After spending a few months waiting on that other project, The Brothers Frigon — Chris and Cameron — invited me over to Gravity Bound Brewing last week to at least spend a little time talking about their original brewery.

Since it opened in 2020, Gravity Bound has seemingly had some project going on in the background. They redid the bar area, the patio has gone through several evolutionary cycles that culminated with the shade structure, and in general there has always been a buzz beyond just people being excited about the beer itself.

Now the construction project is a mile away at the former Boese Brothers location downtown, which Gravity Bound is transforming into the future Lasso Brewing out front, while both breweries share the production facility in the back.

All of this is happening amid a national downturn with the economy and more.

“I think GB is doing great,” Chris said. “Obviously, we could either get the complete zoom-out lens and focus on all the (big-picture) chaos, or be a small brewery, focus on the community, doing a good job with that. And our patrons, our customers, and our friends have just been showing up for us for the past four, going on five years. Hopefully we keep on doing it.”

The big project at Gravity Bound in 2024 was finishing the patio.

“Obviously, it took a year longer than expected and it cost more than expected,” Chris said. “(The customers) put up with a lot of construction, going in, going out, not having any shade out here, it being way too cold to sit out here anyway. Once we threw some tables out here, they’re just flocking to it. Now no one will sit inside.”

If they do go inside, it is usually to order a beer. The menu has been fuller of late, with seven beers on tap during my visit this past Friday.

“We’ve been able to brew a few batches over at that space,” Cameron said of the shared brewing space. “It was good to go. It’s been nice to have that additional capacity. It’s taken a little bit of pressure to turn over these 5-barrel tanks. So, actually as you say that, probably this weekend I’d say four of these beers (on the menu) are about to kick.”

Whoops, sorry about that little jinx.

“We’ve been able to keep the Mexican Lager on, which is great,” Chris said. “A light-lager option has been our choke point with the 5-barrel system. Being able to do 15-barrel batches over there has been awesome.”

“It’s been good, usually by this time of year we’re treading water,” Cameron added. “This year, we’re feeling pretty proud of ourselves for having a relatively full menu.”

“Just wait one more month,” Chris replied. “The time is coming, for sure.”

While hazy IPAs remain the king of all styles at Gravity Bound, Cameron did say that there were a couple of styles that have surged in popularity, much to his (pleasant) surprise.

“The dunkel has been a surprising fan favorite,” he said. “Whenever we drop the West Coast Pils, it seems to move pretty quick, too. I think we’ll probably end up focusing a little bit more on that style. I think going forward you’ll see that become a pretty steady part of the rotation here. It’s a style that I tend to very much like.”

No brewer in history has ever minded when his or her favorite style becomes a customer favorite. Of course, with the shifting economic sands, sometimes everyone’s favorite beer can suddenly surge in cost in terms of just brewing, though Chris and Cameron said that is not the case yet for any beer on the menu at Gravity Bound.

“No big difference so far,” Cameron said. “Our suppliers have been solid. If anything, I think because you’re seeing there’s a bit more competition on the supplier side now, they’re losing some accounts from the time of rapid expansion, (so) now it seems like they give you more attention and better service. They want to maintain the accounts that exist and want to keep using their services.”

Chris noted that it helps that Gravity Bound is tiny compared to many other craft breweries, even in New Mexico, when it comes to annual barrels produced.

“Obviously, I can’t speak to the brewing side of things for grain or hops, but for glassware, cans, anything on the front bar side, it hasn’t been really difficult,” he said. “I say that, and the last time I had to order cans was early last year. When we had to stop putting a lot of things in 4-packs just because of the constraints on the production side of things on the 5-barrel system, we stopped canning all together. I’ve been looking into more options. Yes, prices have gone up, but at the quantities we’re ordering, it’s not overly terrible. Shipping is a gigantic pain. When you have pay half the cost of what you’re buying to ship it here, so you try to stock up where you can. It hasn’t been really terrible, but we just try to focus more on the bright side.”

Speaking of the bright side, Gravity Bound may not be an event-heavy brewery, but it has become a hub of sorts for runners, bikers, and others who live nearby. Chris said he is happy to have that continue going forward.

“I love those kinds of events,” he said. “It’s great energy, we get a lot of people through here. Obviously they’re not all beer drinkers, but they live down here, they are friends of our friends, so it’s just great to be able to use this space. We like it a lot.”

Gravity Bound still won’t rival the nearby likes of Tractor, Marble, JUNO, or Rio Bravo for the sheer number of events they put on every year.

“We’d like to put on those events (more often), but we have a lot of stuff going on,” Chris said. “We’re opening up Lasso, we have to get a feel of how we’re handling larger-scale events and make sure those are done correctly, but it also doesn’t shoot us in the foot for beers we have on tap. That’s been our constraint in the past. Hopefully, with this new system, we’ll be able to put some more beers out, we’ll be able to do more events.”

That has also kept Gravity Bound from jumping into more offsite events, even those that support the New Mexico Brewers Guild.

“We haven’t been to be able to take part in those events,” Chris said. “It’s just been so busy, keeping a brewery running and opening a new one with a completely different concept. It takes a lot of your brain power, it takes a lot of your time and just effort. Ebbie (Edmonston, NMBG executive director) was like, ‘What’s the deal?’ We didn’t even submit anything to GABF or World Beer Cup. What’s the point? We’ve got to get this done first and then hopefully we can do those events in the future.”

One event that Gravity Bound will participate in again this year is the New Mexico IPA Challenge. After all, they have to defend their title and go for a third win in four years. Maybe this time Cameron will even be there to collect the trophy alongside Chris.

“Where was I this (past) year?” Cameron asked his brother, recalling that he had been out camping back in 2022.

“That was the burn!” Chris replied, noting how Cameron had suffered a nasty burn on his leg while brewing one day last summer.

So to answer my question as to whether or not the universe would allow him to be there this summer, Cameron replied, “My track record says no, but I’m looking forward to seeing what actually happens with the results this time.”

All jokes aside, the brothers are quite happy to have things looking up amid such uncertain times.

“Over here, we’re just trying to catch our breath,” Chris said. “Over there, we’re trying to make everything happen.”

We will be heading over there to Lasso Brewing probably in June, which is when Chris said he is hoping they will be ready to open to the public. Nothing is set in stone, however, so the Crew will keep on monitoring how things are going, and once it’s ready, we will bring you a big old preview to further whet your appetites.

A big thanks to Chris and Cameron for the interview, and for all the delicious beers and fun times at Gravity Bound over the past (almost) five years.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister