While it is always fun to check out a new brewery on opening day, it has always felt like something rather important is missing when one opens without its own beer on tap. That was what happened at Dripline Brewery towards the end of last year. We heard plenty of people commenting on how much they loved the space, enjoyed the vibe, and looked forward to warmer days to enjoy the expansive outdoor area. But, they also wondered what the beer would be like, and so did we. Well, this Friday at 3 p.m., we can all head back to Dripline and try their first beer brewed on site. Dripline Amber Ale will be tapped, marking the next step for the brewery’s ongoing growth and evolution. Owners Guillame Dupont and Jacob Werenko worked with former Marble/Chama River/Ponderosa brewer Andrew Krosche on that first batch. It’s always nice to have an experienced set of eyes available when starting out. We are definitely looking forward to being there to try it Friday at the corner of Second Street and Summer, and before anyone says “it’s just an amber,” we would point out that the sheer number of you all pining for a return of that style (no, really, we hear it all the time) better be ready to line up for a pint or two. Let’s go raise a pint to Dripline, and then look forward to what we’re sure are going to be a lot more beers rolling out in the coming weeks.

New Draft:

Bombs Away recently tapped S.A.F. Papaya, their latest sour ale variant. Bosque rolled out The Rambler, a double red ale, and Potato Cannon, a sweet potato porter. Marble tapped Abbey Brett and Pine Mountain IPA. Starr Brothers brought back Ramshackle, an international amber lager. (UPDATES) Boxing Bear and Starr Brothers unveiled their latest collaboration, Wakin’ Bacon, a smoked maple brown ale. Canteen tapped Vinnie Barbarino Italian Pils. Casa Vieja added Birra Italiano (what a coincidence). Sidetrack tapped Space Coyote Red IPA. Sobremesa added Mesa Negra, an international dark lager.

New Package:

Bow & Arrow has released Riding the Range Once More, a new hazy IPA, in cans and on draft. La Cumbre will release Dortmunder Lager in cans and on draft Friday. (UPDATES) Bow & Arrow will also release Amigo Fruited Sour in cans and on draft Friday. Boxing Bear will bring back Standing 8 Stout in cans and on draft Friday. Ex Novo brought back Half Mass IPA, a 4-percent ABV version of Mass Ascension, in cans and on draft.

Notable Events:

Friday — Tractor Wells Park will host the first Goth Night & Dark Market of the year at 8 p.m.

Saturday — Canteen has a new event called Puzzles & Pints, and while it is sold out, they encourage other folks to come to the brewery and see what it’s all about from noon to 4 p.m.

The Ponderosa Market will run from noon to 5 p.m.

High and Dry has another Punk Rock Matinee featuring Roadside Memorial and The Ouija Chords from 3 to 5 p.m.

The Desert Darlings and many of their friends are heading to 1001 Nights of Bellydance at Second Street Rufina at 8 p.m.

Tuesday — Duke City Story Slam returns to Canteen from 6 to 8 p.m.

Quick News Bits:

The names have been named when it comes to the new owners of Marble Brewery. We hope to sit down and interview them sooner than later.

Rumor Brewing has launched a Kickstarter campaign to build a new playground for all the children of their customers who could use a fun place to play. Check out this link for more information.

La Reforma will close early Sunday at 4 p.m. for their employee holiday party.

Kaktus Brewing is back from winter break as of this past Tuesday. They are again open normal hours, with all of your favorite weekly events back for another year.

New winter hours at Flock of Moons are noon to 10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, noon to 11 Thursday, and noon to midnight Friday and Saturday.

Painted Lady Bed and Brew shared their new hours for the Ghost Light Saloon. They will be open 5 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, 5 to 10 on Fridays and Saturdays, and 5 to 9 on Sundays.

After a reader tipped us off that Palmer Brewery beers are no longer on tap at Left Turn Distilling, we removed their entry below. We hope to have more on this story soon. And before anyone asks, Rob is fine. Nobody panic on that front.

Quarter Celtic’s Vienna Lager (returning soon) won another gold medal, this time at the European Beer Star competition. It previously won at the Great American Beer Festival in October. Congrats, again, to the QC brewing team!

Albuquerque metro area breweries

Boese Brothers Brewery  — Featured seasonal: Brown Ale (5% ABV), an English-style, sessionable brown.

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: Driftwood (5.9% ABV, 35 IBU), the classic oatmeal stout is back in cans and on draft for a limited time.

Bossfight Brewing (formerly Kilt Check Brewing) — Featured seasonal: Dark Magic Baltic Porter, a beer so good it will double your usual pinball score. Well, maybe not, but it’s good.

Bow & Arrow Brewing — Featured seasonal: Frosty Mesa (5% ABV), a crisp German-style pilsner, is now available in cans and on draft.

Boxing Bear Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Metal Head Stout (6.66% ABV), one of our seasonal favorites, is nearly out, down to just draft at the Firestone location, so get it quick.

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

Brew Lab 101 Beer & Cider Company — Featured seasonal: Singularity BBA Imperial Stout (11% ABV), the annual barrel-aged beast is back on tap.

Canteen Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Grundy Thunder Porter (6.2% ABV, 25 IBU), a robust porter perfect for the season, available in cans and on draft.

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

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

Differential Brewing — Featured seasonal: Chai Stout (5% ABV, 24 IBU), a darker way to enjoy your favorite tea spice.

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

Ex Novo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Kill the Sun, the annual release of four Russian imperial stouts in bottles and on draft, with the adjunct-free Grand Cru, and the decadent trio of variants — Pecan Pie, Almond Coffee, and Biscochito.

Flix Brewhouse  — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery/movie theater for an updated list of seasonals.

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, benefiting Ruidoso.

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: Oktoberfest-ivus (6.9%), a hefty lager that everyone needs to help drink up, darn it!

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: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

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: Turkish Style Coffee Stout (7.5% ABV) is once again 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: To The Brim With Fright, a dark Christmas ale that will keep the spooky in the season.

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: Stay Wild (5.3% ABV, 15 IBU), because sometimes you need a refreshing American lager as a break from (or warm-up to) all these big beers.

Sobremesa — Featured seasonal: Stout Seco, an Irish dry stout is now on tap.

Starr Brothers Brewing — Featured seasonal: Nuts and Nibs (6% ABV, 27 IBU), a special barrel-aged version of the peanut butter porter collab between SBB and Boxing Bear.

Steel Bender Brewyard — Featured seasonal: Italian Stallion (6.1% ABV, 65 IBU), a bigger, stronger, hoppier version of Esmerelda, now available 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: Tatted Stout, a nice and chewy dark ale of decadence.

Thirsty Eye Brewing — Featured seasonal: Biscochito Liquido, the annual holiday favorite is back on tap for a limited time.

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: Scarlet Letter (12.5%), the brewery’s first seltzer is an imperial one, made with cranberry and sage.

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: Winter Lager, a season-appropriate seasonal if we ever saw one.

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: Sin Barreras – Colkegan Barrel ’24 (13.5% ABV, 50 IBU), a little of this barrel-aged beast of an imperial stout is still on tap after Blackest Friday, so get it while it lasts!

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: Superior Porter (6.3% ABV, 34 IBU), a seasonal-appropriate robust porter, available in cans and on draft.

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: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Other breweries you need to visit

Bathtub Row Brewing — Featured seasonal: Oz’s Oatmeal Stout (5% ABV), it’s back on tap after a short absence, because you need a stout after skiing at Pajarito, right?

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: Russian Imperial Stout (10% ABV, 30 IBU), which proves you just have to head north into the colder regions of New Mexico to find the big stouts.

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.

* * * *

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