Best of the (Brew) Fest plus other notes from one wild afternoon

No one got sunburned! Well, that’s how we all looked back on NM Brew Fest 5 after a long, rough Sunday (our football teams, real and fantasy, didn’t help our hangovers, either). OK, we also looked back at the many great beers we drank and how much fun we had. From the VIP barrel-aged beginning…

More fun than a barrel of monkeys, er, beer, it’s NM Brew Fest 5

Beer festival season wraps up (sniff) in our state with the fifth annual NM Brew Fest at Expo New Mexico (the fairgrounds) this Saturday. It promises to go out with a bang, thanks to a special early event admission where you get to taste multiple barrel-aged beers brought in by the NM Brewers Guild. Yes,…

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…

Shenanigans were aplenty at Hopfest

Well now, wasn’t that just a fun way to spend a Saturday? The seventh annual Hopfest went down at Isleta Casino, with a lot of beer choices (seriously, a lot) to sort through. For all four original Crew members, plus at least two from the Bullpen, and our assorted friends, we’re pretty sure we collectively…

Where to quench your hop thirst at Hopfest

Oh, Hopfest, you lovely giant beer festival, you have returned. It’s Lucky No. 7 for Hopfest, which returns to the Isleta Casino this Saturday. Tickets are still available online today (Friday). They go up in price at the door ($35 for general admission, $45 for Extra Hoppy Hour), so we highly recommend you get them…

Reviewing Red Door’s beers before the soft opening

Porter Pounder and I went over to Red Door Brewing’s sneak preview Tuesday afternoon and came away quite impressed. Much like Boxing Bear did earlier this summer, Red Door took the time to perfect their first batches of beer and it showed. We already talked about the general ambiance and setup for Red Door, so…

Red Door is ready to swing open this week

So back on Friday, Porter Pounder, Jason, and I went over to Red Door Brewing to check out the now-finished taproom and see just when they were opening. We found out it was going to be this week and agreed to hold off on a story until either the day of or the day before….

Red Door and Pi Brewing move closer to opening

Yeah, we know, the Crew has been pretty quiet in the month of June. Our various jobs and/or families have taken precedence of late, so we’ve been away from our computers as far as writing about beer goes (I’ve been personally writing way too many variations of “the Isotopes lost tonight because …”). Well, no…

Red Door Brewing gets ready to swing open

It has been a while since the Crew got a chance to visit a new brewery in its construction phase. E-Rock and I toured Tractor’s Wells Park location a few months back before it was all up and running, but there is always something a little different about touring a brand-new operation. Fortunately, after a…

Beer Notes: New breweries making progress

Happy National Beer Day, everyone! Today is the 81st anniversary of the day prohibition was repealed, so folks everywhere should raise their pints in honor of one of those rare moments when politicians actually did the right thing. Anyway, while the various Crew members debate what beer to drink to honor this sacred day, I’ve…