Shenanigans were aplenty at Hopfest

Well now, wasn’t that just a fun way to spend a Saturday? The seventh annual Hopfest went down at Isleta Casino, with a lot of beer choices (seriously, a lot) to sort through. For all four original Crew members, plus at least two from the Bullpen, and our assorted friends, we’re pretty sure we collectively…

Where to quench your hop thirst at Hopfest

Oh, Hopfest, you lovely giant beer festival, you have returned. It’s Lucky No. 7 for Hopfest, which returns to the Isleta Casino this Saturday. Tickets are still available online today (Friday). They go up in price at the door ($35 for general admission, $45 for Extra Hoppy Hour), so we highly recommend you get them…

Reviewing Red Door’s beers before the soft opening

Porter Pounder and I went over to Red Door Brewing’s sneak preview Tuesday afternoon and came away quite impressed. Much like Boxing Bear did earlier this summer, Red Door took the time to perfect their first batches of beer and it showed. We already talked about the general ambiance and setup for Red Door, so…

Los Alamos is teeming with upcoming beer activities

Mere days after posting about how little there is going on in the sleepy little town of Los Alamos, I have returned to inform you about all of the upcoming activities in this bustling little party town. (I’m not going to go so far as to claim that my words actually caused these events, but…

A cider wins State Fair Pro-Am, beer drinkers weep

Despite the title above, I don’t mind a good cider every now and again. But, seriously, a cider won a beer competition? That was the case with this year’s State Fair Pro-Am competition for professional brewers. Santa Sidra’s A Tad Sweet was named Best of Show. Congrats to the folks at Santa Sidra, we’re sure…

The State Fair Pro-Am selects the best of the best

Over the last two weekends, judging has been going on for the State Fair Pro-Am Brewing competition. On Friday evening at Tractor Brewing Wells Park, the Best of Show was chosen. There we 180 professional entries and 269 amateur entries for ales, lagers, meads, and ciders. To avoid the longest caption in history with the…

Second Street’s got one sweet can!

Last week I had the opportunity to watch some awesome history in the making. Santa Fe’s Second Street canned their first beer inside their brewery. “Why is that awesome?” I hear you asking yourself. Besides the fact that we can now pick up a canned version of their Pivotal IPA and take it along on…

New Mexico State Fair Pro-Am Competition gets underway

Now that the IPA Challenge it behind us, the next big competition for brewer bragging rights is starting this week, the annual State Fair Pro-Am brewing contest. This BJCP-sanctioned event will have both pro and amateur categories that will be judged separately. Beers can be entered in any BJCP style including meads and ciders.  Entries…