ABQ Beer Week: Day One is loaded with almost too much fun

All right, people, it’s go time! Make sure you have your Lyft and/or Uber accounts up to date, and then start checking off the events you can’t miss. The Crew will be here for you every day with info on every single event. We also have separate previews for the events at Ponderosa Brewing, Tractor…

Ponderosa goes tapas for ABQ Beer Week

Antonio Fernandez is gearing up for his first ABQ Beer Week as head brewer at Ponderosa, and it looks like he is jumping into it in a big way. Every night during Beer Week (except for one, their usual Taco Tuesday night), Ponderosa will provide a certain pint of beer paired with a special tapas…

Rock & Brews jumps into the beer festival fun

It is spring, so slowly but surely the beer festivals are popping up. Our friends over at Rock & Brews are hosting a Spring Beer Festival this Saturday, with a mix of local and regional breweries in attendance. The event kicks off at 2 p.m., and tickets cost either $12 in advance or $15 at…

Ponderosa will open its first taproom later this year

Tucked away in the recent news about the renovation of the historic El Vado Motel on Central Avenue was a tidbit about a brewery taproom being part of the redevelopment. Ponderosa Brewing will open its first offsite taproom, with a fall opening being the target. In order to get a little more detail, I stopped…

Ponderosa Brewing prepares for another busy year

Editor’s note: It is time for us to resume our Look Back/Look Ahead Series. We only knocked out 13 of the 40 or so breweries in November and December, so now it is time to start with all that remain, beginning with Shawna’s trip to Ponderosa from a couple weeks back. — S For this…

Ponderosa’s renaissance man takes the brewing reins

Ponderosa Brewing is about to celebrate their second anniversary with a party on Saturday. The festivities include a special release, a 2014 barley wine that has been aging for 18 months. The impressive, or at least unique, fact is that beer was made four brewers ago. Ponderosa has seen a lot of change in two…

Hopfest 2016: The first fest of the season keeps it fresh

Newcomers and summery, fresh-tasting, hoppy beers helped to keep interest alive for the ninth annual Albuquerque Hopfest. Each year the crowds get larger, and each year I wonder how in the world Marne Gaston puts on such a large production. But, she does, flawlessly, and I am in complete awe of her. I would be…

Eighteen NM breweries will pour their finest at Hopfest

Ah, late August, when the hints of cooler weather arrive, the kids go back to school, football (both American and international) revs up, and Hopfest takes over Isleta Casino. Hey, at nine years old, we can pretty much declare Hopfest an annual tradition. The largest beer festival in New Mexico returns this Saturday from 2…