DARK SIDE BREW CREW

The Crew gets to brew at Tractor for ABQ Beer Week

We have been teasing everyone for a while now with hints that we are getting to brew a beer over at Tractor. None of us have ever said why, so with brewing set to commence in about 16 hours or so, I get to be the one to fill in the details. So last year…

Bosque’s new brewhouse moving ever closer to activation

The other day I mentioned to the rest of the Brew Crew that Bosque’s new brewhouse was close to being fully operational. E-Rock naturally replied with “It’s a trap!” proving that once again we are all giant nerds in this group. Anyway, all Return of the Jedi jokes aside, I decided to head over to…

The Week Ahead in Beer: Old friends and new brews

Greetings New Mexico craft beer lovers, this is E-Rock, back to bring you this installment of The Week Ahead in Beer. This column is hand-crafted to keep you up to date on all of the seasonal beers, news, and events served up at breweries and taprooms in New Mexico. For those of you who didn’t…

Sometimes Punishment is simply divine

Editor’s note: Franz Solo actually wrote this one a while back, but it got lost in the shuffle of a busy week. Nonetheless, much like the beer itself, a good review is timeless. On a whim, I cracked open this terror of the meek after a rather dull Thursday and wowza, what a hellish treat…

Nexus’ new brewer aims to keep a good thing going

For the finale of our series of interviews of new brewers around the Albuquerque metro area, I visited Nexus on Wednesday morning before they opened. Kaylynn McKnight, formerly an assistant brewer at La Cumbre, is in the process of taking the reins from Manuel Mussen. She will be the first female head brewer in the…

Turtle Mountain’s new brewer prepares for some big changes

Back during the holiday hustle and bustle, I sat down with Turtle Mountain owner Nico Ortiz and talked about his plans for his soon-to-be-15-year-old brewery in 2014. One thing he mentioned was a desire to push the beer forward to a level that could compete with metro area heavyweights like La Cumbre, Il Vicino, and…

Nexus moves closer to selecting second location

While I was over at Nexus to talk to new head brewer Kaylynn McKnight (the full interview will be posted Friday), I also chatted with owner Ken Carson about Kaylynn’s hiring and another rumor that had been passed along to the Crew. We had been told that Nexus was close to settling on a location…

The Week Ahead in Beer: Biere de Canteen

Chama River’s new brewer intends to make his own mark

The last few weeks have seen a slew of movement among brewers in the Albuquerque metro area. It has also seen a lot of high school basketball state tournament games, so yours truly was a tad busy when it came to tracking down all those brewer moves. Fear not, for now I have a week…