The announcement went out on Tuesday, and hopheads across the state rejoiced, for the New Mexico IPA Challenge is returning to the land. Now 28 breweries will do battle, as all seek to remove the three-time king, John Bullard, from his iron throne. OK, fine, it is a bit of Game of Thrones there, but…
Tag: Sidetrack Brewing
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…
Stout Challenge V: The few, the proud, the insane to take on this many
Super Bowl Sunday is almost upon us once again, and while folks will pick between the old (Denver and Peyton) and the new (Carolina and Cam), all of us in the Crew will choose something even more important. Namely, who has the best stout in the ABQ metro area. As we have done four times…
Sidetrack swings open their doors at last
Quiet weekends can be nice sometimes. Other times, they get downright boring. Luckily for craft beer drinkers in Albuquerque, this weekend saw the surprise opening of Sidetrack Brewing downtown. I originally visited Sidetrack back in September and they looked to be a month or so from opening, but things went a bit quiet after that….
New breweries update: Separating rumors from fact about the coming surge
A while back we had a story where I quoted a reliable source who said there are 31 applications for either breweries or taprooms in Albuquerque alone. Needless to say, this got some people fairly stirred up. Taking away the four pending taprooms we know about (Duel in downtown, Kaktus in Nob Hill, Marble in…
Sidetrack Brewing sets steady course for late fall opening
Downtown continues to become more of a destination for something besides just late-night chicanery. There are more condos rising up every day. A grocery store will soon join those living spaces. In that sense, it is becoming more of a neighborhood unto itself than ever before. The addition of neighborhood pubs, rather than hipster clubs,…
New breweries update: Checking in on the progress of the many
One thing I had hoped to do in June, before life got in the way, was to go around and see where all the forthcoming breweries are in their progress toward opening. It is something that is easier to think about writing than actually writing. After all, these folks are busy somewhere in the process,…
