It is the inescapable obstacle in the heart of Albuquerque, a daily delay in the commute of thousands. It is also another blow to many a local business that lie along its path.

The construction zone on Interstate 25 that runs from Jefferson almost all the way to the Big I is a mess these days, one that Nexus Brewery can see in the raw sales numbers.

“It was a wild ride. Last year started off pretty strong and ended pretty quietly,” said Nexus head brewer Randy King as we sat down for the annual Look Back/Look Ahead Series interview. “Winning another silver at the World Beer Cup was a lot of fun. But, the biggest theme around here for us right now the freeway construction. It’s just really hurt our overall business has dropped probably 30 percent. Our beer sales are way down. Just the traffic in general at the brewery in and out our doors is way down. Everything has slowed, production has slowed to match consumption.”

Yikes. When we interviewed Nexus owner Ken Carson last year at the start of construction, he said that he anticipated a drop in sales between 20 and 30 percent, with the latter a worst-case scenario. It has come to pass.

I asked King what Nexus is doing to try to get the word out that they need customers to come back.

“Um, well, this right now,” he said of our interview. “Hopefully this helps a little bit. People come over, check things out, realize we’re still here, we still have excellent food, we still have excellent beer. Every winter, January is slow, January is always slow. Now that we’re essentially mid-February, we’re not far, we always get an uptick in March. The warm weather brings people out. We’re excited for that.”

It is not like Nexus is completely inaccessible. The frontage road is down to one lane, true, but traffic is still running fairly smooth. It can still be accessed via a left or right turn off Montgomery (depending on your direction of travel) without much trouble.

In other words, the next time you feel like a brewpub meal, get on over there. After all, we need to give King something to do.

“I’ve been tinkering with recipes, really all of them, very subtle changes,” he said. “But, just kind of looking at things I can do to improve beers. Looking back at comments from the World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Fest and trying to see how I can apply those comments to each beer that we entered. Which, coincidentally, we’re not entering those events this year due to low income.”

In his defense, it does cost around $185 per beer entered in those competitions now, and transporting the beer is another added expense. So while it is a shame that Nexus cannot aim for another medal for the Beam Me Up (Higher) Scotty that won silver last year, it is understandable to hold off for a year.

Another project on indefinite hold was not one that the public would have noticed, but it was something that King had hoped would have a positive impact in the brewery.

“Probably when we last talked, I was excited about getting a new floor in the brewery,” he said. “We had done all this research into doing it. It hadn’t quite panned out yet. We had to figure out timing on our production schedule to lift a brewhouse and six fermenters off the floor. I had gotten a little nerdy about how excited I was about putting new drains. But, when the construction hit, and school started, and the weather cooled off, all the money went away and so did my floor.”

There are still a few new developments at Nexus worth noting. King said they signed with a distributor to get kegs of their beer out to other bars and restaurants. Currently, Nexus has four-packs of 16-ounce cans of Honey Chamomile Wheat, Scottish Ale, Imperial Cream, Oralé Mexican Lager, and Lush American Stout for sale at both the original location and Nexus Blue. They are exploring getting those cans out to a few select stores, too.

Speaking of the Lush, it is out on tap at the original location but still available at Blue. There is also a special small keg of Lush infused with Irish creme that will be released around the Stout Invitational on March 1. A second small keg is headed to the competition in Los Alamos (buy your tickets here), and it was my personal pick as the best of that fest in 2024. When it becomes available in Albuquerque, we will be sure to let everyone know.

As for some other beers in the pipeline, King has been tinkering here and there with bringing back some old favorites and adding some new beers to the seasonal menu.

“Ken wanted to do a new beer that will blend with the southern-style cooking we have here,” King said. “He was suggesting something with some sassafras flavor. I’m kind of tinkering with some ideas for an amber ale base, sarsaparilla, maybe a little nutmeg, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon. I’m not going to necessarily use all those flavors, but I’m just toying with what we can do to make a southern beer to go with our southern food.”

One confirmed beer is a Munich Helles that should be on tap in March, which should be timed well with the return of more consistent warm temperatures. Also on the lighter side, King has an idea spun off one of the regular brews on tap.

“I also had some thoughts about Oralé Mexican Lager, it sells like mad here,” he said. “It’ s a fantastic beer, I love that beer. I’m also considering making a lo-cal version of it, see how that goes. I think that would be fun to do. Keep all the flavor, but cut enough calories out.”

Oh, and there is that one beer that customers keep asking about, even years after it last appeared.

“There’s been a lot of requests for the Strawberry Milkshake IPA that we haven’t made in three or four years,” King said. “It’s so memorable, people ask about it randomly. It was a fun, tasty beer, really odd looking, but really good.”

In other words, there is still plenty of reasons to keep visiting Nexus. The construction is navigable and should not hinder anyone with a craving for chicken and waffles, or any of the other delicious menu items.

“We’re only two-and-a-half years away from it being over,” King added. “That’s if they stay on schedule, and construction never stays on schedule.”

Nexus will turn 14 in May. Let us all get over there to assure that it will get to have an epic 15th anniversary in 2026.

A big thanks to Randy for the interview. We will be back to feast soon, that we can promise.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister