Stoutmeister

Balloons and Brews at Steel Bender leads list of Fiesta-related brewery events

We have all been here before. The day before the Balloon Fiesta kicks off, the day before the chaos, the day before all the poor doggos bark their little heads off, the traffic backs up, and the tourists arrive in droves. Thank goodness there is local craft beer. Our breweries are our refuge from all…

2023 Balloon Fiesta tourist guide to local craft breweries

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is back in town starting this Saturday and running through the following weekend. This is the biggest annual tourism draw in Albuquerque, and while we realize this means the restaurants will be packed and the roads will be clogged, we recognize the massive economic impact it provides to the metro…

The Week Ahead in Beer: Hide from the balloons at your favorite breweries

The Balloon Fiesta is back this weekend. You probably knew that, of course, but we in the Crew wanted everyone to know that we are here to help. We will have a guide to local breweries this week for all the visitors, hopefully answering all the questions your friends and family might have about where…

Flix Brewhouse brings home another GABF medal and plans 2nd location

Things are afoot at Flix Brewhouse. Well, technically not at the brewery/movie theater. The first bit of big news actually happened up in Denver, as for the second year in a row, Flix brought home a medal from the Great American Beer Festival. The second bit of big news was the announcement that Flix is…

The Week Ahead in Beer: The fight to end Alzheimer’s can start with a pint

Marble Brewery has once again brewed up a special beer to help in the fight with Alzheimer’s. This Saturday marks the release of #ENDALZ at all three locations. Volunteers from the Alzheimer’s Association will be on hand to sell commemorative pint glasses and spreading awareness. For every pint sold, $1 will be donated to the…

GABF 2023: Marble enjoys its 12th medal overall with a two-time winner

Admit it, back in 2013, when you saw the name Thunder from Dortmunder, it elicited at minimum a smile, or perhaps straight-out laughter. Then you tasted the delicious lager from Marble Brewery, saw that it won a bronze medal at the 2013 Great American Beer Festival, and truly appreciated every aspect of what would soon…

GABF 2023: Only 2 medals for 2 breweries at this year’s competition

The Great American Beer Festival held its annual awards ceremony Saturday morning in Denver, with two New Mexico breweries earning medals in a competition that featured 2,033 breweries and 9,300-plus entered beers. Marble Brewery earned a silver medal in the Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest category for Thunder from Dortmunder. That delicious lager previously won a…

GABF 2023: The Crew will cover this year from home for a good reason

The Great American Beer Festival returns to Denver a little early this year, starting this afternoon at the convention center. We are not there this year. Well, technically Luke is there, but he is working for Hidden Mountain, so we will only call upon him if absolutely necessary. However, we do have a good reason…

The Week Ahead in Beer: Dank you very much for fall is truly here at last

We know that we have been begging the universe to free us from this endless summer of roasted doom for quite a while now. Guess what? Summer officially ends this weekend. Oh, sure, there is the whole Autumnal Equinox (get your pagan on), but this is also the release weekend for Project Dank: Fall Edition….

Canteen and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad glycol chiller

The hottest summer in recorded history was far from kind to breweries throughout the state. Many faced issues keeping their equipment humming, particularly any and all cooling devices. From Milton’s in Carlsbad to the CNM brewing school in Albuquerque, chillers big and small were strained to the limit. No one, though, had a worse run…