When brewer/owner Mike Campbell passed away last year, the future of Kilt Check Brewing was left up in the air. Would the brewery close down? Would it be sold to new owners? Or would some members of the Campbell family choose to keep it going?

The latter now appears to be the fate of the little pub at 4814 Hardware NE, as Mike Campbell’s son, Chase Campbell, and his cousin, Kolton Huerta, are in the process of changing the theme and the name with the goal of fully reopening in the near future.

Huerta, who will handle the brewing, sat down for an interview inside the old space, which has begun to undergo a transformation.

“Well, my cousin and I are taking it over and trying to rebrand and go with something different,” Huerta said. “We’re trying to go with a brewery arcade (theme). We got someone to drop in some cabinet arcade video games, and we’re going to have some console play, too.”

The tentative new name is Bossfight Brewing, though Huerta said that is subject to change, depending on how the trademark application process plays out. Anyone associated with Kilt Check is fully aware of how names can go.

“It was Off-Kilter, first, that name was taken, and then when we opened, we were Drafty Kilt, and then someone sent us a cease and desist for that,” he said. “They were nice about it, at least.

“We have some backup names, not totally committed to (Bossfight). If we don’t get that trademark, we won’t push forward with it. But, if we do, we’ll keep that.”

The taproom interior is getting a remodel. An artist friend of Huerta is creating a massive mural featuring a character from Super Mario Brothers on one wall that is quite hard to miss. Other areas will be redesigned as needed. The main video game area will be along the south wall, which is currently barren. Many of Mike Campbell’s beer memorabilia relics have already been moved out.

“I plan to keep some of the can collection,” Huerta said. “I don’t think it steers too far away from the feel of this place. Most of it is being packed up and stored away. We tried to find some people who might be interested in buying it, or at least buying some of it, but not a lot of takers. We’ve got Billy Beer cans. I don’t know if you know that Pabst Blue Ribbon brewed a bock. It’s a can that might be from the 1970s. I would have liked to have tried it.”

Huerta said that he and his cousin are aware that the changes they are making may not go over too well with the older customers who knew Mike back in the 1990s when he was starting out brewing at places like the original Rio Bravo, Wolf Canyon, and Tractor in Los Lunas.

“Yeah, I feel like we’ll get a little bit of pushback from the old customers, but hopefully it’s something that can appeal to the rest of Albuquerque, and something that everyone can enjoy,” Huerta said.

As it is, the change needs to happen just to help get the brewery fully back open.

“Since Mike passed away, we’ve only been able to open Wednesdays and Thursdays,” Huerta said. “Sheryl, who’s 51-percent owner, is still serving on Thursdays, and we have a guy who does karaoke on Wednesdays who’s helping to serve, as well. Now we’re open Sundays for karaoke. We plan to soon be open at least Tuesday through Sunday.”

While Chase Campbell handles the construction/remodel/renovation out front, Huerta has been hard at work on the brewhouse.

“At the start, when I came in, we were running out of the oatmeal stout,” he said. “I know that Mike had won a bronze medal in the World Beer Cup for that beer, I think in 2013 (2014, actually). I thought I’ll test a batch out, because my system is a 15-barrel system, which is quite large for an occupancy space this small. So, I thought I’ll test out that recipe on a 10-barrel scale instead, and see how it does. Hopefully I didn’t run into any quality issues as far as keeping temperature or anything else. Brewed it, got it pushed out, and I think it turned out maybe better than ever.

“And then, after that test, I thought I’ll continue doing 10-barrel batches. Right now, I have a Japanese rice lager in the fermenter and an IPA. I feel like that’s a pretty good trifecta to start with, a light lager, an IPA, and then a dark beer.”

Like any good beer writer, I made sure to taste the stout and the rice lager, and both hit the right spots people should want from those styles. The lager is light, refreshing, and not too sweet. The stout is roasted, with mild sweetness, and a good mouthfeel.

As Huerta said, a 15-barrel system (it was the original system at La Cumbre) is a bit big for a place as small as Kilt Check. Still, there are no plans to downsize.

“As of right now, it’s hard to foresee that,” he said. “I would like to keep the system. I like the system, I feel like it’s got a lot of perks. But, some of the components need a lot of upgrading. A big system needs a lot of tender love and care. It’s capable of decoction mashing, which is pretty good. I like that it’s a direct fire system. … I think, hopefully in the future, that I’d like to see us keep this system and get a pilot brewery off-site somewhere else.”

While Huerta knows his beer — he has also worked at Ex Novo, if anyone else needs to see his brewing credentials — I had to make sure to ask him about the video games he played growing up, and how they will influence what Bossfight will have to offer.

“I had an N64 growing up,” he said. “When we played it too much, my mom got mad and wouldn’t let us have a Game Cube. I remember playing 007, the original Smash Bros, for N64, which I have and plan to have for people to play here. I remember playing some PC games. I’m not sure we’ll be able to get that going, unfortunately, (but) Pokemon Stadium, all sorts of good stuff. Even though we weren’t allowed to have a Game Cube, we found a way to play anyway, and Super Smash Bros Melee was one of the ones that me and my brother a tremendous amount of time playing, just a ridiculous amount of time. I happen to have that game, as well, set up on a Wii system. It’s crazy to think how much of a following that specific game still has. There’s a big Smash community between all of the Smash games, so we do sometimes hold a Smash Bros Ultimate tournament for Switch.”

And, yes, Huerta said he knows that he will have to come up with a SMASH beer to go with those games.

“Yes, I believe I’ve got a couple of names in mind, maybe Super Smash or Falco Punch,” he said with a laugh.

Huerta is raising funds for helping to cover the costs of the renovation.

“Yeah, the GoFundMe is still going,” he said. “We’ve raised about $2,000, which helps a lot. It’s helped me get some mixed drinks and start kombucha and possibly craft sodas again. We’ll have a well-rounded beverage program, something for everybody, some non-alcoholic options, as well as mixed drinks, cider, and wine. I don’t want to miss out on groups of people saying we should go to this brewery, and to have one person say I don’t like beer, let’s go somewhere else that has everything. Hopefully we can appeal to more people. I know there’s a market for it. There’s something there to be had.”

The Crew will keep an eye on how the changes at Kilt Check are going, including whether or not Bossfight officially becomes the new name. In the meantime, roll on over on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Sunday to check things out for yourselves, and enjoy some stout or a rice lager or both. Just get those thumbs stretched out and ready for when the gaming consoles arrive.

A big thanks to Kolton for the interview and the beer samples.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister