For the many fans of Gravity Bound Brewing, this week has been an exercise in patience, waiting for the completion of a few interior renovations before reopening.

Can you all wait one more day?

We caught up with co-owners/brothers Chris and Cameron Frigon earlier today (Friday) to check in and see what they have been up to during this week.

“We’re just trying to beautify the back of the bar,” Chris said of the lovely tiles and wood panels that have been installed. “The main purpose, though, was to actually redo our draft system. It has taken an extra day because I definitely messed up and ordered the wrong draft part. We’ll hopefully get that (Saturday) morning and be right back open.”

Yes, the brewery will now reopen Saturday, not today, as originally stated in a social media post about the temporary closing to work on the renovations. Rest assured, though, the draft system revamp was quite necessary.

“We really wanted to improve our draft quality and also become a lot more efficient when we’re pouring the beer,” Chris said. “We went from a 75-foot-long long-draw system to now a total of 15 feet. We installed a new cold room right behind the bar. Again, we’re really looking to maintain head retention, maintain different styles of beer instead of having a one-size-fits-all system. Just trying to get better.”

Chris looked over at Cameron, who was ready to hit the road to Taos to celebrate his 35th birthday.

“You have anything to add to that?” Chris asked.

Cameron shook his head and replied, “Nailed it.”

Nothing changed over in the brewing area, Cameron did add, but outside will be the most noticeable change starting next week. Chris said that the City of Albuquerque made a final inspection of their plans for a permanent shade structure for the patio and signed off. The plan now is to start putting that up on Monday.

“Our customers have just been so awesome just sticking with us (despite) being completely miserable out there,” Chris said. “We’ve been doing our best to keep the doors closed and keep cool in here. There’s been no reprieve outside. Hopefully we’ll be able to change that next week and have a nice, comfortable area.”

The shade structure project has been a long, long time in coming.

“We started this process in October of 2023, and then we just got approval three weeks ago from the City saying that we’re allowed to build,” Chris said. “By that time, we fell off our contractor’s schedule and (had to redo) all those steps. We’re just trying to catch up now.”

For now, Gravity Bound just needs a little more patience from their customers, but they should be open at their normal time on Saturday. And, yes, the Monic Hazy IPA that just won the IPA Challenge should be on tap and ready for everyone to enjoy. Keep an eye on GBB social media for any new announcements.

Otherwise, we thank Chris and Cameron for their time, and will let one get back to work, and the other get to celebrating another year around the sun.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister