Brew Lab 101 is not just a Rio Rancho brewery anymore. Heck, it’s not just a New Mexico brewery anymore.

To explain what that means, I caught up with owner/brewmaster Scott Salvas for our Look Back/Look Ahead Series. Rather than trek across town, we met up at the Northeast Heights taproom that Brew Lab took over from ReSource Brewing this past fall.

“It took a couple years to get over here into the Northeast Heights,” Salvas said. “A lot of folks wanted us over here. I’ve told you before, we had a couple different deals that just didn’t work for us or work for the landlords. It’s tough to (find) a brewery the way we want with (room for) food trucks and other things. We’re pretty particular. We didn’t want to sacrifice the finer points or details.

“It was great to work with the folks at ReSource, let them sail off into the sunset to do their own things and let us get over here. It’s been fine. Business is picking up. February is a turning the corner month for getting out of winter.”

2024 will also mark the debut of a third Brew Lab location, albeit one a bit further away.

“Brew Lab Minneapolis did just open today, so that’s official,” Salvas said on Friday. “That’s a whole different trajectory for the company. Now people are drinking Wicked Pissah and Sexi NuMexi a thousand miles away. Really fun stuff, 2023 was just a crazy growth year for us. The franchise happening was a little unexpected. It was always a fun idea. The right persons came to us at the right time. Now we’re talking to people in other states. Another one could be going later this year.”

Yes, that is true, Brew Lab has become the first New Mexico brewery to expand out of state via franchising. Salvas said he was approached by some native New Mexicans living up in the Twin Cities, and they came together on a deal to expand the brewery to a whole new market.

“I’ll be up in Minneapolis next month for their grand opening,” Salvas said. “That should be when the Big Ten Tournament is happening at Target Center two blocks away. That’s pretty exciting there, operating in a big city with the sports and everything. I think we’re going to do extremely well there. They were able to get that taproom open in record time, and the laws up there are extremely challenging.”

One example is that breweries in Minnesota cannot also produce cider, so while that is a slight bummer, it should still be a unique opportunity to market a piece of New Mexico to a whole new customer base.

“We’ll probably try to get another franchise in line,” Salvas said. “That should be really great, too. Now that we’re on that trajectory, I’m going to keep working it. I talked to the Brewers Guild and found out that we are going to be the first native New Mexican-grown brewery to open a location outside the state. We’ll get the New Mexico beer and culture out there in Minneapolis. They’re also going to be doing a little New Mexican food, too, flying some green chile out there. The folks who are doing it are born and raised in New Mexico. It’s going to be a really nice connection out there, maybe spice up Minneapolis, too. They’ve got a great brewer that they hired from Duluth, too, so I’m really excited to work with that team.”

Back at the mothership location in Rio Rancho, Salvas said they have seen sales still trending upward, even in the current economic downturn across the industry.

“We expect 2024 is going to be an exceptional growth year for Brew Lab,” he said. “Both in the brewery in terms of barrel production and in sales. Buying ReSource’s production equipment has allowed us to increase our hot side. We’ve got a bigger brewhouse, but also added a lot of fermentation, doubling our capacity with this acquisition.”

Salvas said that the Heights taproom has held to a lot of the same sales patterns as the Rio Rancho brewery, with beers like Sexi NuMexi Lager, Wicked Pissah Hazy IPA, and The Bull West Coast IPA all top sellers.

Something else has also carried over from one location to the other.

“I think people are definitely attracted to good events,” Salvas said. “We’ve always been very event heavy from the very beginning. Especially when you have those very slow Mondays and Tuesdays, even Wednesdays, and you have to find a way to pick up business. No one wants to work when it’s slow. Food trucks don’t hang around when it’s slow. We have great events not just for sales, but to keep everyone happy.

“We’re kind of doing the same thing here. We’re using the same format with the food trucks and great events. That’s picking up business. We’re only a couple months in, and there’s always that period of growth that you have to go through. Luckily, ReSource had a pretty good clientele here. We were able to retain a lot of those folks, so we didn’t start from zero.”

Salvas did acknowledge that the rise in prices is not something that he and his staff enjoy any more than the patrons. But, with the costs of ingredients and labor on the rise, he said that breweries have no choice but to charge more for pints than they did in the past.

“My philosophy has been to continue to focus on great value, and make sure that yes, you might spend more money, but you’re going to continue to have fantastic service, you’re going to have great, free events, you’re going to have a great vibe,” he said. “Service is number one. That’s always key whether it’s breweries, bars, or restaurants. We got selected for best staff in Albuquerque the Magazine. I think that’s really important to give people that overall value.”

With the exception of the perpetually expanding Bosque Brewing, most breweries seem to be cutting back right now. The Northeast Heights has seen the closure of ReSource and B2B Garden Brewery, while Boxing Bear closed its West Downtown taproom. Salvas said he can understand why those moves were made.

“I know folks talk about over-saturation, and yeah, there’s a lot of competition,” he said. “But, I think breweries are competing not just with themselves but they’re competing with restaurants and bars, every type of drinking establishment. You just have to be competitive and stay relevant. I think that’s key.”

Salvas said that Brew Lab will continue to participate in off-site events in 2024, though they will be selective about which ones, preferring those that offer more limited sampling and give some money back to the breweries.

“We’ll definitely do our big Oktoberfest again,” he said of the annual fall event held in the parking lot outside the brewery in Rio Rancho. “We’ll continue to ramp up production with two locations. We’re on the cusp of getting our wholesalers license, so we’re looking to do more distribution. That’s important to us, especially with our cider. It continues to do extremely well, it’s a big part of our business.”

In a way, the biggest moves for Brew Lab have already happened, so now it is just about getting back to business as usual and focusing on making that a better experience for everyone.

“Other than that, just try to keep up, keep our heads above water,” Salvas said. “We’re very excited. We always try to stay optimistic. Nothing’s ever perfect, there’s always challenges in this business, but we try to stay focused on the positive and keep moving forward.”

A big thanks to Scott for meeting up on my side of town. We wish him and everyone at Brew Lab plenty of luck going forward this year and beyond. And, who knows, maybe we will get the chance to visit an out-of-state Brew Lab location in the future.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister