IPA Challenge: Votes are all over the place in Round Two

The two main themes from Round Two of the IPA Challenge tonight (Tuesday) at Roosevelt Brewing in Portales were 1) there was a great turnout (83 voters) and 2) those voters were all over the place in their selections. No brewery out of the 16 participants garnered more than 10 votes, while everyone had at…

IPA Challenge: Ready, set, go for Round One

Editor’s note: Welcome to the first story by a member of our new Brew Crew Bullpen. Luke, being our first Santa Fe-based writer, headed over to Second Street Brewery for Round One of the IPA Challenge on Saturday. His enthusiasm for this is shining through every part of this story. Enjoy! — Stoutmeister 16 breweries….

IPA Challenge: Bosque takes the lead after Round One

The brewer who won it all last year has his new brewery out in front after Round One of the 2014 IPA Challenge. Bosque and John Bullard, who won with Blue Corn last year, took the lead with 34 of the impressive 204 votes cast at Second Street Brewery on Saturday afternoon. Luke of the…

Beer Premier draws mixed reviews from crowd

The Yards Craft Beer Premier went down Saturday afternoon, but people were still chatting about it throughout the weekend. It is hard to sum up people’s feelings on the event, which were as mixed as the beers themselves. We asked for attendees to weigh in on Facebook and for the most part their general reactions…

New location and format set for Beer Premier

AUTHOR’S NOTE: After originally publishing this story I received an email from Christopher Goblet of the Brewers Guild. He brought up a couple key points that I’ve now added to the story. Perhaps most importantly for everyone, based on people’s responses, is that you can sample the beers before you buy them. Read on for…

ABQ Beer Week: Find a slice of heaven on Day Seven

It’s another big day for ABQ Beer Week as there are nine total events going on Wednesday, including two beer dinners and a beer breakfast before that. Featured event What: Stone Beer Dinner. Where: The Stumbling Steer. When: 6 to 9 p.m. Cost: $65. Details: How does a five-course meal with lots of delicious Stone…

ABQ Beer Week: All hail Blues and Brews on Day Four

We are eschewing our usual format, well somewhat, to give Blues & Brews some extended coverage this Sunday. The mondo festival usually concludes Beer Week, but as scheduling would have it this time around, it all goes down today. Brace (and pace) yourselves for the fun of Day Four of ABQ Beer Week 2014. Today’s…

ABQ Beer Week 2014: All the info you need to know

Greetings, beer lovers! Rejoice, for one of the best weeks of the year is upon us as ABQ Beer Week returns beginning this Thursday. This is pretty much the single busiest week-plus (it’s technically 10 days long) of the year for the Dark Side Brew Crew, but fear not, we are all well-prepared for the…

Beer Notes: More medals, more interviews, more brews

This edition of Beer Notes might count as the most random grab-bag of stuff ever. The news has started to pile up on our doorstep again, now it’s just a matter of finding that precious thing — time — in which to go more in-depth. Until then, well, here’s a summary of all the fun…

Stout Challenge: Double down on the new champion

Three years, three Stout Challenges, three different champions. In the first year, Marble took the crown. In year two, we went to a blind taste test format and it was La Cumbre who came out on top. Sticking with the blind taste test format this year, our only change of note was that Mrs. Solo…