Turquoise Trail Brewing hits the road in search of a better location

Over the past decade, we have seen plenty of breweries make big moves, whether expanding their main locations, or adding taprooms, or moving into large-scale packaging/distribution. Moving the entire brewing operation from one building to another, however, is a much rarer occurrence. Boxing Bear did it the most recently, and Bosque and Tractor did the…

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,…

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…