. The idea is to explain what cask beers are and how different brewers approach this sub-genre of craft brewing. Hello on a snowy Thursday, New Mexico. Stoutmeister…
Star of the Season: Time to pick February’s finest seasonal
Happy bad-weather day to you, ABQ area residents. Stoutmeister here, preparing for my trek to the west side to interview Mark from Turtle Mountain about cask beers (that series, in advance of Il Vicino’s Cask Festival, will start this week) and then head down to the grand opening party at Total Wine. Yes, it shall…
New Mexico Cup in Review: Plusses outweigh minuses at first-time event
Greetings, everyone, Stoutmeister here with our recap of the first New Mexico Cup. Saturday’s big event at the Albuquerque Convention Center had its ups and downs, like most first-time events, but overall felt like another successful beer festival that should take its place as an annual event. The Crew — myself, E-Rock, Shilling, Brandon, and…
New Mexico Cup: The full list of winners
Happy Sunday, everyone. Stoutmeister here with a quick listing of all the winners at the first New Mexico Cup, which was held Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center. The Dark Side Brew Crew were invited to participate as celebrity judges, so we will have a lot more of our thoughts in a bigger review of…
All you need to know about the first New Mexico Cup
The first New Mexico Cup is almost upon us, so E-Rock and I, Stoutmeister, met up with event organizer Marne Gaston on Wednesday afternoon at Marble to talk all about this new event. The Cup will take place Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center’s Southwest Exhibition Hall from 1-7 p.m. There will be 12 breweries…
Beer Notes: Busy but fun beer days ahead
Stoutmeister here with another round of clearing out the old mental notebook of beer. Yes, it’s Valentine’s Day, that overly commercial, cheeseball annual event. The good news is it will be over soon, which means 90 percent fewer Kay/Jared jewelry commercials. For that alone, gentlemen of ABQ, raise a pint. The other good news is…
Beer Battle II: The new king of the stouts is …
Well, Super Bowl Sunday has come and gone, but our hangovers remain in the Brew Crew. We staged our second Beer Battle yesterday, once again pitting the area’s best stouts against each other to see if anyone could steal Marble’s crown. Someone did, but rather than spoil the suspense (hey, don’t stop reading this, you’re…
Star of the Season: January’s best seasonal is …
A few weeks ago we wrote about our plans to name the best seasonal beer in the Albuquerque area for the month of January. Well, the month is at an end, and while we prep for a Super Bowl that no one really cares about (seriously, football gods, Ravens and 49ers? Is this some sort…
Weekend in Review: WinterBrew’s finest and our very own shindig
Hello there, Burque. Stoutmeister here to try and recap a wildly entertaining weekend for the Crew. With WinterBrew on Friday night and our first-year anniversary party on Saturday night, we were busy little beer drinkers. First up, WinterBrew, a fun little event up in Santa Fe that took place Friday night. Along with a slew…
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 