Four New Mexico breweries claim medals at Great American Beer Festival

For a good long while, it appeared that 2022 would see New Mexico breweries bring home the fewest medals since Chama River was the lone medalist in 2010. As the category numbers dwindled down, three different breweries picked up medals to bring the state’s total to four. Rowley Farmhouse Ales took gold in the Belgian…

Beer Notes: Fall catch-up with all 7 of the Santa Fe area breweries

As summer draws to a close, and the air finally begins to cool, we in the Crew get a special tingly feeling in our black-shirted bellies; a special grin curls upward beneath our beards, and not just because it’s soon to be hoodie season. And, it’s not just because (most of) our freezers are packed…

ABQ Beer Week: Everyone pucker up on Day One as sours take center stage

And, we’re back! ABQ Beer Week kicks off today (Thursday) with an actual kickoff party, plus a special tasting/tap takeover, a beer-and-cheese pairing, a beer dinner, a fundraiser, and more. Let’s get right to it, shall we? Featured Event Every day we will pick what we consider the biggest, most interesting, most unique event. This…

20 questions with Jennifer Treu, Rowley Farmhouse Ales’ new head brewer

It’s not an easy thing to turn your passion into a career that spans several states, partially through a pandemic, but Rowley Farmhouse Ales’ new head brewer has done just that. On a nice, reasonably un-windy Wednesday, I sat down with the entire RFA brew crew, including brewmaster John Rowley, cellarman Roger Pacheco, new to…

La Reforma hires a familiar face as 2022 head brewer shuffle gets underway

After a relatively static period during the height of the pandemic, a new shuffle of head brewers is underway in New Mexico. “There was very little mobility during the pandemic,” said La Reforma co-owner John Gozigian, who has just hired a new head brewer/distiller. “Now that things are getting back to normal, for a long…

Rowley Farmhouse Ales is back in black with Blackest Friday

A cold wind blows across your face, sending a shiver deep down into your sweater. You can see your breath as you huff and puff across the parking lot. And, as you pull the sleeves over your frigid fingers, you already begin to regret the inevitable walk back to the car, as your legs feel…

The Week Ahead in Beer: Black Friday takes on a whole new meaning

Welcome to an early edition of Week Ahead, as we want to make sure everyone is aware of what beers are available well in advance of Thanksgiving, when most breweries will be closed (see below for the exceptions). Despite being a holiday week, there are plenty of beer releases coming Friday, with some fun events…