It was bound to happen eventually, but it appears we are at the end of Oktoberfest season. Oh, some of those delicious lagers will still be available for a while, but the last two events we had on our radar are this Saturday. One is in Albuquerque, the other in Santa Fe, and both have a unique little twist. Boxing Bear will be hosting their annual DogtoBEARfest starting at noon, while Second Street Rufina hosts Oktubafest, also starting at noon. The former benefits Cross My Paws Animal Rescue, with live performances by Opera on Tap at 1 p.m., Lani Nash at 2 p.m., a limited merch drop, food specials, a photobooth for humans and dogs, dog adoptions, and more. The latter will feature a performance by The UNM Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble from 6 to 9 p.m., plus a special food menu and plenty of beer. Pick one or the other and help send this wonderful season out in style.

New Draft:

Bombs Away brought back T50 Vienna Lager and a limited amount of Countermine Coffee Stout. Boxing Bear tapped Dortmunder Struck. Brekki Brekki added their Oktoberfest lager. Calavida Cantina tapped Dia de los Dunkel. Flock of Moons brought back MÖÖN, their tasty kolsch. Marble has a fresh batch of their black lager, In Dutch. Painted Lady will release a new version of Witches Brew on Sunday. Sidetrack tapped Dunkel. Tractor will release Small Town Smoke Show, a smoked helles, on Friday. (UPDATES) Bombs Away also brought back S.M.A.S.H. Pilsner, Condition Red Lager, and Just an Amber. Bosque has a new batch of Gourd Summoner, a pumpkin ale if you could not guess by the name. Boxing Bear also added Yakimaniacs West Coast IPA. La Cumbre tapped Dunkel Hefe. Marble brought back Pumpkin Noir, a longtime fan favorite.

Up in Los Alamos, Bathtub Row brought back Ullr Sahti. (UPDATE) Up in Santa Fe, Nuckolls tapped San Juniperro, a juniper and orange peel pale ale.

New Package:

Bow & Arrow released Proper Pumpkin Beer, their imperial stout, in cans and on tap. Ex Novo released Altered Beast Altbier and The Darkest Timeline Czech Dark Lager in cans and on tap. (UPDATE) Downshift went and did a wonderful thing and made Dangerous Game, a barleywine, that’s now available in cans and on draft and please someone get us a four-pack! Downshift also went and put Fresh Hop IPA in cans and on draft.

Notable Events:

Today (Wednesday) — The 505 Connect Halloween Bash runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Rio Bravo.

Thursday — The Pour & Explore Lecture Series is back at Bow & Arrow from 6 to 7 p.m.

Wicked Whispers, featuring Halloween horror stories, takes place at Painted Lady at 7 p.m.

Painted Lady will also host the book release of TarotSaur both this night and Friday at 7.

Friday — Canteen hosts the 80’s and 90’s Dance Party from 7 to 9 p.m.

The Desert Darlings return to Kaktus for another edition of Cactus Cabaret at 7 p.m.

Jordan Jonas hosts the Spook Show Ghost Tour at Painted Lady at 8 p.m.

Saturday — Brew Lab 101 hosts the St. Felix Pantry Toy Drive at 11 a.m.

The aforementioned DogtoBEARfest runs from noon to 5 p.m. at Boxing Bear Firestone.

The aforementioned Oktubafest runs from noon to 9 p.m. at Second Street Rufina.

Bosque West, the former Lava Rock, hosts the Spooky Nights Market from 5 to 9 p.m.

Zircus Erotique heads back to Tumbleroot Agua Fria at 7 p.m.

Sunday — The Harvest Party runs from 2 to 6 p.m. at Tumbleroot Agua Fria.

Painted Lady hosts a Pumpkin Carving Party at 5 p.m.

Monday — Tumbleroot Agua Fria hosts another Metal Monday featuring Triune, Dead Pattern, TKTWA, Night Soil, and Mirari at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.

Tuesday — Canteen Taproom hosts a Sausage & Beer Pairing from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Trivia for a Cause: Mean Girls will be at Bosque Heights at 6 p.m.

Quick News Bits:

The big news story of the week was Bosque Brewing filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. We did our best to explain what it all means.

In better news, Second Street won another medal, their seventh since 2020 between the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup. This time it was a bronze medal for one of their house beers, Rod’s Best Bitter, at GABF.

It appears that Silver Mine Brewery (Facebook link) is now fully open for business in Santa Rosa. We will road trip out there soon.

Cazuela’s has officially closed, ending a nearly 12-year run in Rio Rancho.

Albuquerque metro area breweries

Boese Brothers Brewery — Featured seasonal: Drunk Astronaut (8% ABV), the annual summer seasonal DIPA is loaded with Galaxy hops. Get it?

Bombs Away Beer Company — Featured seasonal: Power Source Porter (6.7% ABV, 40 IBU), a delicious take on a Baltic porter, and one of the few dark beers still on tap this summer for those who like to defy the heat.

Bosque Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Sunbrero (5.5% ABV, 20 IBU), the tasty helles lager is back for these last warm, sunny days of the year.

Bow & Arrow Brewing — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (6% ABV), tis the season for at least one more week.

Boxing Bear Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: OktoBEARfest (5.3% ABV), the traditional German lager is back for another run in cans and on draft.

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

Brew Lab 101 Beer & Cider Company — Featured seasonal: Labtoberfest is back for the season.

Calavida Cantina — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery formerly known as Vision City for an updated list of seasonals.

Canteen Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (5.4% ABV, 24 IBU), an exceptionally good batch this year is available in cans and on draft.

Casa Vieja Brewery — Featured seasonal: Hop the Casbah (6.2% ABV), a hazy IPA that doesn’t mean to get that song stuck in your head but kind of does.

Differential Brewing — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Dripline Brewery — Featured seasonal: Super Bloom APA (5.4% ABV), a sweet, floral pale ale that goes quite well with the new lineup of tasty smash burgers from the kitchen.

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

Ex Novo Brewing — Featured seasonal: German Overalls (5.8% ABV), the mighty märzen is back on draft and in cans.

Flix Brewhouse  — Featured seasonal: Flix Brühaus, their version of an Oktoberfest lager, is back for the season.

Flock of Moons Brewing — Featured seasonal: Citrinitas (6.7% ABV, 29 IBU), a classic saison brewed in collaboration with the students of the CNM Brewing Program.

Gravity Bound Brewing — Featured seasonal: Maizey Train, a Mexican lager that actually seems to be able to stay on tap somewhat consistently because you all drink up the IPAs way too fast. Which is a good thing.

High and Dry Brewing — Featured seasonal: Jiminy Krispness, a tasty kolsch to help you get through the end of summer.

Hops Brewery — Featured seasonal: Hoptoberfest is back to help prep you for the upcoming fall season.

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

Kaktus Brewing — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest Bier will get you in the right seasonal mood.

La Cumbre Brewing — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (5.9% ABV), one of our favorite annual releases from the brewery, now available in cans and on draft.

La Reforma Brewery — Featured seasonal: West Ghost IPA, the most appropriate spooky season beer.

Marble Brewery — Featured seasonal: Pilsner Burquell (5.1% ABV), this tribute to the class Czech lager Pilsner Urquell measures up to its namesake, and that comes from some beer writers who just drank a fresh batch of the original on tap in Europe.

Nexus Brewery — Featured seasonal: Festbier (6.3% ABV, 21 IBU), tis the season for this classic German-style lager, which goes great with all the delicious food, or even by itself (but who just has a beer at Nexus?).

Painted Lady Bed and Brew — Featured seasonal: Cats and Dogs Living Together, a mango wheat ale named after one of the many great lines in the original Ghostbusters.

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: Capri-derhosen (5.3% ABV), the award-winning German red lager is back on draft.

Rio Bravo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Psychedelic Decade (5.5% ABV), a mushroom brown ale brewed for their recent 10-year anniversary.

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: Shinobi Rice Lager (5.6% ABV, 18 IBU), a nice, end-of-summer crusher that’s perfect for warm days or cool evenings.

Starr Brothers Brewing — Featured seasonal: Prince of Dankness (7.4% ABV), we don’t know if this hazy IPA is a tribute to Ozzy or not, but knowing brewer Rob Whitlock’s love of metal, it might be.

Steel Bender Brewyard — Featured seasonal: Teddy Roe’s Policy IPA (7.8% ABV, 48 IBU), a new juicy version of the popular ale is available in cans and on draft.

Sunday Service Motor Company — Featured seasonal: Happy Lil Accidents, a hefty altbier that goes well with Bayern Munich matches (yes, the local fan club New Mexico Roten meets here on game days).

The Tatted Bee Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Tatted Stout, a nice and chewy dark ale of decadence.

Thirsty Eye Brewing — Featured seasonal: Tengu Black Rice Lager, a special collaboration with Painted Lady and Flock of Moons.

The 377 Brewery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Tractor Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Traktoberfest (6.2% ABV, 15 IBU), the classic märzen has returned.

Turtle Mountain Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Oktürtlefest (5.38% ABV, 25 IBU) is back and it’s glorious.

Unhinged Brewing — Featured seasonal: Tatooine Spring (7.8% ABV), the imperial amber is back for another run.

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.”

Nuckolls Brewing — Featured seasonal: Laying New Tracks IPA, part of a whole series of railroad-themed names and we’re just gonna guess it’s because they’re at the Santa Fe Railyard.

Rowley Farmhouse Ales — Featured seasonal: Second-String Loser (9.6% ABV, 26 IBU), a Belgian golden strong ale.

Santa Fe Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (6% ABV), oh yes, it’s back in July, and we care not about the date because it’s still a tasty German lager available in cans and on draft.

Second Street Brewery — Featured seasonal: Vienna Lager (5.5% ABV) and Brown Ale (5.9% ABV), both were gold medal winners at the World Beer Cup, and both are available in cans and on draft for a limited time.

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: Apricot Sour, one of several new brews for the summer menu.

Other breweries you need to visit

Bathtub Row Brewing — Featured seasonal: Sir Bramling’s Golden Ale (4.9% ABV), a proper English summer ale.

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: Oktoberfest is back in bottles and on tap for the season.

Truth or Consequences Brewing — Featured seasonal: Oktoberfest (5.9% ABV), the popular seasonal is back, and this time it warranted a full 15-barrel batch.

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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