The skies overhead might have been gray and cold this morning, but maybe it was appropriate to have a rather Irish winter day when heading over to Quarter Celtic Brewpub and Meadery for their entry in our annual Look Back/Look Ahead Series.

Co-owner Ror McKeown was there, being that guy wearing shorts in the wintertime, with a genuine smile on his face as we went over the year that was and the year that has now begun.

“Actually, 2024 for us was great,” he said. “People are starting to come back out again, which is a good feeling. We don’t distribute, so we make sales from people coming in the building. We’re seeing customer patterns changing back to pre-pandemic, coming back out, hang out in groups, which is awesome. It made for a good year.”

It was a particularly good year when it came to winning awards on the brewing side of the business.

“On the beer side, we kind of hit the trifecta,” Ror said. “We got a World Beer Cup silver with our Kill or be Kilt, followed that up with the Great American Beer Festival gold for the Vienna, and then right when that happened — but we couldn’t talk about it (publicly) — we won a gold from the European Beer Star for the Vienna in Germany. We’re going to say we have the best Vienna lager in the world, GABF and the European Beer Star. I’m not taking that back.”

Ror’s brother and co-owner, Brady, was unable to join us Thursday, but his imprint is everywhere around the brewery, with award banners overhead and medals on the walls.

“What also happened in 2024, this is an extra one, but we got best of show at the Australian International (Beer Awards) for Prince of Dortness,” Ror added. “Best of show means it got the gold in its category, and then they took all the golds from the 13 European-style lagers and put them in a cage match, and we won that one. Brady’s killing it with the European-style lagers.”

So yes, one can say that Quarter Celtic dominated three continents in 2024. Ror also noted that it was a true family affair on the brewhouse, as his son, Keegan, is now Brady’s top assistant.

“Brady and Keegan are making a great team,” Ror said. “It’s probably the best vibe we’ve had in the brewery to date since the beginning. I think they’re both enjoying working with each other. You can tell, because they’re stretching themselves (creatively).”

Ah, yes, what is old is new again at Quarter Celtic.

“Early in the year we drove up to Denver and bought a couple of tanks from a brewery that was closing down, to start our mead program,” Ror said. “It’s going over very well with the customers. People are loving it. Who knew that the world’s oldest drink is the new cool thing at QC?

“And then, both those guys are very excited to try it, because it’s different. It’s the same, but it’s different. They’re having a good time messing around with the different flavor profiles. We started kind of safe, but now a year into it, they’re stretching their legs a little bit and coming up with some new ideas for mead. Now that we have the license to do mead, we may start doing our own cider, but we’re taking baby steps. We only have so many taps. The more we do that, that’s why we picked up the extra tanks.”

Ror did add that with the meads, it has slowed down the rotation of seasonal beers — we have all been waiting and waiting on the return of that award-winning Vienna lager — but at the end of the day, “We’re glad we did it. It’s been a fun experiment.”

“And then, lastly, for 2024, we’ve got a great group of customers,” Ror said. “The OG has been open for nine years, the taproom is coming up on six this year. It’s always a fun atmosphere. We’ve got a solid staff. Staffing in the front of house is easy, we’ve got people since the day we opened. Kitchen is getting solid, which is helping, because the food is starting to turn heads. We’re bringing in a lot of new customers for the food. My chef here has won best gastropub from Edible New Mexico. For some reason, we’re always in the top five for best wings.

“The beer is always on point. People are starting to come out again. All of those things a recipe for making us feel warm and fuzzy for 2024.”

So what is on deck for 2025? More of the same, hopefully.

“For ’25, we’re just hoping to replicate ’24,” Ror said. “I enjoy running a family business. I look forward coming to work. I work with two of my best friends, who just happen to be my brother and my son. The work-life balance is really nice. When you get here, it’s work, but you’re hanging out with your buds. We’ve got a lot of staff that’s been here a long time, so they feel like family (too). I never complain about showing up to work.”

The aim on the beer side is to keep up with this quasi-world dominance run on lagers.

“Like every year, I’m hoping that Brady can win more medals,” Ror said. “He’s been in a nice groove lately. I’m biased, but I think he’s one of the best brewers around. We’ve got some medallions and other accolades to throw up on the wall to back it up. We’re still one of the smaller guys (brewery wise). When people think of us they think of us more as a restaurant than a brewery, which isn’t the worst thing. A lot of our sales are food. The change in that formula seems to be working well.”

Upcoming beers will include a barrel-aged version of the Irish Handcuffs imperial stout that’s on tap now. The heftier version should appear around St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Brady and Keegan are also brewing up some beers to be entered in this year’s World Beer Cup.

“We know we’re doing Capri-derhosen, which was a gold medal winner a few years ago,” Ror said of the German-style red lager. “They brewed that one yesterday. I’m not sure if he wanted me to do it, but I did it, I signed us up for a cider. We haven’t brewed one yet, so maybe lightning will strike and we’ll get some beginner’s luck. But, at least it’s an impetus to get us started on brewing cider. Anything those guys do on the brewhouse ends up coming out delicious. I know they’ll do a good job.”

The mead program, which has evolved beyond simply being an experiment, will continue. Brady has worked with Jeff Giese of the Dukes of Ale as an advisor, and they have a special collaboration prickly pear mead due out soon.

Beyond the two current locations, Ror did say he is not opposed to a possible third Quarter Celtic.

“I don’t really want to go on record about this, but I guess we can,” he said. “If something, a unicorn, shows up in Rio Rancho, a pre-existing restaurant, we’ll entertain looking at it. We’re not actively looking, but it would be a third location. We’ve looked in the far Northeast Heights, around the Paseo corridor, but the people who come in here and want to see us open a third are on the Westside. I’m not kidding myself, they want our fish and chips.”

As far as off-site events, Quarter Celtic has entered a bid to compete in the Stout Invitational at Bathtub Row in March, plus they will be back at a renaissance fair and at the Chocolate and Coffee Festival around that time, as well. It should make for a busy month, what with the brewery’s signature holiday in the middle.

“Obviously we’ve got St. Patrick’s, it’s on a Monday, so it will probably be a fun weekend and then on Monday we’ll do the usual blueprint of shrink the menu,” Ror said.

Trivia nights up at the Heights taproom have also proven to be ridiculously popular.

“It’s funny, I worked the Heights last night and they hadn’t had trivia in two weeks, and you’d think we deprived them of water or something,” Ror said with a laugh. “They came out in droves. We got creamed last night. They were thirsting for knowledge. I want to get (the organizer) down here one day, (but) he’s also got a full-time job at Intel.”

As always, a big thanks to Ror for meeting up before the start of business (and for that much needed cup of coffee, because even I can’t drink beer at the time). It’s great to restart this annual series after a month off with a bit of positivity.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister