The New Mexico Brew Fest will return to Villa Hispaña at the State Faigrounds this Saturday, marking the 12th edition of the event that was originally founded in 2010.

“I think New Mexico Brew Fest is now the longest running craft beer festival” in the state, said organizer and co-founder Kevin Hopper, and he would be correct as far as the Albuquerque metro area (there have been festivals at Pajarito Mountain above Los Alamos dating back continuously to 2005, we were later informed).

That does not mean that bringing it back this year was an easy endeavor. Last year, NMBF returned after a two-year, pandemic-related absence. Hopper spoke of the difficulty of recruiting breweries to return, as a mix of financial and staff issues kept many familiar participants from signing up.

Was it any easier this year?

“It’s still, I don’t know if it’s a staffing thing, but a lot of breweries are not going to do it,” Hopper said. “I don’t know if it’s an Albuquerque thing, but a lot never get back to you. I would at least like a ‘we’d love to do it, but we can’t this year.’ Instead, they just ghost you.”

There is probably no singular reason across the board for breweries to decline the invitation, one that we hope to discuss with the breweries in a later feature about the future of festivals.

Nonetheless, Hopper said that he and his wife, Fran, have moved back to New Mexico after spending some time in Oregon. They are committed to finding ways to keeping NMBF going this year and beyond.

“We’re still really into local beer,” he said. “After moving back here, Albuquerque just creeps back into you. We’re going to continue doing it.”

NMBF did recruit a “a baker’s dozen breweries,” Hopper said, with some familiar festival faces and some relative newcomers. (UPDATE: Ex Novo withdrew due to staffing issues, leaving a dozen.)

Brew Lab 101, Downshift Brewing, Marble Brewery, Rio Bravo Brewing, Tractor Brewing, and Turtle Mountain Brewing all return from last year. Boxing Bear Brewing and La Cumbre Brewing are back for the first time since 2019.

New to NMBF are Gravity Bound Brewing, Little Toad Creek Brewery and Distillery, Sunday Service Motor Company, and Thirsty Eye Brewing.

We will seek out their beer lists in a separate article scheduled for later this week. One thing the Crew has learned is that many breweries wait until right before a festival to make sure they do not run out of any beer they might announce in advance.

Some other key details for Saturday:

• VIP/early admission ticket holders can enter at noon, general admission begins at 1 p.m. The event runs until 6. If you go to the website to order your tickets in advance, they are $45 for VIP, $30 for GA, and $10 for designated drivers. Military can get $5 off with ID. The prices rise to $55, $40, and $15 at the gate.
• A VIP ticket also comes with a special tasting glass provided by All the Things Craft Cocktails & Mixers. They will be pouring cocktail samples with small bites from New Mexico Harvest.
• Launchpad will host a special lounge area, with cocktails, beers, and more.
• Live music will be provided by Hooks and the Huckleberries and Little Darlin’.
• Food trucks on hand will include Umami Moto, Gourmet Doner Kabab, New Mex-A-Que, Phat Stax Burgers, and Aguas Delicious. Other local vendors and artisans will also be on site to sell some non-beer/food items.

This has long been one of our favorite festivals of the year, and the Crew will have quite a few members out there this year. We hope that it will continue, but we acknowledge that festivals and their brewery partners will have to continue to evolve in their relationships to ensure that happens.

In the meantime, grab some sunscreen, utilize a ride service or a designated driver (parking, as anyone who attends the State Fair knows, is plentiful, but also requires extra time to get in and out), and buy those tickets. We will see many of you out there for NMBF as we close out festival season for 2023.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister