Blue Grasshopper begins the difficult process of scaling back

A surprising post on Facebook changed our plans on Saturday, when we read that Blue Grasshopper Brewery was holding a “grand closing” of its location at Second Street and Summer in Wells Park. Taking a chance, I drove down and found co-owner Peter Apers was still around and willing to chat about everything that is…

Beer Notes: Taproom boom, more awards and one big party

Now that I am back at work (yay, money), the beer news is starting to pile up, so let us get to a few pertinent items. First, though, in a moment of self-promotion, I will be giving a free talk about the history of brewing in Albuquerque this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Special…

Blue Grasshopper quietly opens new taproom in Wells Park

Over the weekend, the Crew was made aware that Blue Grasshopper had opened its third location down in the Wells Park neighborhood. This will eventually be home to their brewing operation, replacing the small space at the original taproom in Rio Rancho. Located at Summer and Second Street (specifically 1401 Second NW), we took a…

Beer Notes: The brewery taproom boom is not slowing down

It is a relatively quiet week out there, spring winds aside, so it felt like a good time to dust off the old beer notebook. New brewery updates We keep waiting for the number of forthcoming breweries to dwindle down, but that has not happened yet. There are currently five breweries with active small brewer…

Weekend Beer-cap: The frigid temps won’t keep us from the brews

The weekend was humming along at such a nice pace, and then the Steelers went out and f@#$ed it all up for me. It’s hard being a sports fan, but these days it’s easy being a beer lover. My weekend actually kicked off back on Thursday with trips to Marble Downtown and Marble Heights to…

Blue Grasshopper building full-fledged brewery in Wells Park neighborhood

The brewing conditions at the original Blue Grasshopper Brewery and Pub in Rio Rancho have always been more than a bit cramped. That will be changing in the future, but not through any expansion of that location. Instead, Blue Grasshopper is building a full-sized brewery in a renovated warehouse on the corner of Summer and…

The Unsung Hero of Blue Grasshopper keeps everything humming along

Editor’s note: With ABQ Beer Week in the rear view mirror, we are finally getting back to our Unsung Heroes Series. We asked each of the breweries around town to nominate one or more employees who go above and beyond, but don’t necessarily get the recognition of the owners and head brewers/brewmasters. Today, we meet…

Beer Notes: Firkin closing is not the start of a bad trend

In case anyone missed it on social media over the weekend, the long-rumored demise of The Firkin BrewHouse and Grill came to pass, as their own Facebook page communicated the following: To all of our loyal and wonderful customers, unfortunately I must state that the Firkin BrewHouse and Grill is closed. More info will follow…