There are quite a few one-brewery small towns in New Mexico, in all different parts of the state, ranging from places with populations in the triple digits to those in the five-digit category.

It can be interesting, then, to see what happens when a second brewery moves in down the street. There is often the perception that the two places will be battling it out for supremacy among the locals, and with the tourists, should their town be a vacation destination.

This is New Mexico, however, and here our craft breweries have formed a strong community where they are all rooting for another. Take Lost Hiker Brewing, which we recently visited in Ruidoso, and its newer neighbor, Downshift Brewing.

“One of the things I love about this industry is it’s a community,” said Lost Hiker co-owner Dan Carey. “People came in for trivia last night, and they said something about Downshift, oh we shouldn’t say that around you, and I’m like Eddie (Gutierrez) and his wife (Shelby) are good people, I want them to be successful. They’re making good beer. They’re helping to make this a (craft) alcohol destination. Beer brings people together.”

We caught up with Carey at the midtown taproom for our first interview in two years, to see how Lost Hiker is faring with some friendly competition down the street, and in general how things have or have not bounced back in the southern tourist-friendly town.

“Business has been doing well, personal life has been a little rocky,” Carey admitted. “I was diagnosed with cancer in June of ’21. I went through chemo, recently got the all clear. That changes everything. I was totally out of this, couldn’t do anything. Steve (Swangstu), our brewer, he really stepped up. He’s done a phenomenal job stepping into kind of a managerial role as the main brewer, production manager, everything behind the scenes.”

To say that Luke and I were a bit surprised by all of that news would be an understatement, but Carey wasn’t done.

“Jen and I separated,” he added in regards to his wife and business partner. “So the last couple years have been interesting. But, we are still doing our thing here, and having fun doing it.”

Well, all right, so a lot did happen behind the scenes in the last two years.

With Carey down and out for so much of that span, he was quick to credit everyone around him with keeping Lost Hiker not just moving along, but flourishing in the post-pandemic world.

“Jen stepped up a lot in her roles, in taking care of me and keeping the business going,” he said. “Steve, he really stepped up. We have some friends, Luther and Tim, who helped. Luther has helped brew in the past and volunteered on those double brews out of the kindness of his heart. Tim, he’s doing a lot with the pizza kitchen and a lot of our social media stuff. They (both) stepped up and hosted trivia. It was community support. That was huge for me. I didn’t worry about what would happen here. I knew they would get things right.”

Carey also said that his outlook has changed somewhat, though not about the industry, which he continues to see as a positive.

“Business, day to day, we can get really myopic in our thoughts and get super focused on one thing,” he said. “As cliché as it is, going through cancer, you look at the big picture a lot differently. If your hop profile is off a little bit, it’s OK, you’re still upright.”

Getting back to the business, things have continued to go well at the midtown taproom located at 2536 Sudderth Dr. in the heart of Ruidoso, as well as at the brewery location at 26394 US-70 in Ruidoso Downs.

The local crowd of year-round residents have largely stuck to their usual trends in terms of what beers they consume.

“The pulse that I have on it doesn’t think what they’re looking for has changed,” Carey said. “I think everyone is just excited for the variety, having multiple places to go to try quality beer. I’ve still got people asking for the Rye Knot. A guy last night was asking for the (Midnight Squirrel) Stout. The locals are still asking for the favorites, but we only have six taps and other people want new beers, so they’re going to have to rotate.”

As for the tourists, who can sometimes swell Ruidoso’s population from 8,000 to more than 50,000, their presence may have actually been helped by the pandemic lockdown.

“This was a very interesting place to be during the pandemic,” Carey said. “It was shut down for a couple months and no one was coming here, of course, but I think later this was one of the first places people were coming. We saw a lot of folks that would typically be going somewhere further, they would drive here on a holiday rather than spend a lot more money elsewhere. At times it was an absolute zoo, even though the rest of the world was pretty slow.”

Carey did admit that it is all pure conjecture on his part, as Lost Hiker was not open long enough before the pandemic to compile an extensive amount of data that it could compare to the present. Still, he has noticed a change in when the tourists are coming to Ruidoso.

“Anecdotally, it seems like we’ve gone from super seasonal to shorter seasons,” he said. “Those shorter seasons, like April and November, seem to slow down less now than they did before the pandemic. I don’t have any explanation.”

With so many of those tourists coming up from places like El Paso, the beers on tap often reflect what they want.

“The biggest release was the New Texican Mexican Lager,” Carey said. “That was a close second to the (Ruidoso) Blonde, which is our biggest seller. It surprises me that the locals are gravitating towards it. Anytime we release a new beer, they seem to drink that, but that one is holding on. It has big sales with the people passing through.”

Lost Hiker did not make it out to the recent spate of festivals in New Mexico, which Carey said will probably be the norm going forward. If you want Lost Hiker beers, you will have to visit Ruidoso.

“We’ve dialed back our festival game, I guess,” he said. “Again, being sick the last couple years, that really took a toll on doing those types of things. Because, we’re still small enough that we as the owners are there, hauling the kegs around, organizing and driving. It’s hard work going to a festival, we’ve had to dial that back.”

For the time being, Lost Hiker will simply keep on keeping on, brewing up a quality selection of beers to serve at its two locations. That sounds like a good plan to us.

“We’re enjoying the ride for now,” Carey said. “Jen and I are still working out what we’re going to do as far as the business goes. With that major change, we’re kind of just going along with it.”

We wish them the best of luck, both for the brewery and their family.

A big thanks to Dan for taking the time for the interview. It was great to catch up once again, and we encourage everyone in Albuquerque and Santa Fe to also consider the Ruidoso area and its wonderful breweries as a potential in-state vacation destination. We can’t let the Texans have all the fun down there, can we?

Keep supporting local statewide!

— Stoutmeister