The measure of success for a brewery can be found in many different forms. There is the financial component, the awards won at major festivals, or just a general positive word of mouth.

One little extra way to see how a brewery is doing is to judge it amongst its peers, namely by seeing how many other brewers are coming in for a pint or two and how often they do it.

For Flock of Moons Brewing co-owners Jeff Tomlinson and Jay Harmon, they can see the impact their not-quite two-year-old brewery is having just by counting the other brewers who frequent their patio.

“Humbling,” Harmon called it.

“Amazing,” Tomlinson added. “I never expected that. But yeah, we love having them here.”

“It’s a huge compliment,” Harmon continued. “The all-around support, the fact they like coming here, hanging out …”

“That makes me happy,” Tomlinson concluded. “We would like to express our gratitude. You get the best honest feedback from other brewers, one way or the other. I appreciate that, it helps me. It helps us grow.”

I recently caught up with Harmon and Tomlinson at the brewery at 111 Harvard SE for our annual Look Back/Look Ahead Series. Flock of Moons has definitely been growing over the past year, both in terms of reputation, in quantity and quality of beers, and has come to find its place among the pantheon of Albuquerque breweries.

It was the day before the New Mexico Brewers Guild’s Fete de la Funk out on the patio. That event would see rain, wind, and even some snow, and yet it was still close to a sell out. The beer drinkers braved the elements, packed the taproom to the rafters, and stuck around long after the event was done.

“It’s been good,” Tomlinson said of the time since our last feature back in July when the brewery celebrated its first anniversary. “We made it through the winter. Numbers are slowly starting to go in the right direction. We’ve seen more customers, more new customers.

“It feels like early spring until now, it feels like we’re gaining some kind of traction. From what source, I don’t know if we can put a finger on. But, it’s generally positive. We slowed down in winter like normal, but it was up over the year before.”

The secret that Flock of Moons has one of the best, if not the best patio in the city (excluding suburbs) is certainly no longer a secret. After opening with just a portion under their control, the brewery was able to take over most of the outdoor space when neighboring 505 Spirits closed. Even with Laguna Burger opening next door, Flock of Moons has retained that majority.

“We’ve got a sweet spot right now, where it’s not too hot yet, school is still in (session at UNM),” Tomlinson said. “We’ve got some cool events coming up.”

One of those events is this Saturday, as the Sage Cornelius Band will bring a very unique take on the metal genre to the patio, along with some other local bands. The headliners will be holding a CD release party, so you can rest assured that the Crew will be on hand (after the United game ends, of course).

There will also be a special beer release Saturday, as Radagast the Brown will make its debut. I got an advance sample a couple weeks ago, and let’s just say I kinda wanted some ice cream to turn it into a beer float of deliciousness.

Tomlinson and Harmon also brought up another new event in May, one that they had not previously advertised.

“And then, we haven’t really announced it yet, but May 24, we’re going to do a Maifest,” Tomlinson said. “That will be fun.”

It’s basically an Oktoberfest in May, which is just fine with a few of us in the Crew, who have a trip planned to Munich to visit the original Oktoberfest in September. It never hurts to whet the appetite, even four months ahead of time.

Getting back to the beer, Flock of Moons has certainly become known for their wide variety of styles, with beers rotating in and out of the lineup fairly often. Customers have come to appreciate that, it seems.

“It’s kind of been like that, to some degree,” said Tomlinson, who doubles as the head brewer. “I did find that if I run out of Vienna Lager they ask about that. We have run out of our two flagship IPAs right now, so I’ve been hearing a little bit of that, but it’s not unexpected.”

Tomlinson thought for a second if any other beers have come up in conversations recently with customers.

“Summer lager, the Mare Nubium, people are asking about that,” he recalled. “But, for the most part, I think people just drink what we put on.”

“I hear a lot, just working behind the bar, where people come in and say we love that you guys have such a variety,” Harmon added. “Customers have actually said, wow, you introduced me to a new style that I knew nothing about.”

Harmon remembered a customer asking about when a saison might make its return, which is one of those styles that tends to ebb and flow in terms of its popularity.

“A lot of it is, I think, people are gravitating toward styles they’re not finding elsewhere,” he said. “Maybe they just don’t know what category to look in, but they seem to like it.”

Tomlinson said the Belgian-style beers tend to pique the interests of many customers. One of those beers, the Anneau de Feu Tripel, is headed to the World Beer Cup competition in Indianapolis, along with the Waning Crescent Vienna Lager and the Retrograde Rebel Hazy IPA.

Circling back to the events, Flock of Moons has created a stable slate of weekly gatherings, with a variety of different events sprinkled in there that have no set schedule.

“The week-to-week stuff, like trivia and music bingo, it took a while (to catch on),” Tomlinson said. “We’ve been doing trivia almost since we opened. It took some time to get traction. It was a while for people to work it out, show up, and figure out how great Jesse is at hosting. Those are going great (now).”

Going back to when Winning Coffee was in the space that Flock of Moons now occupies, poetry nights and other similar events have still been big hits.

“Poetry, from day one, every poetry night has been packed,” Harmon said. “There hasn’t been one poetry night that isn’t packed. Poetry really has a following in Albuquerque.”

“I think the cadence is right, too,” Tomlinson added. “We do them once a quarter. I think the poets are really itching to get out and do something with their community. If we were to do it more often I don’t know if it would be as busy.”

Flock of Moons will be participating in the upcoming United in Beer at Ex Novo on May 31, teaming up with The Tatted Bee Brewhouse to create a SMASH beer (exact style TBA). Other than that, they will have their anniversary party in July, participate in the IPA Challenge in July, and host an Oktoberfest celebration in the fall.

For the most part, though, it is not about the big events. It’s just about having a chill spot with a spacious patio, a great variety of beers, and a whole bunch of quality humans on staff. For all of those reasons, Flock of Moons has become one of the Crew’s favorite hangout spots. If you have not made it one of yours yet, there is still plenty of time to drop on by.

A big thanks to Jeff and Jay for taking some time to chat on a Friday before a big event.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister