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…

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….

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,…