There is a lot happening this weekend, and it’s not just all the Mardi Gras-themed events. Bow & Arrow Brewing celebrates their ninth anniversary with a big party Saturday that starts when they open at noon and runs all the way until closing time at 10 p.m. There are four new canned beer releases (see below), plus live music from Brandon Post, DJ Corn Cob, and DJ Garronteed. Food will be provided by Navajo Tacos and Smash N Crispy Burgers, plus there will be sweet and savory bites for dessert from Momo + Co. and Picnic NM. The best part? It’s free to get in, so you can save your money for the beer and food (and a tip or two for the performers wouldn’t hurt). Even if you head up to the Stout Invitational that day, you can always return home, leave the car, and grab a rideshare down to Sixth Street and McKnight to pay tribute to a true trailblazer of a brewery. Happy anniversary, Bow & Arrow!

New Draft:

Boese Brothers tapped Irish Red, and Zeus Juice White IPA is nearly ready for its annual debut. Bosque added Fire Aim Ready!, a new IPA. Brekki Brekki tapped Prickly Pear Sour. Dripline added Knotty Amber and did tap First Drop IPA after it was delayed last week. Harmon Lane recently tapped Wind Blows IPA. La Reforma added Wasted Daze IPA. Marble tapped Milky Güey, a dark ale. Nexus will tap a single sixtel of Irish Coffee-infused Lush American Stout on Monday. Rio Bravo added a spring edition of Märzen. Tractor will release Hüll Melon Juicy Pale Ale on Friday. (UPDATE) Canteen will tap Sun Flyer Hazy IPA on Friday.

Up in Santa Fe, Rowley Farmhouse Ales tapped a Belgian lager, Brigitte. Over in Los Alamos, Bathtub Row added Brick & Spoon ESB.

New Package:

Bosque will release Shandy Lakes in cans and on draft this Friday. Bow & Arrow’s four anniversary beers are NINE, a Czech-style pilsner, Blue Jean Baby Hazy IPA, Way-Out Scenic West Fruited Hazy IPA, and Lav Letters to the Southwest, a lavender-and-lemon sour, all available Saturday in cans and on draft. (UPDATE) Ex Novo brought back Taste the Rain, Bro, a juicy IPA, in cans and on draft.

Notable Events:

Thursday through Tuesday — Mardi Gras in the Mountains is a multi-day event held every year in Red River, and of course Red River Brewery and Distillery will be at the heart of it all. Check out the social media pages by searching Mardi Gras in the Mountains for full details and schedules.

Thursday — The New Mexico School for the Arts will hold a fundraiser at Second Street Railyard from 5 to 9 p.m.

Bosque’s latest edition of Trivia for a Cause: Grease will be at the West taproom off Unser at 6 p.m.

Friday — The Bossfight Farewell Party will rage from open to close.

Gin & Jazz: History of Jazz Edition will be at Tractor Wells Park at 5 p.m.

Saturday — The New Mexico Brewers Guild’s annual Stout Invitational is at Bathtub Row in Los Alamos. All three sessions are sold out.

The Yuc’ng Fun Run will take place at the Canteen Taproom at 6 p.m.

Brew Lab 101 will host a Mardi Gras Party at 7 p.m.

Boxing Bear Firestone will host the Zach Abeyta & Friends Comedy Night at 8 p.m.

JUNO will host the annual Brazilian Carnival at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door.

Sunday — Bosque North will host the Sip & Shop Market from 1 to 5 p.m.

The First Sunday Market is back at Tumbleroot Agua Fria at 2 p.m.

The weekly Kaktus Kats Blues Jam will be a Mardi Gras party from 2 to 5 p.m.

Canteen will host their own Mardis Gras celebration starting at 4 p.m.

Tuesday — Little Toad Creek has an all-day Mardi Gras party in Silver City, with Cajun food, live music, and more, from opening at 11:30 a.m. to close.

Beer for a Better Burque Pint Night is back at Tractor Wells Park all day, this time in support of the Barrett Foundation.

Quick News Bits:

Tickets for Sidetrack’s Cask Fest will go on sale Monday at 10 a.m.

For those who have been clamoring for an update on what’s going on at the state legislature in regards to breweries this year, here is a big update on a change to House Bill 417.

Kaktus Brewing had an update in their weekly newsletter that there will be some major road construction starting soon on South Hill Road, so they are asking folks for some extra support while that’s going on. But, the good news is it will be to build Sandoval County’s newest and largest animal shelter, and that also means that utilities will now extend out there, which Kaktus will be able to tap into and help improve even more aspects at the brewery (bigger bathrooms, better water resources for brewing/growing food, etc.).

Albuquerque metro area breweries

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

Bombs Away Beer Company — Featured seasonal: Chuck’s Pilsner (5.4% ABV), a single-hop and single-malt lager made with malt from Schwebach Malz in Estancia.

Bosque Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Potato Cannon (6.3%), a sweet potato porter that won’t take a door off a car.

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 only in cans.

Boxing Bear Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Scotch Rocket (7.5% ABV), a classic wee heavy, now available only in cans.

Brekki Brekki — Featured seasonal: Cherry Stout (5% ABV), on draft for a limited time.

Brew Lab 101 Beer & Cider Company — Featured seasonal: Guatemalan Express, a coffee-infused Mexican-style amber lager.

Canteen Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Pop’s Pilsner (5.2% ABV, 40 IBU), the right crispy lager as the weather (maybe kinda sorta) warm up, available in cans and on draft.

Casa Vieja Brewery — Featured seasonal: Birra Italiano (5.1% ABV), an Italian-style pilsner, if you could not guess by the name.

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

Differential Brewing — Featured seasonal: Mint Porter (4.7% ABV, 35 IBU), which is way better than those little mint and chocolate candies they leave in fancy hotels.

Dripline Brewery — Featured seasonal: Le Chat Roux (6.6% ABV), is a hefty, malty amber ale, and while it’s technically a year-round beer, everything is new at the newest brewery in town and we are highlighting because it’s damn good.

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

Ex Novo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Nevermore (12.1% ABV), the barrel-aged black barleywine of your dreams is somehow still available on draft and in bottles, so let us rectify that ASAP.

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

Flock of Moons Brewing — Featured seasonal: Tomorrow Begat Tomorrow (10.2% ABV), a big, sweet, not too yeasty Belgian dark strong.

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: Winter Doppelbock, a hefty lager to get you through the chilly season.

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: Reserve Ale (10% ABV), an annual barrel-aged strong ale favorite, is back on draft and in cans for a limited time.

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: La Madera Mild (5.5% ABV, 22 IBU), a chewy little biscuit of an English-style brew that is perfect before or after a day on the hiking trails around Cedar Crest.

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: Wakin’ Bacon (7.2% ABV, 20 IBU), a smoked maple brown ale brewed in collaboration with Boxing Bear, it’s quite the dessert ale.

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: Red Velvet Cake Stout (8.2% ABV), a not-too-sweet dessert beer that hides the ABV rather well.

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: Tatooine Spring (7.8% ABV), the imperial amber is back for another run.

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: Second-String Loser (9.6% ABV, 26 IBU), a Belgian golden strong ale.

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: Red Hammer DIPA (7.8% ABV), red in color and hoppy as can be, this beer will stir the senses.

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.

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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