The Dark Side Brew Crew held our fourth annual Stout Challenge on Super Bowl Sunday. Long before we were cursing the Seahawks’ terrible play-calling at the end, we were rejoicing amidst 14 stouts that we sampled via blind taste test to determine who has the best in the ABQ metro area (plus Socorro). We were…
Tag: Kaktus Brewing
The time has come for Stout Challenge IV: The Overload
Greetings, everyone, on this snowy Friday. Do be careful out there tonight when in pursuit of beer. Stuff is melting but not evaporating, so that means sheets of ice. And New Mexico drivers are bad enough without ice under their tires, so go slow if you desperately need some nocturnal pints. By Sunday, though, all…
The best New Mexico beers of 2014 in our humble opinion
As noted in the most recent edition of The Week Ahead in Beer, the Crew put out the call for everyone’s favorite beers from New Mexico breweries for 2014. The replies from our readers, not to mention from all of our writers, were fairly diverse. We’re not gonna do an ultimate ranking or anything —…
Kaktus aims to keep it innovative in 2015 just as they did in 2014
Greetings everyone, Stoutmeister here with the second post in the Look Back/Look Ahead Series for 2014-15. Our La Cumbre story ran last week. As the year draws to a close, rather than just write up a single summary review of the last 12 months in beer, I decided to take what free time I have…
The Crew’s holiday beer merch guide — ABQ-area edition
As we did for Santa Fe a couple weeks ago, we do now for the ABQ metro area. The Crew, and for once this is a multi-person endeavor, has set forth and compiled a list of breweries’ merchandise to give you a handy guide for your holiday shopping. Hey, you can’t always just buy people…
The Balloon Fiesta tourist’s guide to craft beer in New Mexico
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…
Rescue your weekend at Marble and other breweries
This weekend marks a temporary respite amid festival season, falling in between Hopfest last week and the upcoming Lions, Tigers, and Beers at the Zoo next weekend (plus GABF, for those lucky enough to head up to Denver) and then NM Brew Fest the weekend after that. So the good folks at Marble decided it…
A cider wins State Fair Pro-Am, beer drinkers weep
Despite the title above, I don’t mind a good cider every now and again. But, seriously, a cider won a beer competition? That was the case with this year’s State Fair Pro-Am competition for professional brewers. Santa Sidra’s A Tad Sweet was named Best of Show. Congrats to the folks at Santa Sidra, we’re sure…
Hefeweizen Challenge ’14 — A tournament of refreshment
The Dark Side Brew Crew gathered last weekend for a blind taste test to determine the best hefeweizen in the ABQ metro area. Mrs. Solo and I hosted the event with Stoutmeister, E-Rock, Porter Pounder, and Brandon present from the original Crew. Only Shilling was absent due to his job. Brandon’s awesome girlfriend Taylor handled…
IPA Challenge: It’s John Bullard’s world, we all just get to drink in it
The people have spoken and there is a new/old king of the IPA in New Mexico. The 2014 IPA Challenge came to a close Sunday evening at Tractor Wells Park with Bosque Brewing taking home the trophy for the first time. It was the second straight victory for brewer John Bullard, who won his first…
