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…

Best of the (Summer)Fest: Good beers reigned over Pajarito

Well that was a fun little excursion Saturday afternoon. After years of Isotopes games being scheduled on the same day, I, Stoutmeister, got to travel up to Pajarito Mountain for SummerFest, where there was other stuff going on but it was mostly about the beer. A total of 17 breweries set up shop for the…

It’s time to get festive for summer at Pajarito

Every year after ABQ Beer Week there is a collective sense of exhaustion and fulfillment that causes the Brew Crew to go into semi-hibernation. This year, however, there is no rest for the weary, as every Saturday in June there is a major beer event somewhere in the state. For this Saturday, it’s SummerFest at…

ABQ Beer Week: Day Eight looks sweet with a dozen events

It was fun to get back to ABQ Beer Week on Wednesday and meet some new beer lovers at the Left Hand tasting at O’Niell’s Nob Hill. With all that done, it’s time to move on to a busy Day Eight on Thursday. Yours truly will be at Tractor Nob Hill, plus maybe some other…

ABQ Beer Week: Battling beer geeks highlight Day One

ABQ Beer Week 2014 is here at last! Wondering what to do tonight? Here is all the info you will need for Thursday’s opening events. Featured event What: Battle of the Beer Geeks. Where: Tractor Wells Park. When: 6 to 8 p.m. Cost: $7 for five samples and a pint of your favorite. Details: Brandon…

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…

The Week Ahead in Beer: Nexus’ new brew has arrived

Greetings New Mexico craft beer lovers, this is E-Rock, back to bring you this installment of The Week Ahead in Beer. This column is hand-crafted to keep you up to date on all of the seasonal beers, news, and events served up at breweries and taprooms in New Mexico. New head brewer appreciation month continues…

Nexus’ new brewer aims to keep a good thing going

For the finale of our series of interviews of new brewers around the Albuquerque metro area, I visited Nexus on Wednesday morning before they opened. Kaylynn McKnight, formerly an assistant brewer at La Cumbre, is in the process of taking the reins from Manuel Mussen. She will be the first female head brewer in the…

Nexus moves closer to selecting second location

While I was over at Nexus to talk to new head brewer Kaylynn McKnight (the full interview will be posted Friday), I also chatted with owner Ken Carson about Kaylynn’s hiring and another rumor that had been passed along to the Crew. We had been told that Nexus was close to settling on a location…

Irish Red Challenge: The champion still reigns

The Crew, well half of us, gathered last year a week after St. Patrick’s Day to select the best Irish Red Ale that was being poured in the ABQ metro area. There were three of us choosing among just four reds, so it worked as basically a scaled-down version of our annual Super Bowl Stout…