Beer Notes: The we-swear-we-are-not-dead edition

We are still alive, still chasing down beer news. Due to various factors in life, none of it was ready for publication today, but next week is gonna be busy. Catching up on the canning lines In case anyone missed their Facebook post, the gang over at Canteen has begun canning Dougie Style Amber and…

Bosque basks in the glory of another National IPA Challenge title

Yeah, yeah, we are a couple days late with getting the reaction from Bosque Brewing about winning their second straight National IPA Challenge, a feat never accomplished before by any brewery. Well, thanks to my dad forgetting something important when traveling, I could not sit down with the staff Monday. Then on Tuesday, after doing…

Beer Notes: New Mexico claims 3 of final 8 spots at NIPAC again

Once again, the little items added up, so for the second week in a row we have a notebook to empty. NIPAC domination continues The fourth round of the National IPA Challenge, hosted by The Brewing News, is complete with three of the five remaining New Mexico entries advancing to the quarterfinals. This marks the…

Stout Challenge V: Another year, another new champion

The Dark Side Brew Crew gathered on Super Bowl Sunday for the fifth straight year to hold a blind taste test to determine the best house stout in the Albuquerque metro area. And for a fifth straight year, we had a different winner. So who was it? Well, rather than keep everyone in suspense, here…

New/old brewer has Canteen set for canning and new taproom in 2016

Let the great brewer shuffle of 2016 be official. Zach Guilmette has left Chama River and returned to Canteen as head brewer. Andrew Krosche has left Ponderosa to take over at Chama. Bob Hagerty, formerly of the La Cumbre staff, has taken over Ponderosa. Each one officially took over his new position Jan. 1. So,…

And the winner of the best beer name of 2015 is …

Baby Got Bock! Yes, Red Door’s homage to a “classic” song was the winner of our first poll. Since we did not add a timing element to the poll itself, we just decided all votes after 10 p.m. MST would not count. Thus, Baby Got Bock proved to be the winner. (We should add it…

The Week Ahead in Beer: Ring in the New Beer, er, Year!

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. Now that we all (hopefully) survived…

Pick the best beer name in New Mexico for 2015

Every now and again in New Mexico a beer gets released whose name alone catches your eye. Sometimes they are funny, sometimes they are simply creative, and other times they are downright weird. Naming a beer can often be a fun process for brewers and their staffs. It can also be a pain in the…

The Week Ahead in Beer: Stock up on brews, a blizzard is a comin’!

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. By all accounts of the weather…