As any Albuquerque resident knows, the first week of October belongs to the Balloon Fiesta. The morning skyline is dotted with those familiar (and some not-so-familiar) floating shapes, balloon-themed merchandise dominates the shelves of every corner store and coffee shop in town, and the tourists, well, they are everywhere. Whether you choose to take part…
Tag: Steel Bender Brewyard
New Sidetrack head brewer paid his dues at Chama River and Steel Bender
After seven years in the trenches, so to speak, Cordell Rincon is finally getting his own command. Rincon has taken the reins at Sidetrack Brewing, succeeding David Kimbell. I caught up with Rincon this week before the brewery opened for the day. “Oh, it’s great (here),” he said. “I always told myself that if I…
Great NM Beer Festival holds a first competition between local breweries
For the first time in a long while, an all-New Mexico breweries competition was held in advance of Saturday’s Great New Mexico Beer Festival. Local breweries competed for three medals in each of four categories, with a different brewery claiming gold in each category. Well, almost, since no gold medal was awarded by the judging…
ABQ Beer Week: Breweries keep things quite cozy on a quaint Day Seven
After Tuesday featured just one event, things snap back to normal with multiple events today (Wednesday). A Los Ranchos brewery comes to the Sawmill District, Marble rolls out a new beer in cans and on draft, and Tractor and Brew Lab 101 have some of their regular events in the evening. Featured Event Every day…
ABQ Beer Week: Seeking the truth without consequences on Day Two
After a busy opening day, Beer Week mellows out a bit with just three events today (Friday). Considering how busy holiday weekends tend to be, that is just fine with us. At least one or more of us will be hanging out with the owners of a certain out-of-town brewery who will be here for…
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…
ABQ Beer Week returns after 2-year pandemic hiatus for its 10th edition
In years past, ABQ Beer Week was a massive undertaking, reaching a point of more than 100 events scattered across the city over an 11-day span. It returns this year for its 10th run, fairly scaled back, but no less of a challenge for organizer Marne Gaston and her team. I caught up with Gaston…
The Week Ahead in Beer: Follow the Spring Runoff to casks and charities
Wind, oh, wind, please just go away. Our sinuses cannot survive much more, even with La Cumbre bringing back a fatherly hop bomb this week. We also have a new charity brew from Steel Bender debuting Thursday, followed by some big events on Saturday including the Spring Runoff, a celebration of beer and the outdoors…
Steel Bender and NMDSBC team up to create Spring of Deception Maibock
After six years, the Dark Side Brew Crew and Steel Bender have finally collaborated on a seasonal beer. We woke up way too early (for me, anyway) Tuesday morning on a proper German weather day and trekked over to Los Ranchos to team up with director of brewing operations Bob Haggerty on creating the lightest…
Steel Bender goes all out with 5 special releases and more for 5th anniversary
Back in the days of yore, brewery anniversary parties were often a very big deal, with special events, multiple beer releases, and more. The pandemic muted all of that in 2020 and 2021, but now things are ramping up again, with Steel Bender Brewyard out in front with a five-day celebration to mark its fifth…
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 