We said it would be a battle to decide the best IPA of 2015. Some scoffed. Some were bewildered. Some guffawed, whatever that means. In the end, though, we were right. This was really, really hard to pick the best out of 15 samples. On a warm, crowded (but not too crowded) day at Boxing…
Tag: Back Alley Draft House
IPA Challenge: All the details on the final round
The decisive final round of the 2015 NM IPA Challenge is set to kick off this Saturday at noon at Boxing Bear. The first two rounds of the NMIPAC have seen strong showings by current leader Blue Corn (48 votes), second-place and defending champion Bosque (42 votes), and local heavyweight Marble (41 votes). Can anyone…
IPA Challenge: Blue Corn moves into first after two rounds
The second round of the NM IPA Challenge went down at Pecan Grill and Brewery on Wednesday night in Las Cruces and it featured a few surprises. First-round leader Marble scored just three votes after racking up 38 in Santa Fe last Saturday and now drops to third place. Everyone that was shocked at La…
The Week Ahead in Beer: Things to do besides just indulging in hop bombs
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. The big event of this weekend…
Marble takes early lead in NM IPA Challenge
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…
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…
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…
The Week Ahead in Beer: Dear summer, let us drink our beers in peace
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…
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 