Spooky Season comes to its wonderful conclusion this week with plenty of breweries celebrating Halloween on Friday and/or Dia de los Muertos on Saturday. For anyone new to the region, the Day of the Dead is a pretty big deal around these parts. It’s a way of celebrating, rather than mourning, those we knew who have passed away. Marble will hold their annual Muertos Fiesta downtown all day Saturday, with live music, vendors, special activities, and more. Unhinged will hold their own event at 3 p.m. with DJ sets, vendors, and drink specials for those on the westside. Painted Lady is holding a Dia de los Muertos fundraiser at 6 p.m. for Fairview Historic Cemetery, featuring a special presentation by local historian Pam Stiebler-Wendt, ghost stories by Cody Polston, tarot readings, a special raffle, and more. Going above and beyond is Calavida Cantina, with activities all day both Saturday and Sunday. There will be live music, special events, and more. Are there any Day of the Dead events at breweries that we missed? Drop us a line on social media.

New Draft:

Marble brought back Eastside Special Bitter while also adding Cherry Sour, Noble Pilsner, and Tramway IPA. Nexus has Lush American Stout back on tap. Rumor tapped Pumpkin Chai Ale, Starr Brothers brought back Brown Chicken Brown Cow. (UPDATES) Ponderosa will release Ghost Train IPA – Rail Trail Edition on Saturday to celebrate the opening of the first stretch of the Rail Trail that connects the Sawmill District to Old Town. Sunday Service Motor Co. tapped Autumn Roast Pumpkin Porter. Turtle Mountain brought back an old favorite in Xingu Black, a schwarzbier.

Up in Los Alamos, Bathtub Row tapped DARKtoberfest. Down south, Truth or Consequences Brewing will release full batches of Honey Winter Ale and Dark Matter Baltic Lager on Thursday, plus a plethora of small-batch beers — S’mores Stout, Peanut Butter Porter, Big Red Strong Farmhouse Ale, Petite Saison, Root Beer Lager, Hoppy Taco, Passionfruit Blonde, and Chocolate Habanero Brown Lager. (UPDATE) Over in Santa Fe, Beer Creek brought back Black Wedding IPA.

New Package:

Bow & Arrow will bring back Midnight with a Chance of Coyotes, a peanut butter stout, in cans and on draft this Friday. La Cumbre went ahead and put Skeletal West Coast DIPA in cans for the first time starting this Friday. Steel Bender will release bottles of Red Chile & Cacao DebaucherMead on Friday. (UPDATE) It’s officially dark beer season as La Cumbre brings back La Negra Russian Imperial Stout in bottles and on draft this Friday.

Notable Events:

Today (Wednesday) — Bosque Nob Hill hosts Trivia for a Cause: Lord of the Rings from 6 to 8 p.m.

The Ghoulastic Book Fair runs from 6 to 9 p.m. at Tracdtor Wells Park.

Metal Monday on a Wednesday? Sure, why not? Tumbleroot Agua Fria hosts a loaded lineup of Blindfolded and Led to the Woods, Volcandra, Fields of Elysium, and Seraphic at 7 p.m. Tickets are $17 in advance and $22 at the door.

Thursday — Get those running shows and costumes on for the Creepy Crawl 1K Beer Fun Run between Canteen and La Cumbre at 6 p.m.

Differential hosts their final Punk Market of the year, this one with a special costume contest that starts after 9 p.m.

Friday — Bow & Arrow hosts Halloween Trunk or Treat from 5 to 7 p.m., followed by Goth Night until 10 p.m.

Boxing Bear Firestone hosts the Scaryoke & Halloween Party from 6 to 9 p.m.

The After Life Party runs at Nuckolls from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Kaktus hosts a Halloween Dance Party at 7 p.m.

After Dark: A Halloween Extravaganza starts at 7 p.m. at Tumbleroot Agua Fria.

Sidetrack will have a Halloween Costume Party from 7 to 11 p.m.

Second Street brings back the Nightmare on Rufina Street at 8 p.m., with local groups performing covers of select bands.

Marble hosts the Y2K Halloween Party from 8 to 11 p.m.

JUNO hosts the Halloween Party and Costume Contest from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

Saturday — Ponderosa celebrates the dogs with the Howl-A-Day event from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Tumbleroot Agua Fria moves up the First Sunday Market by a day from noon to 4 p.m.

The aforementioned Muertos Fiesta starts at noon at Marble downtown.

Calavida Cantina’s Dia de los Muertos event starts at noon and runs until close. It will run on the same schedule Sunday.

Canteen hosts Drag Queen Bingo at 1 p.m.

The Unhinged Dia de los Muertos event runs from 3 to 7 p.m.

The aforementioned Dia de los Muertos fundraiser at Painted Lady starts at 6 p.m.

Sunday — Bosque North hosts the Dia de los Muertos Sip and Shop at 1 p.m.

Painted Lady hosts another edition of Sunday Scaries, this time featuring the original Amityville Horror at 6 p.m.

Quick News Bits:

Last week was a lot busier for us than this week has been (the day job had to come first this week), 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.

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: Pumpkin Noir (8% ABV), the spiced porter is back for another run, though only on draft, so get it while it lasts.

Nexus Brewery — Featured seasonal: Festbier (6.3% ABV, 21 IBU), tis the season for this classic German-style lager, but you will have to go to Nexus Blue Smokehouse to get it now as the supply ran out at the original location.

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