Stoutmeister

Sobremesa Restaurant and Brewery adapts to life on the Westside

Sobremesa Restaurant and Brewery has never really known what normal life is like. It was one of three breweries, along with Gravity Bound and ReSource, to open in 2020 while the pandemic and its many restrictions were still raging. Now, with most of that (knock on wood) in the past, the staff at Sobremesa is…

Steel Bender goes all out with 5 special releases and more for 5th anniversary

Back in the days of yore, brewery anniversary parties were often a very big deal, with special events, multiple beer releases, and more. The pandemic muted all of that in 2020 and 2021, but now things are ramping up again, with Steel Bender Brewyard out in front with a five-day celebration to mark its fifth…

The Week Ahead in Beer: Fight the Pollening with some great new brews

ACHOO! Ah, yes, spring in New Mexico, better known as The Pollening. Actually, wait, isn’t it still winter? Nope, spring. Nah, winter. All right, look, we are as tired of the constantly fluctuating weather as all of you are by now, but the good news there is still beer. Lots of beer. Lots of delicious…

Rio Bravo is the lone local brewery to medal at the Best of Craft Beer Awards

It was a relatively quiet year for New Mexico breweries at the annual Best of Craft Beer Awards in Bend, Oregon, but that just means that Rio Bravo Brewing gets to bask in the spotlight all by itself. Rio Bravo snagged a silver medal for its Dice Roll IPA in the Hazy or Juicy Imperial…

ReSource Brewing taps into the new Brave Noise collaboration

One of the biggest news stories in the craft beer world in 2021 came about after brewer Brienne Allan went on Instagram and asked, “Have you ever experienced sexism in the beer industry?” The fallout was far-reaching across the industry, and still continues to this day. Yet, like many big stories of the moment, for…

La Cumbre Brewing ascends to the top of the 2022 NMBG Stout Invitational

It was a close vote at the 2022 New Mexico Brewers Guild Stout Invitational on Saturday, but at the end it was La Cumbre who came out on top. With 29 votes, the longtime Albuquerque heavyweight prevailed over a field of 16 stouts in a blind taste test held over three sessions at Bathtub Row…

Oskar Blues embraces the classic IPA style with Western Mutant series

A few weeks back, we were a little surprised to receive an email from Oskar Blues Brewing of Colorado about their new Western Mutant IPA series, which is basically their version of La Cumbre’s Project Dank, a rotating series of West Coast-style ales. The surprising part of the email was that it included the opportunity…

Stout Invitational returns with a twist to Los Alamos after 1-year COVID hiatus

Before the dark times arrived in March 2020, the last great beer event held was the New Mexico Brewers Guild Stout Invitational at Bathtub Row Brewing in Los Alamos. Flix Brewhouse took home the trophy in the February competition, a blind taste test of 16 stouts from around the state. And then, COVID, and darkness,…

Nexus Brewery prepares for internal expansion at both taprooms in 2022

Nexus Brewery weathered the toughest parts of the pandemic, and is now almost back to its prior sales numbers. It has not been easy to get there, but owner Ken Carson and head brewer Randy King are feeling upbeat as 2022 rolls along. I sat down with both of them for our Look Back/Look Ahead…

Quarter Celtic Brewpub slowly but surely getting back to having fun again

There has always been a sense of fun when it comes to Quarter Celtic. Long ago, in the before (COVID) times, the brewpub would post funny videos, come up with clever beer names, and just keep everything light and cheerful. Then came the pandemic, which got so rough that at one point, the Quarter Celtic…