It’s been nearly four years since the World Beer Cup kicked off, and homegrown Albuquerque brewing scene mainstay Marble Brewery found itself on the medal stand once again, taking bronze in the Experimental IPA category.
On May 5, the Marble Brewery team headed north to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the World Beer Cup (the event is held every other year, but the last one was canceled due to a global pandemic). Though winning at the WBC is nothing new for this successful local brewery, their last medal at what has become known as the “Olympics of Beer” came in 2016, when their highly decorated Pilsner took home the bronze in the Pilsner category (the second win for that particular beer at the WBC).
With the WBC returning from a long hiatus, the Marble team was prepared to present something to blow the judges away. That something turned out to be IPA-X, which finished third out of 92 entries in the category. The India Pale Ale-style beer is described by Marble Brewery as, “A bold expression of Cashmere, Citra, and Simcoe hops painted across a canvas of German Pale Ale malt.”
The IPA-X has been on the Albuquerque scene on and off in years past, most notably on tap at Marble taproom and brewery locations, as well as at popular taps like Meow Wolf in Santa Fe and local Buffalo Wild Wings location. It even enjoyed a brief run in cans in 2021.
“It’s one that they’ve been tweeking for a long time,” said a Marble bartender.
It seems they finally found the right recipe, and the 200-plus judges took notice.
First place in the Experimental IPA category went to The Spout from Mount Arrowsmith Brewing Co. out of Canada. The silver went to Florida-based brewery HOB Brewing Co.
The crew at Marble Brewery will look ahead to garnering more hardware for this perfected beer recipe when it heads to the Great American Beer Fest, which takes place Oct. 6-8 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.
Albuquerque’s Marble Brewery a location in the Northeast Heights at 9904 Montgomery Blvd. NE and operates its Westside Taproom at 5470 Night Whisper Road NW. Its central location is at 111 Marble Ave. NW.
This story was written by Neighborhood Journal contributor Taylor Hood.
