Pork & Brew

This review is for the 2015 event. We were here for a Unilocal event, so we had a chance to sample quite a few different vendors and beer. All the food we tried was excellent, I really enjoyed the opportunity to try so many different BBQ items from ribs to pulled pork sandwiches! The beer was from local breweries and was great as well. Inside the Santa Ana Star Center were quite a few vendors hawking everything from beaded jewelry to more food. There was even a watermelon eating contest! Great fun, thanks for putting together another great event Howie!

I found the event lacking. It was basically a bunch of BBQ food trucks. Everything basically tasted the same. No music or any type of entertainment. Just very boring event.

What better to do on July 4^th than stuff my face with lots of pork and beef… I did. About 15 good BBQ vendors and we tried about 10, between the 3 of us. I found 1 good pulled pork vendor, a good brisket vendor (North Carolina), and a well seasoned sausage vendor (with the Polish name — the name ended in –ski)…so much I took some of each home (pre-​planned and brought containers!!!). As always, this event is pricey if you like to eat. I went thru $ 40 really quick and luckily had some extra cash in the purse. It didn’t seem to be as crowded as last year and the rain shower cooled everything off nicely. I’ll be back next year… oink, oink…

Pork & Brew has a wide collection of local food, as well as some awesome out of state food vendors– soem of who are competing for the BBQ championships in Kansas City.
There are local breweries, and a lot of them brew a special beer just for the event. Most of them will let you sample before you purchase, which is nice. You do need a bracelet to buy beer, but the guy doing them is right by the beer tents so it’s no biggie.
Most of the food vendors are outside, though there were some inside as well.
The entire event operates on tokens, which I personally think is smart. The vendors don’t have to worry about having change, nor do they have to worry about theft. The tokens are non refundable, but if you plan wisely there’s no problem with this. We figured about $ 25 per person (BBQ isn’t cheap to make OR eat), and it worked out perfectly. I ate my way through the entire thing on samples– they’re mostly 2 – 3 tokens (dollars) each but you get a lot for that amount and it gives you a chance to try everyone’s delicious food.
All in all, I think this is a great events. There are lots of vendors, places to sit and munch, and things to see. There is plenty of parking (free), and entrance isn’t too pricey.

Ok, I get it and I agree, The token ordeal stinks! You have to buy these tokens to purchase anything at the pork and brew event, and they are non refundable, it’s a real drag. But! There are a couple different places to get tokens from, And it’s not so unbearable to walk on over to load up on more, the whole event is about walking around! Or for your initial walk around, scope out the different food options, make sure you look around as there are many choices! Get an estimate on how many tokens you will need, and than go buy them So it’s not so much back and forth. Samples cost $ 2, I like to go with this approach so I can try different foods from different vendors and if i have enough room to eat a whole plate than i have a better idea of where I’m going to stand in line. Parking is free, and plenty of parking for this event. Food is awesome, most vendors are competing for championships. They try to keep the event mostly local, which is great. But there are also opportunities for those out of state also which is really cool too on the same note. Breweries also make a special brew especially for the event, and they are always happy to explain their methods to their madnessof their craft. Pork and brew makes changes every year, they are trying New approaches to please everyone! It’s a wonderful event for a date, family, or just to try something new, whatever the occasion you can have fun here. I will continue to go every year as I have for the past three years already

I would have to say it was not what I was expecting. The samples of food were a dollar, the venue set up was confusing and when asking staff where things were at was a waste of time. I asked a lady working the token sales where they should of beer at and she told me that she did not know. I feel you should have your staff trained and prepared to answer simple questions. The food was over priced and honestly not worth it. Would not recommend this to anyone.

Mostly disappointing fell well short of their promotions. Quite pricey as well as you have to pay for the samples as much as 3 bucks. And very limited in the Brew area. Overall I would not come back and would not recommend this anyone. We had planned a whole afternoon there and left after a couple hours.

Tokens? Really? A dollar a token and this is the only tender the booths can accept. So you have to guess how much you’ll want to spend, with no frame of reference… if you run out of tokens you have to trek back to the booth to buy more. Oh, and tokens were non refundable.
The prices weren’t unreasonable, as much as we like bbq we expected to drop a $ 100+ while there. Nope, thanks to tokens we spent 20, you know, because we’re reasonable adults who like to know what we’re going to buy before we buy it. We would have bought ALOT more, but the hike back to buy tokens simply wasn’t worth it.
Absolutely ridiculous

You have to buy tokens this year. Each token is 1 dollar… each sample is one token. Nothing is free not even the petting zoo. So bring $$$.

Very sad at the moment. We drove up to The Santa Ana Star Center. … luckily just a few miles away from our home. We won free tickets from 99.5 Magic FM so we were more than thrilled to give it a shot.
Drive up the hill watching the clouds darken the higher up the hill we drove. We were so graciously welcomed with open arms by the lovely and beautiful Miss Mother Nature… *enter sad face*
We’ve been sitting in car for about 20 minutes now wondering if it’ll be a typical New Mexico Rain where it’ll stop and dry up within minutes and we’ll be, free to roam… or if by some random chance of low luckiness it’ll rain… rain…and rain some more. …
To be continued if the rain stops. …
Ok.ok… I’m now updating my review… the rain cleared away as most New Mexican rains do we walked around the event for a few hours. My 4-​traveling duckies and I had a good time. The overcast weather made it an even better time no harsh sun beating down on my skin. We tried a turkey leg, a brisket sammie on a glazed donut ((hello Donut-​Queen!!!) and and aqua fresca in a freshly cut pineapple cup!
I was thrown aback… way back… when we stopped to look at a menu at one of the booths.
Hmmm. this is the first Pork & Brew I’ve been too do I was seriously lost when this booth had a 3-​meat combo plate for $ 25.00.
Is this normal? Ouch!
Over all though we had a good time and look forward to next year.

I’ve been to the Pork & Brew a few times in the the past but this was by far the most organized and well-​laid out the venue has been. The first time we attended, it was at a high school and a big storm blew up an hour or so after we arrived. We just gave up and went home — sand in your eyes and BBQ sauce just wasn’t making it. The last time we attended we went early on a Sunday morning but were a bit disappointed in the quality/​amount of BBQ our tickets could buy, and the layout of the tents was confusing. Rather than going on either Saturday and Sunday, we opted to go on Friday and found it to be a lot less crowded and the BBQ experts and brewers were more relaxed and more willing to talk about their BBQ and their brews. Everything we tried was great.

Great food, local beers, family friendly. It’s hot out so dress for the heat. Check out the kilt kicker beer from Cazuelas.

This appears to be the «Annual Pork & Brew BBQ State Championship», which is a great event, sponsored by the City of Rio Rancho.
Some of the reviews are not related.
We have been to the event five times, it’s enjoyable, the music/​bands presented and other events have been enjoyable. We have plenty of BBQ restaurants if you just want to eat BBQ.
Related website for 2015 event:

Being a native Texan, I’ve been to my fair share of BBQ competition, and this one was just ok. The setup is a little strange, since you have to pay to enter, then exchange money for poker chips that are then used to pay the vendors. Since you pay to enter, I thought that meant that the food would be cheaper. Nope! It is definitely pricier on the inside. I was really shocked at how high some of the prices were. I guess the vendors figure that since you already paid to get in, you’d pretty much have to buy food there, you wouldn’t be tempted to just leave. So, we spend $ 20 on a plate of BBQ that was good, but not great. And $ 4 for a beer that was the same.

would give 3 stars but this is close to the house…
lots of good bbq although a little pricey…
good turnout for Rio…