While beer festivals may not be back in full force just yet, the craft beer world is starting to find its way back to that good place that feels more like the normal we remember as events return to our taprooms. We in the Dark Side Brew Crew couldn’t be more thrilled that the times,…
Author: Luke
Second Street Brewery survives 2020 and thrives so far in 2021
I waited in my car until I was given the signal from Tom Ludzia to follow him inside, through the service door, into the brewhouse at 2920 Rufina Street. There, in a fortress of stainless steel, less than a handful of other masked do-gooders stood around looking as if their day was about to get…
Beer Creek Brewing Company looks back at 2020 and hops forward in 2021
Beer Creek Brewing Company has been tested before. The men (and ladies) of Beer Creek have had to prove their toughness and steadfastness many times before out in the middle of what one might consider nowhere, and especially in a location whose history had seen nothing but failure in the past. But, nothing had tested…
Blue Corn Brewery closed its doors in 2020; Hidden Mountain reopens them in 2021
Only a few days into the year, Blue Corn Brewery announced to the public that they were re-opening for the first time since August. They also announced that they were re-opening not as Blue Corn Brewery, but as Hidden Mountain Brewing Company. In 2020, both Blue Corn locations packed up their belongings for good, and…
Chili Line keeps on track in 2020
In 2020, Chili Line Brewing Co. closed their taproom to the public and pulled out of the Lamy Station. While it may sound like the beginning of another worst-year story, actually, all things considered and despite the challenges they faced, the brewery known to smoke ‘em if they’ve got ‘em (meaning beers of course) had…
Tumbleroot keeps their spirits high through 2020 and into 2021
Co-founder and brewmaster Jason Kirkman takes a break from bottling to answer a quick phone call from a beer writer. He sits for a minute in the empty brewing facility, once filled with the sounds of laughter, the odd clang of a hoseclamp here and there, and new beers bubbling happily away into buckets. He’s…
Rowley Farmhouse Ales resets in 2020 and looks forward to hanging out again in 2021
If you’ve been following along with our Look Back/Look Ahead Series, you may have gathered by now that 2020 has been a rough year for the brewing industry. For the last 10 months, I’ve been following closely with the Santa Fe craft beer industry, doing my best to keep up with how our guys have…
Santa Fe Brewing heads into 2021 with hope for a better year
Though Santa Fe Brewing Co. is the oldest and largest of New Mexico’s craft breweries, with a great deal of veteran experience inside and outside of our local industry, nothing could have prepared them for this year. At all levels, from production to taproom, SFBC has faced many of the same challenges as the rest…
20 questions with Rowley Farmhouse Ales’ new head brewer
Rowley Farmhouse Ales has a new head brewer. When former head brewer Wes Burbank accepted a new position at Ex Novo Brewing in Corrales this summer, he left some pretty big barrels to fill back in Santa Fe. It was a good thing Rowley and crew have built up such a wide network of friends…
Second Street picks up a well-deserved win with a gold medal at 2020 GABF
Restaurants and breweries have had it rough this year, as everyone knows. With the pandemic, most of these businesses haven’t been the same since early March. Morale has often dipped as low as the temperatures these days. But, the consensus seems to be that the beer industry folks are still hanging in there, as they…
