The Week Ahead in Beer: A final calm before the summer storm arrives

Stoutmeister will have you covered for all things new in beer and brewery events every week.

There are a few big events this weekend, but for the most part this counts as perhaps the last quiet stretch before everything really ramps up for the start of the summer beer season. The busiest time of year for breweries is nearly here, much to the delight of all of our palates. Until all of that arrives in full, take some time to enjoy things this weekend like the United in Beer Festival (tickets), which we will preview in full later this week. There’s also a chance to get fancy at Boxing Bear Firestone, something for the whole family at Tin Can Alley, and you can help save the wee turtles at Canteen, Toss in a varied set of beer releases and it all adds up to a good warm-up weekend!

New Draft:

Bosque gets a little weird, again, with It’s Not a Tuber, a carrot pale ale. Differential tapped Hibiscus White Ale. Harmon Lane added State 47 Lime Lager. Marble recently tapped Smoked Helles and Tantrum Bock. Steel Bender will tap Golden Goat SMASH, their United in Beer collaboration with Painted Lady, on Saturday. Tractor will bring back the popular Pistachio Cream Ale on Friday. Unhinged tapped Madcap Mosaic Hazy IPA. (UPDATES) Marble tapped Wildflower Wheat and Nitro Pub Ale.

Up in Santa Fe, Second Street tapped Sloppy Sloth Nectaron Hazy IPA. Down south, Downshift added Village People Bohemian Pilsner, and Galaxy Snowday Hazy IPA will be out later this week. Truth or Consequences Brewing will tap Bavarian IPA, a hoppy maibock, on Thursday. (UPDATE) Beer Creek tapped Tenderheart Pils, a Czech-style pilsner.

New Package:

Canteen will have Low ‘n’ Slow Kolsch available this weekend in cans and on draft. (UPDATE) Bow & Arrow will release Sunbloom, a table saison, in cans and on draft this Friday. Canteen will also bring back Helles Awaits in cans and on draft this Friday.

Notable Events:

Today (Wednesday) — Spanish Broom Flamenco will perform at Bosque Heights at 7 p.m.

The Bard Crawl heads to Sidetrack at 7:30 p.m. Duke City Rep will perform Shakespeaer’s “As You Like It” in full.

Saturday — Tin Can Alley is the site of Day Camp – A Festival for Families, from noon to 5 p.m. The event is co-hosted by Santa Fe Brewing and will feature activities and educational opportunities for people of all ages.

As noted in our intro, United in Beer is at Ex Novo from 1 to 5 p.m. This unique collaboration festival randomly paired up 26 breweries to create 13 new beers, each from a different style category.

JUNO is hosting Rawking, a combined metal, art, and comedy show from 2 to 7 p.m. Bands will include Light Thief, Destroy to Recreate, Guvtika, and Abandoned Saviors.

Boxing Bear Firestone will host Bear Affair 4, a Spanish tapas-style beer pairing from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are still available.

Sunday — Canteen brings back Drink Beer, Save Turtles from 2 to 7 p.m. This free event supports the Turtle Survival Alliance’s mission to save our shelled friends from extinction.

Quick News Bits:

Lizard Tail Nob Hill is now open on Tuesdays.

Bosque is now hiring for its new Westside location, the former Lava Rock Brewing spot on Unser.

Sidetrack will now open at noon on Saturdays and Sundays.

Anyone scanning the Santa Fe area listings below will notice the overdue additions of Nuckolls Brewing and Travel Bug, plus the absence of Hidden Mountain Brewing. The latter not only changed its name back to Blue Corn Cafe, it also ended all brewing operations and will now only carry guest taps. Another piece of New Mexico brewing history has disappeared. Pour one out in memory of a place that launched many a great brewing career.

Albuquerque metro area breweries

Boese Brothers Brewery  — Featured seasonal: Irish Red (5.2% ABV), described by the brewery as “a classic red ale with caramel and toasted malt flavors.”

Bombs Away Beer Company — Featured seasonal: SNAFU Stout (5.2% ABV, 30 IBU), a chewy oatmeal stout.

Bosque Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Thunder Mouth (8.5% ABV, 70 IBU), a new hazy IPA now available in cans and on draft.

Bossfight Brewing (formerly Kilt Check Brewing) — Featured seasonal: Way of the Samurai, a Japanese rice lager that will become a staple at the brewery.

Bow & Arrow Brewing — Featured seasonal: Terra Helles (4.7% ABV), a tasty lager available in cans and on draft.

Boxing Bear Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Sucker Punch DIPA (8.1% ABV), the big bad hop bomb is back for another run, available in cans and on draft.

Brew Lab 101 Beer & Cider Company — Featured seasonal: Buzz Lightbeer (3.9% ABV, 10 IBU), a summer-worthy brew.

Canteen Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Irish Red (5.4% ABV, 25 IBU), one of those awesome recurring seasonals that deserves all the love, now available in cans and on draft.

Casa Vieja Brewery — Featured seasonal: Cry of the Blackbirds Imperial Stout (8.6% ABV, 55 IBU), a very metal behemoth of a beer.

Cazuela’s Seafood & Mexican Grill — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Differential Brewing — Featured seasonal: Matcha Ginger Blonde (5% ABV, 14 IBU), it’s pretty much exactly as the name describes.

Echoes Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery to see what’s currently on tap.

Ex Novo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Farm League (7%), a wonderful West Coast IPA available in cans and on draft that can help you forget about how bad the Isotopes are this season.

Flix Brewhouse  — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery to see what’s currently on tap.

Flock of Moons Brewing — Featured seasonal: Quickening Moon (7.6% ABV, 24 IBU), a lovely Scottish wee heavy, and luckily for you, there need not be only one.

Gravity Bound Brewing — Featured seasonal: Little Farm on the Berry (4.7% ABV), a collaboration with Farm and Table, this sour features blackberries, lemon, and crushed sumac.

Harmon Lane Brewing at Southwest Grape and Grain — Featured seasonal: Honey Do IPA, the perfect beer after getting that yard work done.

High and Dry Brewing — Featured seasonal: Dawn Patrol Coffee Stout (4.5% ABV, 10 IBU), a light-in-ABV but not in flavor or mouthfeel dark brew, this is a collaboration with the coffee shop located next to the Nob Hill Stage music venue on Copper and Carlisle.

Hops Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

JUNO Brewery — Featured seasonal: Vienna Lager, a smooth amber lager with a touch of sweetness.

Kaktus Brewing — Featured seasonal: Sweet Darkness Milk Stout, a nice treat for dessert after your pizza.

La Cumbre Brewing — Featured seasonal: Helles Lager (5.1% ABV), the perfect spring sipper which is finally available in cans in addition to being on draft.

La Reforma Brewery — Featured seasonal: Bomba de Malta (8.3% ABV), another big old malt bomb of a Scotch ale.

Late Shift Lager House at The Craftroom — Featured seasonal: Hop Villain (6.8% ABV, 102 IBU), a beastly IPA that is a change of sorts from the lager-dominated lineup.

Lava Rock Brewing — The brewery is relocating to Moriarty.

Lizard Tail Brewing — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Marble Brewery — Featured seasonal: Que Onda IPA (6.8% ABV), part of the Alpha Acid Trip Series, now available in cans and on draft.

Nexus Brewery — Featured seasonal: Beam Me Up (Higher) Scotty (9.5% ABV, 29 IBU), which just won its second silver medal in three years at the World Beer Cup, is back on tap for a limited time.

Painted Lady Bed and Brew — Featured seasonal: You’ve Got Red on You (5.8% ABV, 65 IBU), a delightful hop-forward red ale, named for one of our favorite movies, Shaun of the Dead.

Palmer Brewery and Cider House — Featured seasonal: Cockness Monster (14% ABV), a monstrous Scotch ale aged in whiskey barrels for two years.

Ponderosa Brewing Co. — Featured seasonal: Italian Pilsner, the winner of back-to-back gold medals at the 2021 Great American Beer Festival and the 2022 World Beer Cup, is available on draft and in cans.

Quarter Celtic Brewpub— Featured seasonal: Super Stoop Malt Liquor (6.5% ABV, 18 IBU), which does not have to be consumed on a stoop or in a paper bag.

Red Door Brewing — Featured seasonal: Wagoner’s Porter (7.2% ABV, 36 IBU), a tasty American-style porter that recently joined the draft lineup.

Rio Bravo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Welcome to the Show (6.7% ABV, 34 IBU), a no-frills American stout that packs a tasty punch.

Rumor Brewing — Featured seasonal: Desert Monk (6.8% ABV, 21 IBU), a Belgian-style dubbel.

Sidetrack Brewing — Featured seasonal: Disco After Dark (6.4% ABV, 75 IBU), a West Coast IPA brewed in collaboration with Adobe Disco.

Sobremesa — Featured seasonal: Face the Day Breakfast Stout (7.65% ABV, 40 IBU), a coffee-infused stout to wake you up after the long drive to the Westside (we kid, we kid).

Starr Brothers Brewing — Featured seasonal: Foggy Monocle (6.1% ABV, 17 IBU), an excellent oatmeal stout that has twice won the Crew’s Stout Challenge.

Steel Bender Brewyard — Featured seasonal: Double Berry Blast (10.4% ABV), one of the anniversary beers, this “liquid pie filling” has a blend of marionberry and boysenberry packed into a powerful brew that is available in cans and on draft.

Sunday Service Motor Company — Featured seasonal: Double Black IPA (8.5% ABV), a perfect winter ale.

Thirsty Eye Brewing — Featured seasonal: RIGor Mortis, an imperial coffee stout collaboration with Rust is Gold Coffee.

The 377 Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Tractor Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Turkey Drool (8.4% ABV), which is our favorite annual seasonal release from the brewery, and yes, we will declare that publicly.

Turtle Mountain Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: El Cob-ron Rojo (5.7% ABV, 21 IBU), a red corn lager made with Neomexicanus hops.

Unhinged Brewing — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated seasonal list.

Vision City Brewstillery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated seasonal list.

Santa Fe breweries

Beer Creek Brewing — Featured seasonal: Temporada (6.1% ABV), a Belgian saison brewed with 100-percent New Mexico-grown pilsner malt and Neomexicanus hops. Described by the brewery as “crisp and dry with hints of bubblegum. Not a Brett beer.”

Chile Line Brewing — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated seasonal list.

Nuckolls Brewing — Featured seasonal: Spice Car, a farmhouse saison brewed with Thai chili peppers, guava, mango puree, and lime juice.

Rowley Farmhouse Ales — Featured seasonal: Thibadeux (5% ABV, 50 IBU), a collaboration kvass with Beer Creek.

Santa Fe Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Starter Fluid (9.5% ABV), a hazy DIPA with a kick, now available in cans and on draft.

Second Street Brewery — Featured seasonal: Brown Ale (5.9% ABV, 38 IBU), an award-winning classic, now available in cans and on draft.

Travel Bug — Featured seasonal: This bookstore/cafe that we featured a while back only has two beers on tap, Rough Draft Ale (4.5% ABV) and Second Draft English Bitter (6% ABV), but if any seasonals ever pop up, we will list them here.

Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery — Featured seasonal: Molé Stout (9.2% ABV), the seasonal beer with a lovely kick of spice is back on draft and in bottles. Oh, they put some on nitro now, too.

Other breweries you need to visit

Bathtub Row Brewing — Featured seasonal: Mild & Lazy (4% ABV), a lovely English mild ale, perfect for slow sipping on the patio.

Downshift Brewing — Featured seasonal: Gratitude Pale Ale (5.4% ABV, 40 IBU), brewed to support local charities, right now $1 from every pint sold goes to The Big Ben Sanchez Youth Foundation.

Little Toad Creek Brewing and Distilling — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Red River Brewing and Distilling — Featured seasonal: Cacao Fuego Chocolate Green Chile Stout. (6.5% ABV, 30 IBU), described by the brewery thusly, “Our oatmeal stout with a kick! Made with Hatch green chile and organic cacao nibs, it has an earthy start and a chocolate finish, It’s sure to warm you up on these cool evenings.”

Sierra Blanca Brewing  — Featured seasonal: Pecan Brown Ale, a classic offering from the brewery.

Truth or Consequences Brewing — Featured seasonal: Robledo Rye (5.9% ABV, 46 IBU), described by the brewery as “a crisp golden ale with substantial hop bitterness and flavor. Malted rye adds a spicy, earthy quality, moderated by the subtle honey sweetness of Vienna malt. Warrior hops contribute smooth bitterness and flavors of pine, grapefruit, and pineapple.”

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That’s all for this week! If you have any questions or comments, leave them below or contact us on our Facebook page.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister

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