Imagine having a full-time job and trying to still squeeze in enough time to cover a local scene with 40-plus breweries.

Imagine trying to open a new brewing location and still finding the time to sit down and do an interview amid all the construction/demolition/setup.

First-world problems, for sure, but a late equipment delivery kept the Brothers Frigon, Chris and Cameron of Gravity Bound fame, from being able to sit down this past Friday for our scheduled interview about the Lasso Brewing project that is taking up much of their time and energy right now.

Lasso is the name for the combo lager-and-coffee house that is being built in the old Boese Brothers space at Gold and Sixth Street downtown. The two breweries are sharing the brewing space in the back, but will not share the same brewhouse, and it was that hefty piece of equipment that arrived later than expected.

Fear not, we will set up a new time and let you all in on the many details and developments over there. It will probably be a summer opening now, rather than spring, but good things come to those who wait and all that.

Now let us clear out the rest of the notebook.

Aztec will soon get its brewery back

Many months ago, we reported that 550 Brewing in Aztec had been sold to new owners. Then came the silence, the days and weeks passing with no news. We came to fear that the only brewery in Aztec would not reopen.

Thankfully, we were wrong. A few photos of renovations at the space we shared to Instagram, and then we spotted on the Alcohol Beverage Control license portal that 550 Brewing was reactivated.

That is all the news for now, but basically once they are ready to brew again, 550 can dive right in with that active license. We will keep monitoring social media and let folks traveling up to northwest New Mexico know when Aztec is again a viable beer stop.

One big asking price for a local brewery

The 377 Brewery is for sale, as first reported by Albuquerque Business First and then by local TV stations. The owners are retiring, per those stories, and are hoping to hand over the keys to the joint rather than simply shut it all down.

That leads us to the asking price, $2.4 million, that has caught a lot of people by surprise. Yeah, it is quite high (another brewery owner told us if he was offered that much money for his place, which is bigger than The 377, he would sell immediately and retire), but we cannot exactly fault them for seeking the best deal.

The only question now is will they get that much, or close to it? A comparable business that is also for sale in Rio Rancho is The Local Brewhouse, a bar that does not brew, but its owner is also looking to retire. He is asking for $2.8 million, but that includes the building and the land, while The 377 offer does not include the land.

If The 377 does get anything close to $2.4 million, will it lead to a rash of other brewery owners putting their places up for sale? Well, probably not. New Mexico is not exactly swimming in millionaires. Still, it is worth noting that we are getting to the point where quite a few brewery owners are reaching their 60s and 70s, so more retirement-induced sales could be on the horizon over the next decade or so.

Finally tally of the licenses not renewed

We have been reporting for a while now about who did and did not renew their small brewer licenses for 2025-26, and at this point we feel fairly comfortable in listing the 12 places that did not renew.

Four places are definitely closed — Bossfight, B2B Garden Brewery (now Brekki Brekki), Lizard Tail and Palmer Brewery. High Desert in Las Cruces caught fire back in 2023 and never managed to raise the funds necessary to rebuild and reopen.

Some places that never brewed or fully opened to the public dropped their licenses. Those included the Il Vicino on Montgomery and Noisy Water Brewing in Ruidoso (the winery never opened this sister business). Wanted Brewing and Distilling has been making and bottling spirits for some time now, but they never opened their Las Vegas taproom to the public, and it appears they will just stick with distilling and not brew.

We have mentioned before that Bosque Brewing is taking over Sobremesa, and while they still have not made that official/public yet, the license was not renewed. We do expect that it will eventually be recreated under the Bosque umbrella, as that is too nice of a brewery setup to let gather dust.

The others that appear to be done are Chile Line Brewing in Santa Fe and Roosevelt Brewing in Portales. And then there is Blue Heron Brewing in Rinconada, which appears to still be open, so we are not sure if that is a lingering paperwork snafu. We will keep an eye on that one to see if something changes there.

From the Cask to the Funk

Saturday ended up being a lovely day for Sidetrack’s annual Cask Fest, with near-perfect weather, a sell-out crowd that never felt overcrowded, and some tasty offerings from a baker’s dozen firkins.

AmyO and Dave were also on hand, and the three of us agreed that the standouts included Ex Novo’s Maibock, Flock of Moons’ Owl’s Eye American Pale Ale, and Second Street’s award-winning Brown Ale.

There were only two that we not quite up to par, and while we won’t identify them, one seemed like a noble experiment that just didn’t click quite the way it was intended. We will be interested to see if that brewery makes another go of that style in the future.

While we were there, members of the Brewers Guild made sure to remind us that Fete de la Funk is coming up April 19 at Flock of Moons. Though I am not much of a sour/funky beer drinker, it is still a good way to support the Guild, and I have a feeling the vibe will be very cask-like on an even bigger patio. So I went ahead and bought a ticket, and you can still buy one, too. There is a $5 off early bird discount that runs through today (Monday).

Remember, even if you ultimately can’t handle too much of the funk, you can go inside and snag one of Flock’s beers.

That is all for now. If there is any beer news out that that is fit for (digital) print, please send it our way via social media or email us directly at nmdarksidebrewcrew@gmail.com.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister