Santa Fe microbrewery scores first medal at top competition
Rowley Farmhouse Ales lands silver medal for Germophile, a Berliner weisse, at Denver event
Rowley Farmhouse Ales, the 2-yearold Santa Fe microbrewery, has produced a winner.
Germophile, a Berliner weisse, recently scored a silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. It was the first for the brewery and one of only six medals awarded to New Mexico craft brewers at the event.
Jeffrey Kaplan, a Rowley business partner, said he let out a shout when the awards were announced.
“I was very exuberant,” he said.
Berliner weisse is a light, sour beer with a dry, tart taste. The Rowley version, Germophile, is a nod to the bacteria lactobacillus that creates the sour taste.
“Germophile is one of our core beers and has been very popular,” Kaplan said.
The Great American Beer Festival is an annual event produced by the Brewers Association, an industry trade group that represents craft brewers nationwide. The Sept. 20-22 competition, a premier event for U.S. brewers, this year drew 2,404 breweries that entered 8,496 beers in 102 categories.
Nineteen breweries from New Mexico were on the list to attend the festival this year. Only one from Santa Fe, Rowley, brought home a medal. Kaplan said this is brewmaster John Rowley’s first medal as a professional brewer, but he’s accumulated a chest full of medals as an accomplished home brewer.
A Rio Rancho brewery, Turtle Mountain Brewing Co., won the only gold medal for a New Mexico brewery this year for its Wooden Teeth interna-
“Santa Fe is for Art Lovers,” a promotional campaign created last year by Tourism Santa Fe, won a top award from Travel Weekly, a business-to-business publication for travel professionals.
The campaign earned a Gold Magellan Award, an award chosen by industry professionals according to a 100-point scale. The highest-scoring entries earn the Gold Magellan, according to Travel Weekly. The publication announced the winners earlier this month.
Tourism Santa Fe is a past award winner. In 2017, it took a Silver Magellan for its Santa Fe Margarita Trail promotion.
The Magellan awards are made in eight categories and attract entrants from around the globe. Tourism Santa Fe won in the travel destination category.
“With the launch of the Santa Fe Margarita Trail in 2016, it was a natural fit to submit the work for the awards. In 2017, we put a dedicated effort around promoting the arts — from visual to performing and traditional to new mediums,” said Randy Randall, executive director of Tourism Santa Fe. “We’re beyond excited to be recognized by Travel Weekly.”