Stoutmeister

Hopfest: Breaking down the breweries on hand

Stoutmeister here, hoping you’re all having a wonderful Friday afternoon. Hey, cool temperatures never hurt anyone, right? (also, the Isotopes are on the road, so I welcome the rain) We are less than 24 hours from ABQ Hopfest opening its doors to the Crew and many other beer lovers at the Hard Rock Hotel &…

Beer Notes: The Crew is back from the dead

Stoutmeister here. To paraphrase Monty Python, “We’re not dead yet!” It’s been a while since any of the rest of us posted, save for E-Rock’s Week Ahead in Beer, so by golly, this is an overdue post. Think of it as a massive download of all the beer goodness I have sampled in the last…

T-minus two weeks until two breweries start growlin’ (hopefully)

Tractor Brewing and Broken Bottle Brewery both went before yet another set of city officials in a final effort to obtain the right to sell growlers. The verdict? Wait two more weeks. Yup, two more weeks. But at the end of those two weeks both breweries should learn their respective fates. The amendment to the…

IPA Challenge: Il Vicino makes it a 4-peat

The IPA Challenge came to a close with a resounding finish on Saturday afternoon. Resounding for host Il Vicino, at least. With the annual blind taste-test competition heading into its final round, the three-time defending champion unleashed its Exodus IPA for the home crowd and came away with an overwhelming victory. The final-round results (number…

IPA Challenge: Il Vicino overtakes Marble

Round three of the 2012 IPA Challenge is in the books, with Il Vicino claiming first place with one round remaining. Thursday’s competition at Blue Corn in Santa Fe saw the defending champions collect the most votes to leap ahead of Marble. The two breweries were tied after the first round at Nexus, with Marble…

IPA Challenge: Marble takes lead after two rounds

The second round of the IPA Challenge was held at 3 Rivers Brewery in Farmington on Tuesday night, with results coming out this morning from the New Mexico Brewers Guild. After tying Il Vicino with 28 votes apiece in Sunday’s opening round at Nexus, Marble moved into sole possession of first place, picking up a…

IPA Challenge all tied up after round one

None of the Crew could make it over to Nexus for round one of the 2012 IPA Challenge on Sunday (I know, I know, bad beer bloggers putting work/life ahead of beer). But thankfully the good folks at the New Mexico Brewers Guild posted the results on Facebook when all the votes were tallied. A…

A quick history of the IPA Challenge

Note: Stoutmeister, E-Rock, and Shilling were at Turtle Mountain last week, having a lengthy chat with owner Nico Ortiz about all things beer. One of the subjects that came up was the IPA Challenge, which begins with the first of four tasting events Sunday at noon at Nexus Brewery. The IPA Challenge that exists today…

The Crew goes behind the scenes at Turtle Mountain

Stoutmeister here, finally starting up a mondo-sized recap of the NMDSBC’s trip out to Turtle Mountain last week. With E-Rock piloting and Shilling navigating, we trekked west on a rainy afternoon to go drink some beer and hopefully meet up with a member of the Turtle staff. We ended up being greeted by the main…

Broken Bottle unveils a summer treat

Stoutmeister here. With Shilling, our new member, Derek, and another friend in tow, the Crew took up Broken Bottle on its recent invite to stop by and sample their new seasonal before it was released to the general public. So yeah, we were invited to drink beer. How in the world could we say no?…