After a particularly rambunctious week on the events calendar, things are slowing down now as we barrel toward to the holiday season. Things are getting a bit quieter at the breweries, but that tends to be fine with us. We just like going out and enjoying a good conversation with friends and a couple pints of the finest ales and lagers. Please remember that since this is the slow season, breweries need our support more than ever in the current economic climate. Make sure to visit your favorite place(s), grab some beer to go before those holiday parties start up, and maybe even snag a bit of merch for gifting or just for your own wardrobe. Oh, and there is a wonderful big beer release on the very near horizon, so those types of brews are starting to roll out, too. Fire up the, um, fire pit! Blast the metal! Embrace the darkness! Or, you know, however you like to celebrate in the winter months. We just like our way.

New Draft:

Flock Moons has already released a new batch of Anneau de Feu Belgian Tripel, and this weekend will see the release of Forever Twilight Munich Dunkel. Gravity Bound recently tapped Subtitles On, a Munich dunkel, and Emotional Blackmail, an American stout. La Cumbre had a recent triple tapping of Imperial Red, North Star Navigator (Pilsner), and Gilded Age Porter (just draft this time). Quarter Celtic added MacBride’s Ale, a new ESB. Turtle Mountain tapped La Vida Mocha, a coffee stout if you couldn’t guess. (UPDATE) Sobremesa added Kirk’mander in Chief, a winter IPA.

Up in Los Alamos, Bathtub Row tapped the new Hop Freeze Cold IPA, their first venture into the style. (UPDATES) Over in Santa Fe, Beer Creek tapped La Vieja, a twist on a German altbier. Down south, Truth or Consequences Brewing tapped Winterbock.

New Package:

Bow & Arrow will release this year’s edition of the Native Land series, this time a hazy IPA, in cans and on draft this Friday. Ex Novo brings back the most excellent Nevermore Barrel-Aged Black Barleywine on Monday, this time in bottles and on draft. La Cumbre will release Desert Dragon, a West Coast IPA brewed in collaboration with Denver’s Crooked Stave, in cans and on draft this Friday. Marble brought back the delectable Turkish Style Coffee Stout in cans and on draft. Steel Bender brings back Brickie American Stout in cans and on draft this Thursday. Second Street recently added cans of Superior Porter, which had already been on draft. (UPDATES) Boxing Bear released Albu-Murky Hazy IPA, this time double dry hopped with Strata, in cans and on draft. Canteen went ahead and released cans of their Grundy Thunder Porter in addition to what was already on tap. Sidetrack released Updog Hazy IPA in cans and on draft.

Notable Events:

Today (Wednesday) — After a weather delay, Bow & Arrow will kick off their new Pour & Explore lecture series from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. with a talk on a cool prehistoric discovery at White Sands.

Friday — Painted Lady will host their Open Mic, which sees guests tell their own favorite ghost stories, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Saturday — Tumbleroot Agua Fria will host the Fall ArtWalk from noon to 4 p.m.

Canteen is bringing back their Fiery Feast Red Chile Cook-off at 1 p.m.

Bosque will host the Fall Makers Market at their Northeast Heights taproom on Eubank at 3 p.m.

Bear Affair 6 will be a little different than past iterations at Boxing Bear Firestone. This will feature a free performance by the stars of Opera on Tap, with an additional special beer flight available for purchase. It kicks off at 6 p.m.

Tuesday — Bosque Cottonwood will host Trivia for a Cause: How I Met Your Mother at 6 p.m.

Quick News Bits:

Marble Brewery posted on social media that they have found a local buyer and will not be closing. Hopefully more information will be posted soon, as we have no idea who bought the entire operation. But, hey, at least the second-largest brewery in New Mexico is no longer shutting down, as the rumors claimed last month.

Just in case you missed it, we had big news recently both on how Gravity Bound and Boese Brothers will be sharing the brewing space at Sixth and Gold, while GB will now take over the taproom portion with a unique twist. We also learned how Icebox is in the process of taking over Public House 28 Brewery down between Las Cruces and Anthony. And, finally, we got the full details of the decision to permanently close the doors at Lizard Tail.

In much better news, Dripline Brewery is now open at Second Street and Summer Ave. They had a minor setback that meant their own beers aren’t ready yet, but we will add an entry for them below when those first brews are available.

Another new brewery? It appears so, but not in a place that has any others nearby. Prod-O Brewery and Distillery has an active small brewer license, and it will be located in the town of Reserve in Western New Mexico. Guess we’ve got a road trip coming up!

Steel Bender is teaming up with a local radio station, The Peak, for Monday Night Football games all season. There will be drink and food specials, and one of the hosts of the station will be there every game from 6 p.m. until halftime. Check their social media for more details.

Albuquerque metro area breweries

Boese Brothers Brewery  — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (5.3% ABV), the popular seasonal lager is back for another run.

Bombs Away Beer Company — Featured seasonal: T50 Vienna Lager (5.4% ABV, 25 IBU), a tasty amber lager that will help you get over the last of the delicious Oktoberfest running out.

Bosque Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Brewer’s Bruises (5.6% ABV, 10 IBU), a blueberry lavender gose, is back for a limited time.

Bossfight Brewing (formerly Kilt Check Brewing) — Featured seasonal: Power Up Coffee Stout, a small batch of goodness to keep you going for another round of Mario Kart at the brewery arcade.

Bow & Arrow Brewing — Featured seasonal: Proper Pumpkin Beer (10.5% ABV), a hefty imperial stout brewed with real roasted pumpkin and spices, now available in cans and on draft.

Boxing Bear Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Metal Head Stout (6.66% ABV), one of our seasonal favorites, back in cans and on draft.

Brekki Brekki — Featured seasonal: Vanilla Pumpkin Stout, the first specialty beer from the new all-day breakfast restaurant and brewery in the old B2B Garden Brewery space in the Heights.

Brew Lab 101 Beer & Cider Company — Featured seasonal: Labtoberfest is now available for all to enjoy.

Canteen Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Wet Hop Mountain IPA (7.2% ABV, 80 IBU) is exactly the kind of beer that needs to be consumed ASAP as those fresh hops won’t stay fresh forever.

Casa Vieja Brewery — Featured seasonal: Festbier (5.8%, 19 IBU), a proper German lager to enjoy on the patio as the nights turn cooler.

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

Differential Brewing — Featured seasonal: Weiss Beer (4.8% ABV), a perfect patio beer for the lingering days of summer that just won’t go away.

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

Ex Novo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Ruidoso Together Pale Ale (5.5% ABV), available in cans and on draft and benefiting the southern communities affected by the fires and flooding earlier this year.

Flix Brewhouse  — Featured seasonal: Vampyre Boost Imperial Lager, this year’s collaboration with Steel Bender.

Flock of Moons Brewing — Featured seasonal: Dark Side of the Moons (7.7% ABV, 88 IBU), a little black IPA collaboration that the Crew brewed.

Gravity Bound Brewing — Featured seasonal: Subtitles On, the classic Munich dunkel is back for a limited time, just like every other beer tends to be at GB.

Harmon Lane Brewing at Southwest Grape and Grain — Featured seasonal: Wobble On Crimson Ale, a nifty little red inspired by the brewer, who used to play football for New Mexico State.

High and Dry Brewing — Featured seasonal: Date Night Disaster (5% ABV, 10 IBU), a simple, no-frills stout that’s perfect for this weather.

Hops Brewery — Featured seasonal: Hoptoberfest (4.7% ABV, 25 IBU), the classic lager is on tap for a limited time.

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

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

La Cumbre Brewing — Featured seasonal: La Negra (14.1% ABV), the beautiful beast of a Russian imperial stout is back in bottles and on draft.

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

Late Shift Lager House at The Craftroom — Featured seasonal: We were told that they are currently not brewing, with no timetable for that resuming.

Marble Brewery — Featured seasonal: Pumpkin Noir (8% ABV), the popular fall specialty dark ale, now available in cans and on draft.

Nexus Brewery — Featured seasonal: Beam Me Up (Higher) Scotty (9.3% ABV), the two-time World Beer Cup medal winner is back for the season.

Painted Lady Bed and Brew — Featured seasonal: You’ve Got Red on You, their most recent addition was this popular hoppy red ale.

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.

Rio Bravo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Very Demure (6.7% ABV, 19 IBU), an apricot wheat with a clever name.

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

Sidetrack Brewing — Featured seasonal: Matching Stoutfits (5.8% ABV, 30 IBU), another one of our seasonal favorites, available on draft and (maybe) in cans.

Sobremesa — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest, a festbier-style lager that pairs great with their bone-in pork schnitzel that’s also available for a limited time.

Starr Brothers Brewing — Featured seasonal: Therewolf (6.3% ABV, 21 IBU), the annual Oktoberfest lager release.

Steel Bender Brewyard — Featured seasonal: Barrel-Aged Ale Witch (8.7% ABV, 15 IBU), they took the popular pumpkin ale and put it in rum barrels. Now it’s available in cans and on draft.

Sunday Service Motor Company — Featured seasonal: Cosmic Wave IPA (6.2% ABV, 67 IBU), a West Coast-style hop bomb with some fruity hops up front and a clean, bitter-free finish.

The Tatted Bee Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Game On, an old-school pale ale that is one of the first house beers now on tap.

Thirsty Eye Brewing — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (6% ABV, 20 IBU), a sweet and satisfying märzen lager.

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

Tractor Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Turkey Drool (8.2% ABV), the Crew’s favorite seasonal from this brewery is an amazing holiday concoction.

Turtle Mountain Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Sierra Nativo (5.5% ABV, 37 IBU), as this is a wet-hop pale ale, its availability will be limited, so get it while it’s fresh.

Unhinged Brewing — Featured seasonal: Los Muertos Porter (12% ABV), a collaboration between the brewery and the Worthogs homebrew club, available on draft and there might be a little left of the special barrel-aged version.

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

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 list of seasonals.

Nuckolls Brewing — Featured seasonal: Hoppy Wife, Hoppy Life, a hazy pale ale and a possible contender for Beer Name of the Year.

Rowley Farmhouse Ales — Featured seasonal: Black Dog IPA (7.3% ABV, 50 IBU), a classic black IPA.

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: Tropical Pilsner (5.3% ABV, 34 IBU), a delicious lager that needs to be finished off so some more seasonal-appropriate beer can take its place.

Travel Bug — Featured seasonal: This bookstore/cafe 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: Hilltop Helles (4.7% ABV), because it’s still warm enough during the day for a nice, crisp German lager.

Downshift Brewing — Featured seasonal: Gratitude Pale Ale (5.4% ABV, 40 IBU), brewed to support local charities, and right now $1 from every pint sold goes to helping in the recovery efforts from the South Fork and Salt fires.

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: Rio Rojo Red Ale (4.5% ABV, 30 IBU), a nice malty treat similar to the Irish red, but made with different malts and a German ale yeast that produce some distinctive differences.

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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