Well, hello there, 2026. We hope that you are a year of growth and positivity, but after a year like 2025, any marginal improvement would be considered a win.

This past year was a rough one, culminating in the closure of one of the biggest breweries in the state, both in terms of barrels produced (fourth) and in total taprooms (first). The tale of the demise of Bosque Brewing under a mountain of debt came to dominate the headlines for the final months of 2025.

While the common response was that this was due to the current state of the brewing industry, and certainly the national vibe/stats are pretty bad, the truth is that Bosque’s closure was a self-inflicted wound. People we trust said the problems there predated the pandemic, much less the post-pandemic economic downturn.

In the end, it was simply remarkable that one brewery could pile on that much debt for as long as Bosque did, and we highly doubt that any others carry anywhere close to that number of owed creditors.

Our basic point is that the demise of Bosque was not the fault of the changing drinking habits of young people, nor the tariffs or inflation, or any of the other issues that all breweries face. Do not give up on the other 80-plus breweries in the state and assume that they are just as doomed.

Anyway, mini-rant over. Getting back to the point of this story, we are once again reviewing the biggest stories of the past year for each of the 12 months. Sometimes it was the most-read story of the month, other times we felt there was something newsier. Got a different view? Drop us a line in the comments here or on social media.

January

Most read: February 28 license renewal deadline will show state of NM brewing industry

Our pick: Marble Brewery announces new owners are former Santa Fe Brewing standouts

The biggest story of 2024 carried into the first month of 2025, as new owners Bert Boyce and Jarrett Babinscak charted a new course forward for Marble Brewery. It wasn’t always smooth, not that they ever expected it to be when we did our first interview a few weeks later, but it still brought a sense of resolution in a more positive light than many expected when the first word of the brewery’s struggles emerged the prior year. Of course, everyone was already a bit in doom mode, and that’s probably the reason our story previewing that license renewal mark made such an impact. Thankfully, far fewer breweries ended up not renewing and closing than we all feared.

February

Most read: Boese Brothers make some big changes to keep pushing things forward

Our pick: Bossfight Brewing prepares to go out in style with one final party

We always enjoy when one of our Look Back/Look Ahead Series articles tops a month for page views, which is what happened here. There was no major breaking news in that article, so instead we go with our final story on Bossfight. That brewery came out of the end of Kilt Check, which had shut down after original owner Mike Campbell died in 2024. His son and nephew eventually took over, changed the theme to mesh more with video games and a retro atmosphere, but ultimately it just never took off like they hoped. Still, in a short time they built up a small and loyal audience, showing that someday a true video game-themed brewery could potentially work with a better, more visible location somewhere in town. Just something to ponder for any future prospective brewery owners.

March

Most read/our pick: Turtle Mountain finishes brewery move and prepares to fire it up

In the end, this story might have been a bit premature, as TMBC did not start brewing in the space next to the North taproom until late summer. Still, it was great to see just about everything in place after such a long, arduous process, which owner Nico Ortiz later recapped for us in the Look Back/Look Ahead Series. Now TMBC is firing on (almost) all cylinders, with beers rolling off the brewhouse at a fairly regular pace. It was a bold and necessary move to expand the brewing space with two taprooms to serve. We are oh so glad that it ultimately worked out.

April

Most read/our pick: The retirement rush: A generation of brewery owners nears the exit

A while back, the significant other of one of the younger Crew members proved a point when after sitting on the couch for too long bingeing shows, he got up too quickly and promptly pinched a nerve in his back, falling to the floor in pain. So yes, we told her, you can get hurt just sitting on the couch when you get older. That was not quite the inspiration for this story, but the simple fact is the owners of breweries statewide are not getting any younger, much like the writers in this Crew. In a way, some future moves would further justify this story, with a few brewery owners either actually retiring or trying to sell their breweries so they could retire.

May

Most read/our pick: Santa Fe Brewing sues former employee and current Marble co-owner

Like we said before, not everything has gone smoothly for the new Marble owners. Babinscak was sued by his former employer, and that case has gone back and forth in court for a while now. In fact, we should probably check on where it’s at now, but civil cases tend to move at an even slower pace than criminal cases, so it could take a while longer. Still, it’s one of those signs that not every exit is a mutual one, but rarely does it reach a point where it has to play out in court. Luckily for Marble, it has not affected day-to-day operations, so at least there’s that.

June

Most read: Run do not walk down the road for this year’s NM Pint Glass Day

Our pick: High and Dry underwent a renovation in more ways than meets the eye

Man, you all love those annual special pint glass releases by the New Mexico Brewers Guild, don’t you? Well, yeah, because local artists handle the design, multiple breweries provide sales points, and overall it all goes to a good cause of helping fund the Guild. Still, in terms of news, the changeover in ownership/management at High and Dry was a bit bigger story in our eyes. That’s not the sort of thing that happens every year.

July

Most read: Bandolero becomes the latest brewery on selling block as owners aim to retire

Our pick: Boxing Bear edges Downshift in closest IPA Challenge vote in many years

Remember what we said about the top story from April? Yeah, that article on Bandolero was one of the stories that proved our point. To our knowledge, however, the brewery has not been sold (we have a source in Clovis, namely my cousin who lives there with her Air Force officer husband) and continues to operate as normal. Because that story is still essentially unresolved, we gotta go back to a tried-and-true annual story in the IPA Challenge. This time around the rising breweries of the south, led by Downshift (Ruidoso) and Icebox (Las Cruces), truly challenged the Albuquerque heavyweights. And, while Boxing Bear won another title, it was by a single vote. Hopheads rejoice, for the entire state is now truly your playground in terms of quality lupulin-heavy ales.

August

Most read: The updated list of every active brewery in the state of New Mexico

Our pick: Bosque moves production of core beers from out-of-state to Marble

We always like to do a good service like providing folks with opening/closing times for holidays and new beer releases every week, and it was clear from the response that we were way overdue to compile that there list of all the current breweries operating statewide. With some recent closures outside the metro area, it was certainly nice to learn where to still grab a fresh, local pint beyond Albuquerque. Of course, little did we know that the other story about a unique Bosque/Marble team-up would not be the brewery-saving move that the former hoped, but one of a couple of last-gasp efforts to stave off the inevitable. To our surprise, Marble is still brewing Bosque’s canned beers going into 2026. Why, and for how long, remains a mystery that we hope to solve sooner than later.

September

Most read/our pick: Cazuela’s confirmed to have closed its doors for good

Another quiet loss for the industry hit as we rolled into autumn. Rio Rancho’s second modern-era brewery, after Turtle Mountain, shut down with barely a notice. In fact, if TMBC owner Nico Ortiz had not spotted the owner of Cazuela’s while driving by to see if the closing was true or not, we would not have learned for sure one way or the other. Ultimately, while it was not a huge shock to see Cazuela’s close, we can still feel sympathy for the employees who lost their jobs, and for what regulars it did have to lose their favorite watering hole. At least Rio Rancho still has TMBC and Brew Lab 101.

October

Most read/our pick: Breaking down the meaning of the Bosque Brewing bankruptcy filing

Now things were starting to get serious over at Bosque. The Chapter 11 filing tested our legal knowledge a bit, but ultimately it revealed just how bad things were at the brewery. It would ultimately prove to be a final Hail Mary, and as of those of us who watch too much football know, those passes are rarely caught and often fall many yards shy of the end zone.

November

Most read/our pick: Boxing Bear rolls with the punches and holds fast amid industry downturn

This was one of the quietest months of the year while the Bosque situation was playing out behind closed doors, and the rest of the industry began to hunker down for the slower winter months. The fests and Spooky Season were done, the awards ceremonies were complete, and even the new releases began to change to smaller, darker batches of proper lagers and ales. That also meant the Look Back/Look Ahead Series returned, now in a more streamlined and efficient style, and Boxing Bear volunteered to go first. Even in a shorter article, we did learn more about one of the year’s quieter, more surprising departures in founding brewer Justin Hamilton. This year-ending story had a bit more news than we expected. Clearly, it piqued the interest of more people than just us.

December

Most read/our pick: The entire series of Bosque Brewing stories

As the year came to a close, so did the saga of Bosque. Two taprooms in Santa Fe, one a Restoration Pizza, both closed without warning. Two more in Albuquerque, one on San Mateo in an old Applebee’s and the other in the former Lava Rock Brewing on Unser, also abruptly closed. The court dismissed the bankruptcy filing, saying that the brewery just had too much debt to overcome. Before any of us could catch our breath, all the remaining taprooms (save for the original Restoration, which had switched over to new owners) shut down over the course of one weekend. Bosque, one of the first breweries we ever got to visit before it even opened, was gone. We had been there through the entire ride, from hiring John Bullard as head brewer, to winning its first competitions like the IPA Challenge, to opening the Nob Hill taproom, to closing down the original brewery and moving operations to Bernalillo, and to all the other moves that followed. Well, up until we had a falling out with the owners, but that hardly matters anymore. This website grew up alongside Bosque, and suddenly it was no more. It’s hard to put into words what this closure really means, because to so many people it meant different things. Favorite taprooms lost. Best beers disappearing into memory only. Plenty of hindsight reflections saying they never should have expanded so much or so quickly. Feeling bad for the hundreds of people who lost their jobs. This was the biggest loss to the craft brewing industry in New Mexico to date. What it will ultimately mean will be decided in years to come — a one-off cautionary tale, or the beginning of a darker stretch with no end in sight. We hope for the former, but brace for the latter.

We would also be remiss in not acknowledging these other news stories from throughout the year.

• Legislature update: Craft breweries exempted from House Bill 417 (No new taxes would be imposed for yet another session in Santa Fe.)
• Keeping Together is on the verge of coming together in Santa Fe (The new brewery would indeed open this year, though they still have not started brewing.)
• Trio of NM breweries claim 5 World Beer Cup awards (Second Street was the big winner at the Craft Brewers Conference.)
• Boxing Bear cleans up with 3 gold medals at NABA Beer and Cider Awards (That headline sums up a good summer for the folks at BBB.)
• Box Canyon Brewing keeps chugging along under new ownership (We went south to Socorro to meet the new face running this cool little pub, which avoided closure.)
• Sidetrack owners prepare to hand over reins to trust friend and colleague (The owner of Zendo Coffee took over and so far, things have gone smoothly.)
• Harmon Lane Brewing plans to go out on a high note the next 2 Fridays (With Southwest Grape and Grain changing ownership and moving locations, the in-house brewery was forced to close down.)
• The local brewing industry pays tribute to one of their own (After many years running the show as head brewer, Zach Guilmette left Canteen.)
• A family affair: Rio Bravo prepares to celebrate 10 years of living bold (The Baker family’s daughters have all come into leadership positions in recent years.)
• A familiar face in a new place: Canteen stays local with new head brewer (Will Moorman, formerly of Flix Brewhouse, succeeds Guilmette.)
• Second Street is the lone NM brewery to bring home a medal from GABF (Just more proof that winning a medal at a major competition is a very hard thing to do.)
• First-time head brewer takes the reins at the new Flix Brewhouse location (Meet Holly Garand, who gets her crack at the top job at the brewery theater’s second local spot off Tramway on Indian School.)
• Lasso Brewing joins list of top laid-back pubs in town (After a long, but worth it, wait, the metro’s first lager house opens courtesy of the folks behind Gravity Bound.)

What will 2026 hold for the local brewing industry? We have no idea. There is one new brewery in the works, FMV Brewery, which will be located on Yale south of Gibson near the Sunport. Others could close (and we will once again be carefully watching that February 28 license renewal deadline). Most will adapt and survive and we will all be better for having them here to support.

Wherever the road takes us in the next 12 months, the Crew will still be here to cover it all.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister