In a year where breweries around the country pulled back, Albuquerque’s JUNO Brewery expanded and more than doubled production, finding success even in a difficult environment.

Co-owner Jason Marks sat down with us for the annual Look Back/Look Ahead Series last week to discuss all of the positive developments for his brewery.

“The big news is in 2024 we went from being one location to three,” Marks said. “I’m really happy to be in Edgewood, I like the community. We partnered with them for July 4 and the Edgewood 25, which was the (town’s) 25th anniversary. It’s mostly played out as we expected, which has been good. It’s taken too long to get the kitchen fully permitted, but it’s manageable.”

The Edgewood taproom, located at 1913 U.S. Rte 66, right off I-25 on exit 187, has certainly provided a big boost.

“We’re pretty good at delivering a limited menu, but in terms of kitchen build-out, it was the hood,” Marks said, noting that it needed a full permit before they can use that part of the kitchen. “If I had to do it again, I know how to do it. You just have spend a lot more than you think you will, or you should, but you will spend less than what we did trying to piecemeal it and save money.

“The hood is almost permitted. It’s 75 percent of the way through the process. Hopefully we’ll have a full kitchen in Edgewood within a month. I’ve been saying that for a while, but this time there’s reason to believe that it will happen. Getting people some more food offerings out there will be good.”

Otherwise, as Marks said, the reception in Edgewood has been positive, sales have been strong, and it has helped JUNO just as they had intended.

“One of the many great things about opening Edgewood is our brewing cycle is a lot busier,” Marks added. “We have a 7-barrel system and we brew roughly once a week. Some weeks we don’t brew and some we brew two (batches), so it evens out. We did 293 barrels (in 2024), the year before we did 125 to 140. It makes things easier when you’re brewing more frequently. We’re able to economize our yeast. We’re able to economize a little more on the utilities, how water and cool water. We’re turning over our grain inventory and hops inventory quicker.”

As for the lesser-known third location, it lies quite a bit farther south.

“We have a taproom license in (Truth or Consequences),” Marks said. “It’s in the El Cortez Theater. It’s not very active. But, it is a beachhead, and we did renew for this year, so we’re trying to figure out how to make it work a little better.

“They like our (New Hope) IPA down there, and it’s interesting, they really don’t care much for the lagers. Which is strange, because people like my IPA, but they really like the lagers here (in Albuquerque).”

As for the main location in Albuquerque, Marks said he is keenly aware of the struggles of many of his neighbors. He said that JUNO is lucky not to have any debt, which helps, but so does their focus on being an event-heavy brewery.

“Our neighbors, Hollow (Spirits), have gone to (being open for) events only,” Marks said. “My sense is that a lot of the Albuquerque taprooms and bars are really relying on events more and more. … That was his assessment, we’re busy when we have events and we’re not when we don’t. We decided to do something different, which is basically we put more stuff (on the calendar). It’s not easy.”

Just stacking the nights with bands and other performers, though, is not enough. There has to be a little more to it to truly bring in the community.

“Our events, for us, certainly we want to bring people in, drink our beverages,” Marks said. “But, they’re also a community type of thing, and that’s kind of what makes it worthwhile for us to keep putting the energy into it, to making stuff successful here. We had a great event called Hispanic Heritage on Mexican Independence Day. I closed the street, got all the permits. We had security and an outdoor stage. It was so much fun. It’s fun to work with folks we usually work with, and folks we hadn’t worked with before.”

Marks said that he and his wife and co-owner, Maxine, even attended the recent wedding of two members of a band that frequently performs at JUNO.

“Those people I wouldn’t have known without doing this,” he said. “They’ve become our friends. They’ve been to our house during the holidays. There’s multiple people who have become our friends. I like that. We’ll provide space for different communities.”

That even includes a community to which members of the Brew Crew are well acquainted.

“I’ve been working with, not my jam, but the heavy metal community,” Marks said. “I hired a bartender who was doing some metal shows here. They’re nice people, it’s just not my music. They’re just looking for a place to be accepted and gather. That’s been positive.”

Trust us, that is nice praise from a non-metalhead about metalheads.

Beyond a wide mixture of types of music, Marks said that JUNO would like to get back to a more consistent calendar of events.

“In 2022-23, I was great about that,” Marks said. “Our (events) schedule got scrambled around this past year. I’m going to try to get back to that.”

Bands and other groups are now contacting JUNO regularly to find slots, though Marks said they are booked out on Fridays and Saturdays through April.

“For this coming year, (adding) food in Edgewood, developing more steady business down in TorC, and just kind of doing what we’ve been doing downtown a little better,” Marks said are his 2025 goals.

Sometimes, when things are going well, there is no reason to shake it up. We will take that good news about one of our local breweries and run with it.

Oh, and Marks really wanted me to try his new Munich Dunkel, and it turned out to be a delicious dark lager addition to the regular lineup. Make sure to try it, maybe during a metal show, or a Latin show, or whatever music is your scene. A big thanks to Jason for the interview, and the beer.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister