With our next few stories in the Look Back/Look Ahead Series delayed for various reasons, we put out a request to our readers on Facebook for some story ideas. One that caught our eye, or specifically mine, was to type up a single, comprehensive timeline of the history of brewing in New Mexico. Over the…
Category: Beer History
The tumultuous times and tribulations of the first Santa Fe breweries in the 1800s
As we have traveled through the distant past of New Mexico’s brewing history, from wild shootouts in Albuquerque to the growth of the biggest pre-Prohibition brewery, to the small-town brewing outposts of the 19th century, and finally to the ill-fated rebirth of local brewing in the 1930s, there is one place that we have conspicuously…
The small towns of 19th century New Mexico were home to a surprising number of breweries
To kick off our series on New Mexico beer history, we have initially stuck to the tales of the breweries in Albuquerque, from wild shootouts to the creation of the biggest brewery to the short-lived efforts to restart brewing after Prohibition. This is a big state, though, so there was brewing still going on in…
The short-lived and not-so-good comeback of brewing in ABQ after Prohibition
As we continue our trek through the history of brewing in New Mexico, following our tales of a brewery shootout and the ups and downs of the first two Albuquerque breweries, we skip past the era of Prohibition (1918-33) to the time of the first two breweries after those dark years. Let us just say…
The wild times of the first two Albuquerque breweries from 1883 to 1918
After a relatively quiet weekend for beer news, we decided it was time to get back to our Beer History Series. Last time around, we focused on an actual shootout that erupted at the first Southwestern Brewery in 1884. This time around, we wanted to take a longer look at Albuquerque’s first brewery, as well…
Kicking off our beer history series with that time a shootout erupted at a brewery
Back when the pandemic first arrived in New Mexico, all of us in the Crew wondered if there would be many stories for us to write with breweries reduced to takeout only. As it turns out, the breweries have kept us plenty busy, but one idea for stories that we had back in late March…
A sad farewell to the 2nd oldest brewery in New Mexico
A few months ago, we learned that something was up with Eske’s Brew Pub and Eatery in Taos. Its small brewer license was no longer listed with the State of New Mexico, and Google listed it as temporarily closed. There was no mention of the goings on in the local newspaper, and others in the…
Marble turns 10: Rolling through a decade of history
The Albuquerque craft brewing scene of early 2008 was barely a scene at all. A series of closures in the years prior had left just three operational breweries within the city limits — Chama River, Il Vicino, Kellys — plus two in nearby suburbs, Tractor in Los Lunas and Turtle Mountain in Rio Rancho. There…
High and Dry hosts live podcast on beer history
Shameless self promotion is not usually my thing, but I felt compelled to share this event. Tonight (Friday) at 7 p.m., High and Dry Brewing will host a live recording of the City on the Edge podcast featuring yours truly. We will be delving into the history of Albuquerque’s brewing scene, which of course I…
A little beer history for the weekend
As I prepare to ramble tomorrow (Saturday) about beer to an audience at the library where I work, progress is being made on the Albuquerque beer history book I am writing for The History Press, a division of Arcadia Publishing. One thing I obtained this week from fellow author Jon Stott was a chronology of…
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 