In a rare event where two Crew members could get together, Stoutmeister and AmyO met up at Casa Vieja at 4541 Corrales Road in Corrales for the annual Look Back/Look Ahead Series interview. Lucky for us, we were able to meet with brewer Michael Sharpe, assistant brewer Will Robertson, and the previous owner Gary Socha on a festive Friday night. It was still a bit quiet when we got there, but things quickly became much busier, especially when the live music started outside on the patio.

In brewing news for Casa Vieja, Michael said that the biggest development is that last summer they got some system upgrades, and some new and better equipment. Most importantly, they purchased a new glycol chiller. Several other breweries around town had some major chiller issues during the summer last year, so some positive chiller news is really good to hear.

Stoutmeister asked the team how last year went for them since it seems to have been a mixed bag throughout the industry. Did being small help them out? Michael said he does think so. They have had steady year-over-year growth, but it seems like last summer was the season they really pushed the limits of production. They pretty much doubled what they produced in years past and maxed out production. Gary said that’s nothing that money can’t cure. Michael and Will moved the storage area so that they could double the capacity for finished beer. They got an extra kegerator and now they have 14 taps flowing. That helped them keep up with production demand because there are more choices. (Editor quote: “If you run out of your best seller, something else is going to be your best seller.”)

Gary seems to be doing really well, although you can take the man out of the brewery, but you can’t take the brewing out of the man. He is still homebrewing.

AmyO’s partner Dave, who drinks almost exclusively IPAs, ordered the hoppy lager and was very impressed. He called it “bright and fresh.” Gary said when he was in charge, they made what he wanted, and he is about German beers. So, though Casa Vieja had a few other styles, the focus was not on those styles. Now, the new brewers are able to try to cover all the bases a lot more. Michael said he wants to be more like Epcot and represent many countries. Insert “Small World” joke here.

As far as the other things going on this year, it’s all about those anticipated new beer styles. The new owners, Danny and Molly O’Brien, have expanded the hours of operation. They added more live music and are improving the music space by adding an actual stage instead of just an area set aside. That also has increased traffic, which in turn increases the production demand.

Will said he also loves German beers, but he has been pushing for more hoppy beers. He would really like to bridge the gap. Plus, you don’t want people to have to leave to go somewhere else to get what they want. Lagers have been killing it lately most everywhere and the same can be said at Casa Vieja. Since last year, their light lager is running at about 20 percent of beer sales. Many people are also embracing lower ABV beers like the lagers because they are a safer choice. The to-go beer is the higher alcohol beer that can be enjoyed safely at home. But, there’s still the social aspect of drinking out, and that’s where people start gravitating to the lower ABVs.

Will said would also like increased visibility. So many people still come in for the first time saying they didn’t know Casa Vieja was there. Gary said the main issue is being right on Corrales Road makes it difficult in that people can’t see the parking lot from the road. They are not going to pull off if there is no visible parking. With Ex Novo, the parking is very visible from the road. There is a lot of parking at Casa Vieja, but people just have to know that because they can’t see it.

While we were there, we learned about an upcoming big move (literally), but were asked to keep it under wraps. However, the weekly Casa Vieja newsletter (which you can sign up for here) let the proverbial cat out of the bag. Michael is moving to Florida soon, and Will is going to take over as head brewer. We will have a little more on this big news closer to the actual handover date, so perhaps the loyal customers can swing by and share a beer one more time with Michael. This weekend, they will celebrate Michael with the release of Faralito Old Ale, which will be served in 10-ounce pours thanks to its 8.7-percent ABV.

Also, though it’s not beer related, the O’Briens also have a winery. A kind of cool thing that Michael has done is keg the wine using nitrogen. They were losing like $1.20 every time they had to open a bottle and get rid of it. It can save hundreds of dollars on a batch of wine and avoid spillage when bottles break. There is less waste and no wondering how long a bottle has been open, and if it’s still good to serve. Michael said he is also putting a bit of nitro into the beers. I guess that makes him a pretty smooth operator.

Cheers!

— AmyO