Find out which New Mexico brewery took home gold at the International Beer and Cider Awards

Boxing Bear Brewing Company made some significant additions to its proverbial trophy case earlier this month.

The Albuquerque-based brewery won three gold medals at the North American Brewers Association (NABA) International Beer and Cider Awards, held June 4-6 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Three seasonal beers took home top honors for Boxing Bear in the 28th iteration of the event: Albu-murky, a hazy or juicy style IPA; Black Mesa Dunkel, a Munich-style dark; and Helles Good, a helles lager.

All participating breweries submit their beers of choice to the competition, where they are scored by judges according to style . It’s the first time Boxing Bear has earned a medal at the NABA Awards since 2022.

“We’ve always had good quality beer here at Boxing Bear, but you can’t ever guarantee that you’re going to win a medal with any of the products,” Dylan Davis, Boxing Bear, co-owner and head brewer, said. “That being said, we’re always proud of all of the beers that we make … It’s a huge attribute to all of our hard work and our creative efforts that we’ve been putting in.”

The success of the Albu-murky was a major source of pride for the Boxing Bear team. Davis likened winning the gold medal in that category to the beer equivalent of winning first place in the 100-meter dash at the Olympics.

“We’ve had Alba-murky here at Boxing Bear for, I want to say over five years now as a recipe, but we’re always changing it and we’re always making it new and trying to update it. And this year definitely was no exception,” he said.

“We did some different techniques with it, different hopping approaches, and we tried some new ingredients, and it really came out great. So we were very proud of it from the start. And that particular category of the hazy IPA is probably the most entered category of beers in the competition. So definitely one of the toughest categories you can win a medal in.”

The Black Mesa Dunkel and the Helles Good, meanwhile, are newer creations.

“The Helles is one that was specifically pretty nice because it’s really hot right now, and everybody wants a good light lager,” Davis said.

“… And then the Dunkel is another beer that’s always kind of a style that you don’t see too often in other breweries, but it’s almost like your favorite brewer’s favorite beer style. That was another one that we have just never done in our history at Boxing Bear … We won with a light lager, a dark lager and then a hazy IPA. So I feel like we kind of hit every mark you could with a beer you could ask for, you know?”

Davis says that Boxing Bear entered six beers in this year’s competition. There’s value even for the entries that don’t win, because the judges provide feedback that can be used to make tweaks and improvements at the brewer’s discretion.

Success at these competitions can also mean a permanent place on the Boxing Bear roster. A prime example of that is the Chocolate Milk Stout, which was both a decorated award winner and a hit with customers. That led to it becoming a staple.

“I think the Helles is a great example of a beer we kind of want to try to, if customers really take to it pretty well, we want to make it a permanent beer at some point, but the hard part is keeping up with the sales for it,” Davis said.

“The Black Mesa Dunkel, that will probably stay seasonal. And honestly, we were just so proud of that beer that we probably will keep brewing that. And then Alba-murky, ever since we brewed our first recipe we’ve wanted to keep it around as often as we can, so that will also be a yearly seasonal for the future as well.”

Quarter Celtic Brewpub took home a bronze in the Schwarzbier (Black Beer) category for its Clean Pair of Schwarz.