The times, they are a changin’, and in this case we point to the slimmed-down ABQ Beer Week.

Gone are the days when folks had to pick and choose between multiple events happening at the same time. For all that change, however, one thing remains constant — Tractor Brewing hosting an event almost every single day of Beer Week.

“We’re of course going all out again,” events coordinator Jeremy Kinter said. “I think we have a reputation for participating full-on in Beer Week. We try to do events every day of Beer Week, excluding Sundays and Mondays, typically.”

With that in mind, we had Kinter take us into greater detail on what Tractor has planned this year, starting with today’s big event for those who love to beers of a non-sweet or hoppy variety.

Today (Thursday) — Sour Hour with Rowley Farmhouse Ales

This event is back at Wells Park, running from 5 to 10 p.m. There is no cover fee, just the cost of the flight of four sour ales, including the just-released Blueberry Berliner Weisse from Tractor.

“For the Sour Hour, it’s going to be three (from) Rowley Farmhouse Ales — the Germophile Pomegranate, Mountain of Light Plum, and the Frambozen 2022,” Kinter said. “And then, our Blueberry Berliner, so you can get a flight of four of those.”

Rowley Farmhouse Ales recently lost their storage trailers to a fire, so they can use some extra support right about now, in case anyone needed some further encouragement.

Oh, and there is also this: “Hopefully John (Rowley) will show up and we’ll get him on the mic if he’s feeling saucy enough,” Kinter added with a smile.

Friday — Pistachio Cream Ale Release and Magic and Comedy Night: Beer Week Edition

“I’m really excited about this one, and I think you’re really going to enjoy this,” Kinter said of the specialty beer. “We have our Pistachio Cream Ale release. This is a recipe created and devised by T.J. (Frederich, head brewer). In the time I’ve been here, I don’t think we’ve done a cream ale before, so this might be our first cream ale. That one is going to be really awesome.”

The beer will be available when the doors open at Wells Park at 2 p.m. The event kicks off at 8 p.m.

“And then, that night, we have Magic and Comedy Night: Beer Week Edition, with Dave Grimm,” Kinter said. “He’s a phenomenal magician. He’s part of the Magic Castle Brotherhood, which is only the top five percent of magicians in the world.”

Grimm will be joined on stage by comedians Caleb Mulkey and Bryan Andrew Lambe. There will also be special Tractor giveaways during the show.

Saturday — Ciderday Night Fever and Space Disco

The annual celebration of ciders returns to the Nob Hill Taproom beginning at noon.

“We’re going to be serving four new ciders that we came up with — Mango Habañero Cider, Tamarin Cider, Lavender Cider, and a Dry Cucumber Cider,” Kinter said. “We’ll be serving those all day, starting at noon, and then at 8 p.m. we’ll have DJ Ren spinning for Space Disco.”

Grab a sampler tray, grab a full pour, and either enjoy the buzz of the crowd during the day, or the tunes in the evening. Either way, cider lovers, you win.

Tuesday — Four-Course Beer-and-Food Pairing with Taste of Love NM

The good news is also the bad news, as Kinter told us, this event is already sold out. Of course, sell it out once, and the odds are good that it will return in the future, maybe even before Beer Week in 2024.

Wednesday — Beer Trivia

It’s back at Nob Hill from 7 to 9 p.m.

“We have Beer Trivia here at Nob Hill with Dan (Pennington) hosting,” Kinter said of the usual Tractor Trivia League host. “This one is going to be a lot better and more accessible than our previous beer trivia. We have an actual trivia company generating the questions, so it won’t be … when we did it in the past, it was more for hard-core beer geeks. This one is more for the general public.”

Thursday, June 1 — Rebel Donut and Beer Pairing

Oh, this tasty one is back, and it’s at all four Tractor taprooms (yes, even Los Lunas) starting at 5 p.m. It will be $18 for the four-beer/four-donut flights, but get there early, if you can.

“That one usually sells out,” Kinter said. “We’ll be doing the Pistachio Cream Ale, (Mustachio) Milk Stout, Blood Orange Cider, and I haven’t decided on the final one yet, but probably an IPA.”

All right, we are going to guess the pairings, since we also have the Rebel list:

• French Toast/Pistachio Cream Ale
• Maple Bacon/one of the IPAs
• Birthday Cake/Blood Orange Cider
• Triple Chocolate/Mustachio Milk Stout

If we are wrong, it’s because Tractor and Rebel got to do the side-by-side tastings and figured out even better combinations. Either way, the general public wins.

Friday, June 2 — Truth or Consequences Brewing Tap Takeover and First Fridays Comedy Contest: Beer Week Edition

The good folks from the brewery down south are sending us some tasty treats that will be available in a three-beer flight ($8), or by the pint ($6.25).

“We’ll be featuring three of their brews — Empress Stout, an 8.3-percent (ABV) banger, Lagerhoppin’, and the Buckhorn IPA,” Kinter said. “I’m still waiting to hear back if (owners) Marianne and John are going to come up from TorC.”

The beers will be available starting at 5 p.m., and the monthly comedy show will kick off at 8 p.m. There is no cover for the latter.

Saturday, June 3 — Drag Queen Bingo: Pride Edition

As if things aren’t busy enough, Pride is also taking place. The bingo will be held at Wells Park at 7 p.m., supporting Truman Health Services at UNM.

The Pride Parade will be in Nob Hill, so the Tractor is getting prepared for that, too.

“It always gets crowded in there with all of these events,” Kinter said. “We have to plan for Pride here. It’s always huge. Last year, we opened at 9 a.m. and it was crazy. This year, we’re opening at 8 a.m. for that.”

Even if ABQ Beer Week sticks to this scaled-down format, or perhaps even quietly goes away entirely (nothing confirmed on that, so don’t panic), Kinter said Tractor will keep many of these events around for 2024 and beyond.

“No matter what, we’re going to participate in it full-on,” he said. “That’s going to continue. What’s nice about us is that we’ve been doing it for so long, we have these yearly events that have a following, so we’re going to continue doing them no matter what.”

A big thanks to Jeremy for the interview during one of his busiest stretches of the year.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister