Beer Prom brings together 16 brewery collaborations with retro dance party

It’s time to return to The Corral at Ex Novo Corrales for the annual collaboration beer festival, but with a new twist.

Get your dancing shoes on, it’s beer time.

Well, it’s Beer Prom time this Saturday at Ex Novo Corrales, a reinvention of the United in Beer collaboration festival.

“Well, the origin of change, truly, we were wanting to be a better direct connect with the (New Mexico) Brewers Guild,” said Stevo Jeter, Ex Novo’s director of human resources. “We absolutely loved our time in partnership with New Mexico United, but as we are no longer officially partners with them, we needed to change course anyways from the United in Beer.

“Ebbie (Edmonston), the executive director for the Brewers Guild, actually had had an idea for prom for a while, and her and I had begun the talks of a collab festival even before there was a United in Beer. And that was the genesis of that.”

Jeter said that he was on vacation in England when Ex Novo’s creative director, Sarah Turner, suggested doing some sort of beer prom event.

“I’m like, let’s change it up,” she said.

“So I always say, like minds gravitate to like minds,” Jeter said. “And yeah, so literally, that was the genesis of beer prom was, what if we put on a super rad dance party? And yeah, collab festival, where, you know, made it a little more fun instead of breweries being paired together by a draft system. Instead, invites were sent out and breweries wanted to participate, simply had to ask another brewery to dance. And so that’s how it happened.”

The event will run from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, avoiding the heat of the day, and be situated entirely within The Corral. Tickets are available online.

“This one kicks off at 5 p.m., which, to me gives vibes of like WinterBrew, which is one of my favorite events that the Brewers Guild puts on,” Jeter said.

We cannot guarantee skies like this one when you show up for Beer Prom, but let’s hope for the best (minus any rain, of course).

Everyone is encouraged to dress up like you are going to prom, only let’s face it, the goofier, wilder, more eccentric your outfits, the better. You do not have to bring a date, but it might help to have someone with you whose toes you know not to squish on the dance floor.

As for the beer part of things, a total of 16 breweries including Ex Novo accepted spots, meaning there will be eight exclusive beers available. We have seven of them identified and are chasing down the eighth.

Bathtub Row Brewing Co-op/Sidetrack Brewing: Prom King Porter
Downshift Brewing/Icebox Brewing: Pilsner at the Disco (West Coast Style)
Nuckolls Brewing/Rowley Farmhouse Ales: Grimace (Butterfly Tea Flower and Lavender Gose)
Santa Fe Brewing/Little Toad Creek: 10-4 Brut IPA
Second Street Brewery/Ex Novo Brewing: English Summer Ale
Truth or Consequences Brewing/Tractor Brewing: 6-7 IPA
Thirsty Eye Brewing/Painted Lady Bed and Brew: They’re All Going to Laugh at You (Bloody Red Lager)
Rio Bravo Brewing/Unhinged Brewing: TBA

Everyone will also be able to vote for their favorite collaboration, and the winning duo of breweries will get a special prize. Jeter also decided to tell us about one other special aspect on the beer side of things.

“So here’s a fun secret,” he said. “Our team up was with Second Street, and so our team and their team got together and decided, hey, we should do something that we haven’t really done. So it’s an English summer ale, and the excitement behind that was not only will we have that pouring on draft, we will also have it on cask.”

The cask will be exclusive to Beer Prom, and Jeter said that both of the brew teams were especially excited to add that little touch.

There will certainly be new glassware this year. But there will still be great beer to fill those glasses.

Both Jeter and Turner said that not all the breweries were able to participate like they did in 2025 due to other commitments and the like, but of those that did, all were able to match up with a partner with no trouble.

As for the rest of the event, there will be a dance floor, a contest for best dressed, a photo shoot area inside the brewery, a s’mores bar, and additional food and drink specials. There will be a Hypercolor (raise your hand if you are old enough to know what that was) cocktail, for instance.

And, the best part of all is that a portion of the proceeds will go to Cuidando los Niños, a local nonprofit that helps children and families through difficult times.

For more information, head to Ex Novo’s official website or social media pages.

A big thanks to Stevo and Sarah for squeezing me in between interviewing candidates for open jobs at Ex Novo.

Now, where did I put my Ozzfest ’99 shirt? Hey, they said 90s theme, right?

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister