Though Halloween falls on a Friday this year, it sure feels like most places around town have decided to leave that date to house parties and focus on this weekend as the prime celebratory stretch for Spooky Season. We will have a full preview later this week for the Zombie Carnival at Tractor Wells Park, which will now benefit the New Mexico Brewers Guild. As for the rest of the breweries, Otherwise, the rest of this week and all throughout the weekend the Halloween theme for events is everywhere. Bosque will celebrate with two very specific Trivia for a Cause nights today (Wednesday) and next Tuesday, plus multiple locations will host a pumpkin carving party Thursday. Bow & Arrow celebrates on Friday, while Boxing Bear will get spooky with some good books Thursday. Painted Lady has a lot planned, naturally, and so do Brew Lab 101, La Cumbre, Marble, and Sidetrack. Scroll on down to the event listings below for more details. However and wherever you choose to celebrate, we wish everyone an early Happy Halloween! After all, why would such a fun holiday have to be confined to a single night?

New Draft:

Flock of Moons tapped fresh batches of Ithilien Helles and Forever Twilight, a Munich dunkel, plus the new Moons Over Milltown, an American lager. Quarter Celtic brought back their award-winning Vienna Fest Bier. Sidetrack added a new batch of Mighty Monarch IPA. Tractor will release Midnight Harvest Black IPA on Saturday. (UPDATES) Bosque added Blackberry in Action, a new sour ale. Canteen will tap Lift Off Hazy IPA on Friday. Flix released Ecto Brewer, a hazy pale ale and a tribute to the original Ghostbusters. Gravity Bound tapped Dude Where’s my Bike, a new hazy IPA.

Up in Los Alamos, Bathtub Row tapped Golden Lager.

New Package:

Canteen brought back Citranova in cans and on draft. Ex Novo released Workout Tapes by Fonda Double IPA in cans and on draft. Tractor and Sunward Credit Union have teamed up to create Sol Cider, which debuts in cans and on draft today (Wednesday). Downshift brought back Lil’ Boo Thang, their pumpkin ale, in cans and on draft. (UPDATES) Bosque has a limited amount of their pumpkin ale, Gourd Summoner, in cans. Bow & Arrow brought back Buffalo Plaid Baltic Porter in cans and on draft. Down south in Ruidoso, Downshift released Lei’d Back, a pineapple/coconut/lime sour ale, in cans and on draft.

Notable Events:

Today (Wednesday) — Bosque West hosts Trivia for a Cause: The Films of Tim Burton from 6 to 8 p.m.

Thursday — Books, Brews & Boos is going down at Boxing Bear Firestone from 5 to 8 p.m.

Bosque hosts a Pumpkin Carving Party at their Nob Hill, San Mateo, West, and Santa Fe Drinkery taprooms at 6 p.m.

Painted Lady hosts The Crypt Keeper’s Comedy Hour at 7 p.m.

Friday — Bow & Arrow gets spooky with Goth Night at 7 p.m.

Comedy Night at Marble Heights starts at 8 p.m.

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

Saturday — Marble brings back everyone’s favorite Halloween event for furry friends, the Mutt Masquerade, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the downtown taproom.

Marble Westside will be celebrating their Spooky 13th anniversary all day with a “trunk or treat” car show, a dog adoption event, live music from 7 to 9 p.m. with Jer Killinger, and more.

La Cumbre hosts a Halloween Party and Spooky Market from noon to 5 p.m.

Brew Lab 101 hosts a Halloween Party and Spooky Market from 2 to 10 p.m.

The Bring Back My Ghouls Spooky Drag Show takes over Canteen from 6 to 8 p.m.

The aforementioned Zombie Carnival opens at 6:30 p.m. at Tractor Wells Park and figures to go past midnight.

Sunday — The Freudian Slips Experience returns to Painted Lady at noon for a Halloween-themed show.

Marble needs to make room for some new gear so they are holding a Merch Yard Sale downtown from noon to 4 p.m.

Sidetrack hosts their Spooky Market on the patio from 1 to 5 p.m.

Tuesday — Trivia for a Cause: The Twilight Saga will be at Bosque Cottonwood from 6 to 8 p.m.

Quick News Bits:

It’s been a busy week for us, with a profile on the new brewer at the new Flix Brewhouse off Tramway and a big update on the new brewing system and more at Calavida Cantina.

The 377 is offering 20 percent off food and beer to any furloughed federal employees. Just show your government ID.

(UPDATE) Two breweries have special deals on some of their canned beers. Canteen has $6.99 six-packs of Laid Back Lager and Dougie Style Amber through the end of October. Santa Fe Brewing has $13 12-packs of Oktoberfest.

The big news story of late 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.

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: Dunks Not Dead (5.1% ABV, 18 IBU), a solid German dunkel that is a definite beer name of the year candidate.

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: Buck-Toothed, Mop-Riding Firefly from Hell, the new version of Witches Brew, a spiced amber made with all-local ingredients.

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