A whole lot of brewery folks gathered inside the cozy confines of Gravity Bound Brewing on Saturday as 42 entries where whittled down to a final 16 for the upcoming public rounds of the 2023 New Mexico IPA Challenge. NM Brewers Guild executive director Ebbie Edmonston read off the final names, which were judged by…
A grandest of openings: The first hour of the first day of Flock of Moons Brewing
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…
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…
Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery branches out into new spaces in 2023
Earlier in June, just before hitting the road for our Southern Colorado beer trek (featured on the page), I reached out to the very busy brew crew of Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery. I had known they had a lot going on and one exciting major development in the works. It was about time I sat…
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…
