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. It might be winter in the…
Tag: Back Alley Draft House
Stout (Day) philosophy: What makes a great dark beer
Howdy, all. It’s Stoutmeister. My personal holiday that I totally came up with is upon us. Yes, Friday is International Stout Day. Wait, you mean I don’t get credit for that? Oh. Well, can I get a free pint of stout? Please? Pretty please? Anyway, it really is International Stout Day, so get on out…
Hopfest in Review: A proper farewell to festival season
There was a bittersweet feeling as the Crew left Hopfest on Saturday afternoon. It stemmed not from any disappoint in the event — it was quite the opposite, in fact — but instead it came with the realization that beer festival season in 2013 was coming to a close. Even though the year itself is…
To properly tackle Hopfest everyone needs a battle plan
Hopfest is big. There are 62 breweries serving up samples for thousands of beer lovers. In other words, it is not the place to just walk into and wander about. Nope, you need a plan, a battle plan. Luckily, the Dark Side Brew Crew is here to provide one. It’s what we do. In terms…
NM Brew Fest in review: Beaten up by barley wines
The remnants of Stoutmeister and Brandon greet you all on this weekday after an enjoyable weekend at the fourth annual New Mexico Brew Fest. Sure, we ended up a little sunburned and a little hungover, but that’s what outdoor beer festivals are all about, right? With our friends Dan, Jessica, and Adam in tow, we…
The Balloon Fiesta tourist’s guide to beer in Albuquerque
It’s that time of year again, when lots of folks from outside Albuquerque and New Mexico descend upon the Duke City for the Balloon Fiesta. While a lot of us locals grumble about the increase in traffic, even we’re big softies for the Fiesta (assuming we wake up in time). Well, we are, our dogs…
Feeling festive about the lineup at Brew Fest
Beer festival season hits its highpoint in October both in New Mexico and nearby, starting with the fourth annual New Mexico Brew Fest this Saturday at the Villa Hispana on the state fairgrounds. With Valhalla (aka The Great American Beer Festival) and then Hopfest later in the month, beer drinkers will be kept awfully busy…
Meet me at the Fair for another beer competition
Before the actual NM State Fair kicks off — and come on, you know it’s coming soon since friend of the Crew Lauren Poole is playing Lynette in the commercials again — they hold a Pro-Am competition where a bunch of judges figure out some of the best beers in the land. Our friends at…
In with the new: The Beer Premier unleashes some unique creations
Editor’s note: Yeah, we know, The Beer Premier was back on July 20. Brandon took his time. Part of it was the fact he took audio notes and by the end of the event (you’ll understand as you read this) it was a little, uh, hard for him to understand what he was saying. So…
The Great Beer Roundup: No swoon in June
We drink a lot of beer. Shocking, I know, but between the six members of the Dark Side Brew Crew, we really do have a lot of different beers every month. The more I thought about this, while of course filling out another beer check-in on Untappd, I realized we were missing a perfectly good…
