Stout Challenge VI: A Starr rises above the rest

Amid all the seriousness of the weekend, the Brew Crew was still able to gather to hold our annual Stout Challenge before the start of the Super Bowl. While the game featured an improbable rally by the favorite, our blind taste test featured an upset by one of the newer breweries in town. For the…

The Week Ahead in Beer: Sidetrack and Rowley ratchet up the fun

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 six breweries, one in Socorro, one in Los Alamos, and one in Moriarty also joining the party. This anniversary party thing is gaining steam. Last week, it…

IPA Challenge 2016: Boxing Bear takes slim lead after one round

More than 160 patrons packed The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing on Saturday afternoon to cast their votes in the first of the three main rounds of the 2016 NM IPA Challenge. The initial tallies suggest this is going to be a close one, though a lot can change between now and the final votes…

Toad Fest lands impressive array of NM beers

Toad Fest, the street festival hosted by Little Toad Creek in Silver City, will not only feature live music and other fun this Saturday, but it will have 12 other New Mexico breweries serving up 20 different, unique beers. The list, as provided to us by the NM Brewers Guild. Abbey: Monks’ Tripel Blue Corn:…

Beer Notes: Yet another taproom coming to downtown

Consider this the short version of Beer Notes, since yours truly is battling a cold. The worst thing about a cold is clearly the inability to drink beer. Stupid medicinal conflicts are the main reason, but also of course there is the inability to properly taste what one is drinking. Hopefully I will be able…

Stout Challenge V: Another year, another new champion

The Dark Side Brew Crew gathered on Super Bowl Sunday for the fifth straight year to hold a blind taste test to determine the best house stout in the Albuquerque metro area. And for a fifth straight year, we had a different winner. So who was it? Well, rather than keep everyone in suspense, here…