The results are in from Round One of the New Mexico IPA Challenge at Draft Station Santa Fe. A total of 188 beer lovers showed up, which very well might be a record for a non-Albuquerque round. As our headline says, Marble takes the lead with 38 votes. Tied for second were Blue Corn and…
Cazuela’s hosts a MiniFest they hope will be maximum fun
Attention West Side and Rio Rancho beer lovers, you can join ABQbeer.com this Saturday at Cazuela’s Mexican Grill and Brewery for their first ever MiniFest! A more intimate experience than some of the larger festivals around town, 250 attendees will be treated to patio party perfection, with garden-like surroundings, a dazzling view of the Sandias, local…
Rice serves up all the details on the big Marble expansion that is underway
As many of you probably saw in the Albuquerque Journal last week, Marble has finally broken ground on their long-awaited brewery expansion downtown. The Crew was not able to attend that ceremony, but Marble was kind enough to invite us over for a sit-down with co-owner/brewmaster/mastermind Ted Rice on Wednesday afternoon to go over the…
The Week Ahead in Beer: Santa Fe is having (almost) all the fun this weekend
Greetings, New Mexico craft beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with The Week Ahead in Beer. This column covers all the breweries in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, with Santa Fe’s four breweries and a pair of newcomers, one down in Socorro and the other in Los Alamos, also joining the party. Remember how last week there were…
One of the top local brewers is on the move to his own place
While I was on vacation I heard a rumor that one of our best local brewers would soon be leaving. It was terrifying being far from home with a rumor I could not get confirmed. Over the weekend at the VIPA Challenge, the rumor was repeated, this time with more detail and it ultimately sounded…
12th Annual Pork & Brew meets all expectations for BBQ and beer
It started out as a perfect summer day at the 12th Annual Pork & Brew at the Santa Ana Star Center. There was just enough cloud cover and sun to make the start of this event perfect. Getting out of our car, the wonderful smoky aroma hit us immediately. We usually fuel up on food…
The VIPA Challenge shows it is going to be a battle for 2015 bragging rights
Well, that was fun! The Brew Crew was part of the 90-plus judges who took part in the inaugural VIPA Challenge on Sunday afternoon at the Sandia Casino. This preliminary round of the annual New Mexico IPA Challenge was designed to narrow what has become a crowded field of 25 IPAs down to the 14…
V + IPA = You’re allowed to be judgey
“In the broader sense, I’m wondering how many medals New Mexico will score at Great American Beer Festival,” said New Mexico Brewers Guild director Christopher Goblet. “IPA is only one section within GABF, but let’s wave that ‘NMIPA’ flag proudly.” He’s right. I make a formal motion for all of us to turn that flag…
The Week Ahead in Beer: A jam-packed holiday weekend looms
Greetings, New Mexico craft beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with the reunified edition of The Week Ahead in Beer. This column covers all the breweries in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, with Santa Fe’s four breweries and one newcomer down in Socorro also joining the party. We tried hard to keep the state edition going, but without…
Bosque bottles up the Scale Tipper goodness for the benefit of us all
In case you have missed it, but judging by the social response you have not, Bosque Brewing is putting their award-winning Scale Tipper IPA into bombers and releasing it with a big old party at the Nob Hill Public House on Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. So what does this release party entail? Well,…
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 