February marks a rather wonderful return to normal for breweries, with a plethora of events lined up this weekend and going forward. The biggest event of the bunch will be at High and Dry this Saturday from noon to 11 p.m. as the neighborhood pub celebrates eight years of laid-back vibes and good times. There is no cover to attend, of course, with live music scheduled throughout the day. DJCJ will be spinning hip-hop classics from noon to 2 p.m., followed by Sweet Nothin’ from 2 to 3:15, Betty Benedeadly from 4 to 5:15, JD Nash from 6 to 7:30, and The Rudy Boy Experiment from 8 to 10:15. Throw in Tikka Spice serving up their finest dishes outside, plenty of beer and craft cocktails inside, and this should be a great way to kick off spring (because let’s face it, winter is done).

New Draft:

Boxing Bear dropped two excellent new seasonals in the Alphasaurus IPA, a throwback to the classic West Coast style of yore, and Benny Bear Porter, a robust flavor-packed memorial tribute to one of the best brewery dogs. Canteen and Steel Bender will release their charitable new collaboration, Open Door West Coast IPA, this Friday, and we will have a lot more details on this one in a separate feature soon. Rio Bravo is getting into a romantic mood early with Love on Tap, a chocolate cherry bock.

Up in Los Alamos, Bathtub Row tapped Mango Krush Hazy IPA.

New Package:

Ex Novo brought back Easy Come, Easy Go, a Bohemian pilsner in cans and on draft.

Notable Events:

Today (Wednesday) — Poetry & Beer is back at Tractor Wells Park at 7 p.m.

Friday — ArtWalk is back downtown and Sidetrack will celebrate with an art opening and tunes from Adobe Disco from 5 to 11 p.m.

Kaktus will host their first Stand-Up Comedy Live at 7 p.m.

The First Fridays Comedy Contest returns to Tractor Wells Park at 8 p.m.

Saturday — The Semi-Sweet Heart Pop-Up Shops will take place at Boxing Bear Firestone from noon to 4 p.m.

The Skully Heart’s Market is set for Calavida Cantina from noon to 6 p.m.

The Ale & Echo Acoustic Showcase, featuring multiple bands, will take over Tractor Wells Park from 5 to 10 p.m.

Jordan Jonas will lead a Ghost Tour as part of the Painted Lady Spook Show at 8 p.m.

Sunday — The Six-Pack Running Series returns to Canteen at 11 a.m., this time benefiting Running Medicine.

Sidetrack will avoid any NFL lawsuits with the Supertracked Sidebowl Party at 2 p.m. Other breweries that will be showing the game include Boxing Bear, Calavida Cantina, Casa Vieja, Starr Brothers, and the Tatted Bee.

Quick News Bits:

In case anyone missed the big brewing news from outside New Mexico, follow this link to learn why the Great American Beer Festival is moving outdoors for the first time this year.

Rio Bravo has Candy Flights available again this year for February. The pairings are Dunk-a-chito and Snickers, Honey Ginger Blonde and Starburst, Love on Tap and Hershey’s, and Watermelon Tajin Gose and Watermelon Tajin Lollipops.

Albuquerque metro area breweries

Boese Brothers Brewery — Featured seasonal: Double Dead Red, a seasonal favorite, is back on tap.

Bombs Away Beer Company — Featured seasonal: Stockpile Stout (5.2% ABV, 52 IBU), an American stout that tastes bigger than its ABV.

Bow & Arrow Brewing — Featured seasonal: Midnight with a Chance of Coyotes (9% ABV), the flavor bomb of an imperial stout is back in cans and on draft.

Boxing Bear Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Bounty of Jumis (8.5% ABV), a beast of a Baltic porter, now available in cans and on draft.

Brekki Brekki/Cantina Craftworks — Featured seasonal: As a reader pointed out to us, the beers produced at Brekki Brekki are sold at all the restaurants under the Cantina Hospitality Group umbrella, so we should note that here. Contact the various locations to see what they have on tap.

Brew Lab 101 Beer & Cider Company — Featured seasonal: Singularity (10% ABV, 55 IBU), a barrel-aged stout perfect for whenever winter comes back.

Calavida Cantina — Featured seasonal: Dia de los Dunkel (5% ABV), a dark lager that can raise the dead, or so some folks claim.

Canteen Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Industrial District Porter (6.6% ABV, 33 IBU), a devilish robust beast of a porter.

Casa Vieja Brewery — Featured seasonal: Coyote Brown Ale (6.9% ABV), one of two seasonals currently on tap.

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: Nevermore (12.1% ABV), a beautiful barrel-aged black barleywine, available for a limited time in bottles and on draft at both locations.

Flix Brewhouse  — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Flock of Moons Brewing — Featured seasonal: Velé (8.6% ABV, 35 IBU), a special barrel-aged version of the Laume Baltic Porter available in bottles only for a limited time.

Gravity Bound Brewing — Featured seasonal: Night Hike, a Czech-style dark lager.

High and Dry Brewing — Featured seasonal: Ace of Haze (6.2% ABV), a hazy IPA that’s become a favorite of the locals.

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

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

Kaktus Brewing — Featured seasonal: Through the Veil Pale Ale is one of several specialty beers available, though the others don’t rhyme as nicely.

La Cumbre Brewing — Featured seasonal: Siberian Silk (10.1% ABV), a burly Baltic porter that packs a smooth punch in cans and on draft.

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

Lasso Brewing — Featured seasonal: Schwarzbier, the first beer brewed beyond the original four at Gravity Bound’s sister brewery/lager house.

Marble Brewery — Featured seasonal: White Out (9% ABV), the big brother to Double White is back for a limited time in cans and on draft.

Nexus Brewery — Featured seasonal: Noche Negra (5.2% ABV, 25 IBU), a Mexican dark lager described by the brewery as “smooth and crisp with subtle toasted malt and caramel. Easy-drinking and well-balanced, it’s the kind of dark beer that shows up flavorful, behaves itself, and never over-complicates.”

Painted Lady Bed and Brew — Featured seasonal: A Naked American Man Stole My Balloons is not just a line from An American Werewolf in London, it’s also the name of their stout.

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: Mocha Hipster Bomb, one of the finest beers of the past year according to one of our Crew members.

Rio Bravo Brewing — Featured seasonal: Psychedelic Decade (5.5% ABV), a mushroom brown ale brewed for their 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: Midnight Zephyr (5.4% ABV, 23 IBU), a tasty schwarzbier that is even available in proper mugs.

Starr Brothers Brewing — Featured seasonal: Brown Chicken Brown Cow (6.8% ABV, 25 IBU), one of their original rotating specialties, this double brown ale is a chewy delight on colder nights.

Steel Bender Brewyard — Featured seasonal: Brickie American Stout (8.5% ABV, 80 IBU), back for the season and better than ever in cans and on draft. There are also cans only of the barrel-aged variant.

Sunday Service Motor Company — Featured seasonal: Gingerbread Stout (8,1% ABV), the latest dessert you can drink.

The Tatted Bee Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Thirsty Eye Brewing — Featured seasonal: Biscochito Liquido (5% ABV, 13 IBU), the seasonal favorite is back on tap and also available on nitro.

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

Tractor Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Turkey Drool (7.9% ABV, 20 IBU), the Crew’s seasonal favorite is still on tap.

Turtle Mountain Brewing Company — Featured seasonal: Thunderbolt (9.3% ABV, 39 IBU), a powerful Belgian-style tripel.

Unhinged Brewing — Featured seasonal: A Ton of Fruit, a prickly pear wheat ale.

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: Coal Car (5.5% ABV), an oatmeal stout that’s just one of 11 house beers now available.

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), which continues to linger on tap and in cans until we drink it all up. Well, not just us, the rest of you have to help, too.

Second Street Brewery — Featured seasonal: Superior Porter, a robust dark brew perfect for the start of winter, now available in cans and on draft.

Travel Bug — Featured seasonal: This bookstore/cafe only has two of its own beers on tap, Sweetheart Ale (7% ABV) and English Bitter II (6% ABV), but if any seasonals ever pop up, we will list them here.

Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery — Featured seasonal: Contact the brewery for an updated list of seasonals.

Other breweries you need to visit

Bathtub Row Brewing — Featured seasonal: Holiday Cheer Barleywine (9.5% ABV), it’s colder up in Los Alamos, so they gotta brew ’em big this time of year.

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.

Jemez Mountain Brewhouse — Featured seasonal: Red Rocks IPA, one of those beers perfectly named for the area in which the brewery inhabits.

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: Contact the brewery for what seasonals are currently on tap.

Truth or Consequences Brewing — Featured seasonal: Honey Winter Ale (9.5% ABV), described by the brewery as “a strong, sweet, deep amber beer, with rich flavors of caramel, toast, & dates. Fresh Rio Grande Valley honey adds a delicate floral sweetness to the beer’s malty foundation.”

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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