Downshift Brewing was born out of an idea to downshift in life, to change the perspective and lifestyle of its owners from big-city chaos to small-town tranquility. Sometimes, though, an opportunity presents itself that cannot be missed, and a little brewing operation suddenly ended up getting bigger overnight. To learn more about this sudden growth…
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.
The Week Ahead in Beer: Behold the beautiful insanity of the Brewathlon
Sometimes breweries come up with events that one could consider genius, or insanity. The Brewathlon is a little of both, in our opinion. This new event from Brew Lab 101, benefiting R4 Creating in Rio Rancho, will take place this Saturday from 3 to 6 p.m. You can sign up here for all four events,…
Beer Notes: More Crushies for 2 local breweries, QC wins Down Under and more
It has been busy with all the events lately coming right on the heels of the World Beer Cup and Craft Brewers Conference, so we missed a few items of note. For instance, Second Street and Steel Bender combined to win five Crushies at the Craft Beer Marketing Awards, which were also announced during CBC….
Bear Fest roars again at Boxing Bear’s Firestone location
While one big beer festival did not return for this Memorial Day weekend, another is back in full force as Bear Fest will once again take over the back parking lot at Boxing Bear’s Firestone taproom and brewery. The event runs from noon to 6 p.m. this Saturday, featuring five guest breweries and one distillery,…
Tractor Brewing sticks to its usual routine of filling up ABQ Beer Week with events
The times, they are a changin’, and in this case we point to the slimmed-down ABQ Beer Week. Gone are the days when folks had to pick and choose between multiple events happening at the same time. For all that change, however, one thing remains constant — Tractor Brewing hosting an event almost every single…
The Week Ahead in Beer: A lovely long weekend is exactly what we all need
Ah, three-day weekend. Ah, end of school year for some (raise ’em high for the teachers). And, of course, a weekend of remembrance for those lost to war. Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of summer, which means it’s truly the busy season for our local breweries. Show some extra patience and kindness to…
ABQ Beer Week returns with an even more local vibe than in years past
It is almost the end of May, believe it or not, and that means we have reached the annual stretch where ABQ Beer Week returns to celebrate all things craft in Albuquerque. This year’s version is scaled back from the pre-pandemic era Beer Weeks, and rather uniquely features a local brewery at every event. No…
Starr Brothers relies on its old faithful to bring home its first WBC medal
Starr Brothers Brewing was unique in two ways among the four New Mexico breweries to medal at the World Beer Cup in Nashville last week. It was the first brewery to win in terms of the order in which they were announced, and it was the only brewery to have a year-round beer claim a…
Ex Novo aims to hit for the cycle after a 2nd straight WBC medal for V for Vienna
It is an exceptionally rare feat for any brewery to win back-to-back medals for the same beer in the same category at a major competition. Ex Novo Brewing just pulled it off, however, and will be aiming for a trifecta at the 2024 World Beer Cup. V for Vienna, the popular annual seasonal, earned a…
The Week Ahead in Beer: Rock the brews and enjoy some good patio time
As the weather keeps on warming, the patios will be calling this weekend. One to always visit is at Marble downtown, and this weekend as an added bonus the Passing the Torch Festival returns. This Saturday fundraiser for the New Mexico Academy of Rock & Blues kicks off with the student musicians performing at 2…
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 