First up, before we get into the usual accounting of new beers and events, we wanted to pass along our thoughts and hopes that everything turns out as well as possible for our friends at Downshift Brewing and Lost Hiker Brewing as the Small Fork and Salt Fires tear through the Ruidoso area. If there are any fundraisers for Ruidoso to come at the breweries elsewhere in the state, we will be sure to highlight those (so breweries, please send us that info).

While that tragedy happens down south, life continues up here in the metro area. For the first time that we can recall, a pair of breweries have decided to celebrate the summer solstice this Thursday. It may not be on the level of the Midnight Sun Game in Fairbanks, Alaska, where two baseball teams match up at midnight while it’s still light out, both Boxing Bear and La Cumbre are hosting some fun events. The Summer Solstice CeleBEARtion Event will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. at Boxing Bear’s Firestone taproom. There will be a vendor market, live performances by some unique artists, tarot card readings, and more. Over at La Cumbre, The Lightest Day will feature two special beer flights of their lighter (colored) ales and lagers. Brats and burgers will be served by Dawgs for a Cause. Cheers to the longest day of the year!

New Draft:

Bow & Arrow will release three new beers this weekend with Cactuscolada Pina, Flying Saazers Belgian Pilsner (tremendous name, BTW), and Dancing in & out of the Light of a Neon Moon Hazy IPA. Canteen recently tapped Cherry Wheat. Ex Novo added We Have the Fruits, a berry sour served on nitro. Marble tapped In Dutch, a black lager. Quarter Celtic brought back their award-winning Vienna Lager. Thirsty Eye will tap one of their more beloved seasonals, Dude? Dude. Dude! Hazy DIPA, this Saturday evening after its debut at the Great New Mexico Beer Festival. (UPDATES) Canteen added Social Capital Raspberry Sour. Differential tapped Green Tea Pale Ale. Marble rolled out a new Italian pilsner, Gorlami. Sidetrack brought back Pub Ale and its tea-infused version, Duke of Earl, while also tapping the new Southwestmalle Dubbel. Sobremesa tapped Cherry Key Lime Lager.

Down south, Truth or Consequences Brewing will tap Solstice Pub Ale on Thursday.

New Package:

La Cumbre will release Take a Pitcher It’ll Last Lager, a new hoppy pilsner, in cans and on draft this Thursday. (UPDATE) La Cumbre will also release the Venus Edition of Project Dank in cans and on draft this Friday.

Notable Events:

Today (Wednesday) — La Reforma celebrates its 5-Year Anniversary all day, including the release of special commemorative glassware.

Trivia for a Cause takes on Scott Pilgrim at Bosque Nob Hill at 6 p.m.

Thursday — In addition to the solstice-themed events above, Canteen is hosting their first Beer & Cheese Pairing from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Friday — Sidetrack will host Radiance: An MXP Jam from 7 to 10 p.m.

Tractor Wells Park will host Pride! Burlesque, Magic, Drag & (Hula) Hoops from 8 to 11 p.m.

Saturday — Bow & Arrow invites everyone to join them for Tie-Dye Shirt Making from noon to 4 p.m.

Ponderosa will hold their Monthly Market from noon to 5 p.m.

The aforementioned Great New Mexico Beer Festival, which was last held in 2022, is back at Balloon Fiesta Park from noon to 6 p.m. Get your tickets and join 20-plus breweries from around New Mexico. We will have a preview later this week.

Rumor will host Pride at the Brewery from 1 to 6:30 p.m., with live music and more.

Sunday — Rowley Farmhouse Ales is hosting Summer Fiesta Pet Adoptions with Española Humane from noon to 3 p.m. Ask for a Pull for Pups to get the day’s special beer on draft, with proceeds going to the doggos and kitties.

Quick News Bits:

Brew Lab 101 (both locations) and Sobremesa are taking donations for the people of Ruidoso. Check their social media to see what items they are hoping to obtain. Also, Tractor will donate $1 from every beer and cider sold this Monday to help Ruidoso. We expect more and more breweries to be offering up specials and taking donations in the coming days, so please keep an eye out on social media for postings.

Tickets for the 2024 New Mexico IPA Challenge are now on sale from the NM Brewers Guild via Eventbrite. The preliminary round, where the brewers themselves narrow the field down to the 16 finalists, is July 6. The public rounds are July 13 at Nuckolls Brewing in Santa Fe, July 20 at Lauter Haus Brewing in Farmington, and July 27 at Bow & Arrow Brewing.

For the rest of June, Marble will be donating a portion of the package sales of Wheating Rainbow to Equality New Mexico.

Turquoise Trail Brewing, which closed down in Albuquerque a while ago, has now reopened in Moriarty. We will be heading out there once their own beers are on tap (just guest taps to start) to check out the new space.

Another new brewery? Another new brewery, as The Tatted Bee Brewhouse has taken over the former Black Snout location at Juan Tabo and Menaul.

In case anyone missed the early preview, Dripline Brewery is moving closer toward opening later this year in the Wells Park neighborhood.

In case anyone missed the other big news, Vision City is headed west to take over the former Boxing Bear Corrales space.

Albuquerque metro area breweries

Boese Brothers Brewery  — Featured seasonal: Drunk Astronaut (7.5% ABV), described as a “super juicy DIPA brewed with Galaxy hops and Cosmic Punch yeast.”

Bombs Away Beer Company — Featured seasonal: Black Ops Lager (5.8% ABV, 30 IBU), a dark lager inspired by the German schwarzbier style.

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: Chinhook Mountain IPA (6.8% ABV), a hop-forward ale that combines elements of a West Coast and an East Coast hazy, is back 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: Super Saaz Me (4.9% ABV), a tasty dry-hopped pilsner brewed in collaboration with Gravity Bound, now available in cans and on draft.

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

Flock of Moons Brewing — Featured seasonal: Bonfires of Ganymede (7.1% ABV, 29 IBU), a smoked maibock with just the right amount of charring, balanced out by the sweet malts and hops.

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: Hop Drift Cold IPA (6.7% ABV), now available in cans and 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: Go into the Light, a hoppy German-style beer.

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: Tropischen Pilsner (5.3% ABV, 35 IBU), a tropical lager brewed for the recent Crab & Pilsner event at Second Street.

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: St. Robby’s Girl (5.3% ABV, 26 IBU), a Dortmunder-style lager brewed in collaboration with Palmer Brewery.

Steel Bender Brewyard — Featured seasonal: Lloyd’s Picnic Kolsch (5.0% ABV, 25 IBU), a watermelon-infused kolsch that’s perfect for patios on warm summer days.

Sunday Service Motor Company — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

The Tatted Bee Brewhouse — The newest brewery in town does not have its own beers ready yet, but you can still enjoy a guest tap while you check out the space at Menaul and Juan Tabo.

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: Pistachio Cream Ale (6.0% ABV, 20 IBU), a near-perfect melding of New Mexico’s popular nut and a classic cream ale.

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.”

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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