Hopfest is big. There are 62 breweries serving up samples for thousands of beer lovers. In other words, it is not the place to just walk into and wander about. Nope, you need a plan, a battle plan. Luckily, the Dark Side Brew Crew is here to provide one. It’s what we do. In terms…
Tag: Marble Brewery
Beer Battle: The greatest pumpkin ale of them all is …
Way back in the spring the Brew Crew staged a mini-beer battle between the four varieties of Irish Red that were on tap around town. Here in the fall, pumpkin beers have become the predominant seasonal of the moment, even rising above Oktoberfest-style beers. A few years back I, Stoutmeister, wanted nothing to do with…
New Mexico breweries rock out to some heavy medal
All of us at the Dark Side Brew Crew and most of the craft beer drinkers we know are all aware that New Mexico has some great breweries. The breweries proved that belief, and then some, by pulling in a single-year-record eight medals at the Great American Beer Festival on Saturday morning. Dating back to…
NM Brew Fest in review: Beaten up by barley wines
The remnants of Stoutmeister and Brandon greet you all on this weekday after an enjoyable weekend at the fourth annual New Mexico Brew Fest. Sure, we ended up a little sunburned and a little hungover, but that’s what outdoor beer festivals are all about, right? With our friends Dan, Jessica, and Adam in tow, we…
The Balloon Fiesta tourist’s guide to beer in Albuquerque
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…
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…
The Son (of Septemberfest) also rises
It was a sad day a while back when news came in that Marble’s Septemberfest had been canceled for 2013. A bad case of “festival fatigue” was blamed for the end of this popular event. Yet the thirsty public cried out for Marble to still do something to celebrate the end of summer and start…
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: Taos hates IPAs, or something like that
Stoutmeister here with the actual voting totals from round two of the IPA Challenge at Taos Mesa on Saturday. That’s it? A total of 24 votes? On the day of Taos Mesa’s one-year anniversary all that showed up were 24 people? Wow. That’s sad. Deeply sad. Either people in Taos don’t like IPA or something…
