We have all been here before. The day before the Balloon Fiesta kicks off, the day before the chaos, the day before all the poor doggos bark their little heads off, the traffic backs up, and the tourists arrive in droves.

Thank goodness there is local craft beer. Our breweries are our refuge from all of it, but being run by smart people, some of them in close proximity to Balloon Fiesta Park are getting in on the action.

I caught up with Steel Bender co-owner/marketing director Shelby Chant for what seems like a now annual tradition of discussing Balloons & Brews.

“You could probably write this one in your sleep by this point,” she said, only half kidding.

Nonetheless, this is a fun event that we like to highlight every year.

“Honestly, we believe that it’s a little more for the locals to get away and do something different,” Chant said. “Maybe stay away from the chaos out on the field. But, even those locals have friends and family coming in to visit. What are the other ways you can still experience Balloon Fiesta and spread out those experiences? Our proximity, it’s just a really unique way to experience it from a different (viewpoint).”

That is our sentiment, too, so let us get to the nitty gritty details, for those who find the 2022 Fiesta and its associated events to have faded from their minds by now.

“Again, we’re open every day of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta,” Chant said. “We’re really looking forward to it this year because I think this is the first year, where we’re even getting a sense of it during the preparations, it does really feel like people are finally ready to put the non-gathering behind them.

“We’re doing what we always do, open at 7 (a.m.). Lining up right outside the patio gate. We’ll have house-made breakfast burritos that we’ll make that day. Once we’re out, we’re out. But, beer and cider will be flowing. We’ll have mimosas, bloody beers, beermosas, the whole shebang. Pastian’s Bakery is supplying our pastries this year. We’ll have empanadas. And, then of course we’ll have our house-made hot cocoa that we have every year. And, we have (Wake Up Dead) coffee by Pour Vida Coffee.”

Steel Bender will cease food and drink service from 10 to 11 a.m. each day so the staff can prepare for the lunch hours. Patrons can still hang out on the patio if they wish to wait around.

The Crew has been out there in the past and enjoyed ourselves just about every time (the super-cold mornings are thankfully not forecast this year).

Steel Bender is not alone in hosting morning events, as both Ex Novo and Santa Fe Brewing at Tin Can Alley will also participate on the weekends.

Ex Novo will open at 8 a.m. this Saturday and Sunday, and the following Friday through Sunday. There is balloon-themed Mass Ascension merchandise already for sale, and each morning open will feature special breakfast drinks like beermosas and micheladas. There is also a rotating food truck schedule.

• Saturday: Hot Box 505
• Sunday: Umami Moto
• Friday, Oct. 13: Sandos & Sandias
• Saturday, Oct. 14: Stuffed Lust
• Sunday, Oct. 15: Mañana Taco

In addition, there is Balloon Glow night on Tuesday. There will be a Mini RC Hot Air Balloon display in The Corral, plus Hanselman Pottery will be on hand to lead a painting session of your own ceramic balloon ornaments.

Over at Tin Can Alley, Santa Fe Brewing will have special drinks available this Saturday and Sunday, and the following Friday through Sunday. The complex will open at 6 a.m. to serve breakfast from the food vendors, and SFBC will start providing the drinks at 6:30.

There will also be a Vendor Fiesta both Saturdays at SFBC from noon to 4 p.m.

And, while technically not Fiesta-centered like these other events, we wanted to highlight tonight’s Dash & Drink for Pink at Canteen Brewhouse. It is part of the month-long series of fundraisers for Pink Warrior House that is held by the trio of Canteen, Steel Bender, and High and Dry.

“Race time is at 6 (p.m.),” Chant said. “You can register ahead by visiting either Canteen’s Instagram profile, we also have it on ours. If you get there a few minutes early, you can register right there. It’s another family-friendly event, which Canteen is so great at doing.”

The dash is a 5K, which you can run, jog, or walk. All race bibs will have a coupon for a free pint, and all three breweries will have a brew on tap.

“A little change that we’re doing, for lack of a better word, is we’re calling it a mini-festival,” Chant said. “Basically, we’ll have Raspberry Dynamite out there, and High and Dry will have Freudian Hop Session. We’re all donating sixtels of those beers. Canteen staff will be out there pouring pints. Proceeds from those pints will be going to Pink Warrior House, which is doing such incredible work around here. They’re an amazing organization for being as new as they are, they’re really helping out a lot of local warriors.”

Those two beers, plus Canteen’s aptly-named Pink Warrior Wheat, will see $1 per pint donated to Pink Warrior House throughout October.

“This is our fourth year doing this together,” Chant said. “We love working together. The three of us (herself, Canteen general manager Jamie Schwebach, and High and Dry owner Andrew Kalemba) kind of keep each other sane this time of year. We really do. All three of our birthdays are within days of each other, too. You’ve got three Scorpios working together and getting each other through the insanity that is October in the craft beer industry.”

We will raise our glasses to that. A big thanks to Shelby for the interview amidst all the frantic preparations. Here is to all of us surviving October.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister