It might sound a bit odd at first, but 2020 might have actually been good for Thirsty Eye Brewing. No, really. I learned about that, and more, when I sat down with co-owner Kim Arthun and brewer John Kofonow for one of the final entries in our annual Look Back/Look Ahead Series. “I think March…
Toltec Brewing brings its new head brewer full circle
Brandon Venaglia is back in his old neighborhood. The well-traveled brewer, who went from Back Alley Drafthouse to Cazuela’s to Bathtub Row, has taken the open job at Toltec Brewing on the West Side of Albuquerque. “I went to Cibola High School,” he said, shaking his head. “I went all around the United States and…
The Week Ahead in Beer: Our musician friends begin to return
Greetings, New Mexico craft beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with The Week Ahead in Beer. This column covers all the breweries in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, with Santa Fe’s eight breweries, one in Los Alamos, one in Moriarty, one in Red River, one in Silver City, and one in Truth or Consequences also joining the party….
Steel Bender finds much-needed positivity in its latest charity brew
Anyone following Steel Bender on social media probably saw some teasing images of a new canned specialty beer last week. At the start of this week, the beer was unveiled as Shine On Saison, made with passion fruit, and brewed in collaboration with Whole Foods Markets and the Agora Crisis Center. “It’s been this enthusiastic,…
Harmon Lane Brewing is determined to keep climbing
As we’ve explored in a number of our Look Back/Look Ahead Series articles this year, 2020 was not the most ideal year to open a brewery, but our legendary local beer community pulled together to make sure our new beer creators weathered the storm and lived to see brighter days. One of those resilient breweries…
The Week Ahead in Beer: A taproom returns to active duty
Greetings, New Mexico craft beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with The Week Ahead in Beer. This column covers all the breweries in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, with Santa Fe’s eight breweries, one in Los Alamos, one in Moriarty, one in Red River, one in Silver City, and one in Truth or Consequences also joining the party….
Breweries in Burque suburbs react to newly passed liquor laws
A few weeks ago, readers asked us if the breweries were going to comment publicly on House Bill 255, which included alcohol delivery and other changes to some long-standing liquor laws in New Mexico. The breweries declined comment at the time, and the New Mexico Brewers Guild later sent out an email asking them not…
Canteen Brewhouse cans its way to success even amid global pandemic
It was one year to the day of the first pandemic shutdown when I joined Canteen Brewhouse head brewer Zach Guilmette and general manager Jamie Schwebach on the patio to recap all that was and what’s coming up for their entry in our Look Back/Look Ahead Series. The beautiful weather and full patio (well, as…
The Week Ahead in Beer: May the luck of the Irish actually take effect this year
Greetings, New Mexico craft beer lovers. Stoutmeister here with The Week Ahead in Beer. This column covers all the breweries in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, with Santa Fe’s eight breweries, one in Los Alamos, one in Moriarty, one in Red River, one in Silver City, and one in Truth or Consequences also joining the party….
Kaktus Brewing announces plans to reopen this week
One year ago, when COVID-19 first threatened to become a full blown pandemic in the U.S., breweries throughout New Mexico took various approaches as to how they would handle the newly mandated restrictions. After much reflection, choices were made on the next steps that would be best for the business, and for the community. For…
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 