NM IPA Challenge Round 1

As the second round of the IPA Challenge begins at Second Street in Santa Fe, it's only fitting that I catch up on Round 1, held in Taos. Now, I know that people in Taos have been conditioned over the years to like mediocre beer, as evidenced by the popularity of Eske's Green Chile beer, but the voting results really raised eyebrows. Is it just the strange tastes of the quinoa kids in Taos, or was there some subterfuge afoot? Red River Brewing, only a scant 36 miles from Taos, somehow managed to get 64% more votes than the closest competitor, Boxing Bear. That's one more vote than Duel, Kaktus, Marble, Quarter Celtic, Bow and Arrow, Bosque, La Cumbre, and Santa Fe COMBINED. Hmmmmmmmm. Now, it's hard to pick out a certain beer in an IPA Challenge (save for maybe Boxing Bear's entry this year). While I can't say for sure that people were stuffing the ballot box, I can SAY FOR SURE that people were stuffing the ballot box!!! Sure, I could be wrong. Happens multiple times a day. But here's my prediction: Red River falls back. Boxing Bear continues to show well. May the merit-based vote accumulator win!