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…
Tag: Il Vicino Brewery Canteen
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…
Sizing up the superb selection at Son of Septemberfest
The Crew tackled the dirty dozen beers at Marble’s Son of Septemberfest on Saturday. Without further adieu, here are our quick reviews of those beers. Abbey Brewing, Monk’s Tripel Sweet, but not overly so. You don’t taste the alcohol, which could be an issue with this 9.2-percent ABV beast. It is easy to find in…
Beer Roundup: Back from the dead
As promised a little while ago, the Crew has resurrected this bi-weekly feature. This is where we share short reviews of the various beers we have tried of late from local breweries and from microbreweries across the nation. Since it has been a while since we have done one of these, I fear some of…
Fighting that post-major-beer-event-malaise
Happy Friday, beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with one of those posts where I write about a bunch of stuff that we hope to write in the future. Yeah, it’s kind of lazy, but it’s what we’ve got right now. There is always that period of post-event exhaustion. Now, the IPA Challenge did not wear us…
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…
IPA Challenge: And the winner is …
For the first time in the 12-year history of the IPA Challenge, a brewery outside of the Albuquerque metro area will take the trophy home. Blue Corn’s Resurgence captured the title with a resounding victory after the fourth and final round at Marble’s downtown pub on Saturday afternoon. “It’s pretty good,” said Blue Corn brewer…
IPA Challenge: Blue Corn takes command after Round 3
Stoutmeister here with the recap of round three of the IPA Challenge on Friday night, with E-Rock sending the info down from Santa Fe Brewing. The big news is that Blue Corn’s Resurgence has seized control of the competition with Saturday’s big final round at Marble’s downtown pub looming. The good news is 100 voters,…
IPA Challenge: Let the final rounds commence
The weekend is upon us, which means the final two rounds of the IPA Challenge are about to begin. This week we have tackled the reasoning behind the popularity of IPAs, given you a survival guide for first-time participants, and now it’s time to wrap things up with a look at what some of the…
IPA Challenge: How we learned to stop worrying and love the (hop) bomb
During this break between IPA Challenge rounds it seemed like a perfectly good time to address this little question. Why do beer lovers in New Mexico rank the IPA as their favorite beer? We in the Crew certainly have our theories but in the end, we are hardly experts. So while I, Stoutmeister, was conducting…
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 