A few months back, we reported that former Blue Corn (now Hidden Mountain) head brewer James Warren was coming back to New Mexico to take over the operations at La Reforma. After we let him get settled in, Warren was happy to sit down last week to go over where he’s been and how things…
Category: Interviews
New Sidetrack head brewer paid his dues at Chama River and Steel Bender
After seven years in the trenches, so to speak, Cordell Rincon is finally getting his own command. Rincon has taken the reins at Sidetrack Brewing, succeeding David Kimbell. I caught up with Rincon this week before the brewery opened for the day. “Oh, it’s great (here),” he said. “I always told myself that if I…
Award-winning Ponderosa brewer leaves to take over CNM program
Another notable local brewer is on the move these days. He will not be going far, however, and this move could very well prove beneficial to the entire local industry and its future. Antonio Fernandez, fresh off winning back-to-back gold medals at the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup for his Italian Pilsner,…
High and Dry teams up with Red Mesa once again for collab IPA and concert
The wonderful symbiotic relationship between local craft breweries and local music continues this Saturday at High and Dry Brewing. For a second time, the brewery has teamed up with the heavy desert rock band Red Mesa to create a special IPA, and this time it will be released with a full, live music performance. Last…
20 questions with Jennifer Treu, Rowley Farmhouse Ales’ new head brewer
It’s not an easy thing to turn your passion into a career that spans several states, partially through a pandemic, but Rowley Farmhouse Ales’ new head brewer has done just that. On a nice, reasonably un-windy Wednesday, I sat down with the entire RFA brew crew, including brewmaster John Rowley, cellarman Roger Pacheco, new to…
La Reforma hires a familiar face as 2022 head brewer shuffle gets underway
After a relatively static period during the height of the pandemic, a new shuffle of head brewers is underway in New Mexico. “There was very little mobility during the pandemic,” said La Reforma co-owner John Gozigian, who has just hired a new head brewer/distiller. “Now that things are getting back to normal, for a long…
Second Street’s Mariah Cameron Scee paints a picture of what it’s like to be a woman in the craft beer industry
If you’re a fan of craft beer in New Mexico, there’s a good chance you’ve met Mariah Cameron Scee at a beer event, or even at Second Street Brewery in Santa Fe where she works as director of art and branding. At the very least, you’ve definitely sipped on a delicious craft beer out of…
ReSource Brewing taps into the new Brave Noise collaboration
One of the biggest news stories in the craft beer world in 2021 came about after brewer Brienne Allan went on Instagram and asked, “Have you ever experienced sexism in the beer industry?” The fallout was far-reaching across the industry, and still continues to this day. Yet, like many big stories of the moment, for…
New Brewers Guild executive director stoked to return to her home state
If the new executive director of the New Mexico Brewers Guild looks familiar to anyone, it would probably to the former loyal customers of one of our state’s classic brewpubs, Chama River, that is sadly no more. That alone is the first sign that a lot has changed since Tess Vidalis left New Mexico, and…
New Mexico Brewers Guild executive director moves on to her next chapter
The first time I met Leah Black was when she was slinging beers at the long-gone Hallenbrick Brewing, where she was gutting through the process of pouring brews despite a broken wrist suffered recently on the ski slopes of Northern New Mexico. Then, months later, there she was, sans air cast, doing the same at…
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 