There is nothing wrong with having a perfectly normal year in beer. After all, nothing has been very normal since 2020, so Sidetrack Brewing will definitely embrace a year of things just being, well, routine.

I caught up with co-owners Dan Herr and Anne O’Neill, plus head brewer Cordell Rincon, to go over all of it for our Look Back/Look Ahead Series.

“Everything was routine, and that’s not bad,” Rincon said.

“That’s what we hope for, the least amount of drama, just have a normal operation,” Herr said.

Rincon joined Sidetrack from Steel Bender in the late summer of 2022, so 2023 marked his first full year in charge of the brewhouse.

“It was a good year,” Herr said. “I think Cordell came into an understanding of what our pace is, how things work, what we want to have. All of that takes a minute to go through.”

Rincon said that the downtown beer crowd that inhabits Sidetrack is a little different from the one up in Los Ranchos and the North Valley.

“What’s surprising in Albuquerque is a lot of different sects, I guess,” Rincon said. “It’s not just one Albuquerque just drinking IPAs. Well, I guess they are, but there’s all sorts of different stuff sprinkled in there, depending on where you’re at (in town).”

The good news is that Sidetrack was ahead of many of the rest when it came to one trend that exploded in 2023, and that would be having MX Lager on tap at all times.

“I think it’s basically competing with IPAs as far as (sales) go here,” Rincon said. “That’s been nice to see. It’s definitely what we all want to drink. It’s no problem keeping that one on (year round). … If we have a light beer or an IPA, they kind of do well either way. But yeah, Mexican Lager is king, definitely for the foreseeable future, too. A lot of people are taking their pilsners off. It’s a good house beer to have for us, pretty approachable, which is definitely what the people like here. We unintentionally got ahead of the trend.”

The MX Lager did particularly well over what was arguably the hottest summer on record, or at least that the New Mexico brewing industry has experienced.

“The heat was hard, and the heat is coming back, so we’re trying to make sure all of our equipment is ready for that,” Herr said.

Sidetrack escaped any serious heat-related issues with its equipment last year. The walk-in cooler went down for only a couple of days, as did the refrigerator behind the bar, and the glycol chiller had a hiccup or two.

“We kind of went through a glycol chiller thing, but nothing nearly as bad as what other folks had to deal with,” Herr said. “I think everyone dealt with some kind of mechanical failure or stress.”

“We didn’t have to dump any beer, which was nice,” Rincon added.

Sidetrack also had a first in 2023, adding a canning line.

“It just added something to our repertoire, which is nice,” Rincon said.

“Cordell tries to keep Basecamp IPA, Mexican Lager, and Kolsch, those are the house beers, in cans,” O’Neill said. “We just started adding additional beers on.”

Of course, it is one thing to plan to add four packs of canned brews, but a lot more goes into it than simply fill can, put can in refrigerator.

“It took a minute to get the rhythm of it,” Herr said. “We had to figure out how much can we put in cans versus how much we need to save for draft. What’s that balance? What’s that demand? It seems like a silly thing because we’re at such a micro level. But, it’s all the same problems, I think, that bigger places have, just at a different scale.”

Among the seasonal beers that made it into cans, as well as on draft, the standouts proved to be Matching Stoutfits and Crossroads Bohemian Pilsner.

“English beers and light beers do well here, and obviously the IPA,” Rincon said. “As long as it’s light and approachable, anyone will drink that here.”

Herr said that Sidetrack’s strategy overall with beers has not really changed at all.

“That’s whaat we’re continuing to strive for, just keep a variety of beer-flavored beer that’s a good spectrum of flavors and styles,” Herr said. “Stout to pilsner and everything in between. We’ve done another couple of experiments, and people say that turned out great, but …”

“Nobody wants a second one,” Rincon added.

On the events front, Sidetrack brought back the Alley Cask Fest in April, while also continuing to participate in the monthly downtown ArtWalk, and both the fest and those first Fridays will continue into 2024.

A new event also proved to be a big hit in 2023.

“The city came to us last year and came to our block and asked us and our retail neighbors if you want to do a block party,” Herr said. “That was a pretty successful thing. We hope that that happens again.. I think they’re looking to continue those to promote downtown. If they do that again, we welcome that. It’s a really hard thing to organize, so I was really thankful that the city wanted to do that.”

“Between that and First Fridays (ArtWalk), we’ve got a lot of parties, I guess,” Rincon said.

“Fridays have become a big event, so that’s welcome, also,” Herr said. “But, what I think what we’re trying to do is identify more community-based events. Whether it’s a vendor pop-up, that’s become the trend, a lot of people are doing that.”

One event is scheduled for this Saturday, as Sidetrack will celebrate its eighth anniversary with some old friends.

“So we’ve got Oni coming, they’re doing a pop-up on the patio,” O’Neill said. “They’re coming back to help us celebrate. They were here pre-pandemic. We’re happy to have them back. They’ll be here from 1 to 5 or sold out.”

Rincon will also bring back some classic Sidetrack recipes that should pair well with ramen and whatever other delicious food items Oni cooks up.

“We have a (California) Common coming out, the Turntable which is Dan’s old IPA recipe — we’re pretty excited about that one — and the Pub Ale with all the accoutrements,” he said.

Yes, he means Duke of Earl, for all the fans of that tea-infused version of Pub Ale. Rincon said there will likely be casks of each, and then draft.

“We’re going to do a drawing for two gift baskets,” O’Neill said. “We’re going to give away some merch. You’ve got to be present that day.”

There will also be new koozies designed for Sidetrack cans, and Adobe Disco will have a vinyl pop-up.

That all sounds like a great way to kick off 2024 for Sidetrack, and a nice way for some of us heading to WinterBrew the night before to bounce back.

A big thanks to Dan, Anne, and Cordell for the interview in the midst of a rather busy week. And again, congrats on getting those signs up outside, Dan. We know you have been working on getting that done for a long, long time.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister