Anyone else exhausted? Halloween was a lot this year, stretched over a weekend-plus (or pretty much the entire month, right, Launchpad staff?) for regular folks and all the brewery employees out there. It’s times like this where it will be nice to just kick back with a relaxing pint and do good just by sipping away. The wonderful trio of Canteen, High and Dry, and Steel Bender have once again collaborated on a special charity brew to benefit AGORA Crisis Center throughout November. Elixir Ale, an American ale brewed with wheat and oats and blended with chamomile, will be available on tap at all three breweries, plus the Canteen Taproom on Tramway. For every pint or 20-ounce pour sold, $1 will go to AGORA all throughout this month. In addition, adult coloring nights are slated to return starting November 9 at High and Dry, followed by nights at Steel Bender on November 14 and at Canteen on November 19.

New Draft:

Boese Brothers puckers up with Raspberry Acai Sour. Casa Vieja tapped Kojote Brown, a Belgian brown ale. La Cumbre recently tapped Munich Dunkel. Late Shift gets into the marzen game a little late, but not too late, with Novemberfest. Marble rolled out Lemon Berry Wheat. Quarter Celtic feels the chill with Cold IPA 45. Thirsty Eye tapped its Beer Premier entry, Ton Up or Shut Up (Cold Brew Coffee Lager), and will also bring back Biscochito Liquido this Friday. (UPDATES) Lizard Tail brought back Biscochito Brown. Marble will tap Spiced Cranberry Gose on Saturday.

Up in Santa Fe, Second Street tapped Riwaka Pale Ale and Brown Recluse, an imperial brown ale.

New Package:

Steel Bender brings back Mango Dynamite on tap and in cans this Thursday. Santa Fe Brewing resurrects its winter seasonal, Adobe Igloo, in cans and on draft. (UPDATES) Ex Novo rolls out a double release Friday with Ruminator (Doppelbock) and the new Black is Beautiful collaboration, now a hazy IPA, in both cans and on draft. La Cumbre will release bottles of La Negra, the glorious barrel-aged imperial stout, this Friday. Sidetrack went ahead and canned Matching Stoutfits, the wonderful oatmeal stout.

Notable Events:

Today (Wednesday) — Poetry & Beer will have a Dia De Los Muertos theme this time at Tractor Wells Park, starting at 7 p.m.

Thursday — Comedy Night is back at Brew Lab 101 starting at 7:30 p.m.

Friday — ArtWalk returns from 5 to 9 p.m., so check the individual social media pages for Boese Brothers, Red Door, and Sidetrack to see what they have planned.

Saturday — Muertos Fiesta returns to Marble downtown from 2 to 9 p.m., and we will have a full preview later this week.

Sunday — Baile De Los Muertos festival will take over Rio Bravo from 1 to 5 p.m.

Quick News Bits:

While one craft taproom has closed in Southwest NM (see next item), another has opened! Open Space Brewing, located in Santa Clara, held its soft opening last weekend. Keep an eye out on social media to see what else is in store from our state’s newest brewery. We are working on a future trip down to this small town, nestled next to Bayard, north of Deming and just east of Silver City, to check out what will be the newest brewery in the state.

Boogie’s Brewery and Distillery in Deming has closed its tasting room and will now only focus on selling bottles of its spirits to retailers in New Mexico and beyond. We never knew if they actually brewed their own beer, but now it appears they are only distilling.

Just in case you missed it, Brew Lab 101 is taking over the ReSource Brewing taproom later this month. ReSource bid farewell over this past weekend.

Albuquerque metro area breweries

Boese Brothers Brewery  — Featured seasonal: Imperial Porter (7.2% ABV), this big boy has been on tap for a while, so help drink it up so a new beer can appear.

Bombs Away Beer Company — Featured seasonal: The R.E.D. Ale (5.5% ABV, 20 IBU), an Irish-style red served on nitro.

Bosque Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Cloud Strike (6.7% ABV, 60 IBU), this fresh-hop hazy IPA was made with Chinook from White Crow hop farm.

Bow & Arrow Brewing — Featured seasonal: Hot in the Shade, a blueberry and hibiscus gose-style sour ale, available in cans and on draft.

Boxing Bear Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Metal Head Stout (6.66% ABV), a beer so good they named it after the best musical genre of them all. In our humble opinion, anyway.

Brew Lab 101 Beer & Cider Company — Featured seasonal: Labtoberfest (5.8% ABV, 20 IBU), a tasty märzen available on draft.

B2B Garden Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Canteen Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Pink Warrior Wheat (4.6% ABV, 15 IBU), a portion of the proceeds of this fruited wheat will go to Pink Warrior House.

Casa Vieja Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery to see what’s currently on tap.

Cazuela’s Seafood & Mexican Grill — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Differential Brewing — Featured seasonal: Papaya Blonde Ale, which was brewed to hang onto summer just a bit longer.

Downshift Brewing at Outpost 1706 — Featured seasonal: Gratitude Pale Ale (5.4% ABV, 40 IBU), brewed to support local charities, right now $1 from every pint sold goes to Gratitud(ENMU), the local college in the Ruidoso area.

Echoes Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery to see what’s currently on tap.

Ex Novo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Kokua (4% ABV), a session IPA based off a recipe by Maui Brewing, with proceeds going to the Maui Brewing Fire Fund.

Flix Brewhouse  — Featured seasonal: Autumn Leaves (5.7% ABV), a flavorful festbier.

Flock of Moons Brewing — Featured seasonal: Lunar Autumn Saison (6% ABV, 20 IBU), a flavorful fall beer.

Gravity Bound Brewing — Featured seasonal: Your Place or Stein (5.9% ABV), a wonderful Oktoberfest lager available in cans and on draft.

Harmon Lane Brewing at Southwest Grape and Grain — Featured seasonal: Stennes Blonde Stout, a collaboration with Quarter Celtic.

High and Dry Brewing — Featured seasonal: Freudian Hop Session (5.5% ABV, 40 IBU), an amber pale ale, with a portion of the proceeds going to Pink Warrior House.

Hops Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

JUNO Brewery — Featured seasonal: Vienna Lager, a smooth amber lager with a touch of sweetness.

Kaktus Brewing — Featured seasonal: Sovereign Shores IPA, which has one of those names that make us curious as to its origin/meaning.

Kilt Check Brewing — There are rumors that the brewery will be staying open, but we await the official word.

La Cumbre Brewing — Featured seasonal: Playhouse Wet-Hop IPA (6.8% ABV, 85 IBU), made with a whole lot of fresh Chinook hops, available in cans and on draft.

La Reforma Brewery — Featured seasonal: Bomba de Malta (8.3% ABV), another big old malt bomb of a Scotch ale.

Late Shift Lager House at The Craftroom — Featured seasonal: Hop Villain (6.8% ABV, 102 IBU), a beastly IPA that is a change of sorts from the lager-dominated lineup.

Lava Rock Brewing — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Lizard Tail Brewing — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (5.8% ABV, 20 IBU), a proper German lager.

Marble Brewery — Featured seasonal: #ENDALZ (5.8% ABV), a cranberry-infused pale lager, a portion of the proceeds will go to the Alzheimer’s Association now through Friday.

Nexus Brewery — Featured seasonal: Festbier! (5.8% ABV, 21 IBU), is described by the brewery as “in the style of German tradition, this bier is toasty, slightly sweet with bread dough and cereal notes. The medium malt body takes the forefront and will leave your stein in need of a refill.” It is only available at the Blue Smokehouse now.

Palmer Brewery and Cider House — Featured seasonal: Cockness Monster (13% ABV), a monstrous Scotch ale aged in whiskey barrels.

Ponderosa Brewing Co. — Featured seasonal: Italian Pilsner, the winner of back-to-back gold medals at the 2021 Great American Beer Festival and the 2022 World Beer Cup, is available on draft and in cans.

Quarter Celtic Brewpub— Featured seasonal: Capri-derhosen (5.3% ABV, 23 IBU), a past gold medal winner at the World Beer Cup, this tasty German-style red lager is back on tap.

Red Door Brewing — Featured seasonal: Wagoner’s Porter (7.2% ABV, 36 IBU), a tasty American-style porter that recently joined the draft lineup.

Rio Bravo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Black Sparrow (13% ABV, 60 IBU), a rum-barrel-aged imperial stout.

Rumor Brewing (formerly Ale Republic) — Featured seasonal: Desert Monk (6.8% ABV, 21 IBU), a Belgian-style dubbel.

Sidetrack Brewing — Featured seasonal: Matching Stoutfits (6.6% ABV, 30 IBU), a wonderful name for an oatmeal stout.

Sobremesa — Featured seasonal: Dominator, a German-style doppelbock.

Starr Brothers Brewing — Featured seasonal: There Wolf (5.8% ABV, 21 IBU), a flavor-packed Oktoberfest lager.

Steel Bender Brewyard — Featured seasonal: Nigel (5.9% ABV, 19 IBU), a lighter Scottish ale that still packs a malty punch.

Sunday Service Motor Company — Featured seasonal: Have Your Cake and Eat it Too, a German chocolate cake-inspired stout.

Thirsty Eye Brewing — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest, described by the brewery as “a Märzen-style lager that’s slightly sweet, with bread and straw-like maltiness balanced with floral and spicy German noble hops.”

The 377 Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Tractor Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Chocolate Milk Stout (6.9% ABV, 25 IBU), a delightful dessert beer on tap for a limited time.

Turtle Mountain Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Sierra Nativo (5.05% ABV, 19 IBU), a new “Burqueno” pale ale made with Zappa (Neomexicanus) and Cascade hops.

Unhinged Brewing — Featured seasonal: Tatooine Spring (7.8% ABV, 80 IBU), an imperial amber with a great name.

Vision City Brewstillery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated seasonal list.

Santa Fe breweries

Beer Creek Brewing — Featured seasonal: Diablo Bock (7.7% ABV, 25 IBU), a hybrid of a dunkel bock and a doppelbock, it’s devilishly delicious.

Chile Line Brewing — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Hidden Mountain Brewing — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfiesta (6% ABV, 30 IBU), the annual German-style seasonal is back.

Rowley Farmhouse Ales — Featured seasonal: Ceremony, a wild ale brewed with tea.

Santa Fe Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest, assuming there is any left still out in the wild, needs to be consumed.

Second Street Brewery — Featured seasonal: Toast the Dawn (4.4% ABV, 12 IBU), a helles lager available in cans and on draft, perfect for relaxing the last warm days away.

Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery — Featured seasonal: Totality American Stout, which we mistakenly typed as Totally last week. Whoops. Our bad.

Other breweries you need to visit

Bathtub Row Brewing — Featured seasonal: ULLR Fest Sahti (8.5% ABV), described by the brewery as a “Nordic brew from ancient Finland with juniper and rye, fermented with spicy yeast. Very malty, strong but well-concealed alcohol, intriguing woodsy/citrusy notes from the juniper.”

Little Toad Creek Brewing and Distilling — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Red River Brewing and Distilling — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Sierra Blanca Brewing  — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (5.4% ABV, 18 IBU) is back in bottles and on tap at the brewery. Consider it your preview of all the good that is to come with the Oktoberfest party at SBB on October 14.

Truth or Consequences Brewing — Featured seasonal: Fiesta Anejo (5.3% ABV, 22 IBU), which the brewery described as “a smooth Mexican Lager infused with essence of tequila.”

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That’s all for this week! If you have any questions or comments, leave them below or contact us on our Facebook page.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister