Posts Tagged ‘Sidetrack Brewing’

Marvelous Marblefest features a slew of new brews of a German variety

Posted: September 16, 2019 by cjax33 in Events, Interviews, News
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It’s time to get your German food and beer fix at the annual Marblefest this Saturday.

Long ago, Marble Brewery used to hold Septemberfest in its back parking lot downtown, featuring other breweries from around the state offering up their autumn beers. As the brewery grew and expanded, eventually swallowing that parking lot, Septemberfest disappeared into the memory of festivals gone by.

Then along came Marblefest, a full-on German-themed beer event that perfectly captures the season, with other breweries joining in on the fun. The 2019 edition of this street party is set for this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (VIP only), and 2 to 11 for everyone else.

Thirsty for more knowledge, I met up with on-site events coordinator/social media director Geraldine Lucero, director of brewing operations John Heine, and head brewer John Carroll to learn what beers will be poured and all the other details the beer geeks of New Mexico need to know.

“Marblefest is like German and New Mexican culture combined, because we can’t do something that’s strictly Oktoberfest German-style, we’re really inspired by the culture, but ultimately we love New Mexico and want to bring as many aspects of it into our event,” Lucero said. “We’re excited.

“General admission is $5 at the door only at 2 o’clock. No dogs, no strollers, guys. Sorry, but you won’t be let in if you bring any of that.”

There will also be a special VIP event for the first three hours of the day.

“We have our VIP tasting session is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., tickets are available online for $20, day of they jump to $25,” Lucero said. “You get a commemorative tasting glass, six 4-ounce pours, and the delicious pretzel and mustard combo, plus live music from Mondo Vibrations.”

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Beer Notes: Resurrections, closures, brewers-on-the-move and more

Posted: August 12, 2019 by cjax33 in Beer Notes
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Artesia’s second brewery is sadly no more. (Photo courtesy of Hopscotch Brewing)

The news items are piling up around here, so let us start the week with what is going on around the New Mexico craft brewing scene.

We’re not dead yet

After we published our story about Eske’s Brew Pub and Eatery meeting an untimely demise after 27 years, we were eventually contacted by Mark Hoffman, who is apparently the owner of the Taos brewery. Per Mark, Eske’s is not deader than dead, but it will instead be resurrected at a new location with a new setup, and possibly a new name.

Eske’s 2.0 will be at 605 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, which is further north up Taos’ main road, past the Burger Stand at Taos Ale House, near Cid’s Food Market and Taos Pizza Out Back. This new location will be a combined brewery and homebrew store, Mark said, and will have a permanent food truck instead of an on-site kitchen (similar to what Red Door has down here at its Candelaria brewery in ABQ). The brewery will also be changing its name to Sangre de Cristo Brewing Company. That name predated Eske’s when original owner Steve Eskeback brewed for the Embudo Station restaurant from 1989-92, before opening Eske’s near the Taos Plaza.

So far we are still waiting to see a new pending small brewer license to replace the one that went inactive a few months ago. When that happens, we will know for sure that SDCBC/Eske’s 2.0 is officially happening.

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The Week Ahead in Beer: A Prideful weekend awaits after a brisk ArtWalk

Posted: June 5, 2019 by cjax33 in The Week Ahead in Beer
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Greetings, New Mexico craft beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with The Week Ahead in Beer. This column covers all the breweries in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, with Santa Fe’s seven breweries, one in Los Alamos, one in Moriarty, one in Red River, and one in Truth or Consequences also joining the party.

Stoutmeister puts on his serious face to handle The Week Ahead in Beer.

Stoutmeister puts on his serious face to handle The Week Ahead in Beer.

The weekend kicks off with the First Friday ArtWalk downtown on Friday night, with both downtown breweries participating. Boese Brothers hosts the Cruel Arts Summer Pop-up, with music from DJ Alxxs Garza, from 6 to 11 p.m. Sidetrack has Adobe Disco with DJ Eldon from 6 to 10. Grab a beer, enjoy some art, and listen to some music to kick off your weekend. Saturday is the annual Pride Parade in Nob Hill, and the Tractor taproom will be ready for the festivities. Rise & Pride kicks off at 9 a.m. with a Cider-mimosa and Michelada bar. DJ Bea will start spinning at 11 a.m., followed by DJ Nicolatron at 2 p.m. Up the street at Hops Brewery, the doors will open at 11, with all pints $1 off for anyone wearing anything Pride related. Nob Hill Bar & Grill will have one keg of Bell’s Sparkleberry on tap, too. Over at nearby High and Dry, they will be releasing the Love Bless America Citrus IPA at 6 p.m. Then on Sunday, Cantero is offering Pride Boards, a rainbow flight of special beers, for just $6.50, with all proceeds going to the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico. If there are any other events or specials at breweries in relation to Pride, please drop us a line and we will update this intro.

On the new beer front this week, there are a few options to check out. Bombs Away is on target with version six of Hazy Chain DIPA, plus it also has a Common on tap. Bow & Arrow continues its Rad Vista Pilsner series with a batch made with Styrian Dragon hops. Boxing Bear goes big with Double Dry-Hopped Simcoe Albu-Murky Hazy IPA. Canteen has fresh batches of Irish Red and Laid Back Lager. Cantero is experiencing a Sour Grapes Ale. Ex Novo brings its popular Perle Haggard Pilsner to tap here, while also feeling a bit British with Where the Mild Things Are. La Cumbre tapped a tasty Maibock. Marble goes big with Alpha Acid Trip, a triple IPA, and Basic Brunch, a Mimosa-style beer, plus it has cans of Double White Triple Berry available. Toltec rolls in with Cascade Pomelo. Tractor adds a Gose and Stonewall Brut IPA with grapefruit.

Up in Santa Fe, Rowley Farmhouse Ales teams with Perennial Artisan Ales to release American Hero, a new pilsner.

Continue reading for all the news that is fit to blog for the week of June 3.

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The Week Ahead in Beer: Metal, belly dancers, Easter eggs, 4/20 fests and more highlight a zany weekend

Posted: April 17, 2019 by cjax33 in The Week Ahead in Beer
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Greetings, New Mexico craft beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with The Week Ahead in Beer. This column covers all the breweries in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, with Santa Fe’s seven breweries, one in Los Alamos, one in Moriarty, and one in Red River also joining the party.

Stoutmeister puts on his serious face to handle The Week Ahead in Beer.

Stoutmeister puts on his serious face to handle The Week Ahead in Beer.

Hey, remember last week, when we barely had anything to write about? Yeah, that is so not this week. Thursday through Saturday is just kinda bonkers, and that is leaving out all the Marble anniversary events we previewed separately. First up, there is some truly blackened black metal descending upon Tumbleroot’s Agua Fria location in Santa Fe this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Local heavyweights Dysphotic are joined by touring bands UADA and Wormwitch for a head-banging good time. Then on Friday night, keep that Game of Thrones buzz going in advance of the next episode on HBO, as the Desert Darlings return to Tractor Wells Park for the GoT edition of Hops & Dreams. Need to get out and move more? Then head downtown Saturday afternoon for the third annual Easter Beer Hunt. It’s a grownup egg hunt, and the different colors of plastic eggs correspond to the three participating breweries — Boese Brothers, Red Door, Sidetrack — with different prizes inside that can be redeemed at each brewery. Only three eggs can be redeemed at each location, and please do not start until noon. For those who do not drink beer, you can also redeem some of the eggs at The Brew for coffee. Saturday will also feature a slew of 4/20 events, including special ones at Rio Bravo (market and live music), Turtle Mountain (smoked BBQ), and Truth or Consequences (cannabis education).

On the new beer front this week, there are a few other options to check out. Bombs Away finds itself in Condition Red Ale. Bosque recently rolled out Sunshine Stout, Mango Mujer, and W-Altbier White. Canteen has Cabana Lager back on tap to get you ready for Cinco de Mayo a little early. La Cumbre has Father Nelson back on tap and in bottles this Friday, plus Hell Froze Over Brown Ale and Chew & Swallow Oatmeal Stout are on tap again. Marble has Cerveza on tap now, and it will come out in 19.2-ounce cans on Saturday, plus you can also get Mountain Fog and Tea Gary IPA on tap. Red Door gets a little funky with Rickety Cricket. Tractor resurrects Acreage IPA. Turtle Mountain has a smoky little marzen called The Rauchette.

Up in Santa Fe, Blue Corn is feeling ruthless with Cutthroat Rye Pale Ale. HoneyMoon unveils Pearsephone, a pear elderflower kombucha. Rowley Farmhouse Ales has moved on to Season Two, Episode Seven of Agent Scully IPA, while also bringing back Biere de Mars and adding Oyster Stoutish. Tumbleroot is feeling the season with Maibock. Further north in Red River, RRBC has Raspberry Campfire Cream Ale. Down south, Truth or Consequences hops to it with Deep Space Dankety-Dank.

Continue reading for all the news that is fit to blog for the week of April 15.

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Pink Boots Society ready to get a little Bossy with annual collaboration beer

Posted: March 27, 2019 by cjax33 in Events, News
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The members of the New Mexico chapter of the Pink Boots Society have a beer ready for all to enjoy. (Photo courtesy of Bosque Brewing)

The result of a recent gathering of the most talented women in New Mexico craft beer is set to go on tap this weekend. Bossy Hazy Guava IPA is the latest creation of the local chapter of the Pink Boots Society, brewed this time around at Bosque North back on International Women’s Day (March 8).

I caught up with Bosque director of culture and engagement Jessica Griego in person and Santa Fe Brewing lab director Monica Mondragon on email to learn more about the importance of this annual brew.

“We’re excited to release this beer,” Jessica said. “Monica from Santa Fe, our chapter lead, reached out to us this year to host. John (Bullard) was super excited to do that, especially with Bosque North having the space and the ability to do some fun things, make it really educational this year. John was on board as soon as I asked him.”

The recipe for Bossy (7.4% ABV) was created by one Bosque employee, with other members of the chapter then joining in for the actual brew day.

“What’s super exciting about this beer, it’s called Bossy, made by Mercedes (Donio), who’s our QA/QC lab tech,” Jessica said. “She actually is responsible for the entire recipe, the name, all of which is exciting to have the sole female on our brewing team get to do that. She led that charge and we all followed suit. We brewed it on International Women’s Day, which was great that that timing worked out.”

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Sidetrack gears up for a productive year ahead by focusing on the little things

Posted: February 20, 2019 by Maureen in Look Back/Look Ahead Series 2018-19
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Congratulations to Sidetrack on three years in business! They will have plenty more beer in store for the year ahead.

Going into their fourth year, Sidetrack Brewing Company owners Dan Herr and Anne O’Neill have one main goal — making their beer even better.

To achieve that goal, they first had to acquire some new equipment, including a 7-barrel fermenter and an expanded walk-in cooler. Coming off a big year in sales, during which, Anne said, they struggled to keep up, these new items will help increase their production.

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Sidetrack’s shiny new fermenter, which they bought from Boxing Bear, will be ready to go within the next month or two.

Since Sidetrack doesn’t currently do any distribution or canning, 100 percent of its sales are out of the taps in house. This led them to expand their tap tower to 10 handles (previously six). In past years, there may have been two or three beers from other breweries flowing from those taps. Moving forward, they want their own beer to be featured. This will continue to include at least one, but usually two, regular cask offerings. Although it is a challenge to do, Anne said she hopes to “make it fun” and add new flavors like fruit to the cask beers.

With not much room to expand beyond their current footprint, Dan and Anne have to get creative with their use of the space by making these adjustments, along with smaller behind-the-scenes changes that most patrons probably won’t ever see or notice. All of the moves are aimed at bringing the brewery up to a more conventional system and improve the overall customer experience.

“We just open the doors and try to make the people who come in happy,” Dan said.

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The Crew has an extra ticket for someone to enjoy the loaded lineups at WinterBrew

Posted: January 10, 2019 by cjax33 in WinterBrew 2019
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It’s time to gather with 700 of your closest beer-loving friends at WinterBrew.

WinterBrew 2019 is so close we can almost taste all the great beers that will be poured at the Santa Fe Farmers Market on Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. If you were not one of the lucky 700 to get a ticket, well, you might be able to land the extra pass the Crew has in hand for the festival.

I love tapping into New Mexico beer history, so the first person to correctly answer the following question will be the winner. Since this event is in Santa Fe, we stuck with a theme for that town.

Q. What current Santa Fe landmark was a brewery way back in the 19th century? Hint: It currently has a connection to someone famous beyond just New Mexico.

Send us an email at nmdarksidebrewcrew@gmail.com with your answer. We will announce when the contest is over on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram), so keep an eye out there. The winner will be informed directly via email. If you are the winner, just meet the Crew out front at 5 p.m. (we will have our shirts on for easy identification). This is just one small way to give back to you, our loyal readers.

UPDATE: The question was answered correctly on Thursday at 5:30. It was the Jean Cocteau Theater, owned by George R.R. Martin. He’s kinda famous, right?

Now, for everyone that is going, we present the beer lists for 16 of the 18 attending breweries. Hopefully we get the other two before long.

  • Abbey: Monks’ Ale, Monks’ Dark Chocolate, Monks’ Tripel Reserve, Monks’ Grapefruit Wit
  • Bosque: Driftwood Oatmeal Stout, Open Space Haze, Elephants on Parade Tart, Frostbit Wit, Fistful of Churros, Bosque Cider
  • Bow and Arrow: TBA
  • Chili Line: TBA
  • Cloudcroft: Chai Spiced Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Railspike Red Ale, Trainwreck IPA
  • HoneyMoon: Camellia Flor, Camellia Blanco, Cidrucha
  • Lost Hiker: Snowpocolipse (Winter Warmer), Midnight Squirrel Stout, Rye Knot (Belgian Pale w/ Rye), Connectivity IPA
  • Marble: Desert Fog, Double White, Coffee Porter (NEW! Replacing Cholo Smooth), Sympathy for the Pork Chop (Smoked Marzen)
  • Picacho Peak: I Heart Chocolate Porter, Twisted Windmill (DIPA), 575 Scottsman, Dirty Blonde, Javelina Black (American Stout)
  • Red River: Lazy Bear Blonde, Midnight Meadows Oatmeal Stout, Back 40 Farmhouse Ale, Super Bad Medicine Bourbon Barrel-Aged Honey DIPA
  • Rowley Farmhouse Ales: No B.U. IPA, Petite Blanche (available from 5 to 6:10 p.m.), Cote d’Or Double Cerise (6:10-7:20), Sin Barreras Mole Barrel-Aged Stout with fresh raspberries (7:20-9)
  • Santa Fe: 7K IPA, Getta Witness (Witbier), Pepe Loco (Dark Lager), Chicken Killer 2.0
  • Second Street: 2920 IPA, Jackplane Imperial Porter, Agua Fria Pilsner, Boneshaker Special Bitter, 2018 Anniversary Ale, 2018 Skookum (Barleywine), Barrel-Aged Skookum, Chin Gose, Kolsch, MBV Stout
  • Sidetrack: Hobo King Lager, Dark Engine Stout, Turntable IPA, Buzz Bomb, plus cask of Dark Engine with cacao nibs and coffee
  • Starr Brothers: There Gose Them Boyzz, Brown Chicken Brown Cow, Lost City of Gold (Hazy IPA), Zombies in the Manger (Biscochito Stout)
  • Truth or Consequences: Bad Santa (Spiced Winter Ale), Good Juju (American Brown Ale), Irish Red, Palomas Porter, Supernova Hazy DIPA, Truth Serum (Barleywine, in bottles)
  • Tumbleroot: Captain SMASH (Rum Barrel-Aged SMASH Barleywine), Orange Chocolate Stout (nitro), Farmhouse Saison, Pale Ale
  • Turtle Mountain: Tiempo Mañana IPL, Darker than Darkness (Schwarzbier), Stockholm Syndrome (Baltic Porter), Deep Depravity (Barleywine), plus the archived 2016 Depravity and then 2017 Infinitesimus

Those are a lot of big, malty, chewy beers, so make sure to pace yourselves. WinterBrew is always a blast of an event, whether you take the Rail Runner or drive and spend the night in Santa Fe (please do not drive up and back if you are drinking). There will be food inside, but it might not hurt to load up at Second Street Railyard next door beforehand.

See you all tomorrow night.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

The Crew’s brewery merchandise guide for 2018

Posted: December 17, 2018 by cjax33 in Beer Merch Guide
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Get festive with merch gifts from your favorite breweries, including Marble.

As we did the last four years, the Crew has put together a brewery merchandise guide for all of you just in time for your last-minute holiday shopping. Hey, it might be nice to just buy people beer, but sometimes they need more in life, like cool shirts, hoodies, growlers, and other specialty items carrying the logos of their favorite breweries. To make all of your lives easier and save you time in terms of searching the web or driving all over the place, we compiled the local breweries’ merch lists into one place. Now you can find out what is where, what is online, what it all costs, and any other additional info you might need.

The breweries are listed in alphabetical order, starting with the ABQ metro area breweries, then the breweries from outside the metro listed below that (those from both regions that sent us info, at least). We will be updating this list throughout the holiday season, so if you do not see a brewery here, once their info arrives, we will share it. Thank you to all the brewers, owners, and other key brewery staffers who helped us put this together. Whether via email or in person, it was greatly appreciated!

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Weekend Beer-cap: There is no such thing as too many Oktoberfest celebrations

Posted: October 9, 2018 by cjax33 in Weekend Beer-cap
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There are a whole lot of Oktoberfest-style beers on tap around the metro area right now.

A whopping five more Oktoberfest-style beers went on tap in the Albuquerque metro area last week, joining multiple marzens that have already been on tap for a while. With so many wonderful lagers available, I just had to get out there and try as many as possible. My plan totally worked for two days, until a combination of sports (NHL openers and MLB playoffs mostly) and the need to watch season three of The Expanse caused me to fall behind. One of these years I will get to them all.

Anyway, my first three stops were Sidetrack, Boese Brothers, and Marble. I rather enjoyed Sidetrack’s offering, which did not overdo the sweetness. It was a solid, crushable beer, befitting the laid-back atmosphere of the pub. The Boese Brothers offering had been on tap for a while now. It did not quite have the flavor impact I had hoped for, but age may have been a factor. As for Marble, it was less of a marzen and more of a straight German lager. It is still a quality beer, as one would expect from brewmaster Josh Trujillo. I also got to try the Kottbusser collaboration beer, which was sweet yet bready, and the Jimmy Bock, a chewy little tribute to Shiner Bock.

Day two of the Oktober-quest took me to Toltec for lunch a pint of another tasty offering. I would like to try it side-by-side with Sidetrack, as both had many of the same tasty qualities. My final stop was at Bosque on the way home. Again, it was a bit lighter lager than the more copper-colored marzens of yore, but it was again a clean, balanced beer. A few years ago, the Oktoberfests had almost disappeared from taps in favor of the pumpkin beer fad, but thankfully that passed and now we are blessed with multiple marzens and lagers.

What is your favorite Oktoberfest on tap this fall? Yes, you can still include some from a few weeks back, like Santa Fe and La Cumbre.

Now for the rest of the Crew’s adventures from the past weekend.

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The Week Ahead in Beer: Tumbleroot embraces Metal Mondays

Posted: September 5, 2018 by cjax33 in The Week Ahead in Beer
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Greetings, New Mexico craft beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with The Week Ahead in Beer. This column covers all the breweries in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, with Santa Fe’s seven breweries, one in Los Alamos, one in Moriarty, one in Red River, and one in Las Cruces also joining the party.

Stoutmeister puts on his serious face to handle The Week Ahead in Beer.

Stoutmeister puts on his serious face to handle The Week Ahead in Beer.

Man, there is so much to cover again this week, what shall be the lead? Well, if you have been following us for the past six-plus years … OF COURSE IT’S THE METAL SHOW. Yes, metal is back at a brewery, only this time it is up in Santa Fe at Tumbleroot’s location on Agua Fria. This special Black Metal Takeover on Monday opens at 7:30, with tickets costing a measly $10. That gets you in to see Santa Fe’s own malevolent masters of metal, Dysphotic, as well as the new local group, Heretical Sect, featuring members of Superstition and ex-Predatory Light. Two traveling bands will also be on hand, with both hailing from the frozen wasteland, er, picturesque Midwestern state of Minnesota. Ashbringer and Amiensus are coming a long way to melt some faces, so make sure to load up your crew and head to Santa Fe for this epic set. Plus, it is a perfectly good excuse to finally try Tumbleroot if you have not been there yet.

As we noted, that is hardly the only big event this weekend. High and Dry is hosting Second Street as its guest brewery of the month, and there will be a special launch party tonight. Today will also feature a special ticket party for Saturday’s Albuquerque Hopfest, hosted by Steel Bender. That fun kicks off at 4 p.m. Friday night will see the First Friday Artwalk in downtown ABQ, with Boese Brothers, Sidetrack, and the Duel taproom all participating with art shows and live music. Saturday will of course feature Hopfest taking over the Isleta Casino, and we will have a full preview of that later this week. Finally, Sunday will see the new Crafts, Crops & Hops Autumn Beer Market at Canteen from noon to 7, with live green chile roasting, live music, multiple vendors, and, of course, delicious beer. No rest for the wicked this week, people.

On the new beer front this week, there are a few options to check out. Bow & Arrow is releasing Peach Cosmic Arrow on tap and in bottles on Saturday. Boxing Bear sticks with its haze phase with MurkQueño Hazy IPA going on tap this Friday. Canteen brings back Raspberry Wheat and Fill in the Blanco (White IPA). Dialogue has a trio of newbies in What’s Golden Ale, Strazberry Berliner, and Young Guns Dank Wet Hop IPA. Kilt Check resurrects two old favorites in Covfefe Hefe and McRojo or No?. La Cumbre rolls out Quick and Easy Pale Ale, plus that delicious Dortmunder is on at both taprooms now. Marble added more Desert Fog, plus the Eastside IPA is now on tap. Sidetrack has more CO-MO IPA to keep everyone happy. Steel Bender goes big with the double release of Black (Hole Sun) IPA and OktoberFiesta on Thursday. The 377 should have more Ginger Beer and its Oktoberfest on tap by Friday. Toltec added a Mojito Kettle Sour a little while ago, and Dr. Rudi Single Hop should be out today. Tractor tapped this year’s batch of Traktoberfest on Tuesday, so get it while it’s fresh. Turtle Mountain has Tropical Menagerie and Macaulay Kolschin ready to go as soon as a couple taps open up, which should be this week.

Up in Santa Fe, Blue Corn lightens up with some Covhefe.

Continue reading for all the news that is fit to blog for the week of September 3.

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