A quick trip among the offsite taprooms of Las Cruces

Three of us in the Crew launched our trip to Southern New Mexico on Friday with a change from the original plan. Rather than head straight for the mountain towns of Cloudcroft, Lincoln, and Ruidoso, we instead went to Las Cruces first, saving the rest for Saturday. The reason was fairly simple: we had no…

Beer Notes: Ongoing offsite taproom boom hits Las Cruces

Enough little news items piled up on our proverbial desk that we figured it was time for another rapid-fire Beer Notes to get you ready for the weekend. Taprooms taprooms taprooms! The rapid growth of offsite taprooms is continuing down south. Truth or Consequences Brewing opened its first taproom this week at 2001 E. Lohman…

IPA Challenge: Boxing Bear claims its 3rd title in 4 years

The masses have spoken, and the West Coast IPA has not lost its crown just yet. Boxing Bear Brewing won its third New Mexico IPA Challenge trophy in the past four years, with its Bear Knuckle II fending off a host of hazy competitors. Bear Knuckle racked up 102 votes to fly past Bosque (72)…

IPA Challenge: Boxing Bear extends its lead in Santa Fe

Our man Luke was at the second round of the New Mexico IPA Challenge on Saturday afternoon, but we will cut him some slack and let him enjoy all those hop-forward ales while we do a quick recap of the competition. Boxing Bear, which edged out Icebox 17 votes to 16 in the first round…

IPA Challenge: Boxing Bear barely fends off Icebox in 1st round

The results are in from the first round of the 2019 New Mexico IPA Challenge, held today at Picacho Peak Brewing in Las Cruces. Two-time past champion Boxing Bear garnered 17 of the 65 votes cast, one more than the only Southern New Mexico brewery in attendance, newcomer Icebox Brewing (16). Perhaps the biggest surprise,…