The tough times are still out there in the craft brewing industry, as we have written about plenty of times over the last few months. Even the biggest breweries in our state are not immune, but nor are they backing down in the face of those new challenges.

Marble Brewery is holding fast against the tide, adapting and evolving as needed, as I learned during the first of two planned articles for our Look Back/Look Ahead Series. To kick things off, I sat down with president Barbie Gonzalez and events coordinator Amy Levine to go over some of the big picture items and the like.

In the eyes of Gonzalez, the current state of the industry has three main causes.

“I think that there’s been a tremendous impact on the economy,” Gonzalez said. “I think that there’s been a tremendous impact on awareness of what you’re actually putting into your body. I think that there’s been saturation, and I think that all three of those elements together have sort of created this storm of what 2023 showed a lot of us regarding sales in any direction.”

Those trends have impacted both draft sales and package sales, she said.

“We’ve definitely seen an impact across the board, including in packaging and on-site consumption,” Gonzalez said. “So again, it’s understanding the world that we’re in right now, and reprogramming ourselves for this new world in 2024.”

For now, Marble has modified its taproom hours of operation for the slow winter months, with an eye on returning to normal come March, when crowds and sales tend to increase heading into the busiest months in the summer.

Another change, subtle to some but more apparent to others, has been in the packaging labels. Marble has redesigned a number of their year-round beers, including their top-selling brand in cans.

“As far as the rebrands in general, I think they’ve all gone over very well and very positively received,” Gonzalez said. “Marble is always about continuous evolution and continuous change. When our packaging is not reflective of that, we want to modernize it and put everything in alignment. And, I think specifically with Double White, we were very strategic in reminding people that this is that same beer by using the same color choices, but also giving the consumer a little bit of what’s in the can through the exterior of the can.”

The big addition to the lineup in 2023 was the new quarterly IPA series, Alpha Acid Trip.

“I think 100 percent the brewery had an opportunity to play, and that was fantastic,” Gonzalez said. “And, I think that the rotating series is a really great idea. Where we needed to take a step back and reassess was releasing two rotators at one time. Because we couldn’t focus on the messaging behind the rotating series when there were two that were nearly being released simultaneously.

“This year, for 2024 we want to focus on the hop playground that we created with the Alpha Acid Series, and just give it the attention that it deserves, and educate the public on what this rotator series is.”

Gonzalez said the names of the four beers and their labels will remain the same, but some of the recipes should change from year to year. As long as Pollen Hunter returns in some form to help the Crew fight the coming juniper scourge, we will be happy.

“We wanted to keep it loose like that so that we would be able to continue to change the recipes if we wanted to, because there were some super hits on that series where we might not want to touch those recipes,” Gonzalez said. “And then, other ones we’re like oh, this tastes good, but it could taste great if we made these slight tweaks.”

Those tweaks will be done with great intention, as Marble has already begun to plan out the entire 2024 slate of beers and events with a fresh perspective. Gonzalez said that in a strange way, a personal health situation for her gave her a chance to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

“I was hospitalized for three weeks, essentially, and in that hospitalization I spent time completely away from Marble,” she said. “I’ve taken trips before, where I’ve gone away for 10 days and come back, but that break was sort of forced to be away. Not by my own choice, but because physically I couldn’t do it. It really helped enlighten my perspective about 2023 and the years previous to 2023 and the (pandemic) impact, and 2024 and moving forward.

“It feels like for a couple years we’ve been sort of in this survival and then depressed state. The industry as a whole was feeling that. Everybody’s formula was thrown off. Everybody’s trends were thrown off. All of a sudden, where we could all kick back and relax 10 years ago, it’s like no, those times are over.”

Rather than dwell on the recent and current struggles, Gonzalez said the only choice for Marble and the industry is to find new ways to innovate and move forward.

“But, getting out of the mindset of those times and realizing that you are in a different time, and that you have to create success, happiness, and peace in this new world was something that I left the hospital with,” she said. “I know that’s so weird to say, that it took me being away from Marble to really be able to reflect on it, but I really was.

“The goal in 2024 is bringing the fun, bringing the light, bringing the community, bringing the festive, party, friendly atmosphere back, but in a new, evolved way. Because what existed before doesn’t exist now. Part of that is listening to your team that has new ideas, new concepts on anything from beer styles, to events, to ways that we’re going to market these events. Allowing all of these people that are in your bubble to have an opportunity to experiment and see what we can do.”

The Marble staff was still holding multiple meetings to plan out the year even after I was there, but a few things are starting to get set in stone.

“We have new beers coming out this year that I’m really excited about,” Gonzalez said. “When I say new beers, I’m speaking specifically of distribution, we always have new beers coming out (on draft), because we have a talented group of brewers. In distribution, we’re really coming out with some new stuff that I think will really serve the market.

“Away from the beer side, I think we have some really great ideas regarding events to kind of reinvigorate the taprooms in a way that it’s still Marble on a different level.”

Which brought us to Levine, who was patiently waiting for her chance to start filling us in on all the events for which Marble has become so well known for over the years.

“Last year, we had quite a few events and going into this year, we’re going to bring back successful events that we’ve had in the past that we enjoy,” Levine said. “But, the one that stood out to me was Fuego Fest. We held that in the Heights, in previous years we held it at 111. We had New Mexican-style vendors, we had chile roasting, we had music. It was during Balloon Fiesta. We’re definitely going to do it again, maybe at a different time of year, maybe in early September when the chile is fresh. That event has definitely grown and we’re just evolving it more and more each year. That is one we’re excited about this year.”

Levine said that part of the goal in 2024 is to spread out the events beyond downtown to the Heights and Westside taprooms, while making sure that those events are specifically geared to the different audiences at those locations.

“As Barbie said, we’re trying to show more intention, it’s quality over quantity,” Levine said. “There’s some of those that we had last year that didn’t go as well, but they were still successful. We know now what we’re working with, what the crowds are looking for.”

Among the classic events that will certainly return will include the April anniversary party, Marblefest, and Muertos Fiesta. Marble will be turning 16 this year, so there is the potential for a bit of a sweet theme.

“There’s talks, we haven’t pinned one down exactly, but we have some great ideas,” Levine said.

“We’re in discussions about something special for the Westside location, something that the Westside location hasn’t done yet,” Gonzalez added.

A little teaser for now, more details to come; we like it. Hopefully everyone is just fine with that, too.

And, hopefully, if we can work it out with our schedules, we will sit down with one or more of the Marble brewers in the coming weeks to delve a little deeper into the new beers in the works. Until then, stay patient, and enjoy the vast lineup of current brews on tap.

A huge thank you to Amy and Barbie for the interview, particularly for Ms. Gonzalez, whom we hope has a healthy recovery this year.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister