To finish off our recap of the year that was, we are once again rolling through the top stories as voted upon by all of you (as in the ones you read the most) and, when that differs, our picks for the newsiest of the newsy. Or, something like that.

Anyway, as most know by now, 2024 was a tough year in the industry. We saw several breweries and offsite taprooms close. The number of new places opening was small.

The biggest news story of the year was one that was not resolved until 2025 started, as Marble Brewery went from being rumored as closing imminently to being sold to finally having those owners at least partially named. That sale, and the transition that will follow, will likely be the big story to kick off this year.

It was a difficult year, but there were some positive developments along the way, and oftentimes we preferred to highlight those little lights in the darkness.

So without further ado, here are the top stories, month by month, from 2024.

January

Most read: B2B Garden Brewery closes

Our pick: Bosque announces three new taprooms

Things got off to an auspicious start to the new year when B2B shut down. While that space would not stay empty for long, it still wasn’t the best sign for the industry. Then along came those overly ambitious Bosque owners, who said to heck with trends, we are expanding again. Two of those taprooms are now open, one in the old Applebee’s space at San Mateo and Academy, the other in the former Lava Rock Brewing off Unser. That was a definite trend we saw, where if a brewery or taproom shut down, the space was quickly claimed by another brewery. It certainly would save a company a lot on costs to have everything set up, like tap lines, kitchen, plumbing, etc.

February

Most read: Marble entry in Look Back/Look Ahead Series

Our pick: The first malting facility in New Mexico opens

Perhaps you all sensed there was a disturbance in the you-know-what around Marble, or maybe you just love that darned brewery. The second-most-read story of the month, though, was our pick. We have seen the New Mexico agricultural industry embrace the raw materials side of brewing slowly over the years, starting with hop farms, then adding barley to the crop fields. Now there is a place to turn that raw barley into being ready to brew. It ended up being one of those cool, and educational, features.

Honorable mention goes to a sad, quiet end to the Crew’s Stout Challenge (we may bring it back for a final edition, but not until 2026), and Kilt Check Brewing transitioning over to Bossfight Brewing.

March

Most read: Steel Bender entry in Look Back/Look Ahead Series

Our pick: Turtle Mountain celebrates 25th anniversary

Those Bender interviews are always fun, mostly because it feels like co-owners Shelby and Ethan Chant bring more and more staff members to the table every year. Overall, though, we have to honor the Rio Rancho institution that is Turtle Mountain. A quarter century in business is rather remarkable, but particularly as a brewpub. Our hats off to Nico Ortiz, David Pacheco, Jason Stein, and the entire staff.

Honorable mention goes to another bit of foreshadowing, as Tractor won the Stout Invitational in Los Alamos a few months before one of their other stouts would win an even more notable medal.

April

Most read/our pick: Boxing Bear says farewell to original location

Yeah, we agree with all of you that the story of the month was Boxing Bear shutting down their first taproom at Alameda and Corrales. The OG Bear was where they started brewing back in 2015, but a need for more space necessitated the move to the current brewery on Firestone Lane, and as the market shifted and shuffled, it became apparent they would need to consolidate further. Of course, just like B2B and Lava Rock, this space would not stay empty for long.

Honorable mention goes to my quick trip to Southern New Mexico to visit Public House 28 and Open Space Brewing, plus Nexus and Quarter Celtic picked up silver medals at the World Beer Cup. There was also some sad news as Scott Hallenbeck, the owner of the short-lived, but much-loved Hallenbrick Brewery, passed away.

May

Most read: Rumor Brewing entry in Look Back/Look Ahead Series

Our pick: ABQ Beer Week is no more

It was another slow month, and part of the reason is that ABQ Beer Week was no longer running. A series of events that predated the creation of the Brew Crew, those were some bread-and-butter stories for us back when it was at its peak in the mid-2010s. Unfortunately, the distributors began to scale back their participation, a number of local breweries bowed out, and at the end it just seemed to be down to Tractor and a few others keeping it alive. Now, we have been told that it could always come back in the future, but with organizer Marne Gaston now living across the country, we would not blame her one bit if she would rather leave this in the past.

June

Most read: The Tatted Bee Brewhouse opens

Our pick: Vision City prepares to take over former Boxing Bear space

Honestly, either of those stories could rank as the big one of the month. Both proved our previous point about new places taking over former brewing spaces. The Tatted Bee took the place of the short-lived Black Snout Brewhouse up on Juan Tabo and Menaul. It also recycled a brewer, sort of, by bringing former Steel Bender head brewer Bob Haggerty out of beer-making semi-retirement. As for Vision City, since they were a brewstillery named for Rio Rancho, it made a whole lot of sense to eventually go west of the Rio Grande. Financially, it made even more sense to take a place built to make and serve craft alcohol, rather than attempt to repurpose some other random building up on the hill.

Honorable mention goes to our first visit/interview with the Dripline Brewery owners.

July

Most read/our pick: Gravity Bound wins New Mexico IPA Challenge

This is always a slow month for big news beyond the good, reliable NMIPAC. Once again, we covered the Santa Fe and Albuquerque rounds, and we were there to talk to Gravity Bound co-owner Chris Frigon right after his brewery won its second trophy in three years by a landslide. We may not be on the haze craze train like a lot of you, but we respect that Chris and his brother/brewer/co-owner Cameron Frigon really know what they’re doing when it comes to making top-notch cloudy IPAs. Also, kudos to host brewery Bow & Arrow on running such a smooth show on that crowded final day.

Well, actually there were a couple honorable mention stories this month. Nexus talked about how the I-25 construction would affect the business, and Boxing Bear prepared 10 days worth of events to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

August

Most read: Ex Novo opens downtown location

Our pick: The three-part story of how Keeping Together kept it together

Yes, we know, that Ex Novo opening was probably the most anticipated of the year in Albuquerque, but we gotta honor Luke’s above-and-beyond effort to tell the story of the next brewery in Santa Fe. Everyone up there has very high hopes for Keeping Together, and we were happy to see a happy ending for a story that could have ended in financial disaster. Again, focus on the positive whenever and wherever we can!

September

Most read: Red Door no longer brewing in Albuquerque

Our pick: Downshift starts Collective Good campaign

Once again, for the record, Red Door is still brewing a little out in Clovis, but the Albuquerque bar/kitchen is just that, a (very nice) bar and kitchen. It made people a little sad after all those years of enjoying their beers. If that was bad news, then what happened in Ruidoso this summer was catastrophic news, with devastating forest fires followed by destructive flash floods. Leave it to Downshift Brewing to step up to help, launching the Collective Good campaign where breweries across the state could create special brews (either off the Downshift kolsch recipe or any other chosen brew) to help raise funds for Ruidoso. Heck, we in the Crew even got involved later, with a little help from our friends at Flock of Moons.

Honorable mention goes to yet another new place opening in an old place, as Brekki Brekki/Cantina Craftworks took over the B2B Garden Brewery space on Comanche near Wyoming. There was also another brewery turning 25 years old, as Tractor celebrated their anniversary.

October

Most read: The big rumor

Our pick: Gravity Bound and Boese Brothers to share a brewing space

We had to address what at the time was the unsubstantiated rumor that Marble Brewery was closing, though back then we could not get a soul on the record to explain the situation. These things happen, and as we all found out later, the brewery was for sale. By January, we learned the new owners’ identities. Among stories we could confirm was the one where Gravity Bound is taking over the Boese Brothers space at Sixth and Gold. GB will operate the taproom as a coffee-and-lager house, but in the back, both breweries will share the brewhouse and other equipment. BB can focus their energies on their other locations, while GB gets to increase brewing capacity to keep up with customer demand. It was a win-win.

Honorable mention goes to all our local winners at the Great American Beer Festival competition — Tractor (their first!), Quarter Celtic, and Boxing Bear.

November

Most read/our pick: Lizard Tail Brewing shuts down

After a decade of beers across three locations, Lizard Tail became the final major brewery casualty of 2024. Owner Dan Berry was gracious enough to talk to us about why he ultimately decided to walk away from the industry.

Honorable mention goes to Dripline Brewery holding their grand opening at last, and the Salud craft bar (operated by Rowley Farmhouse Ales) opening in Santa Fe.

December

Yeah, we basically took the month off, save for The Week Ahead in Beer and sharing a couple scattered news bits. It was fine, we needed the break, and so did the breweries. The good news is a few of them have already responded in the affirmative to doing interviews here in January. The Look Back/Look Ahead Series will restart, hopefully we get to sit down with the new Marble owners soon, and we will keep on top of all the news (good and bad) as it happens.

Keep supporting local, now more than ever!

— Stoutmeister