This is the first of what we hope will become a weekly feature in which all the members of the Crew try to figure out what they are doing for the upcoming weekend, beer-wise. We hope to inspire others to set forth and explore our local breweries, or in some cases those locations outside the…
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.
Turtle Mountain: A reason to visit Rio Rancho
Folks here in Albuquerque like to make fun of Rio Rancho. They tend to use the famous quote “there’s no there there” when describing the sprawling suburb (which, by all accounts, hates to be called a suburb). RR residents probably snipe away at ABQ every chance they get, probably while stuck in traffic on Coors…
The Belgian Invasion Begins
Well, it’s that tough time of year for dark beer lovers. The invasion of the white ales has begun. Those super-sweet, high ABV beers, usually just called Belgians, have begun to arrive at local breweries. The Professor Emeritus and I were hanging out at La Cumbre on Thursday afternoon when the first arrived. The Professor…
Lazy afternoons at Il Vicino
Stopped by the Il Vicino Brewery Canteen with E-Rock, Shilling, and the Professor Emeritus of Beer on a quiet Monday afternoon. There is something about the Canteen that just lends itself to a slow-down-and-enjoy-a-pint kind of day. Located at 2381 Aztec Rd. NE, the Canteen sits just about a block north and then a block…
Tractor Update: One Step Forward
Tractor Brewing got some good news at the Nob Hill Neighborhood Association meeting on Thursday night. The governing panel voted on whether or not to push through an amendment to the ordinance that prevents packaged liquor sales in Nob Hill, which keeps Tractor from selling growlers out of its taproom. In a show of support…
Beer Battle: The Stoutest Stout of All Is…
Marble’s Oatmeal Stout, or at least that was how we ended up voting after the first NM Dark Side Brew Crew Beer Battle. The battle took place during halftime of the Super Bowl (if anybody out there expected us to watch Madonna, then clearly something is amiss in your knowledge of the Crew). We brought…
Tractor: Back in Black
Black IPAs are rare creatures who only come out at night. Well, not really, but whenever a brewery manages to obtain the rare hops needed to make such a concoction, it is not merely the right but the duty of beer lovers to jump at the chance to indulge themselves. Tractor has cranked out its…
Nexus Brewery: Where Malt is Good
It is nice to take a detour from the Hoplandia that Albuquerque-area brewing has become over the last few years. While there is nothing wrong with the strong, flavorful beers elsewhere in town (La Cumbre has been kicking us all in the face for over a year now, and we keep going back, begging for…
Tractor Makes the Evening News
The mainstream media picked up on Tractor’s no-growlers-in-Nob-Hill plight over the weekend. Read the story and make sure to watch the video, as well. http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/business/beer-battle-brews-over-nob-hil-growlers Hopefully it will encourage more people to visit Tractor and sign the petition in support of amending or lifting the ordinance. The battle against NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard,…
Meet the Crew
So just who are the five beer lovers who joined forces as the NM Dark Side Brew Crew? I am Chris “Stoutmeister” Jackson, the proud owner of a journalism degree from the University of Arizona (BEAR DOWN!) that’s probably worth less than the paper it’s printed on. It has enabled me to get paid for…
