Hello, all. Happy spring, or what most of us call severe allergy season. It’s time for another Look Back/Look Ahead Series update. This time, I spoke with Patrick Bowling of Late Shift Lager House, the craft beer side of The Craftroom. The popular taproom is primarily the home of Sandia Hard Cider, located at 2809 Broadbent Parkway NE. Something of note for last year is that Patrick took over the head brewing spot at Late Shift after Patrick’s mentor Ram Khalsa left to explore opportunities on the East Coast.

Partick is a graduate of CNM’s brewing program. He said his instructors were great at job placement. He was surprised to somehow get a job during the pandemic lockdown, as Late Shift hired him at the end of 2020. Of course, like it usually goes, Patrick was mostly cleaning kegs when he started out. But, he was learning a lot. They eventually put him in charge of the canning line and he started running all the packaging for Sandia Hard Cider. There were too many people working the line, and Patrick said he was able to get the process down to just himself and one other person.

Not long before Patrick was hired, they had added Ram Khalsa (formerly of breweries such as Lava Rock and La Cumbre) to help get a brewing operation up and running. Patrick and Ram hit it off right away, and Ram really took Patrick under his wing. Patrick, who said he is part Japanese, started only semi-jokingly calling Ram, “Sensei.”

Ram was partial to lagers, as the name of the brewing operation might imply, and that has rubbed off on Patrick. The Craftroom is located in a light industrial area, so they tried to go with that theme for the name of the brewery. Patrick noted that starting up a brewing operation at a cider house is kind of opposite of most places. Typically, a brewery branches out to ciders, not the other way around.

Like many of us, I really wanted to know when the new Sawmill-area location is going to open off 12th Street, and that really is still the big plan for 2024. Unfortunately, Patrick said they don’t have an opening date yet. Everything is moving along, but not to the point where anything specific has been set. So, for all the Craftroom lovers out there, it will take a bit longer, but the current location will still keep going.

At first, they weren’t sure if they would move the whole operation, or simply add a second site. The current location is very popular with their regulars, and the nearby businesses, so they will see how the clientele changes with the new location. They are also trying to decide how much of the brewing operation will stay, and how much will move to the new location. Patrick said he would actually like a slightly smaller brewhouse to create smaller batches and more experimental beers. Stay tuned for more developments on the new location.

Another recent change is really an addition, as The Craftroom started hosting quite a few more events. The evening that I was there, they were doing a craft fair and a crafting class. Patrick said these new events are all thanks to their head server, Nicole Marguerite. She started an events website: craftnightnm.com. He said she is doing a fantastic job with this; I said she’s really more part server, part marketing manager. Also, on the marketing side, Patrick said he has been trying to keep the Instagram page updated and trying to keep it fun, lighthearted, and educational while trying to get the Late Shift name out there.

It was time to say good-bye for now, as Patrick Bowling was getting ready to head off for his bowling league night. No, really! I guess some things are just destined, like how opening a new place always takes much more time than you think. Patrick said he is staying patient about it, probably another thing he learned from his “Sensei.”

Cheers!

— AmyO