There is a narrow stretch of time on weekdays, before I go do that job that pays money, where I can sneak over to a brewery for a quick Look Back/Look Ahead Series interview.

Naturally, that is when a car crash would happen on I-25 southbound, gumming up the traffic lanes and leaving me a tad late to a meet-up with Flock of Moons co-owner/head brewer Jeff Tomlinson. Luckily, he was wrapping up another meeting, so in a way everyone was on time after all.

Tomlinson breezed through the first two questions of the three we’ve been asking this year — what were the biggest challenge and biggest accomplishment of 2025 — before getting a bit more in-depth on the third question about what lies ahead in the rest of 2026.

“I think for us it’s been managing growth (and) keeping up with demand,” Tomlinson said of last year’s challenge. “I’m also finding that balance, trying to not sacrifice the things that are important to us, trying to be smart about the things we say yes to. Along with that, I’m learning to say no to some things that we really want to do, but just end up stretching us too thin.”

As for the big accomplishment, in a way, it was just surviving the recent ups and downs that have affected the entire industry.

“I think another successful year in a challenging environment, both in the brewing industry and just generally the economy, and all the crazy stuff going on,” Tomlinson said.

With a quarter of 2026 already in the books, but the busiest part of the year still ahead, Flock of Moons will not be stepping out of the old comfort zone too much. Instead, it will be about focusing on the little things, or those behind-the-scenes things that might not be too noticeable.

“So I’ve been kind of looking at it from both back-of-house and front-of-house (perspective), just with our continued growth,” Tomlinson said. “I think we’re just trying to reach a sweet spot. I don’t know what that is (yet). It’s selling more beer than we are now, but at some point I think if our goal remains that we’re just gonna sell all the beer we can sell out of this place. And, that’s our sweet spot.

“Then, I’m not sure what that number is, but we’d like to get there. I don’t know if we’ll get there this year. But, just working towards that, what that’s gonna mean for back-of-house is more tank capacity.”

That brewhouse that everyone can see between the glass partition in the middle of the space has been working overtime, but the problem is not in that stage of production, it has been in what comes after the beer is brewed.

“So right now, we’re producing a little bit less than we sell per week on a weekly basis,” Tomlinson said. “So, the real bottleneck right now is we have a single brite tank and everything’s waiting on that. So we have a couple (horizontal) lager tanks on order. That will increase that brite finishing space, give us a little more throughput, and also allow us to let the beers spend the time they need in the tanks. I feel some things have been getting a little bit rushed through lately just to keep up with demand, so I’m not necessarily happy about that. But this is a solution for that. Yeah, and just continued quality improvements that goes along hand in hand with that, just continuing to improve the quality of our product through the year.”

Horizontal lagering tanks are truly all the rage these days, and anyone who has been to places like Bombs Away and Lasso can tell you that they have a pronounced effect on making lagers even better. Flock of Moons will fit those into the corner of the brewery where the grain bags are currently stacked.

Up front, things have remained fairly steady, even though a few familiar beertenders have moved on to new careers.

“And in front-of-house, we’ve been managing,” Tomlinson said. “I think we’re at a point after two-and-a-half years where our staff level has remained pretty consistent. And, we’re at a point where we’re fully utilizing that staff, which is great. But, as we continue to grow, we’re going to probably have to grow our team a little bit this year. And, just be really careful about who we hire. Hire people that meet the high standards that our customers have grown to appreciate. And then, also just finding new ways to reward our employees for the amazing work that they do. None of our success would be possible without our great staff. So, I mean really, so much credit goes to them for the year that we had this last year. And, we want to keep them happy.”

Flock of Moons will continue to bring in live music on the spacious patio out back. Among the upcoming acts are a tie-in to the final Gathering of Nations, with Sunburst Stoned, First Floor Highway, and Turquoise Steel all performing on April 24. Those bands all feature one or more indigenous musicians.

Sadly, Maifest will not return this year. Tomlinson said it ended up being more work than it was ultimately worth last year. Other events are still in the planning stages, so keep an eye on Flock of Moons’ social media pages for updates and announcements.

There have been a few more beer collaborations of late, including the release today (Friday) of Femme de la Lune, a Belgian wit brewed with Ponderosa that supports the New Mexico chapter of the Pink Boots Society. Flock of Moons will also be heading up to Fete de la Funk, the New Mexico Brewers Guild’s celebration of sour and funky beers, on April 18 with Coven of the Pink Moon (Raspberry Berliner Weisse) and The Grey Havens (Grisette) making the trip up to Keeping Together in Santa Fe. Both of those beers are already on tap at Flock of Moons.

In the end, it was a nice, quick visit before opening hours. While the weather has been a little goofy of late, and the allergies have been acting up, that back patio will be calling all of our names sooner than later. There may be no better place to spend a summer night in the Bricklight District and parts nearby.

A big thanks to Jeff for the interview. We look forward to that next patio visit, where Jeff often magically appears with new beer samples for us to try. Hey, we can hope, right?

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister