New Mexico Brewers Guild IPA Challenge opens to public voting

Each year New Mexico breweries go head-to-head for bragging rights on who has the best IPA.

The New Mexico Brewers Guild’s IPA Challenge is the guild’s biggest event. It draws people from around the state casting their votes on their favorite IPAs.

A private preliminary round was recently held with a representative from each of the breweries participating in a blind test to decide which IPAs will advance to the public judging rounds. This year there were 42 beers entered. The 16 advancing IPAs are from Quarter Celtic Brewpub, Flix Brewhouse, Canteen Brewhouse, Ex Novo Brewing Company, Bosque Brewing Co., Steel Bender Brewyard, Bow & Arrow Brewing Co., Icebox Brewing Co., Sidetrack Brewing Co., Second Street Brewery, Santa Fe Brewing Co., Hidden Mountain Brewing Co., Three Rivers Brewing Co., Marble Brewery, Sobremesa Restaurant & Brewery and Rio Bravo Brewing Co.

The first public voting round will take place from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 15, at The Drinkery by Bosque Brewing, 4980 Promenade Blvd. Ste. B, in Santa Fe. Public House 28 Brewery, 10092 S. Highway 28, in Anthony, will host the second public round from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on July 22.

“We always try and be pretty fair (when choosing a location),” said Ebbie Edmonston, New Mexico Brewers Guild executive director. “... If you hosted last year, you’re not going to host this next year. We wanted to try to pick something new and give a new brewery a shot. And so Public House 28, it’s a huge space. There will be a band at the end of that round ... And then we’d love to get some El Paso, (Texas) people in there and show them what New Mexico can do.”

The final round, which is the most attended round, will be held from noon to 6 p.m. at Flix Brewhouse, 3258 La Orilla Road NW, in Albuquerque.

The finals will be divided up into three sessions. Each session is two hours long and will be held at noon, 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. inside an assigned theater. The winner of the IPA Challenge will be announced at the end of the last session.

Voters must leave the theater after their session ends. They are welcome to visit the concessions stand for food and drink while they wait for other sessions to finish. Attendees will be welcomed back into the theater for the announcement of this year’s winner. The idea is for previous session attendees to not skew the votes of eventgoers attending a later session.

“There’s definitely been times that I have had a beer and somebody’s taken a sip before me, and they’re like ‘Ew,’ and I’m like, okay, now my opinion is now skewed based on what you just did,” Edmonston explained. “So we’re trying to stay away from that. We’re trying to be completely fair.”

Tickets for each of the public voting rounds are $30 and include a souvenir glass, 16 samples of the semifinalist beers, a tasting sheet, as well as a full pint of your favorite IPA. A designated driver pass also is available for $10 and includes entry to the festival. Ticket prices will increase day of and at the door. Tickets can be purchased through eventbrite.com, and more information is available at nmbeer.org/events.