Will Moorman was a familiar face to anyone who visited Flix Brewhouse on the westside from the time it opened in 2017 to around the pandemic era.

After all, they slapped a life-sized cut-out of him on the brewery door for all the movie and beer patrons to see.

Then Moorman climbed the ladder and took on an administrative role with the company. The pay bump was nice, but it ultimately led to him parting ways with the industry.

“By the time I left Flix, I hadn’t been on the brew deck in years,” Moorman said. “I was mostly riding a desk and living in spreadsheets and financial statements. I was kind of burnt out, really.”

Moorman still stayed in touch with everyone he knew in the industry, which meant he was fully aware that a certain job had become open at one of the top breweries in town.

Now he’s back on the brew deck in a place that is new to him but well established to everyone else.

“It was this specific place,” Moorman said while sitting on the patio at Canteen Brewhouse, where he has taken the reins as head brewer. “I was not looking for a brewing job. And, this popped up and I was like man, Canteen is an institution. I’ve at least got to throw my hat in the ring and just see what happens. As I was going through the application process and the interview process here, I was like I want this, I want this a lot.

“I don’t want to say I’d forgotten, but I’d kind of forgotten how much I love Canteen. This is such a cool space. Jamie (Schwebach) and the crew are awesome. The more I learned, the more I was like this is right.”

So he shook off the proverbial dust and got back to work after he was hired to succeed Zach Guilmette. There was a lot to re-learn, as it turned out.

“Oh, all of it,” Moorman said. “There was a lot where I was like, man, let me go back to the books, let me consult the trusted people that I ask my brewing questions to, the people I can look like a total idiot in front of. After a couple weeks of that, this felt good. I know what I’m doing now. That specific facet of this has been relieving.”

It took him back to his beginnings in craft beer.

“When I started brewing, me and another guy were running a brewery in Indianapolis” Moorman said. “Our beer was terrible. It was, both of us, our first time being professional brewers. We had to go around knocking on doors and humbly asking brewers, hey, can you try our bad beer and tell us what we need to do better.

“That was the only reason I got any good at brewing beer, tail between my legs, hat in my hand, just asking people for advice and help. As you know, most of the people in this industry are more than happy to provide feedback. Coming back in and knocking the dust off, and having to go around and having to repeat that process it was nice, it was kind of humbling, in a way.”

The people in the industry, ultimately, are what drew him back to the business of beer. Moorman had kept in touch with his brewing friends and colleagues, often showing up to volunteer at various events hosted by the New Mexico Brewers Guild.

“I love brewing beer, I love the process and the recipe development and all that, but at the end of the day, it’s hanging out with you guys and saying let’s have a beer and talk about it,” he said. “Tell me why your beer is way better than mine. Camaraderie is the whole point of this thing. Being able to be out of the industry and (yet) still interacting with those people brought it back for me in a way I’d lost touch with, I think.”

For those Canteen regulars who might be worried that the new guy will radically change up everything, fear not. Moorman said that the 31-year-old brewery is an institution that does not need too much in the way of change, at least nothing too dramatic.

“For me, the goal right now has been to not change much,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of people come into a new position and say oh no, everything is wrong all the time, we have to switch this and that. And then, things go terribly awry. My goal has been to come in here and learn from 31 years of success. What has been the process up to this point? Then taking notes and saying all right, I think we can strategically change this recipe a little bit or that recipe could be a little shining up, or maybe we don’t need this beer on tap all the time.”

Some things that will change over time will be based upon customer needs and wants. While breweries are hubs of creativity, they are still businesses that need to stay profitable.

“At the end of the day, coming from Flix and my previous position, the thing that drives a lot of decisions is numbers,” Moorman said. “Does this sell well? Is this what people want? Great, let’s brew it. There are places where the head brewer treats the brewery as their art. It is an extension of self, and there are absolutely places where that’s awesome. In our current climate, though, it has to be based off sales. What actually works for a business?

“It’s no secret that craft beer is not doing as well as it has been in years past. So yeah, my focus has been on changing things little by little if they need it, and ensuring that the business thrives as a result of those changes.”

Moorman said he still plans to have some fun working on new seasonal and specialty beers, adding his own touch to the rotating menu. He will not be starting off with anything radically new and different, however.

“The first seasonal we’re doing is a hazy IPA, because duh,” Moorman said with a smile. “It’s a fun style to brew. They smell great, they taste great. It’s a style I’ve really learned to love over the past several years. A lot of brewers are lagers-only drinkers, but I’ve really come around on loving a good hazy IPA. The turnaround time is not terrible, too. That’s going to be the first beer that you see here from me. Following that up, we’ve got a schwarzbier that’s ready to be lagered now.”

Moorman said that he and Schwebach, Canteen’s general manager, are working on the brewing schedule for the rest of this year. Following that, they will start to plan out next year, tying many of the beer releases to the many events that Canteen hosts.

“There’s some awesome recipes here that are killer seasonals that I’ll absolutely be bringing back, but it will be nice to mix in some of my own recipes that I work on with my team,” he said.

That team, both the brewers in the back and the staff out front, has made things a lot easier on Moorman.

“Absolutely, yeah, I cannot say enough good things about the team here,” he said. “Walking in as the new guy in the room I’ve needed my team to be a little self-sufficient in this time and figure out what they need to be doing on their own. They have picked up a lot of slack and they have helped me through this process. I’m still earning from everybody here. The dudes in the back are absolutely phenomenal. They have kept things moving during this training period for me.

“Jamie has been a dream to work with. She is one of the coolest people in this industry. It’s just amazing that anytime somebody walks in, she goes, ‘Oh, Will, that’s Jeff. Jeff has two kids aged 15 and 17. Hey, Jeff, how’s your wife feeling?’ There isn’t anybody I’ve ever seen in this industry who knows more about their customers than Jamie.”

In the end, Moorman has found his perfect fit to return to the brewing industry.

“It’s good to be back, honestly,” he said. “It feels right. You ever work a job and think I’m doing well, but this is just not vibing? Or, I don’t look forward to this? That’s not the case here. It feels very good to be here.”

Welcome back, Will, you have been missed. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy day to chat with us. Now we look forward to what you and the Canteen team will do together.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister