Beer Week: Wednesday, May 31st

Rock & Brews, where've you been all Beer Week? At least they are hosting a tapping of Idaho 7, Marble's latest Pale Ale release. Idaho 7 is the type of hop used, for all you beer trivia rejects.

The Barley Room is like another state away from where I live. After a Founders Imperial Stout, my house may as well be another continent away. A rare sighting of that Imperial Stout as well as PC Pils and All Day IPA.

Odell takes some of the taps over at Freight House in Bernalillo. 90 Schilling, Drumroll APA, IPA, and Brazzle (raspberry sour) will be pouring.

Marble's Brett IPA is released today, with a 5 pm Brett IPA/food pairing at all locations.

A chance to win a Firestone Walker longboard and free FW samples, including Bretta Rose. Thanks, Jubilation! Sampling goes from 4-6.

Total Wine, Jubilation's good friend, is also hosting a tasting and giveaways, also at 4. This one from Odell Brewing.

Irish Cream Porter, a special IPA, and Kilt or be Kilt Scotch Ale are featured on cask at Quarter Celtic today starting at 5.

Wine tasting at a brewery during Beer Week? Hmmm. Ok, well, Gruet wine pouring at Tractor with Cheese and Coffee Downtown providing food pairings. Event starts at 7.


The Grain Station hosts an early 90's themed party from 5-9. Upslope will be featured on tap and there will be a DJ spinning 90's music. Also a costume contest for the best early 90's outfits. Ok, who's coming as Chris Cornell? Too soon???

Beer Week: Tuesday, May 30th

Kettle Sours are quite popular now, and Canteen has a special release of Social Capital, a sour with basil, coconut, and lemongrass. Your choice of white or brown rice.

Still supporting businesses on Central Ave throughout this nightmare that is ART? Goo for your! Even better for you: Tractor Nob Hill is offering $1 off pints for those who bring in a receipt from a Central Corridor business. You must bring in a receipt for something bought within the last week, so don't bother with that receipt from Bailey's on the Beach.

Marble Brewery's Westside Taproom hosts a beer trivia night from 6-8 pm with questions from the brewers themselves. Prizes awarded to the top teams. Food truck cleanup assigned to the worst.

Luponic Distortion, Parabola, Leo vs. Ursus, Kreiky Bones. Those Firestone Walker beers sound incredible on their own, but pair them with a dinner at Nob Hill Bar and Grill? Well, now you have a Firestone Walker beer dinner! Event starts at 6:30. Call 266-4455 to see if there is still space for you.

Drafty Kilt, home of Mike Campbell's award-winning beer, is pairing beers with local food trucks. Event starts at 5.

Taco Tuesday at Sister just got better: Upslope will be bringing cans of Citra Pale Ale to go along with your tacos. Tacos and canned beer seem to go together best, right?

Tractor Wells Park is teaming with Cheesy Street to create a flight of 4 assorted mini grilled cheese sandwiches along with 4 Tractor beers for $13. If that's not enough, karaoke starts at 7. Sing Bobby McGee with a mouthful of grilled cheese, I dare ya. You'll still sound better than Janis Joplin ever did. Yeah, I said it. Pairings start at 5.

Four Peaks and Farina Alto are pairing up for a beers and bites event. If you tell the Four Peaks rep that you don't like their beer, he'll bite the f*** out of you. And Hop Knot is good, so just keep your mouth shut and behave, ok?

Beer Week: Memorial Day

A fairly light day of events on this Memorial Day. Enjoy your cookouts!

If you are going out, it's probably to Marble for their Memorial Day Festival, which starts at 3. Four bands, food trucks, Double White.

Firestone Walker sampling at both Total Wine locations. If you go to the westside location, you can buy the can of Avery Raja DIPA that was canned on 12.10.2015. A real collector's item.

Calling all know-it-alls: Tractor Brewing presents Beer Geek Trivia, hosted by the NM Dark Side Brew Crew. Think you've got enough beer knowledge to stand above the rest? Get out there and prove it! Questions start at 7.

Beer Week: Sunday, May 28

The BIG Beer Week takes place at Sandia Casino today: ABQ Blues and Brews. The fest has been a favorite of local beer fans for 7 years now and is largely responsible for getting people turned on to the craft beer scene. Over 70 breweries and 4 hours of tasting makes for a busy day. Get some food in you first!

It's an Oregon invasion as Deschutes takes over the taps at Gecko's in Nob Hill. Is Deschutes on AB-InBev's radar for buyout? What's your guess for the next craft brewery to get bought out?

Pints, Planks, and Pups is going on till 6 at Rio Bravo. Come adopt an animal in need of a friend. $1 from each pint sold will go to Animal Humane.

Defying Gravity Car Club wants to show off their rides without turning Central Ave. into a standstill. Instead, they'll be in the parking lot of Ponderosa Brewing from 1-4. Ponderosa is also doing that tapa/beer pairing all day/all week.

It's always nice to see breweries get together to make a beer. Dialogue and Quarter Celtic did just that, and the result is Common Irish Conversation. I suppose a common Irish conversation topic is alcohol. Actually, I know it is.

Head over to Imbibe for a pairing of KBS and your choice of cigar. Buy a KBS or PC Pils and get $1 off your cigar purchase. I can see KBS and a cigar together, but a cigar and a Pilsner- not so much. There's my expert recommendation for you.

Beer Week: Saturday, May 27

As if the Santa Fe location at Green Jeans wasn't busy enough, they're throwing a party to celebrate Beer Week. An all day party featuring Bocadillo's TV star chef Marie Yniguez cooking up a storm while you sit back and enjoy your beer. Party is going on now!

O'Niell's Juan Tabo presents The Beer Olympics: channel your inner Bruce Jenner and challenge your team of four in olympic style events. I'm betting there will be no swimming nor ice skating. Event starts at 2.

Eclectic Pizzeria hosts a family style dinner with Upslope Brewing. So get ready to yell at the people across the table about how they held you back and mom always treated them better than you. Fights cost $25, start at 7.

The Freight House in Bernalillo is holding a pig roast and special Marble tapping at 1 today. "Hi, can you scoop me out some of that belly, please?" Marble Flower Digger Pale Ale, featuring NM lavender, will be tapped to complement your pig.

The annual 505 Collaboration beer is being tapped at multiple breweries today. Golden Strong, a well-hopped Belgian Strong Ale, is this year's special beer.

A fundraiser for NMARB Youth Music program takes place today at Rio Bravo at 1. Lots of music, including Red Light Cameras (the Lachiomas have been camped out since last night to get a good seat) and Le Chat Lunatique will be performing. Art stuff, food trucks, beer, fun. I wish I had been more diligent in learning an instrument as a kid. Maybe if my mom forced me into guitar instead of trumpet I would have cared.


Does running from brewery to brewery sound fun to you? Or safe? If so, join the Hash House Harriers at Canteen beginning at 2 as they drink and run, drink and run from brewery to brewery. Where's my Uber?

ABQ Beer Week: Friday, May 26

Friday, the day where its almost a law that you have to drink. The police have enough to worry about rather than come after your ass for teetotaling, so hit up some of Friday's Beer Week events.

Red Door is releasing a Blackberry Hefeweizen at both of their locations. I love the look of the downtown location. There's lots of empty space on Gold St. Wouldn't it be cool if all those business spaces were filled with brewery taprooms? Like 6th St. in Austin has all those music venues, or the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego has all those douchebag bars? We could have Brewery Boulevard, where Albuquerque craft beer is the only alcohol served.

Remember: when it happens, you read the idea here first.

Be honest: Have you been getting growler fills at Jubilation? Why not? What do you want, an Altbier collaborated on by Mother Road from Flagstaff and your own Tractor Brewing? You got it. Fills (and a tasting of various Mother Road cans) begins at 4 pm.

Tractor hosts a rare tap takeover from one brewery in another's brewery. Yup. Rowley's Farmhouse Ales will be the focus of Sour Hour, featuring John Rowley's spectrum of sour beers. From 5 pm till they're all gone.

Sister Bar already carries La Cumbre handles. Tonight, they'll carry a lot more! Stick around for music from Biome and Esh One. Taps at 5 pm.


Nob Hill Bar and Grill, you always get the good kegs! Bourbon County Brand Stout makes a glorious return, joined by Goose Island's first beer in the Cooper Project: a barrel-aged Scotch Ale! Something that tastes like a bourbon-y band aid or something that tastes like a bourbon-y band aid but gets described as something more acceptable, like "peaty"? You be the judge. I'm actually excited to try it, as Goose Island just does something magical with their barrels, but mad I won't be able to until Saturday...please leave me some.

Sing it with me:

Hop on
Hop off
Hop On Hop Off: The Brew Cruise

Thank you to The Clapper for giving us a tune that will live forever. And thank you to ABQ Trolley Co. for driving a bunch of eager beer drinkers to 4+ breweries in this "Hop On, Hop Off Brew Cruise" 3-hour tour that begins at 7. All participating breweries will offer a discount to those wearing their ABQ Trolley stickers, and free beer to those wearing K-Swiss.

That is, you should get free beer for wearing K-Swiss. Don't sue me if it doesn't happen.

Monroe's? The place that the little kid does the radio ads for? And they're participating in Beer Week?? Excellent. Loteria for prizes and Upslope pouring freely* (not the same as being poured for free). The games begin at 5 pm. Don't drink the Fabuloso.

ABQ Beer Week 2017, Day One

This is the week you've been waiting for. Not the one where your attempt at the Whole 30 Diet ends, though the amount of drinking you'll do is probably the same both weeks. ABQ Beer Week 2017, in my opinion, is the best lineup of events since the whole dang thing started. Here's some highlights of Thursday's events. All events can be viewed at Abqbeerweek.com

Bow & Arrow has quietly been releasing solid beers at their chic location since they opened, and this dry-hopped Sour Farmhouse Ale should be no exception. A refreshing way to kick off the long week.

All Beer Week long Ponderosa will be featuring a different beer with a different tapa for only $7. Want to know what this one's going to be? Don't ask me, I just work here. At the computer. The tapas deal runs from 3-6 each day.

M-Tucci's Moderno joins in the Beer Week fun with a special tapping from Upslope Brewing at 4 pm. Upslope has been sending some nice stuff down here in those 19 oz. cans, including a tequila barrel-aged Barleywine and a barrel aged Coffee Stout.

Get a sneak peek of Chris Jackson's upcoming book, "Albuquerque Beer: Duke City History on Tap" at Jubilation. A small amount of books will be there for you to get signed. Pre-orders for the book will also be available for those of you who couldn't get an early copy.

Bubba's 33, home to all the sports on TV and all the pickups in the parking lot, will be hosting an Alaskan Brewing tap takeover a 4 pm. Some Alaskan Smoked Porter sounds pretty good right now...


Marble Brewery's most popular event? Beer and Cheese takes place at the Heights Taproom this year, with the usual format: 5 cheeses, 5 beers, $25. Get your tickets NOW; they sell out every year. Event begins at 5 pm.

The official beer of Pork and Brew, Big Sipper IPA, will be released in cans as well at Tractor Wells Park. The Silver String Band performs 7-10.

Sierra Nevada beer paired with Girl Scout cookies at O'Niell's on Central? Sure, why not? You know the moms who do all the selling of the cookies for their kids? They'll be there. They won't be selling anything, but you can buy them a drink. Event starts at 7.

Torinos at Home hosts a multi-course beer dinner with La Cumbre Brewing Co. at 6. Salmon slider, beef filet, peach tart, arancini...yum.

Have a big belly and a Tommy Bahama shirt? Then come to Jinja on the westside for a a cigar night with Jake and Harley's Cigar Gallery and a tapping of Alaskan's Perseverance, Raspberry Wheat, and Summer Kolsch. Cigars are from Perdomo's Craft Series. Event starts at 5:30.

Leo vs. Ursus vs. Waldo

Here he is! Waldo's Special Ale is Lagunitas' finest beer in their extra large portfolio of beers, High Westified and Born Yesterday notwithstanding. This year's 11.5% version is as deceptively drinkable as the previous year's, though the high ABV may be the beer's only flaw. Hard for me to justify drinking multiples of these on a weeknight, but it's so hard to stop at one bottle. The drinkability is one of the things that makes this such an accomplishment. What other beers in this ABV range are as light and easy to put down? Maharaja? No way. Devil Dancer? Hell no! Pliny the Younger comes to mind, but you can't walk into Jubilation and buy a six of Pliny the Younger, though I'm sure many have asked! And the price- what, like $12 for a six-pack? Well done, Heineken Jr.

With Fortem, the first rotating DIPA in the Leo vs. Ursus series, Firestone Walker puts its name in the UNFILTERED beer category (also joining Avery in the dead-language Latin category of beer). Because, as we all know, an IPA isn't truly an IPA unless it's UNFILTERED. For one, though, the beer is mostly clear, which is sure to disappoint haze-heads. And second, doesn't Firestone Walker know that an IPA can't be taken seriously unless it comes in a can with a wraparound sticker label? That's how you know an IPA is truly legit. As FW themselves put it, "Fortem has been left unfiltered for a full hop impact." Yeah, impact on their sales by calling it unfiltered!
All idiocy aside, Firestone Walker has released their best DIPA yet. No, it isn't hazy, but it does have that great mouthfeel people are looking for these days. Way toned down from Double Jack's 9.5% to 8.2%, Fortem has the low-bitterness, high juice factor. Non-believers who put it next to a Monkish DIPA to look for flaws should put it next to a Great Divide Hercules DIPA...then tell me it isn't a modern DIPA. A four-pack of 16 oz. cans goes for $13.99 at Whole Foods on Carlisle- certainly a modern DIPA price!

Free Tickets to Food Truck Festival

Yes, this is what it has come down to. I have such little faith in peoples' attention span that I have to offer the giveaway in the title. But that slight wasn't meant for you. No, you care enough to read all the way to the end.Good reader.

Poll any local brewery's beertenders and ask what the main thing people call about is and they will likely say it's people wondering, "What food truck will be there today?" That or, "Uh, yeah, are you guys hiring?" Because nothing shows initiative like sitting at home and calling a business rather than actually showing up and filling out an application.

Food trucks have become a huge part of the experience of visiting Albuquerque breweries, both to my delight and dismay. Dismay because I saw a need for a food truck (at least parked outside downtown bars) back in 2006; even wrote a business plan for it but never followed up on the idea. And look at the phenomenon it has become: trucks outside every brewery that doesn't have its own kitchen, and even a food truck meets craft beer festival.

On Saturday, April 8, from 12-6 pm, Food Truck Festivals of America presents the 3rd Annual Great New Mexico Food Truck and Craft Beer Festival at Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum, or, as locals simply call it, balloon fiesta park. Lots of good beers to choose from, with the list including:

Dogfish Head - Sea Quench, Flesh n Blood, 60 Minute
Avery Brewing- White Rascal, Liliko'i Kepolo, Ellie's Brown Ale
Santa Fe Brewing – Happy Camper IPA, Freestyle Pils, Pale Ale
Sierra Blanca Brewing- Cherry Wheat, Alien Amber, Outlaw Lager
Great Divide Brewing – Colette, Yeti, Titan
Lagunitas Brewing – IPA, 12th of Never, Hop Stoopid
Ska Brewing – Modus Mandarina, Mexican Logger, Pinstripe Red
Abbey Brewing – Monks Ale, Monks Dark, Monks Tripel
Santan Brewing – Mr. Pineapple, Devils Ale, Sex Panther
Breckenridge Brewing- Nitro Vanilla, Dry Irish, Mango Pale
Sandia Cidery – apple, watermelon, cherry
Nuevo Brewing – Nuevo and Bloody Maria
Sierra Nevada- Pale Ale, Sidecar, Torpedo
Green Flash- Pure Hoppiness, Tangerine Soul Style, Passion Fruit
Rio Bravo- Roadkill Red, Pinon Coffee, Snakebite IPA
Wasatch- Hop Rising, Ghost Rider, Off Duty IPA
Pecan Brewing – Hoppin Wheat, Pecan
Upslope- Citra Pale, Craft Lager, Guava
Guns and Oil- Wheat Bock, American Lager
Ballast Point- Longfin Lager, Mango Even Keel, Sculpin

There a quite a few standout beers on that list, and it's a reflection of how times have changed. I remember seeing Pure Hoppiness listed as being on tap at Toronado San Diego a few years ago and the bartender said he had put the sign up but the beer wasn't being tapped till the next day. When I told him we were flying home the next day, he went and tapped the keg for us. That was such a big deal then, but now we can drink it in a park in Albuquerque...thanks, Obama.

The food truck list as of right now (with possible additions to come):

Big Dawg’s BBQ

Castaneda’s Kitchen- Southern fare

Curbside Pies– Italian cuisine

Europa Roaming Kitchen- European cuisine

Gourmet Doner Kebab- Mediterranean cuisine

Joe’s Grub Hub– Specialty sandwiches

JP’s Custard Cart

Karibu Café– Caribbean cuisine

Lil’ Lunch Box– Chili Cheese Treats

My Sweet Basil– Gourmet sandwiches

Mystique- Burgers, brats & burritos

Nomad’s BBQ

O’Bean's Coffee Cruiser

Rescue Pizza

Saep Fire – Asian fusion

Snow Cone Xpress

Street Food Institute-International street food

I thought I knew most of the food trucks in town, but many of these are new to me. I can vouch for Street Food Institute (which employs CNM culinary students). Nomad's BBQ "truck" resembles something you'd see when you're getting your roof tarred but the BBQ is excellent.
My Sweet Basil decorates the exterior of their truck like a Williams Sonoma store and may be the closest to gourmet that you get on wheels. O'Bean's Coffee Cruiser is an East Mountain-based mobile coffee shop run out of an actual 1971 Volkswagen van. Whoa, is this coffee laced with something? I think I'm trippin'...no, wait- those are just East Mountain people I'm seeing.

Ok, so you could choose from a number of ticket options, including an 11 am early admission VIP ticket or a beer lover's package ticket. Even better, you could get in for free! I have a 4-pack of tickets along with $40 in truck bucks to give away to a lucky reader. Send an email to abqbeergeek@gmail.com with "Food Truck Festival" in the subject line and I'll randomly pick a winner. Don't want to get in for free? Go to
http://www.foodtruckfestivalsofamerica.com/abq-nm to purchase tickets.

Canteen Brewhouse Gives You a Little Space

What kind of beer drinker are you? When you go out to your local pub, are you there to quietly contemplate that new offering in front of you, swirling, sniffing, sipping, repeating? Or maybe you're there to get away from drinking at home with the cat again, meeting up with the familiar group of regulars and talking about what you read on Facebook about Trump while you scan your Instagram feed? While both experiences have their worthy place, some breweries try to offer up cultural events to accentuate your drinking experience (or just to get people in the door on a cold Monday night). Art shows are common, Geeks who Drink nights abound, and poetry slams have been held at breweries, though I prefer not to be yelled at while I'm drinking, thanks. Give me some nice e.e. cummings poems instead. Educational events are less common, but Astronomy on Tap is looking to change all that. The group has held events all over the country, and the first event in NM will be held Monday, March 20 at Canteen Brewhouse. From the group's website, "Each FREE event features accessible, engaging science presentations on topics ranging from planets to black holes to galaxies to the beginning of the universe." That sounds good. Most of what I know about space came from watching the Jetsons, and I know astronomy involves a lot more math than most people care to think about. So I don't think you'll have to worry about Kepler's Law ( for each planet orbiting the sun, its sidereal period squared divided by the cube of the semi-major axis of the orbit is a constant). Here, let me put it this way:

See, that's no fun. So, I'm sure you'll get a more, ahem, down to Earth presentation on the wonders and mysteries of space. Beautiful telescopic images and the like. All you wanted to know about quasars, black holes, and dwarf planets. Maybe some moon landing truthers will be there to really get the party started.

Thoughts on the National IPA Championship

Been following the Brewing News and their annual March Madness style National IPA Championship? I was a little late to the game, but I think I'm caught up now. It took me about a month to actually navigate the Brewing News' website to finally get to the brackets. The site itself may have been designed using someone's Earthlink account. And then, once you get to the brackets, you can't really look at the earlier rounds without seeing the winners from following rounds first, so some of the fun is lost. I understand this is how brackets look, but there should be a separate page where you click on the head to head matchups. And yes, I know I haven't changed anything on my site for 8 years.

Anyway, a few scattered thoughts:

I wish the system was broken into regions so NM breweries wouldn't have to face each other until later rounds.

Good to see 377 Brewery win their first round matchup against Eel River, though I think the last time I changed my website design was more recent than the last time I bought an Eel River beer.

No shame in Canteen's Exodus losing to Tamarack Brewing in the second round. Who? This Montana brewery may not be well known, but they won the Alpha King Challenge in 2016, and they're my dark horse for winning the whole thing.

Whoops. I realized I somehow missed that they lost in the third round. Well, maybe another Alpha King Challenge-winning brewery, Melvin, will win. Their Morris IPA is set to go against IPL, a LAGER from Jack's Abbey. Can't see a lager (as great as it is) beating Morris.

Then again, I couldn't see Tractor actually making it into the third round. Nice going! And even better, they somehow knocked off White Rajah, the 2015 GABF bronze medalist and probably on the short list for many degenerate gamblers. But they went down against Clark (who also knocked out Santa Fe's Snowflake in the 2nd), the hazy IPA from Quarter Celtic. But now Clark has to go up against Hopcelot from Lawson's Finest Liquids. Gulp.

Ponderosa made it out of the first round only to be brought down by NM IPA Challenge winner Bear Knuckle IPA from Boxing Bear. Bear Knuckle is all the way to the 4th round...

As is La Cumbre's former National IPA Champ Project Dank, which had to make it past Canteen's great Hopballer IPA in the third round. Tough one.

Scale Tipper also went down in the third round to a very tough opponent, Head Hunter from Fat Head's. Bosque, you guys had to let another brewery win sometime.

Sorry to see two Rio Bravo entries go out quick. Their two beers should have gone head to head. Everyone gets a trophy!

Hop Shovel from Bear Republic is a really good beer. Not surprised they've made it to the 4th.

Glad to see Dialogue win in the first round. Sorry to see Pi Brewing not.

Glad to see Chama enter a Kolsch in an IPA Challenge. Hey, if Jack's Abbey can make it 4 rounds with a lager...

Is everyone else just taking it for granted that of the 16 breweries remaining, THREE are from Albuquerque? I'd say this is a great time to live in Albuquerque...if it weren't for the damn ART construction.

MB in PDX? XOXO!

Portland, Oregon is one of those cities you hear people speak wistfully of when they are talking about places they could live. (Portland, Maine, not so much). And it is a cool city, even though everyone moved there and the housing prices went crazy. Still a great place to visit, with a rich beer culture, foodies, hipsters, and galoshes. Lots of galoshes. And umbrellas. So while I'm happy in a sunnier state, I do love Portland. And now a New Mexican staple will be available there: Al Hurricane Jr. will be performing two shows daily at the PDX Hilton! And while you're waiting for the show, take the edge off with some Marble beer. On 12/14, Marble sent off pallets of Red, IPA, Pilsner, and Double White, as well as a few cases of Reserve Ale, as part of an agreement with Portland's Alebriated Distributing. Alebriated is one of the heavy hitters in the area, so expect to find Marble taps and package beer at all those good beer stores like Belmont, Station, Beer Mongers, Tin Bucket, etc. Under the deal, Marble will be sending beer to Portland about every 3 months. We'll see if that Double White lasts to the end of December, though...