It can be rare to be the first to walk into a brewery on the day of its grand opening. Yes, even rare for beer writers. Yet, there I was, walking up to Flock of Moons Brewing at the exact minute co-owner Stefanie Luna opened the door. Co-owner/brewer Jeff Tomlinson was in the brewery, being…
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.
Brewery reps gather to narrow down field of hoppy ales for 2023 IPA Challenge
The preliminary round of the New Mexico IPA Challenge is now a private event, not open to the public. However, that certainly does not lessen its importance. A total of 42 breweries will have their IPAs judged by their peers, and from that will come the 16 beers that the hoppy beer lovers will get…
Longtime local brewer passes away after nearly 3 decades in the industry
Mike Campbell, a fixture in the local craft brewing community since the 1990s, died on June 26 at the age of 60. His wife, Sheryl, confirmed the sad news to the Brew Crew this week. Campbell was the owner and brewer at Kilt Check Brewing since it opened in November 2016. He is survived by…
The Week Ahead in Beer: Go ahead and give that new brew the wildest name
We start off this week with a little tip o’ the cap to Bow & Arrow, which continues to mine the lyrics of classic songs to come up with some truly wonderful and creative names for its beers. This week, the brewery is releasing a new hazy IPA called Like a Diamond in the Desert,…
The mostly complete guide to July 4 hours at New Mexico craft breweries
As a public service, we’ve compiled most of the breweries’ hours of operation, or if they are closed all day, for this here July 4 holiday. If you see any that we have missed, please DM us on social media or email us at nmdarksidebrewcrew@gmail.com. Thanks, and stay safe out there tonight! We really want…
The Socorro craft beer scene now includes Baca House alongside the Capitol Bar
It was only about two years ago when I visited the newly christened Capitol Bar and Brewery in Socorro. Their first two beers had just been tapped, and they were in a celebratory mood bringing locally brewed craft back to their town. Fast forward to last week, and the Cap, as locals call it, is…
Canteen and 15 other breweries express their love for lagers with new event
In the heat of summer, sometimes nothing is better than enjoying a nice, crisp lager in the shade of a brewery patio. The problem, though, is figuring out which brewery and which lager, as there are oh-so-many across the metro area. Well, problem solved, to some degree, as the new For the Love of Lagers…
The Week Ahead in Beer: Celebrating anniversaries and a love of lagers
Since July 4 falls on a Tuesday this year, this weekend marks the de facto holiday stretch to kick off the month. A couple of breweries are kicking it off in style, as Nexus moved its anniversary party from Memorial Day weekend to this weekend at the original location. Our advice is to go right…
Box Canyon carves its own niche in the newly thriving Socorro craft beer scene
Last Friday, with nothing much going on around here, I contemplated a day trip to check out the three breweries down in Socorro. Yes, there are three now, so it seemed like a worthy trip, even on a hot, windy day. The final deciding point in favor of the mini road trip was when Box…
Northeast New Mexico brewery seeks a new owner to keep its momentum rolling
A little while ago, a couple of Crew members heard rumors that a northern brewery was for sale in New Mexico. The rumors proved to be true, as we found out via ProBrewer, where the breweries for sale list now includes Blü Dragonfly Brewing. Blü Dragonfly opened in the summer of 2018 in Cimarron, with…
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