While any meteorologist will tell you that we are still a few weeks from it officially being summer, in the eyes of most people, Memorial Day weekend marks the official start of the season. Back in the day, that meant gathering around to watch the Indy 500 or going to a baseball game or just enjoying family and friends at a barbecue somewhere. Now, it means the start of the busiest stretch of the year for breweries. The kids are out of school, the teachers are liberated, parents need a drink, and everyone else is in pre-vacation mode. Boxing Bear will be the epicenter of this kickoff-to-summer weekend with the return of Bear Fest, now a two-day free event that we will preview in full later this week, but there will be plenty more to do and to drink. As we have noted recently, Tractor is holding its own Beer Week that starts this Friday, and all of those collaboration beers from Ex Novo’s United in Beer festival are beginning to reach taps (see below for the confirmed list). Grab your SPF 50 and ditch the long sleeves, for summer is here! Just, uh, take care of your goth and metal friends, mostly by keeping them indoors during the daytime.

New Draft:

Nexus tapped Summer Walk White, a lightly spiced summer ale with orange zest and coriander. Sidetrack recently added MX Azul, a blue corn lager, and Electric Sheep, a wheat ale. Starr Brothers tapped a new hazy IPA, Schleprock’s Cloud. Tractor will tap Key Lime Pie Gose this Friday. (UPDATES) Gravity Bound tapped Idaho Stop, a hazy IPA, and brought back Maizey Train Mexican Lager. Palmer and Starr Brothers teamed up again to create the new St. Robby’s Girl, a dortmunder. Turtle Mountain tapped Watermelon Rescue, a fruited lager with $1 from every pint sold going to Watermelon Mountain Ranch.

Down south, Truth or Consequences Brewing will tap Orbital IPA on Thursday. (UPDATE) Downshift tapped Life’s a Peche (Peach Sour). Up in Santa Fe, Nuckolls added Silly KaBoose Gose, fruited with raspberry puree and a touch of Black Hawaiian sea salt.

As for those United in Beer collaborations, we can confirm the following are now on tap: Turtleneck Lab Coat IPA at Brew Lab 101 and Turtle Mountain; Pucker Punch Sour IPA at Canteen and Truth or Consequences; Super Saaz Me Pilsner on draft and in cans (!) at Ex Novo and Gravity Bound; Fugget ESB at Marble and Sidetrack; Proposito Comun Lager at Sobremesa and Thirsty Eye; United in Lemon at Second Street (waiting to confirm it’s also at Rowley Farmhouse Ales); Halftime Hazy at Bathtub Row (waiting to confirm it’s also at Santa Fe Brewing). If any of the other six are formally announced, we will update this list, of course. (UPDATES) Golden Goat SMASH Pale Ale is now on tap at Painted Lady and Steel Bender. Coin-op Hoppy Lager is now on tap at Bossfight.

New Package:

La Cumbre will bring back Strawberry Gose in cans and on draft this Friday. Steel Bender will bring back Cherry Dynamite in cans and on draft this Thursday. (UPDATE) Boxing Bear told us recently that Chinook Mountain IPA might be ready just in time for this weekend, and lo and behold, it is back in cans and on draft.

Notable Events:

Today (Wednesday) — Trivia for a Cause: Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion will take place at Bosque Nob Hill at 6 p.m.

Friday — Tractor Wells Park will host Sour Hour at 5 p.m., followed by Beer & Jazz at 8 p.m.

Unhinged is holding a benefit night for friend-of-the-brewery Steph Ramirez all night, with live music from 7 to 9 p.m.

Saturday — The Mid-Spring Market will run from noon to 5 p.m. at Ponderosa.

The aforementioned Bear Fest runs from noon to 6 p.m. at the Firestone taproom .

Tractor Nob Hill brings back Ciderday Night Fever starting at noon and going until the cider kegs run dry

High and Dry hosts another Punk Rock Matinee show, again featuring our friends in Roadside Memorial, starting at 2 p.m.

Drag Queen Bingo: Pride Edition takes over Tractor Wells Park at 7 p.m.

Sidetrack will host CURIOSITY, a mixed-media show from 7 to 10 p.m.

Sunday — Sunday Service Motor Company will host another Shop Small Sunday market from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Bear Fest will fire up again from noon to 6 p.m.

Monday — La Cumbre and Safe House Distilling are teaming up for a tap takeover of the Albuquerque Press Club from 5 p.m. to close.

Tuesday — Trivia for a Cause: South Park is set for Bosque Cottonwood at 6 p.m.

One of the best metal bands of the Southwest, Gatecreeper, is headlining an epic show with Undeath, Jarhead Fertilizer, and Final Gasp at Tumbleroot Agua Fria starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $22 and available online. Check out their new album, Dark Superstition.

Quick News Bits:

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

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: Perpetual Sunset (5.2% ABV, 10 IBU), a strawberry basil blonde ale 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: Madcap Mosaic Hazy IPA, a brew of which the entire staff is quite proud of, as relayed to us by many people, who also sang its praises as an above-average hazy.

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.”

* * * *

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