4th Annual Albuquerque Beer Week To Be Biggest Yet
Albuquerque, NM: As Albuquerque’s love for craft beer grows so does the week that celebrates it.
Albuquerque is preparing for its 4th Annual Beer Week, May 22-31. This 10-day series of events was conceived by the creator ofwww.abqbeergeek.com and Feel Good Festivals with the purpose of bringing the community together to celebrate great beers and the wonderful places in which we enjoy them. There is a little something for everyone to get excited about as it celebrates our bars, breweries and restaurants.
Marne Gaston and Patrick Cavanaugh, co-creators of ABQ Beer Week, are surprised at how many events have been registered for this year. “We all know how people in Albuquerque feel about craft beer, and now we have the numbers to prove it” said Gaston. “We have 80 fun, educational, and delicious events on the schedule for this year.” Cavanaugh adds, “We have crafted some new unique beer events for this year.”
Albuquerque Beer Week had 60 events last year; this year has surpassed that and will be the biggest yet. There are 10 days of Albuquerque Beer Week, but the celebration begins a week ahead with three Pint for Pint blood drives at Tractor Brewing Co., Marble Brewery & Nexus Brewery. If you make a blood donation you receive a pint glass and a gift certificate for the participating brewery. “We moved these events up, this way the certificate can be used towards an Albuquerque Beer Week event,” says Gaston. “You can’t imbibe after giving blood so it just made sense.”
The first weekend of Albuquerque Beer Week kicks off with the ABQ Blues & Brews Festival on May 25th at Sandia Resort & Casino with great blues and unlimited samples of local and regional brews. Tickets for general admission tasting are $25 in advance/$30 at the door, while supplies last. Please note that tickets have sold out in the past.
Some other returning favorites include Chama River Brewing Co.’s beer pairing dinner, Marble Brewery’s Beer 101 class, free beer sampling at O’Niell’s Pub and specialty beers all week at Two Fools Tavern.
You can end the week at Il Vicino’ Cask Ale Festival. “This year, we are seeing a trend toward cask ales,” says Cavanaugh. Cask ale (also referred to as real ale or firkin) are unfiltered and unpasteurised beer which is conditioned and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure. Beyond the Cask Festival, Tractor Brewing is hosting Casks & Cupcakes and Marble Brewery is holding a cask night at both locations.
Albuquerque Beer Week’s objective is to bring a greater awareness of craft beer in the Albuquerque area. They aim to accomplish this goal by providing a website that beer drinkers can peruse and locate beer related events taking place during the week, getting more people excited and involved with the craft beer scene. Abqbeerweek.com will also provide a forum for businesses to promote their beer week efforts.
For full event details check out events listing here.
