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…

IPA Challenge: Votes are all over the place in Round Two

The two main themes from Round Two of the IPA Challenge tonight (Tuesday) at Roosevelt Brewing in Portales were 1) there was a great turnout (83 voters) and 2) those voters were all over the place in their selections. No brewery out of the 16 participants garnered more than 10 votes, while everyone had at…

IPA Challenge: Ready, set, go for Round One

Editor’s note: Welcome to the first story by a member of our new Brew Crew Bullpen. Luke, being our first Santa Fe-based writer, headed over to Second Street Brewery for Round One of the IPA Challenge on Saturday. His enthusiasm for this is shining through every part of this story. Enjoy! — Stoutmeister 16 breweries….

IPA Challenge: Bosque takes the lead after Round One

The brewer who won it all last year has his new brewery out in front after Round One of the 2014 IPA Challenge. Bosque and John Bullard, who won with Blue Corn last year, took the lead with 34 of the impressive 204 votes cast at Second Street Brewery on Saturday afternoon. Luke of the…

Beer Premier draws mixed reviews from crowd

The Yards Craft Beer Premier went down Saturday afternoon, but people were still chatting about it throughout the weekend. It is hard to sum up people’s feelings on the event, which were as mixed as the beers themselves. We asked for attendees to weigh in on Facebook and for the most part their general reactions…

New location and format set for Beer Premier

AUTHOR’S NOTE: After originally publishing this story I received an email from Christopher Goblet of the Brewers Guild. He brought up a couple key points that I’ve now added to the story. Perhaps most importantly for everyone, based on people’s responses, is that you can sample the beers before you buy them. Read on for…

Best of the (Summer)Fest: Good beers reigned over Pajarito

Well that was a fun little excursion Saturday afternoon. After years of Isotopes games being scheduled on the same day, I, Stoutmeister, got to travel up to Pajarito Mountain for SummerFest, where there was other stuff going on but it was mostly about the beer. A total of 17 breweries set up shop for the…

It’s time to get festive for summer at Pajarito

Every year after ABQ Beer Week there is a collective sense of exhaustion and fulfillment that causes the Brew Crew to go into semi-hibernation. This year, however, there is no rest for the weary, as every Saturday in June there is a major beer event somewhere in the state. For this Saturday, it’s SummerFest at…